2 Much Fun!

Here we go....a layout of my dd on her 3rd birthday. We were up at the school waiting to do some testing.

She decided she needed a snack while we waited (luckily I had brought her one) and happily found a box of toys to keep her occupied.

I started this layout in Seattle at CKC. It was fun to work on and I like these pictures on it.

They are just everyday pictures and sometimes those are just fun ones to work with.

I was bored and happened to have my camera with me. And now have captured a little moment in time...

After we finished up our appointment we went home for her party. Cake, ice cream and presents!! She even wore a crown and a princess dress....

What did you do for your last birthday??!! Any big ones coming up?? Or anyone have any good birthday stories to share??

I'm sure you know the drill....I'm probably still lying down, bored, recovering, hoping you will comment..... HUGS!

Riley's Gotcha Day and Flowers from My Friend

I wanted to share a picture of the flowers my sweet friend, Denise sent me. I have them on my dresser here in my bedroom and they really brighten the room and my spirits. Isn't she awesome??!!

I am super lucky to have her as a friend!

I did the rest of this post before my surgery since I didn't want to leave everyone hanging with nothing to see if you happened to be dropping by.... soooooo read on......

I did this two page layout for my son Riley's "Gotcha Day". He was adopted by us from Taiwan. We took our two 5 year old boys with us and my mother too. We left our 3 year old daughter at home because we didn't think she would be able to handle the super long flight to Taiwan.

We flew into Taipei and spent a couple of days there before flying down to Tainan to get Riley. Unfortunately when we got there he was sick in the hospital with pneumonia. So we had to extend our stay in Tainan for a few days.

And even though he was sick and we were so worried we still had a marvelous trip. All the people there were so kind to us. Our friend, Mei Chun, helped us get our hotel room extended even though they were booked up solid. She and her family took us out to eat many times and we had many visits and meals with the nanny's at St. Lucy Center where Riley had lived.

The funny thing about this trip was that we had only planned to be in Tainan for 2 days (just overnight) so we only took clothes for 1 day and left the rest at our hotel in Taipei....and then ended up staying for 4 days. Pretty much all my pictures are of us in the same outfits! lol (we did have them laundered at the hotel) Lucky for the boys, they had brought their swimsuits with them. The hotel had a fabulous pool that no one else visited and we spent many hours down there.

Riley was let out of the hospital eventually with strong drugs and they brought him to us at our hotel. We took a few pictures with some of the people from St. Lucy Center and Mei Chun. Hopped in a taxi and headed to the airport. We had to make it to our appointment at the US Embassy in Taipei the next morning.

I plan to add tons of journaling to the pages but wanted to do that later.

I started these pages in Seattle at CKC. It is pretty great how well they worked with the pictures I wanted to scrap.

The pictures on the first page are of me and Riley at the airport, us all at the hotel when we first got him and my dh and Riley in the hospital before we got him.

The pictures on the second page are in front of the hospital where Riley was staying and were he and his brothers had been born. (oops it looks like I uploaded the pictures in the wrong order...you should be able to figure it out though)

I haven't really scrapped on Kraft paper before. I like the look of it. It really brings attention to the pictures. What do you think?? Like working with Kraft paper??

Anyone want to tell me something interesting?? Maybe you are the type of person who can't live without something?? What would that be?? Or do you do something a bit odd that you just Have to do?? Comment!! I'm sure I am still lying here bored-recovering..... Hugs!!

Riding the Bus!

As you all know, I have five kids. They range in age from 3 to 10. My 5 year old has been riding the bus since last year but none of my other kids have ever ridden the bus....until NOW.

Last week the 3 older kids were approved to ride the bus with Riley. I rushed out and took these pictures so that I could scrap them. And amazingly they all are looking and smiling at the camera!! Can you even believe it??!!

But since I am down with all of these surgeries I haven't had a chance to scrap them sooooo now I have new bus pictures. My littlest started pre-school and goes to their school and now she rides the bus with them too!!

You will notice that they are NOT all looking and smiling in these pictures but what can you do?? lol They are still good enough to scrap!!

She wasn't too thrilled with it to begin with unlike the other kids. She cried the first 2 days. But now she has stopped crying. (thank goodness) She still won't climb the steps into the bus alone yet but I bet she will soon. She just needs to get used to it all.

I'm pretty lucky because the bus comes right to our door and the guard on our front gate calls when it is on it's way!! I remember when I was a kid, I would have to go to the bus stop down the block from our house and leave 30 minutes early and wait out in the weather. (uphill in the snow....lol!! jk) Now I really sound old!! ha

How is the weather where you live?? Anything interesting to talk about?? It is sunny and in the 70s here....(or was when I wrote this pre-scheduled post!! ha) And I am sure I am still lying in bed -bored - recovering..... write me!!

I'm Home and Got An Award

Hi guys,

It's Tuesday and I am home from the hospital and doing well. I'm moving slowly and not really online that much but I did want to say hello.

I do plan to visit everyone who wrote me such sweet comments and sent the warm well wishes and thank you in person but until I can do that I wanted to tell you all how much it meant to me to read them.

It really made a difference when you left me a comment telling me you are thinking of me. I really appreciate all the kindness of my friends. It touched my heart that even with a person you don't "know" except online you are so awesome. Thank you guys so much!

I also wanted to thank Karla at Made by Karla for giving me this great Magical Blog award!

Wasn't that sweet?? I love to visit her blog and see what she comes up with and you will too if you go check her out.

I am supposed to pass this on to five people.

The first will be Kelly M. at Uniquely Me, Imperfections And All. Kelly is an awesome friend and her blog rocks!! I visit her every day.

The second will be Denise at Lala's World just because she is my bestie! And a daily inspiration to me.

The third is for Frea at Creafrea. Frea is a sweetheart and a marvelous artist. You will be so happy to visit her blog and see all her beautiful creations!

The fourth goes to Michelle H. at I Luv Scrapping. Michelle always has some fabulous crafty creations on her blog and I learn so much from visiting her. And her heart is full of kindness.

The fifth and final person is Marlene at Disguised As A Grown Up. I choose Marlene because she raises my spirits every day that I visit her blog. Her cards are gorgeous and she is hilarious and under that snark is a heart of gold!

There you have it, 5 of my favorite blogs.... There are so many more I could list and would like to list. If you visit me feel free to take this award away with you too.

Hugs to all!!

Monday is Here

I thought I would share a couple of pictures today. One is of my poor messy scrapping area. You have to give me a break because I have been up and down with my surgeries lately.

But I am it is also a terribly disorganized area that I plan to whip into shape once I am back in shape!! ha

Can't you see it is just missing me terribly??!! lol

The next picture is of my sweet little Sophie dog. She has found herself a spot up on my pile of "hidden" scraps. Poor dog!! lol You know she can't be comfortable because that is a pile of paper she is laying on (vertical paper).

I couldn't help sharing it with you even though it shows what a mess my area is because she just looks so cute lying there.

How does your scrap area look? Are messy like me or organized?? If you are organized can you give me any good ideas on how to get organized in this space??

Leave me a few comments...I'm sure I am laying in bed bored.....(recovering)

Stacy's Surgery

Hey everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that Stacy has had her surgery and that the doctor was pleased and everything went well.


Denise

Friday is Here!

Happy Friday,

While I am having surgery today I decided to share a layout I made for Scrap Our Stash's January Challenge.

Their challenge this month is to scrap something NEW. You can use new stuff or a new tool or just use the word New in your layout.

I decided to use my new Sizzix Vagabond that my mother got me for Christmas and share the process with everyone.

First, you should look how cute it is!! It looks like a little suitcase and is about 14lbs and if you didn't already know...it is a motorized die cut/embossing machine.

There is a little storage compartment on the side for the electrical plug and you plug it in on the other side of the machine. The switch to open it is at the top under the handle. Slide the button over and the side slowly lower on each side.

It comes with a Solo Platform, A Shim and two clear Cutting Plates. The beauty and difference of this machine is that it will cut thicker things, like grunge board, thin metal, cork etc.

I decided to start off easy with the embossing. I am totally new to this sort of thing and was wondering how hard it would be. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder that I had and some card stock. I just cut the card stock to approximate the correct size and then opened the folder and slid the paper inside. Easy so far.

Next I sandwiched it between the two clear cutting plates then but these three things on the Solo Platform. I gently pushed it all into the machine a bit until I felt a little pressure.

On top of the machine are two buttons. One is to adjust direction and one is to turn on the machine. The machine will stop running if you stop pushing the button.

I made sure it was going the right way and pushed the on button. I pushed the Solo Platform in until the machine took over. Super easy.

See how it turned out.... It made a really deep embossed pattern on the card stock. I think it turned out neat looking.

Since I like how much this looked I decided to use this embossing folder for the paper that I used to mat my photos on my layout. I used different paper that matched my layout better.

What do you think??

Do you have a Vagabond yet??

I have really had fun with it but would probably not have purchased it because it is pretty expensive. I am happy to have it as a gift and I am sure I will make a ton of cool things with it.

On my layout I used a sketch from Sassylilsketches. I used We R Memory Keepers White Out Paper - Nonsense-Splish Splash, Nonsense-Ding Dong and Nonsense-Drip Drop. I also used Nonsense Chipboard embellies and Rubon's that coordinated. The ribbon and bling are from my stash. And I added some Crystal Stickles because I add crystal stickles to basically every layout I make!!

There you have it my January "NEW" Challenge for Scrap Our Stash. Go join in!!

Cross your fingers for me today!!