Wall Art Made Easy March 16, 2008

Here’s a little something I made tonight….

This is above the door that leads from my scraproom into my bedroom.  The maroon heart is the same color as the ceiling in my scraproom. 

I made this using the Cricut “Jasmine” cart. for the letters and the “George” font for the heart.  The scroll behind the heart was made by combining to Jasmine “p”s.  Each letter is made using the 5 1/2” setting.

I applied this to the wall using Xyron temporary adhesive, so I can remove or change it at any time without any frustrating adhesive hinderances.

I actually got this idea from my mom.  She is having a friend paint a couple of sayings over two doors in her home.  I liked the idea so much, I decided to try it with something a little less permanent than paint.  I love the results.  Very simple, yet very dramatic.  Even Rodney likes it!  :)

Artist Survival Kit

Here’s a fun project for any artist.  I made this in one weekend.  I still need to bind the book, but it’s easier to take pics before binding, so that’s what you see….the unbound book.  This album uses Paper Studio papers and fun printables by Keri Smith.

Pics of my Scrappy Projects March 10, 2008

I said I would come back and post some pics of my projects and here they are! After I get more resized small enough to show up here, I’ll post them too.  I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I have enjoyed making them!

Scrapper’s Sick Bed March 7, 2008

I was recently very sick.  It started with the flu, then changed to strep throat and sinusitis.  Then it changed to a stomach virus.  I’m all better now (THANK GOD!) and am really grateful for how good it feels to be healthy.  While I was sick, I would get soooooo bored.  Laying in bed all day is no fun.  So I transferred some of my scrappy stuff into my sick room and got a little scrapping done. 

This is me, sick as a dog.  It’s not the greatest pic of me, but I really just wanted to show you the bed.  You know you’re addicted to scrapbooking when you can’t even stay away from it when you’re miserable sick.  lol

This is a scrapper’s sick bed.  What cracks me up is the empty medicine box in my little trash bag.  Miserable sick, but still scrapping away.  Yep, I’m addicted.  I’ll come back later and add some pics of my completed projects.  Until then, y’all have a wonderful day!

I’m Still Alive! March 5, 2008

Gosh, it’s been a while huh?  I know I disappeared for almost a year and I’m sorry about that.  So much has happened in this past year that I was just completely overwhelmed.  In order to focus on dealing with what all was happening, I took a one year break from scrapbooking.  The truth is, I was very near a meltdown and was actually at the point where I couldn’t do anything beyond basic survival.  So, strange as it may seem, letting scrapbooking drop was the best thing I could do for myself. 

Here’s a quick list of major things in the past year:

1.  The reality of losing my brother set in and my world fell apart.  I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, but I have learned to live with it.

2.  My church family split.  If you’re a church-goer, you know how traumatic this can be.  It was just like going through a divorce and we were the kids.  It was just awful.  To make it MUCH worse, the media had a field day with it.  It was plastered all over the front page of the newspaper for months.  And since I sang on the worship team there, people knew my face and I couldn’t go anywhere without people asking questions (and sometimes being downright hostile).  Amazingly, God made beauty from ashes in that situation.  Our new church, Heart of Worship, was formed and I am so excited about what God is doing there! 

3.  I MOVED!!!  We found a really nice house in a fantastic neighborhood.  I love that it’s actually big enough to hold my entire family.  Rodney loves that there are two private lakes right across from our house so that he can go fishing whenever he wants.  The kids love that it’s a safe neighborhood to play in.  We’re really happy here.

4.  Rodney was working in Shreveport.  This is a two hour drive from where we live, so the drive consumed much of his day and much of our money.  :)  And since he was working nights, we never saw him.  For a solid year, all he did was work, drive and sleep.  I was living like a single mom with a sugar daddy.  :)  It’s tough raising six kids by yourself.

So with all that going on, you can imagine how overwhelmed I was.  And letting scrapbooking go was actually an easy decision.  I was so heartbroken and busy that I had ZERO creativity.  So even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t have scrapped.

But now everything seems to be so much better.  The house made a big difference.  AND Rodney is now working in the town we live in!!!!  And he works days too, so he’s with us all the time now.  We’re loving that!  Things at church are still keeping me super busy, but it’s a happy busy.  We’re a new church, so there’s lots to be done and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

So now I’m back….and so is my scrappy mojo.  I’ve been scrapping like crazy lately!  As soon as I can, I’ll get some new photos of my projects up.  I’m no longer on any design teams and I really don’t think I’ll persue that again.  With my new job as worship leader, I really don’t have the time to devote to a design team.  But I’m still active on a few sites and am again entering contests and challenges.  So I’ll have updates on those every once in a while. 

Hey, check out my worship blog!  The link is on the right of this page.  It’ll give you an idea of what I do outside of scrapping.  :)

Thanks for checking in on me, y’all.  I really appreciate the love y’all have shown while I went through all of this over the past year. 

Here’s a Fun Something! April 28, 2007

Okay, so it’s a couple of days later than I said it would be.  Sorry about that.  But here’s some fun news.  This was posted over at Moments 2 Remember and I think it’s a really fun idea.  So all my digi scrapping friends, take a look at this.  This might be right up your alley!

Attention M2R Friends!!

Are you a designer? Do you play around with
blinkies, tags, signatures? …. then take a look at this!

Moments to Remember is ready for a facelift!

We are offering the membership and general public to take part in
re-working and updating our look! A full facelift!!

We are looking for a fresh, new logo….using “Moments to Remember” and also our “M2R” names.
You may use any color combinations that are pleasing and can be converted into the website design.
Please be sure that you are using original, created by YOU designs and elements.

Submissions to robinl_rutgers@hotmail.com
Please include LOGO in the subject line to be considered!

All submissions become the property of Moments to Remember and are free from copyright barriers.

All contest entries need to be in the email inbox no later than May 30,
2007.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!!

Reality Bites April 25, 2007

Are y’all ready for some honesty?  The truth is that I’m usually a pretty upbeat, happy person.  But lately, I’m just struggling to get through each day.  I spent so long in shock over my brother’s death and none of it seemed real.  I was still waiting for him to come knocking on my door.  But that didn’t happen.  And I was so busy with life issues, that I didn’t take the time to grieve for my brother.  Apparently, that wasn’t a good idea.  I pushed my hurt to the side for so long that the hurt finally pushed it’s way to the front.  Now that’s about all I can feel.

 I have my moments where I’m pretty much okay.  I use those moments to wash a load of laundry or whatever.  But for the most part, I’m struggling just to stay focused on anything.  I’d like to say that I’m all better now, but the truth is that some days are much worse than others.

I have finally stopped expecting Neil to show up at my house.  I guess that’s a step forward.  But the hurt is so big now that it’s a physical pain in my chest.  I honestly don’t think the hurt will ever go away.  The crying may stop and the physical pain may go away, but I think my heart will always ache for Neil.  I think that it is something that I’m going to have to learn to live with.  Mourning and grieving.  Are they the same thing?  I don’t know.  But I’m hoping to move out of this pain eventually.

I made a page about missing Neil and I’d like to share it with you here.  This was the most difficult scrapbook page I’ve ever made.  But I’m glad I made it.  It expresses just one of the aspects of my heart right now.  If you’d like to see full credits on the page, just click on the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar. 

Okay this time, for real, I really will be back with a happy announcement tomorrow.  I know, I know…I promised that last time and it never happened.  I’m sorry about that.  But this time I really will post something happy tomorrow.  Thank you for letting me share my heart with you…even when it’s broken.  Stay tuned for a smile tomorrow.  :)

Oops…Disappeared April 12, 2007

Sorry I disappeared for a few days, y’all.  We’ve had a lot going on in our family life (nothing too bad, please don’t worry) and I really needed to focus on everything else for a few days.  But I’m back now and ready to blog like crazy again.  lol  I’ll be back later today with a fun blog post.  I just wanted to let y’all know that I’m still here.  :)

Easter Sunday April 8, 2007

This is a very important time of year for us.  This is the time that we remember just who we are in Christ and just who He really is to us.  Yes, we remember it all the year through, but we’ve set aside this time to celebrate this.  Why?  Well, do you celebrate any anniversary in your life?  Wedding, birthday, etc?  Why not celebrate THE defining moment in all of history?  Jesus Christ, our Savior, offered Himself up for us as payment for our sins.  He suffered and died because He loves us too much to have us spend eternity apart from Him.  And then He did the ultimate…He conquered death!  He rose again and reigns as King.  WOW!

In case you’re wondering why He did all this…there’s a pretty simple explanation.  God is holy.  He is perfect.  Sin cannot stand in His presence.  So how can we possibly spend eternity with Him if we are sinners?  It’s as though there’s a great big canyon standing between us and God.  That’s where Jesus comes in.  He stands as a bridge between us and God.  He suffered and died as a sacrifice for our sins.  Yours and mine.  Because of His sacrifice, made in love, our sins are washed away and we are made clean.  We are now able to come into the very presence of God without fear or shame.  All because of Jesus.  That’s love.  That’s true, pure love.  That’s what we celebrate at Easter, and every day. 

So I pray that you will all be blessed with love & joy…today and always.  May you know that you are wrapped up in love, surrounded by it.  Because that’s what love does.  That’s what Easter is.  A celebration of love….true love.

You know, when I started this blog, I said that I wasn’t going to bring my “religion” “faith” or whatever you want to call it, into my writing.  I told myself that this blog was going to be only about scrapbooking and maybe a bit about my day to day life thrown in here and there.  But I suppose my faith really does define who I am.  God is love.  Jesus is love.  If I call myself “a Christian” or a “Christ-follower” then love should be what I am all about, right?  If it weren’t, then I would be a liar, right?  So in spite of all my mistakes, my wrongs, my failings, my shortcomings, I hope that one day those who knew me can say, “No, she wasn’t perfect…but she loved.  She really loved.”  I realize this may have very little to do with scrapbooking, but then again maybe it does.  Since I call my scrapbook pages “love letters” to my family, then talking about the source of love makes perfect sense.  lol 

And my friends, if you have any questions about anything I’ve said today, just drop me an email and we’ll chat.  I’d be thrilled to hear from you!

Cheap Entertainment April 6, 2007

Wanna have some fun in a super cheap way?  Go to your local discount store and buy a ceramic turtle and some acrylic paint.  Bring it home, hand it to your child, sit back and enjoy!  A few precautions:  be sure to protect your surfaces with plastic/newspaper/whatever, DO NOT leave the bottle of paint alone in room with child (big BIG mess), maybe consider covering walls too….just in case.  I swear, Beau played with this thing for a really long time and it was soooo much fun to watch him!  Cheap entertainment is cool with me!  I even took pictures…of course.  lol  If you wanna see full credits for the layout, just click on the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar.  This page uses the wonderful “Extravaganza” kit by Denise Liemert, available at Scrapable & PolkaDotPotato.  That fun doodle is in the kit too!  Aren’t the colors just PERFECT for these photos?!

In other fun news…ScrapperGal is having a cyber crop!  Mark your calendars ladies.  The crop is going to be April 13 thru 15.  There will be challenges, games, prizes…it’s gonna be great!  Y’all come on by and join in the fun!  The link can be found in the right side toolbar under “My Design Teams.”  Sure hope to see y’all there!