Creating

A whole bunch of creating has been happening at my house.

And I love it. 

Happy colors. Hearts. Gems. October Afternoon lables.

A photo of my son Ben and I right before we ran a 5K.

This page has all the things I love.

Hello Autumn

Hey there! Just wanted to pop in and share a layout using the new Gossamer Blue October Kit. First, let me share a photo of the kit, in all of its glory.

Seriously, how wonderful are these colors? I love Fall colors, and this kit is a perfect mixture of them.  Now, for my layout....I used a photo of a dear friend's son. He was at the Pumpkin patch, and well, this photo is too sweet.

And, yes. I DID add a doily on a boy layout. I do think it works perfect, and is the sweetest addition to this page. Totally unexpected (on a boy page) but oh, so perfect!

For this page, I used a sketch from the ScrapFit Blog. This site has been around for awhile now, but it is fairly new to me. You should check them out, and play along with their challenges! I will be linking my page up to the sketch challenge, found here.

Its been a long day today. Spent most of the day unpacking and washing clothes from last week. Alex and I took a road trip. No worries - I will post details and photos this week!

Paper Issues and Unity Stamps

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Even the boys in the NFL are in the Pink Spirit!
We want to celebrate Pink and all that it stands for so our newest theme is "Believe In Yourself".

 

 

I stepped out of my comfort zone for this theme - instead of doing my usual layout or card, I channeled my inner Christy Thomlinson and made a inspirational mixed media canvas. Honestly, I used a little bit of everything on this canvas, lol. The textured stamps, though, were from Unity Stamps. I LOVE how the added just a bit of texture to help with dept. The washi is from the Paper Issues store. (want your own washi? Use coupon code: JUSTME in the Paper Issues store for 20% off your entire purchase!) I plan on hanging this canvas in my scrapbook room.

 

To celebrate the collaboration between Paper Issues and Unity, we are having a blog hop that features the Unity Design Team and the Paper Issues Team!

Let's get started!
Paper Issues

Corri Garza
Jen Albracht Erickson
Karen Maldonado
Mandy Kay Starner
Natalie Dever
Nina Yang
Renee Aslette
Shellye Proctor McDaniel
Shilo Miles
Stephanie Muzzulin
Thienly Azim
Unity Blog

Unity will be giving away $50 worth of stamps to 3 winners!!!! All you have to do to win is:
1. Like Unity on Facebook
2. Like Paper Issues on Facebook
3. Leave a comment on all the blogs in the hop
4. Leave a comment in this post that you did everything
5. Link up a project here for a Bonus entry!
A winner will be chosen on November 3

Link up your projects, visit some blogs, leave some love.
{We want to see your pink or inspirational projects!}

I am linking my canvas to the Paper Issues blog, and you can too! You have until November 3 to link up!

Halloween Harvest

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It's Halloween Harvest time!The girls at Paper Issues have some fabulous projects to share and we have an amazing sponsor, Gossamer Blue. You can win one of their amazing kits! Check out the Paper Issue Blog for details on how to win!

I love everything about Fall. The colors, beautiful leaves, cozy textures, warm quilts. I wanted to participate in the Halloween Harvest theme party, but I also wanted to use my new Paper Issues Scrap FitKit, Hundred Acre Woods, (hurry! There are just a couple left!) so I laid out my papers and embellishments from the kit.

And then immediately fell in love.

I grabbed a photo that was sitting on my desk and went to work. No real sketch. No real idea of what I wanted to create. And this is what happened, after a little stitching, and a little paper cutting.

This totally reminds me of a quilt, pieced together one section at a time. I love it. Totally Fall-ish. And the photo? Its from a past Halloween, and thats ok. It all goes. I will be linking this layout up to the Paper Issues Halloween Harvest Party.

Want to see more Halloween Harvest projects from the fabulous design team? Check out this girls!

Jess
Mandy
Leah
Carrie
Lizzie
Marlene

World Card Making Day 2012

Today we are celebrating World Card Making Day! Ha! I never knew there was such a day, but there is! Card markers are invited to Paper Issues on their Facebook page and link up all the cards they are making for a chance to win some Paper Issue Store Gift certicates! SCORE!! And if you use my coupon code of JUSTME when you check out, you can save on your order as well!

Now, I am not a card maker. My cards are usually simple and somewhat awkward, like myself. But I wanted to send my Mom and Dad card, so I whipped this one up. And turns out, I used some flair on it as well! The papers I used on this card are a mishmash of past Studio Calico kits. The thickers are from Gossamer Blue. And the flair? Those came from our Paper Issue Sponsor, A Flair for Buttons. So that means I can link it up the Paper Issues Fall'n for Flair theme challenge, and get entered to win a flair giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by! We are experiencing our first freeze tonight, so I will be indoors crafting to get out of the cold! I will be posting all the cards I make today on the Paper Issues Facebook page. Come play along as well!

Fall'n For Flair

Over at Paper Issues this week, we have been roll'n in the flair. Some of us, literally. LOL Our sponsor this week, A Flair for Buttons, has a great prize giveaway. You can find the details, here.

 Now, on to my layout. I have created a layout using my September Gossamer Blue kit. The photo is blurry, but it was taken back in June when John started his advanced swimming classes. In the photo, he was learning how to dive correctly.

Let me first apologize for the weird photo of my layout. My current setup for photographing things took a major hit last night - as in, it hit the floor and broke. Into pieces. Little, unglueable pieces. I have ordered a new, more official looking light tent but it hasn't gotten here yet. Please hurry, Amazon.

For the page, I used the 12x12 Studio Calico sunburst mask that I bought in the Paper Issues store. Cassie still has a couple of these in the store, use my coupon code of  JUSTME, and receive 20% off your whole order!

I will be linking this layout to the Paper Issue Fall'n For Flair theme party. Come join me and get yourself entered to win the giveaway!

Blog Your Heart

I am playing along with Stephanie's Blog Your Heart Challenge. Here are the rules:

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.
2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.
3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive aggressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don't be mean. nothing here is whining. it's me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it's whining, then you don't have to read. :)

Here goes:

1. I think I have forgotten how to scrapbook. Or be creative. Since the boys moved to their dads, I have been in a crazy bad place. I'm trying to get over the 'hump' but its just.so.damn.hard.

2. Oh how I love Alex. He is my rock and he has been so a source of strength for me. God has truly blessed us with a crazy, wonderful, beautiful, sometimes tense marriage. But oh how wonderful it is to know he has my back, no matter what.

3. I am down to a size 6. Let me say that again: I AM DOWN TO A SIZE 6, PEOPLE! When I started my diet/working out, I was in a 12/14. It feels so good to be losing weight the 'right way' (exercising, and eating better). Honestly, working out has been a life saver for me. When I work out, I forget being sad, and focus on me. I get to work things out in my head + heart, and just sweat the heart ache away.

4. Its the beginning of October, and that means I am about to be running indoors again. Hello, treadmill. Have I mentioned I hate running on treadmills? Yeah, I do.

5. Tomorrow my sweet Maw Maw turns 87 years old. My Maw Maw is the absolute best. She is a strong Christian woman, who loved my Paw Paw like no one else could. She was a strong Southern woman, who loved to cook and be around her family. Some of my favorite memories were with her and my grand paw, playing with the chickens on their farm, fishing in the 'front pond', and just sitting around her circle kitchen table eating Blue Bell icecream. She made me feel like I so important to her, and in a family with 4 other brothers and sisters, it was hard to feel special growing up.  I hope getting healthy helps me live that long. I feel pretty lucky to be almost 33 years old, and still have a granny around that is still in (relatively) good health. I miss her so much - she lives in Louisiana  and well, I don't get back home like I wish I did.

6. Alex is taking me back home (to Maw Maw's) the week of October 15. I cannot wait. We are going to the State Fair, Galveston, Lake Charles and stopping pretty much whenever we want to on the way down and back.

7. My boys are doing well at their Dad's. They seem to be liking their new school + adjusting well. I miss them like crazy. Seriously.

8. I *think* I am stopping my Project Life book. I don't know. Its hard to continue it when its just Alex + I. I want to finish it...but I am only caught up through mid-June. Not sure I can catch up + not sure what to document without the boys. The jury is still out, though. So we will see. I think if I could get over #1 in this post, I might be able to get back on track.

9. We are 85% done with my new scrapbook room. The hardwoods floors/stairs have been laid. Walls painted. Most of the furniture moved in. I am waiting on my new light fixtures and new table that Alex is building me. I really like my space now. Its soooo much larger than my old place. I will post pictures, soon.

10. So, Alex's 39th birthday was on Sept 17 - and his sister called the other day, wanting to bring him his present. Sure, come on over. Well, she comes over and has his gift: it is a photo of Marcy + Alex's Mee Maw (who passed away on Sept 15) together. We had never seen this photo before. Apparently it was taken with his sisters camera one night when she came over to babysit while we had a dinner date. Anyway, I cannot ever begin to tell you how much this photo means to us. When you lose a child so early in life, most don't have a ton of photos (and really, could ever take 'enough' photos to last you till you meet your baby in Heaven? I doubt it!), so to be given this special photo almost 8 years later is like being given a secret treasure.

Thats all for now. Tonight I am spray painting a lamp + working on getting things situated in my scrapbook room. Fun times.