Thankful

So how was your Thanksgiving? Did you get enough Turkey and dressing? Oh man we did. Im thankful its over. I enjoyed seeing the family and all but it is always chaotic. We had people on every available piece of furniture and floor.. reminded me of college haha. We had a great time Lots to eat lots of stories, Lots of playing.
Here are a few photos. Aren't they just the cutest ever? You should see the OUT TAKES of this photo haha Kasi looks in pain hahahaha!Everyone was ready for a nap after our big meal. Jason had the right idea.. KICK back relax and then go get another plate :)Guido even got his Thanksgiving as well.I love this photo of Dad.
Hope you all had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY AND GOT PLENTY OF TURKEY. I hope you had a chance to remember what Thanksgiving is truly about. I know it is hard with the hustle and bustle and crowd of family but we are truly thankful for our family and what they mean to us.

Bella's Thanksgiving Program

THe 3k and 4k class sang this morning at Chapel, for all the parents in honor of Thanksgiving. THey dressed in festive hats as pilgrims or indians. Bella said she wanted to be a Pilgrim since "HER BRAYDEN" was going to be a "indiot" (indian) Here are a few photos. It was REALLY cute.


CHeck out the little boy at the bottom left of the photo. HE didnt look to happy to be there but man was he just the cutest thing EVERRR!



I thought this was the sweetest little song everrrrr!!! Had to zoom in on that shot!



We hope you are havig a happy DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING and gonna spend it with the ones you love :)

I also want to tell my HUBBY "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND I LOVE YOU" Hope you have a less chaotic day than we expect :)
We will probably be celebrating his Bd this weekend. Since we have company and everything is kinda AAAAAACCCKKKKKKKK right now. I love you honey and welcome to 37!! hehehhee

wow! a whole lotta scrappin goin' on

We had a great time at the Scrap-Diner.com crop this weekend. I did get a good bit accomplished. IN between cleaning lol WE have mass company coming this week for Thanksgiving. here are a few things I made:I caught up a few pages that I needed to do.
I added some pages to family members albums for the holidays.
Caught up some on our book of me challenges.

I also did a bunch of cards.


In between all this We cleaned the house like crazy people getting ready for all of our company. I am still working on some of the challenges, so keep an eye open this week.

I am off to the dentist this morning again ::grrroooaaan:: the tooth I am to have worked on .. BROKE last night so I guess it is a good thing Im going huh. Prayin' this one doesnt do like last week.. since I have a small mouth and all. :: I can't even type that without giggling IM SOO getting that in writing to show my brother. I KNOW he won't believe it. HA HA HA!

Thanksgiving Swag Tutorial

We have ALOT of company coming for Thanksgiving and not much fundage.. SOOOO In order to make the house pretty. Bella and I decided to make some fun Thanksgiving decorations out of things we have around the house. Here is a tutorial for the Swag we made that is hanging on the fireplace. I encourage you to get your kiddos to help. Bella had a lot of fun and she is SOOOOOO proud.

First you find a cardboard box and tear the flappy things off (you know the part that you use to close it with) Then take you some big scissors and cut down the inside corner of the box and then you can tear the walls of it apart. Ussually the rest you can tear up pretty easy after that.

Take your scissors (big scissors) and cut the cardboard into rectangles. YOu can then start pulling the top solid layers off the cardboard like this: It is ok if some of it stays on. You need something so the adhesive with stick to it. It also adds to the distressed look of it. So don't worry if it is not perfectly all peeled off. Just get the most of it.


Next take some old wrapping paper or some that you dont plan on using. (depending on how messed up it gets :;wink::) and put it top side down on your surface.
YOU DON'T want to turn your kids loose with ink on a surface that will matter if it gets messed up. Old wrapping paper taped down works well. Then they can draw on it while you do the "boring parts" as Bella called it. TIP.. before even starting on your project if you lotion your childs hands REALLY WELL with a thick lotion (yours too) and do something else for a bit let it soak in... THEN when you get to the inking part or painting.. it washes off MUCH EASIER.

Let your kiddos help ink the cardboard up. I showed her how to run it over the top so it just hits the high spots and around the edges. Here they are all inkd up. I used Tim Holtz distress inks to ink with.

Next. Cut your letters you want to use. I have a cricut so I used the base camp cartridge on size 4 to cut my letters. I used some Scenic Route papers I had. We messed up the G pulling it off the mat so we had to use a different color to cut the G again so then we didnt have enough for the S. BUT ... we improvised with another sheet of paper and I will show you how we will make it match in a few more steps :)

After you have all your letters cut. You may take a zig writer and use the large end and go around JUST BARELY the outside of the letters to shadow it. that way it will kind of stand out off the cardboard so you can see it. By the time you finish this your ink should be dry enough to start adhering down your letters.
IT'S OK IF YOUR CARDBOARD IS LARGER THAN YOU WANT IT YOU WILL TRIM IT DOWN AFTER YOU ADHERE THE LETTERS. Lay your letters out so you can see where you want them adhered. I used the ATG gun roller adhesive to put mine down with. works REALLY good. (Thanks ma!)

After you adhere them all down. Trim around the top and sides doesnt have to be perfectly straight. You can even tear it if you like. I find it easier to cut them with large scissors.
HEre they are after we adhered and trimmed.


I then took some wide ribbon. I didnt have enough to just string it along so I cut it into strips and used wide packing tape to secure it on the back and them to each other. BE SURE TO TURN IT OVER AND LOOK OCCASIONALLY TO MAKE SURE THE LETTERS AREN'T BACKWARDS OR IN THE WRONG ORDER... ask me how I know...

THen when you have finished that. You can take a large roll of ribbon that YOU HAVE ENOUGH OF... sigh... and put over it. I used the wrong side of a large gold roll that was wired edge. Tape this over the entire back.it will give a nice edge and make sure it is nicely held together.

Now go back over the top layer with different color inks. I also used Tim holtz tea die ink to go over the G AND S to make them match the others better. Add leaves from a tree that is changing colors or other fresh things from your yard (just make sure no ants or anything a dog may leave are on them if on the ground ) to add to your display. Make it pretty so your guests will have a wonderful Thanksgiving feel when they come for dinner.


Here is your finished product.
OK if you make this I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT. Post it on your blog, or in a gallery and leave me a link so I can go check it out. HAPPY THANKSGIVING DECORATING!!

Im MAKIN CARDS!!!

Im on a mission. IM using up some of these scraps and making room and making cards like craaaaaazy. Some are cute some are well not quite so great haha I COUlDNT sleep so I stayed up makin cards. SO anyway.. here you go.. DONT LAUGH!
So I keep getting people asking me to make cards for them. I have had several ask.. but I have NO CLUE what to charge. What do you guys do? waht do you suggest? I have never charged for any of my stuff before until the last couple of years and It is always soo hard to figure out. I dont want to go to high, sometimes I just give it away instead because I just love doing them. Actually we are starting to be over run by hand crafted Items.. Im running out of places to put them. I give them as gifts all the time. BUT NOW.. I get people asking how much do you charge and my eyes just roll back Because I have NO CLUEEEE what I charge hahaa.
I know John will kill me if I did that right now with us trying to keep Bella in school and our Insurance Issues (DO NOT GET ME STARTED) SO what do you think? WHat is a fair price? GIve me some ideas.

Once upon a time.....

There lived a BEAUTIFUL Princess..


This is the "ONCE UPON A TIME" line from Die Cuts WIth A View. This paper is so gorgeous I hated to cut it. I think it turned out pretty well though with Bella's halloween princess costume. Whatayathink?

inspiration big time

If you dont find this guy Inspiring... YOu need more help than I can give you hehe.



to hear the video scroll down to the music player and click the first button on the play bar to stop the music. This guy has overcome some amazing obstacles. IF your having a rough day. If your feeling worthless. JUST watch this guy it is truly amazing.

a little awareness

As most of you know, I have a disease/illness called Systemic Lupus Erethromysis/nephritis. ENGLISH? It a screwey illness that makes you feel like crapp. Essentially your body cannot tell the difference between infection and what is not infection so your white cells attack everything, God forbid you do have infection then it goes wild.The medications they give you for it, yeah they help but it is a kinda vicious cycle. YOu feel horrible and catch everything. SO when you do feel better you run around trying to make up for the time lost of being sick. IM telling you all this NOT to be a complainer but, because I have been contacted by a really wonderful Fella (HI WICK) with the lupus foundation of America about my blog. They are really trying to get awareness up. Most people look at people with lupus as complainers whiners and just lazy. That is totally not the case. These are some of the most brave and hard working women I know. Most of them try to hold jobs hold their familys together even though they have pain and severe fatigue.

I encourage you to look at the blog for LFA and read some of the information.Click on the links on the side of the other peoples blogs. It might just help you to understand a little better and not cast judgement so fast.
I KNOW I for one do try to go on. BUT PEOPLE do not understand, when you get a cold its not just a cold, it effects your entire body. THen you deal with depression and isolation. IT is a diagnosis that is often timed met with alot of criticism. IN my case I have a very loving and supporting husband, wonderful friends who understand I can't be in the sun and that since I got shingles along with this... It takes a toll just to get dressed. Wearing underwear some days is an accomplishment.

I havent been home to see my family in a year because riding in a car that long is painful.I go nowhere. I stay right here in my house. I no longer drive. The thought of having to wear a bra that long is beyond anything I want to imagine. BUT If you look at me you cant tell there is anything wrong. Well with shingles right now you kinda can since I do more resemble shrek. Contracting shingles and the illness's I caught while attempting to work this last time really effected me physically and mentally. It is hard living in an isolated world, It is hard feeling sick all the time. But with the power of the internet and the hobby I love so much that I started as therapy.... we take it a day at a time.

Again, IM not complaining. I have a wonderful life. Its what you make of it. I do what I can where I can. I have had to learn to say no. I have had to realise I do have limitations and just bust my tail on the things I can do. Right now IM trying desperatly to make money for my family due to insurance issues. Im doing what I can do.. Scrap and make cool stuff. I dont want to be rich, I dont want to be a celebrity in the scrapbooking world, I just want to make enough money to help my husband pay our bills, TO keep my daughter in christian school, and continue doing the hobby I love so much. I encourage you to go read the stories of some of the lupus survivors. It will help you to understand what happens with this disease and maybe the next time you see someone that has it...your a little more understanding.

I also want to let you know about this months MY LIFE challenge at scrap-diner. We do pages every month On our lives to put in our book of me. SOmething to pass down to our children and familys. This months THEME at the diner is "STUFFED"
I thought the page we would do is "The Good Stuff"
What is THE GOOD STUFF in your life? complete your page and put it in the scrap-diner gallery. THen link it back to the forums so your name can be included in the drawing for a RAK. (random act of Kindness)
Here is the example of what my GOOD STUFF IS (yes I know this is an old photo but we havent taken any good family portraits lately)
MY good stuff is definitly my family. My husband is the most supportive most understanding person I know. We FINALLY got to have a child the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me is BELLA. My heart in human form is what I call her.
SO there ya go.

I hope you have a blessed day, and come out of this post with a little better understanding of some of my fellow lupus survivors.

He was a good bat..... all the way to the end.

BElla loved "Batty the Pumpkin" we had so much fun making him and having him sit out side our door watching over the porch, greeting the mailman, ups and fed ex dudes always gave him a smile.


But his life had to go for the greater good. He started to get a little soft spot on him. I told Bella batty was getting old and it was time for him to move on. she said oh sadly then a wicked "LETS EAT HIM!!!"
wondering If I should be worried.

So daddy looks up a recipe online. They follow the instructions and as Bella said. "RIPPED OUT THE SLIMES"
Nothing is as pretty as slimey gooey pumpkin guts. SOrry Batty I hope it wasnt pain full.
Our house still smells of its warm sweet cinnamon goodness.
Our house still smells of its warm sweet cinnamon goodness. Thank you Batty for YOUR contribution to our Family. We will never forget you.

Rest In peace Batty.
October 2007- November 2007