New Scrapbook Pages YAY!

Hey yall! I finally got to scrapbook. I have been making all kinds of different pages. (catching up)So there will be several in this post.

This first one is AUNT ANITA'S GiFT. Aunt Anita is a dear family member and she made Bella a beautiful cross stitched Graduation announcement for Graduation.I took some photos of her opening it since Aunt Anita lives far away. Bella loved it and it is is on our mantle with the Graduation photos on display,

This is a page I did with photos from Bella's Honor"s Chapel. She got 3 awards and her Honors cord to wear during Graduation.

This shows how Bella felt about her last day of school! Pretty excited!

This is just a simple page showing the entire class and the kindergarten class throwing their hats!

This page (sorry the photo is crooked) is of the warrior walk. That is where they walk down the halls of the elementary school and let the younger kids cheer for them toward the end of school. (in their cap and gown of course)

I posted these 2 pages together they are a 2 page layout. THey got to change up their uniform the last day of school Bella and Liberty painted their uniform all the way to their shoes. They did a good job it was so cute. Here are some of her friends the last day of school.

Bella and her little cousin Jazzy. She was climbing all over Bella hahaha. They love each other can't you tell?

This is from Jazzy's Adoption party, she is officially family! (we already had considered her our family)

We surprised mama real good on Mother's Day. If you wanna read the journaling just click on the layout (page), you can make it bigger. NOW, Im all caught up on the latest pages I have made. Time to make some more! bye for now Nancy

WE DID IT!

SHE HAS GRADUATED!

We are so proud of her! She left with majority of her class mates this morning EARLY (5 am) on their senior class trip. We got lots of photographs but there are several we didnt get that we wanted to get! It was so crowded and noisy and busy it was hard to get around quickly to get photos with every one. we did get some good ones though. It was so good to have family there. Mama and Aunt Irene were there. (thats moms sister)

I was thrilled my Sister in love and brother in love and nephew got to come!! (Liz, Ty and Greyson) Liz helped me more than she knew. and SHE FIXED my hair!! love her so much.

I wished my brother had been able to come but I understand. he could have hooted and hollered for her with me. David and Diane (our next door neighbors since we moved here 17 years ago, Bella calls them AUnt Diane and Uncle David) They are an important part of our life. I got a photo of DIane but David got behind the camera and was taking photos instead of him being in them. mighty tricky David I will still get one of you and Bella though.

We did do a thing though. I was determined to do a rehash of a photo. the sweetest photo ever!

and so we did..... yes I got misty eyed over that too. my little girl is growing up. Im so happy though for her and excited for all she has in front of her. I won't lie and won't say I am not a little wanting her to stay home with me. BUT, we have raised her to be a strong lovely young woman that has a good head on her shoulders and is strong in christ. I have faith she can do anything she puts her mind to. but also I would like to see her come home some time on weekends from college. I will miss her terribly and I know her daddy and the dogs will too. now, I get to start scrapbooking all these photos we took (yay funnn) so I must get busy, I love you daughter of mine to the moon and back 300 times plus many more. you will always be my baby. you can always come home and you can always come to mama to vent your frustrations or just to talk about your day. I love you so so so much.

New Simple stories simple vintage, cottage fields line

I made this layout with the NEW Simple stories simple vintage cottage fields line. The pearl beads (top right corner), The chipboard arrow, and the hearts washi tape come from my own personal stash of product. Every thing else is the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Cottage fields line. I love it I got as much of it as I could get. I got some stencils too Im yet to use, But, you will see on a card soon. This was a rather simple layout to put together, I just added little touches of embellishments everywhere. So there is a lot to look at. I hope you like it. I had fun making it. Especially since its my daughters 18th birthday (how can it be?)

A GOOD THING I FOUND

HEY YALL! I found a good thing last night and I wanted to share it with you! My Friend RICKY BROMERO posted on his You Tube channel a guided detailed tour of his Craft room! OH IT IS a DREAM CRAFT room. SO ORGANIZED, I learned several organization tips for stamps while watching his video. Its in depth and he goes in detail (I LOVE IT) so grab you a coffee or whatever your favorite beverage is and sit back and enjoy.cLICK or TOUCH HERE RICKYS SCRAP ROOM I hope you enjoy come back and tell me what you think. BE SURE AND LIKE HIS YOU TUBE VIDEO! AND SUBSCRIBE! Have a wonderful day! Nancy

Bella Turned 18 yesterday!!!

HEy Y'All! I am sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have been scrapbooking but not as much. I have been dealing with sinus/allergy and just feeling blah and yuck. sleeping a lot. Ive got to get over it and get myself together. The Good News. My BABY turned 18 yesterday! YES I cried. It's so hard for me to believe she can be all grown and stuff. She should still be a little girl with me dressing her all cute and putting bows in her hair. That is not the case! I mean look at this picture!

She was the cutest, sweetest, snuggliest baby ever!!! Hard to believe that baby is now 18! it went so fast! She started her day going to school of course. she said she had a good day. She came home and we got our neighbors and best friends David and Diane Carter (she calls them Uncle David and AUnt Diane) to go with us out to eat at Bella's favorite hangout places. My stomach wasnt ready haha. SO we went to Taco Mama down by THe Old DUtch.

You see all that food! We sat outside DONT LET THAT BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINE FOOL YOU!! The wind was blowing like crazy and it was cool! It cut right through you. My hair was blowing all over the place. I looked like Phyllis Dillar by the time we left. I got the steak tacos and the queso and cheese it was pretty good. They all got shrimp tacos and fish tacos, Bella got a taco bowl, John got us a sampler of the queso, guac and salsa tray. stuff was blowing all over the place. BUT it was still fun and we enjoyed our food. Then we went to Coffee Monster. (its in the same shopping center) I gotta tell you. YOU KNOW I am a loyal Yellowhammer butterpecan latte with whip LOVER!!! BUT, I tried theirs at Coffee Monster. whew. It was good. It came in a larger size (loved) and they put more of the butter pecan syrup (loved) and the whip had like carmel or something in it? (tasty) the coffee was strong (loved) They are way down by where I get my treatments at USA hospital in that area (don't love) I will have one from time to time I cant have one before my treatments because coffee narrows my veins and makes it hard for them to get my iv in. so no coffee on the morning of my treatment. usually I don't feel like coffee afterwards Im nauseas. soooo not that day. And thats really the only time I am down there. so we may have to do an afternoon date and go get coffee or a morning date. they had good looking food stuffs too.

This is Bella and Aunt Diane with their coffee's. Bella got a Honey Rose latte that was cold she said it was good.

he Bella and Aunt Diane with her daddy (John) photo bombing hahah He had this chocolate something monster frappe drink that was amazing. but was full of caffeine I would have never slept again.

Bella And Aunt Diane and me photo bombing not on purpose. These are all at Coffee Monster.

The Family portrait. My meds are really doing a number on me. I also see the effects of not doing clean Eating anymore. all of us would benefit from it.

My baby and her 18th Birthday Cake. Isn't she beautiful? We all had a great time last night just spending time together. We used to go out to eat or just hang out at each others house more before covid hit and we haven't really seen each other since all that started. So it was good to see them and be able to go out with them. Happy Birthday Bella. I hope 18 is a great year for you. We love you so much and are here for you. NO matter what! I hope you had a wonderful Birthday!!

MS Awareness

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a big part of my families life. I have been diagnosed for 9 years with MS. I was misdiagnosed with Lupus Sle for 12 years prior to the MS diagnoses, My dr still thinks I have the Discoid Lupus (skin) in a mild form. I dunno I just know my skin is funky ha. Ive been sick on and off most of my life. Caught every virus and Itis going around in school and the community. My brother and sister could come home just feeling a little bad, stomach hurting and the next day I would have the full fever, stomach ache, vomiting and acheyness. THis has gone on all my life. It wasn't Until after the trial for the guy that killed my dad. (long story short, My daddy was a depurty killed in line of duty. THey had a trial for the guy (not much older than me, for the guy that did it. I went to it every day and sat through most all of it) after it was over I had problems with my leg and arm on my left side going numb and getting horrible headaches. I saw my dr he noted it and put me on steroids. said it was probably the stress I had been through. see if this took care of it. well it took a couple weeks but it went away but I had horrible fatigue. I had problems with both my legs and lower back. my hands were going numb and in the mornings I would collapse trying to get out of bed. I felt worse after I took a shower or bath. I wanted to sleep all the time. I had bad mind fog. had trouble remembering things and recalling names and events. I went from a smart Vivatious young woman to one that slept on the couch all the time. I saw a neurologist and a rheumatologist. They came up with nothing and told me I had fibromyalgia. I didnt like that answer this had to be more than that. I stopped drinking diet drinks no aspertame stopped drinking cokes and drank lots of water and started eating good. still no change. I got a little bit better over time but nothing miraculous and my jeans were fitting better after all the steroids. We still didn't know what was wrong with me. People at my church told me about Ochsners Clinic that they had some success there with their dr's in difficult cases. so we loaded up and went there. They couldn't find anything wrong until the regular Rheumatologist was out one day and a different one was in and she really stopped and looked at my chart and my tests results. some were slightly off and then she did a physical analysis that was way off. she was most concerned about my eyes. But one thing got her attention. I had this bright red butterfly like rash on my face over my cheeks and nose. THat is a definite sign of lupus (and now we are finding out you can have that with MS also) she rechecked my labs and said she thought I had a mild case of discoid lupus but I definitely had Lupus Sle (systemic) and my kidneys were in danger at the moment. finally, We had a name for this. Well we took the treatments and got a rheumatologist local (This is when we lived in Mississippi) They put me on several different medications but they just were not working and I was getting worse. My kidneys were causing problems I was getting infections like crazy and having uti's one after the other. I saw a specialist in Biloxi at the Urology specialists they helped a lot. I had trouble "going" then when I was finally going I had trouble stopping. They put me on several medications. They said it was the lupus causing it. I was so scared. John and I had been married for a bit and we wanted a baby. THey had me on Methotrexate and there was no way I could get pregnant while I was taking that. The dr said give it 6 months and then we will talk that having a baby would be hard on my kidneys. so I prayed and prayed got everyone I knew to pray got my church to pray. 6 months went by and I was doing better so I asked again. My dr said I had to be Off this Methotrexate in order to have a healthy baby and even then my chances of nothing being wrong with my baby were up in the air. I told him I will leave that up to God just get me where I can have a baby. He said I will take you off this medicine for 6 months if you can get pregnant in that time frame you will have a baby if not you need to go back on the medicine. I was crying. I hoped and then Prayed we could do it and not cause harm to the baby. So I went and saw my gynocologist. bad news. I had bad endometriosis. So he scheduled me for surgery to "clean me out" that would up my chances of getting pregnant make me feel better too. he said he didnt want to do any type of fertility treatments on me with me having been on such strong meds. just get this out of my system and Let God do the rest. I told him I have 6 months before id have to go back on the meds he said we have to hurry then. so I had the surgery it was a little tough but I did good. I felt so much better. I felt better just being off the methotrexate!! so as soon as the 6 weeks were up John and I let nature take its course and at 5 and 1 /2 months into it (nothing like cutting it close) I got pregnant. I had a difficult pregnancy but it was so worth it. After I had my daughter I had some problems with the numbness again. They assured me all this was normal after having a c section that it would all go away in time that I should relax and enjoy my new baby. I couldnt help thinking something was wrong but they insisted I was ok so I just told my husband what was happening to keep track of it in case something major happened. when our daughter was 4 months old my husband came home saying the man that hired him for his job left and they were firing everyone he hired which included my husband. we were devastated. I was on weekly therapy for lupus and we had this new baby to take care of. but GOD. GOd saw us through. somehow our insurance kept working and my treatments were covered i told my dr what had happened and he signed me up for grants and for manufacturer discounts. I NEVER WENT WITHOUT MY TREATMENTS!!! Bella our baby got her well baby care and her shots on schedule. JOhn couldnt find any work in the I.T. field back home in Jackson or the surrounding area making what he needed to make. so he looked elsewhere. The company that provided his dealership with the software and equipment to the car dealership was hiring. THe only problem was the job was in Mobile Alabama. 3 and a half hours away from our family. I couldnt imagaine being away from family with a new born. so I stayed while John went for the first year. I finally moved down with him and we bought a house and sold our house and moved all in 2 weeks!! YOu cant tell me that wasnt a God thing! Well I moved my drs to drs in Mobile and he wasnt so sure I had lupus but was treating me. fast forward to when Bella was about 4 I went numb again on my left side they did some tests but said here take these steroids and let us know if it happens again. ughhh ok. I was still taking lupus treatments. Then one day when Bella was about 6 I was in my scrapbook room, John had made me this island in the center of the room and I was putting stuff in albums and had them stacked up on the end of the Island, I was in my rolly chair. Bella was at school, John was at work but I think was maybe on his way home or had just gotten home or something because he got home right after it happened. but I fell out of the rolly chair my legs and feet all the way to my hips (yes I lost bladder control) went numb and I tried to catch myself on the corner end of the island and the top wasnt bolted down it was just laid atop of the cabinets. It lifted up and all those albums and stuff on top of that island came sliding over and down on me on my arm/shoulder and knocked it out of socket, I was screaming. I couldnt move I had stuff all on top of me. JOhn came in and was throwing stuff to get to me and grabbed that arm I screamed again said no other arm. he didnt understand and tried again I said YOUR KILLING ME. my arm is hurt. use other arm. he realised then that all the crapp fell on that shoulder and arm. he got my wheel chair out and got me into that and rushed me to the hospital. THAT is where I met my first neurologist that introduced the words multiple sclerosis. I argued with him. I told him I had been tested many times for it but never has it been conclusive that I had it. He said ya I am looking at your chart. You have had 4 incidents of this, THis being a big one. THis warrants an MRI and a spinal tap. I was going a whaaaaaaaaaaa? so He did the tests and he said the Mri lit up like a christmas tree and the spinal tap was 98% positive for ms. he said well you got it. we need to take you off this crapp thats not working for lupus since you DONT HAVEEEEE lupus and get you on medicine for MS. I was still just shocked He said first I want you to go to Birmingham to the MS Clinic and see Dr Bashir (I think that was his name he was the head of the clinic he was so awesome) and get a second opinion. Im sending them your scans and your spinal tap and all blood work etc. and you take your MRI to him and these notes I wrote and see which medicine he suggests. I think you should be on Rebif every day we need to be aggressive. But let him look at it and see what he says also. THen we will get you started. I was sitting there dumbfounded like IM GOING WHERE? so we went to UAB and saw Dr BASHIR. I loved him he was so calm and reassuring. He held my hand and told me It was for sure I had MS I started crying and he said sh sh sh its ok, Your not going to die today. I started laughing. I said will it be soon? he said not from this but yes you will die. but long time from now if its from ms. ms just makes you wish you were dead and he laughed i said OH GOODY. he said nah you can get through this. Its and he paused then said Uncomfortable. when its active you may be disabled. But never give up always push for better. stay on top of your health care and the most important thing is to keep moving and not be depressed, find you some good support be it your husband your daughter a support group a church friends whomever that will be there for you when it gets tough. you will have bad days but you will have good days too. enjoy the good days think of the good days on the bad days and reach for more good days. oh he was so awesome. he could have told me they were about to chop my arm off and id have said Ok. he had such a soothing voice. he said it is not fatal you can live a long time with MS. what people die of is their heart gives out or kidney isssues or organ failure from difficulties with ms. He made it sound so ok. like I wouldnt die from ms but complications of ms. but not till I was really old, I wished I lived there so he could be my dr I liked my neurologist too Ill call him Dr D he showed me his vacation photos and funny pictures he had taken in college etc. I think he thought I was depressed when that was just me. He was my dr for a couple of years until we got a MS SPECIALIST in town. whom I loveddddd! He was so awesome. He did so much for me anHad got me to feeling so much bettter through eating clean and exercise and weight lifting along with treatment. I wish he still was here but he moved back to DUKE to do research for a cure. I have it in my mind all these wonderful new meds that are coming out that he has something to do with them. I sure do miss himd though. He is a great dr. He had a wonderful bedside manner. He called me and emailed me between visits if he read something Id be interested in andchecked in on me. I have a new ms specialist right now Im not completely happy with him. He worked and studied under this MS Specialist that I loved. He sure doesnt have his bedside manner. he doesnt call back when you call with questions or have problems. I can not get his staff to call me back and Im having problems. its crazy Im not happy with them. Im thinking of goign back to my neurologist at least he calls when i have questions or problems. this dr also doesnt believe ms causes pain either. I highly disagree with him the numbness hurts. I have a lot of pain. some from ms some not im not sleeping due to pain. welll thats my story about how i got dx with ms and my ongoing saga. if your still with me and reading IM amazed. I thank you and I ask you to pray for all our ms warriors. its a tough disease that changes all the time. here is a link for awareness you can read

Some Good Things I have found lately,

Here are some GOOD THINGS I HAVE FOUND LATELY. Be sure and Email me at NancywithaJones@Gmail.com if you know of a online small business (can be a store that also has online services) a you tuber, a Blogger, Or anyone that has something good they are doing that You would like to see me add to my GOOD Things I have found lately just click on that link and tell me about it. Thank you ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MY FIRST GOOD THING I want to highlight.I have already told you a little bit about before but it was just the facebook group. NOW they have the website going. It just got up and running and they are adding products to it. It's called CREATIVE FOR LESS THis will take you to the sign up page. she will have many pre orders on there soon. The site literally just got finished and put up this past week.THey are adding things and working out stuff on it so please be patient. They are getting product in and adding it. This is not all that they will carry not even close. so keep checking back!! sign up so you can be notified. You can still join the facebook group to get updates and notifications also. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Next Good Thing I have found is THE COZY ANTLER.. This is a boutique like setting for T shirts of all occassions. Owned by my cousin (she is so beautiful I must add!!) Brandy Robertson It is mostly adult T shirts but she sometimes has kids and youth shirts also.She has other accessories on there also. The T shirts are just so cute! she has sports and funny phrases, tv show phrases and characters, Christian phrases and images and so much more. I got a very cute 4 leaf clover shirt for St. Patricks day. She has like every holiday cute shirts even the Holidays you dont think about. Here are a few examples:

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you can see all these and more as well as other accessories on her Group page at The Cozy Antler ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My friend Debby Hamilton" HEY DEBBY!!" introduced me to this You tuber That I REALLY LIKE. You probably have already heard of her. SHe has a growing audience every day. she shows detailed tutorials of simple hacks on how to do things and more advanced things also. It's called Redefined Kreative They do videos on Facebook and you tube every day. oh also INstagram. YOu can follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube to be sure you don't miss anything. I save my favorite videos that I want to go back and look at again. Here is their page with lots of videos and tutorials on it. you should be able to find something fun to do there. I just love it!. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Last but NOT LEAST Good thing I have discovered through good friends is a online store that is really good. You may know about it already. Im just oogling over her stamps AND she carries my favorite glue. (Bearly Art precision Glue) its called MAYMAY MADE IT I will be honest with you, I found the site a little bit hard to understand at first, but when I found that product list to search from I was good. It made it so much easier or to type in the search bar what I was looking for. She has a lot of product! I just love the Christian stamps that she has. AND you can sign up for stamp of the month and get the CHristian stamps or get the regular non Christian but very cute stamps. Im debating on getting the Christian stamp club. I send out a lot of cards and uplifting messages to friends that are sick and have cancer and other diseases to cheer them up and encourage them. They have some good ones with bible verses, They also have some good ones that arent biblical that are super cute as well. She has my BEARLY ART PRECISION glue also. SHE carries the Bundle for the glue also you cant just get that everywhere! She also carries The Art glitter Glue. I know lots of scrapbookers and cardmakers like that. She has lots of paper packs also I love me a good paper pack so I can make my own kits. She carries Mintay paper line!! thats hard to find other than etsy so thats awesome! I have been filling my cart with stuff (I have to wait till we get Bella's Graduation paid for) and then let it sit till summer when I can purchase stuff again. I will need my glue though. Her store is like a hidden treasure. It has so much good stuff. Well I hope you have checked out these places on my Good Things I have found lately. I try to bring you interesting and Good places that maybe you don't know about or have heard of. Im always on the search so if you know of good sites or you tubers doesnt have to be scrapbooking but I would like for it to be some type of art. I would love it if you sent them my way to feature in my Good things Ive found. Thank you and you never know you just might end up with a happy from me for the referal and a shout out!!

Some New Challenge Pages

So, I have been trying to do some of the daily challenges over at Scrapbooking The Day Away. I did a few this week but (show me your shocked face) Im running out of Photos!! I KNOW right??!! Ive been scrapping like crazy and I am caught up with Bella on her photos. Im actually telling her to take some pictures for me to scrapbook please. Yeah that works so good too I get the great response of a ::sigh:: and Oh mom!she will send me maybe one photo of her sitting on a rock or something and think that should last me a few months! Not hardly darlin'. SO I am going back and scrapping all the out takes of Christmas and other pictures that I really wasn't intending to scrap. BUT I have no more so I have to scrap them. Here are a few of the last photos I have to scrap these are also challenge pages I will list the challenges That I did. The first challenge was: *scrap a page using this tutorial (50 points) [per finished page] *use your left over scraps (50 points) [per finished page] *use more than 3 colors (25 points) [per page] *journal on your page (25 points) Well I didnt do the tutorial. AND I am not keeping up with the points. (it stressed me out and I was losing my creativity and was finding it hard to do the challenges when I was trying to keep up with the points and all so I just started doing the challenges for fun forgetting about the points and it got better. I did use my scraps use 3 colors and I journaled although its hidden on the tags behind the photo.

The hidden journaling says: I got Bellas senior portrait ( the big framed photo) for Christmas. I cried and cried. Hidden journaling says: oh Bella, I do not know what came over me, I’m sorry you got frustrated with me over my crying. I do too know what came over me! Thinking of you all the way back as a tiny little girl holding your daddy’s hand going to k4. Watching you excel in school and make friends. Fighting with you over homework and studying in grammar school. Watching you make great study habits in jr high and then high school. It seems it all went by so fast. You grew up on me in a blink of my eye. I know I took tons of pictures but I wish I could have been there for everything. I love you my Girl!! So much!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This next Challenge I think I had the most fun with! Your challenge today is to scrap a page using as many things on this list as possible: - Card stock - Patterned paper - Stickers - Embellishments - A title - Journaling - Something shiny - 3 of something - The color pink - Something shiny - A triangle - An animal - An item that you have fussy cut - A heart I used every single thing on here!

This was a fun challenge! I loved it..I also had new paper to play with so that made a difference too haha! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is the next challenge *scrap a page (25 points) [per finished page] *do all of your scrapping in the middle of the page (50 points) [per finished page] *use 2 or more photos (25 points) *use stars or hearts on your page (25 points) [per star or heart used] I sorta did the challenge. I put my pictures in the center of the page. my paper was started in the center of the page but drew right. I did use 2 photos. I added stars cut out to the bottom and used a star paper background.

The Journaling talks about how these three started out 4k together at Jackson Creek Christian Academy (in a small church) and went there till 3rd grade till the school diseminated, then these three went on to Cottage Hill Christian and stayed there all the way to seniors as they are now. They will graduate together this spring. I love that! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was actually the first challenge number 14 but Im putting it last. Its just how it fell on my page. Here is the challenge Your challenge today is to: *scrap a page (100 points!!) [per finished page] *use something you love!! (A picture you love, paper you've been hanging on to, a favorite embellishment etc.!!) (100 points) [per item you love] *use stripes, circles, squares AND a heart (100 points) [per finished page]

You can hardly see my square and stripe (same thing) because of my pictures. Its there though. I used washi tape as my favorite embellishment. a big circle. The journaling talks about how Bella was inducted into the National Honor Society and how proud we are of her. she worked really hard for this. Those are the challenges I did this past week. Im digging through old photos to get more to go with the rest of the challenges. so hopefully I will find some. Ill post more when I get some done. Hope you all have a great week Nancy

Simple Stories LOVE!

OK so I know Valentines Day has passed, BUT, I didn't get my Valentines goodies from the original seller I ordered some from (they are shipping to me today) I know right? My friend Brandy Baucom Came to my rescue the week before Valentines day, and let me purchase some of her Simple Stories Valentine Card Kit, Paper Pack and Chipboard embellishments.THANK GOD! Without that I would not have had anything for John and Bella or anyone. I had no valentines stuff! SO I got it the day before Valentines day! Yeah! I was creating like a crazy woman. But here's the thing. The love card kit (shown below) was so easy and you just punch every thing out of the preforated lines. Everything you need is there. except adhesive of course. It was so easy. I made all of them in no time.

They were so easy to make really fast, AND they are SO ADORABLE! SO, I got them from Brandy Baucom she has a Facebook group called CREATIVE FOR LESS She is working on getting the website up so we all can purchase stuff again (long story)discount prices, (Good stuff, less money we all love that right?) so,if you click on the CREATIVE FOR LESS and join the Facebook group, You will be immediately notified as soon as the site is up and running.(which will be soon.) She will have scrapbooking supplies, pre orders, all kinds of fun things for your crafting needs at discounted prices. I want to thank her for letting me purchase these Simple Stories sets. She really came to my rescue! I am enjoying it. I got the card kit from her and I spent Saturday night whipping them up having so much fun. I added my own Pearl bling to the flower centers. That was not included with the kit. Also of course the adhesive was not included. Here are some pictures of my favorites.

So Those were really fun to make. I highly recommend them. If you see them, Buy them for next year. Actually you can use them anytime. They don't say Valentine on them. You can do them your self or do them with your kids to pass out to friends or family members. They are not hard to do at all. They make quickly. Ok Next:

I also got this Simple Stories Sweet Talk paper pack and I got the chip board stickers to go with it.

I made 2 layouts for the daily challenges at Scrapbooking The Day Away. Here is the First one I did. OH let me tell you. Scrapbooking The Day away in the daily Challenges They are keeping up with points and whoever gets the most points by the end of the month gets a scrappy prize, Everyone is having so much fun with it. SO give it a try. The points were stressing me out and messing with my scrapbooking. It completely turned me off and I couldnt get motivated to scrap. I was confused and had no mojo. so I am doing the challenges like before for enjoyment and the actual challenge of it, not for the points. It was driving me crazy trying to keep up with all that. So here is my first page I did this past week. The challenge was use Red pink and white and use embellishments on a page.

The title *that was part of the challenge too we had to have a title) is "You're Still The One" The journaling is some of the song lyrics to the Shania Twain song " Still The One" As you can see I layered several sheets of the paper on this layout. so I could get my pink, red and white on here. I used lots of embellishments from the chip board embellishments, The sticker sheet that is in the paper pack and some left over from the card kit. (yeah don't throw those away!!) I added pink and white bakers twine to the tag (right hand side, middle towards the top) and tied it in a bow, I also added (its hard to see in this picture, but in real life you can see it good) Wink of Stella, glittery goldy colored, glitter to the hearts in the title. Here is my next page I did for another challenge:

I just loved this photo. It is a little blurry and I couldnt blow it up to 5 x 7 so I just matted it double and used it anyway because I just love it so much. It shows LaLa kissing Charley (and he is being kinda grumpy as usual to her) They are like an old husband and wife. Odd couple. They are so funny! But they are so sweet! OK The challenge. THe challenge was to make a Heart background I think it was supposed to be all over your page, and you had other choices like one great big huge heart. and then maybe 3 hearts? a title and journaling maybe. Im looking for it. I can't find it. Oh well its making alot of hearts for a background. this is my interpretation of it. I did a grid style heart back ground with two borders top and bottom with the title lining the bottom. I didn't use a lot of embellishments I thought the hearts were statement enough that it didn't need anything. Oh and by the way, if you look closely the punched out hearts are from hearts paper. SO there is lots of hearts. I added the layered piece of paper on the side to kinda back up to the mat of the photo some and then I double matted the photo. The Journaling tells about their relationship with our household, all of us! They are very much loved! I have VERY MUCH enjoyed using Simple Stories Love Cards and the Paper Pack and chipboard. I still have plenty left over of the paper pack to make cards or some more layouts.. OR save till next year and make valentines. Hopefully next year I will not get my supplies so late Special Thank yous to Brandy for coming to my rescue and getting me some Valentines day stuff! Hope you have a wonderful Day and you get to do something crafty! Nancy

Good Things I have found lately

Ive been looking all over the interweb and locally for inspiration and people with multiple talents. I think I found her. My Friend Becky waters Thackston. She is the owner of "Art from The HEart LLC." she makes all kinds of cute things. here are just a few.

YOu can find these and SO MUCH MORE!! At her facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/BeckysArtfromtheHeart She has so much that is just beautiful and cute and funny and some serious I love it all!!Valentines, St Patricks Day, Easter and etc. GO check her out tell Becky, Nancy Jones sent you from her blog! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another GOOD THING I have discovered lately is The Nifty Scrapbooker's (Jonathon Paul) You tube subscription. OH he does so much with ink and stamps and cards. He has a lot of tips that help you with your card making and scrapbooking too! he is an ENABLER too! you tube videos show me these great products that make it easier and I just have to have them!! Here is his latest youtube videos He does a great job. Here is my favorite on Stenciling. It really taught me alot. look at his other videos and tutorials subscribe and like them please. You won't regret it he has great tips and ideas. Im learning a lot! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is something my friend Robin Nester Calhoun told me about. Creative Memories "Refer a Friend" Share your love of Creative Memories today and start earning FREE SHIPPING for you and your friends and family who are new to Creative Memories! ~~ Know someone who would love our premium scrapbooking products as much as you? Make sure you spread the word with their new Refer A Friend program and in a few easy steps you’ll both get rewarded.Creative Memories has acid free and lignen free products. if you have any questions or comments you can contact Robin Nester Calhoun She is a Creative memories consultant. I know lots of those! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is another friend of mine that has an AWESOME you tube channel. She has so many tutorials and demonstrations of things (she is an enabler too) so much fun and so many fun products. YOU HAVE to watch. Her name is Leslie Prinkki. Check out her you tube channel She has a lot featured on there. YES and new stuff coming up all the time. GO SEE HER you wont be sorry. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My last good thing I have found this time is my Friend Ricky who has the You Tube channel Bromero Cards. Beautiful cards to see and lots of talent. love the videos. good stuff there. you need to go see them for yourself. such a great job. talk about enabling. ugh so good. entertaining as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So there you have it. The GOOD things I have found recently around the web. IF you have a good thing or know someone who has something good. (small buisness doesnt have to be scrapbooking but I prefer art but doesnt have to be, Email me at Nancywithajones@Gmail.com to tell me to check it out. I love highlighting new businesses and scrapbook stores or related businesses. so keep your eyes out. Ill mention your name if you send it. Thank you!

National honor society induction

Hey Yall! This last Thursday night , Bella got inducted into the National Honor society! We are so happy and proud for and of her. I was so excited that I got to go. with strict instructions of course. I had to wear my M95 mask at all times, sit in the back away from every one, not linger afterwards, shower after I got home. so we followed the guidelines and i was happy, tired last night and today wore me out! but so thrilled to get to be there for my Bella here are some photos from the night

This is the whole group of inductees for this year.

This is Brayden, Bella and Dustin.. They all started school together at Jackson Creek Christian in 4k and when that school dissolved they all three moved to cottage hill and continued thier education all the way to seniors.

we couldnt get a good picture of Bella getting pinned during the ceremony. people were everywhere and it was just a messs. So we got Brayden to reenact it afterwards and pin Bella so we could get a picture. (his mom wanted a picture of him pinning also) We are so proud of Bella and all the kids. There are some really smart kids at this school. (cottage Hill Christian) They work hard to achieve all these honors.

My Latest Scrapbook Pages for January

I have really been scrapbooking up a storm this month. I have done 28 pages for various challenges online. I haven't posted all of them online, but I have posted several of them on here, Here are a few more of them I have done these past few weeks. I don't have my cards I've done photographed. Some I have already sent. I will try to remember to photograph some of them next time. I am usually in a hurry to mail them. I have been enjoying doing the challenges on the Podcasts for Scrapgals to find out about the challenges every month. You must subscribe to their podcasts. I LOVEEE their PODCASTS They are so fun and funny and informative. Ive been listening to them while scrapbooking and even going back and listening to older ones they have done and just laughing so hard. THey are great together. I have done 2 challenges for January for them. since the month has gone I figured I could post my pages here that I did for the challenges One of them we posts in the Community OH YEAH IF you join the podcast TODAY. they have a free crop in the features for this Friday night (WHEWHEW GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN!!!) follow my links I have put in this post to join and see the community. Here are my pages.

This page was from a sketch and I really didn't follow the directions (Im sure this doesn't surprise any of you) very well. I didn't do the page like the sketch, I left off the bottom and the journaling and I added stuff. Oh well It is MY interpretation of the sketch.. (said tossing my scarf across my shoulder) HA! oh well It kinda works. I love this picture of Bella and John with their Home knitted stockings that Aunt Anita made for them (I HAVE ONE TOOO!!!!) THese stockings mean so much to us and they stretch to get lots of stuff in them. Stockings are an important part of Christmas and we pay alot of attention to the details of what goes in the stockings. We open the stockings and go through them one thing at the time on Christmas Morning. HEY weve gotten some really cool stuff in the stockings! Next another page for a scrapgals challenge. This one is a life story. They talked about this on their podcast and posted on the site to put up your pages on the topics. This is the one I chose it was most memorable to me.

I hope you can see my journaling. If not I will type it out. It makes the page. They rest are daily challenges from Scrapbooking The day away. I try to keep up with the daily challenges for page of the day challenge. Sometimes I get a couple days behind and have to catch up on the weekend or maybe its just one my mo jo wasnt flowing on. I try hard to do them all though. It has gotten me to scrapbooking more. here are a few of my recent pages from the challenges

This one she had us do torn paper, doodling and a title I think thatwas all. I tore my patterned paper its hard to see my photo is over most of it. And I doodled with dots all the way around the outside of the page and on the the photo mat with dots also.

This challenge if I remember correctly was to use patterned paper and cardstock. Easy for me I use that every time.

This challenge was to follow a sketch. I sorta did (I know youre not surprised) I didnt follow it exactly but I did do the small banner in the top right hand corner its small can you see it? I let the patterned paper flowers serve as my embellishments and i cut my journaling into strips to put under the photo.

This challenge we had to do squares on our page. I kinda did the sketch that I did for Scrapgals again. I changed it up a little with my patterned paper this time and putting a border at the top and bottom and a embellishment in a different place. also a big square behind the photo. that wasnt done in my scrapgals one. I think this one is my favorite. look at John and me we were so young then. This was on one of our dates together before we got married. we were just falling in love and being happy. had the whole world before us. good memories. we are still happy 22 years later and still have the world before us. we have been through alot we took that sickness and in health thing and ran with it. Ya know a lot of my ms friends when they got diagnosed and started going through their time of disability and needing care, their husbands or wives left them. They couldn't handle their spouse needing to be cared for and not being like they used to be. nugh ugh not mine. John stepped up and became my care giver. He takes great care of me and makes sure I have all my meds. makes sure I eat and makes sure I get up in the mornings and im ok to walk. he is amazing and Im so grateful to him for taking care of me. I love him very much and I know he loves me. he has sacrificed so much for me and for Bella. he is a really good man. I love him. Ok well that is my up to today pages I have made. Hopefully you will see something you like or you will get some inspiration or find one of the sites I posted to be a place you like to go. I encourage you to try the scrapgals podcast out. It is so fun and you get additional stuff with it. they give you a link every month that only the podcast subscribers get and it has challenges, a sketch, a run down of what they talked about on the podcast with main topics, downloads of art little pictures to use for your scrapbooking or day planning or whatever. I cant remember what you call that but like you cut it out with a cricut or silhouette or die cut machine. and much more. I am so enjoying it. They are so down to earth and I feel like Im talking to and listening to my good friends having a conversation.

Good Things I have found recently

Hey Y'all! I have to tell Y'all about this new group Im excited about. It's a Die cut group owned by Robin Nester Calhoun, that she sends die cuts out monthly. You make a page with them send her a copy of your page. she has a group of judges that look at all the pages and picks one and the winner gets the next months kit free!! It's so much fun and so exciting. It's a Facebook group called Croppin Robin scrapbook group if you just click on those words it will take you straight to the site (if I did it correctly haha you may have to sign into facebook) Ill show you my page I did for . IT is so cute!

The 2 snow people come disassembled and you glue them together. I jazzed them up some with washi tape and flowers and bling. I also took my title and put stickles on it to make it look like snow and my snowflakes I stickled also to make look like snow. I wasn't sure what to do with that cord. so i kinda wrapped it around to represent the wind. I had so much fun! There were several of us in the running for the free kit. And the girl who won did a beautiful 2 page layout with her kids making a snow man. It was a beautiful page. Im going to join so I get a kit next month too. The monthly kits are only 5.00 thats all yes 5.00 and theyre so much fun to put together. you can get the 6 month for 20.00 if you wont THATS a bargain. Just go to her page and tell her you wanna join that NANCY sent you from her Blog. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't forget about the fun card kit club Owned by Mandy Teifke I told you about in my last post also. She will be mailing out today I think. It's called BEE CREATIVE WITH MANDY.(just click on the link and it will take you to the facebook group, you may have to sign into face book) get a couple of cards and everything is already pre cut out for you to make them with. you get all the supplies. She also gives you the a picture of the design. so Check it out also That is another good thing I have found recently. Ill show you my cards I made after I get my kit. Join her page please. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My good friend Jessica Woods Chaney has recently become a Close to my heart representative! YAYY! I didn't have one close to me and she lives close to me! Here is the link to join her group to find out all things Close to my heart. ( You dont have to be local she can mail it! They have online catalog. her group is fun! click on Here) The link to the Close to my heart catalog is here just click on close to my Heart. They have gotten a lot of things since I have last seen their products. I love their stamps. They have small sentiment (inexpensive) little stamps too that just say " Happy Birthday" "Thinking Of you" theyre like 3.96 and so cute! that is one of my favorite things. I love their white cardstock too It is a TRUE BRIGHT WHITE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So those are a few of The Good things I have run across recently. IF you have a good thing you want me to check out send me an email at Nancywithajones@gmail.com who knows I may feature it in my Good Things I have found recently and post with your name right here on my blog!

2 new CHallenge pages

I am trying to keep up with the daily scrap challenges at Scrapbooking The Day Away I am usually a day or maybe 2 behind, but I tend to catch up on the weekends. Well I did 2 pages today. I dunno if I am caught up or not. I did the challenges I saw. I can't ever find them that well to see them in order to know if Ive done them or post them with the original challenge. Thats the problem with facebook groups vs the message boards. I miss the old message boards and gallerys.No one seems to do that anymore. Well My first challenge I completed was to use a Black and White photo on a colorful background.I chose this picture of MY Daddy when he was a little boy. I did some earnest Journaling about how my dad grew up after being sick with polio when he was a baby, but how his determination followed him throughout adulthood. I love and miss my daddy so much!!

The next challenge was to use 2 photos and your paper scraps along with the color blue for this page.

This page is about her special gift she gets every year from her Uncle Windale and Aunt Karen. I used accents of BLue and a blue background on this I cut out embellishments from both sides of the paper. Its a little dark and hard to see. I also made several cards today. Birthday. Thinking of you. I keep my cards well stocked. Im about to start valentines. I joined a card club last nice (she sends you products to make cards) she is just getting started. All she has is a 5.00 group right now for a couple of cards a month. She is talking about making a bigger kit for people that make more cards. Its called BEE CREATIVE WITH MANDY Click on that and it should take you to it. Tell her I sent you!Its owned by Mandy Teifke. Thats the good thing i have found recently. I hope you have a good day Happy Scrapbooking!