A new color for the year! My favorite color!

Just a couple weeks ago I announced to Dakota that I now had a new favorite color. I also made sure to tell many many other people! To describe it, I did not call the color by name. I told them that my favorite color is an aqua blue, but it is more greenish, but more vibrant, and yet earthy. It is a happy color that really excites me. I refured to old vintage photos with the bright blue hues and the blues associated with the southwest. I told them to boil all those together and the result is my favorite color. this favorite color of course is not my only favorite. One of the reasons that I love it so much is that it goes so nicely with my other favorite color - pink in every shade and hue! I love it so much because it makes me feel positive. It makes me believe that life is beautiful and great and fantastic. I painted my finger nails with it, and now as I type, I watch them and smile simply because they are pretty, and girly, and lovely, and happy!
Shortly after I made the huge decision to give this amazing color a spot next to pink with the glory and title of "favorite," I found out that Turquoise was announced as the color of the year for 2010! Yes! Yes! Yes! the color is called turquoise! My favorite color has a name! Hooray! So, here is the article from the Pantone website that discusses exactly some of the reasons that this color deserves our attention this upcoming year:
I am reposting this from the Pantone.com website:

CARLSTADT, N.J., Dec. 8, 2009 –Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced PANTONE® 15-5519 Turquoise, an inviting, luminous hue, as the color of the year for 2010. Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing.“In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many – taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.”
Whether envisioned as a tranquil ocean surrounding a tropical island or a protective stone warding off evil spirits, Turquoise is a color that most people respond to positively. It is universally flattering, has appeal for men and women, and translates easily to fashion and interiors. With both warm and cool undertones, Turquoise pairs nicely with any other color in the spectrum. Turquoise adds a splash of excitement to neutrals and browns, complements reds and pinks, creates a classic maritime look with deep blues, livens up all other greens, and is especially trend-setting with yellow-greens.
In fashion, Turquoise makes a statement that can look elegant and dressy in fine silk and gemstones, or casual and fun in cotton and athletic apparel. Because of its versatility, Turquoise is a great accent color in jewelry, purses, shoes, hair accessories and even nail polish for women, and ties, shirts and sportswear for men.

For brides wanting a flattering choice for attendant apparel and accessories on their big day, Turquoise is now one of the nearly 200 PANTONE WEDDING Colors available from Dessy, a leading manufacturer of bridesmaid, social occasion and flower girl dresses, as well as destination wedding gowns under the labels Dessy Collection, After Six, Alfred Sung, Lela Rose Bridesmaid and Sandals Destination Wedding Dresses. PANTONE WEDDING exclusively from Dessy provides a collection of color tools to make it easy for brides to achieve perfectly color-coordinated weddings – from inspiration to “I do.”Additionally, Turquoise is one of 3,000 colors available in Pantone’s line of superior-quality, eco-friendly paint. PANTONE Paints combine the accuracy of PANTONE Colors with the beauty of high-performance Dutch paints. Perfect for a powder room or bedroom, Turquoise is an evocative, spa-like hue that adds an undertone of warmth and excitement to any cool space. In the kitchen, Turquoise adds a unique flare to tabletop and appliances.
About Pantone Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, has been the world’s color authority for 45 years, providing design professionals with products and services for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity. Always a source for color inspiration, Pantone also offers designer-inspired products and services for consumers. More information is available at www.pantone.com.About X-RiteX-Rite, Incorporated, is the global leader in color science and technology. The company, which now includes color industry leader Pantone, develops, manufactures, markets and supports innovative color solutions through measurement systems, software, color standards and services. X-Rite’s expertise in inspiring, selecting, measuring, formulating, communicating and matching color helps users get color right the first time and every time, which translates to better quality and reduced costs. X-Rite serves a range of industries, including printing, packaging, photography, graphic design, video, automotive, paints, plastics, textiles, dental and medical. For further information, please visit www.xrite.com.

Puppy Pug Party / Papercrafting!!

I am INALLY getting around to posting a few pictures. Here are the pictures from Kaye's birthday. I made the carrot cake and decorated it too. My cake decorating has gotten pretty bad becaue I never do it anymore! Anyways, it was my birthday the same day.Here is the cake before Kaye got to it!

Then Kaye saw it... Oh man was she excited! I just had to do the whole cake in her face picture thing. The is my baby ater all and it was her firt birthday!

Here is one of the baby girl and mommey together with our pretty cake. I'm surprised that I somehow managed to get this picture. It was just the two of us, so please understand that I was not only the subject of the pictures, but I was the photographer too.


She loved the cake. Don't worry, I just gave her a little bit, and she did not get sick from it.

And here she is with it all over her face! Cute.

Time or the presents! She got a pretty new sweater that is brown and pink. It has a picture of a bone on the back of it. And....a bone!! She was the happiest puppy ever! That sweater will keep her warm when we go up to Michigan in the snow for Christmas!

Happy Pug Puppy!!!

Now, for some papercrafting.I saw this Christmas gift bags at WalMart and instantly thought of what a cute mini album I could make with them. I cut the bottoms off and sowed the sides of each bag together to create one page. Then, I added the foam snowflakes to each page, bound them together, and completed the cover with glitter, thickers, and ribbons! I just love it! So cute for holding this years Christmas pictures!

A picture of the tiching and a couple snowflakes....

I used different sized bags...Just love that

I made some journals for the little sister. There are four of them and I took pictures with my phone, but not my camera before I tied them together in a cute little bundle. I'll have to post the individual ones later ater I get them off my ohone. They were so easy though. I cut paper down to 12X6 size and folded them together. Then I punched holes in each side and tied them together with bows for the bindings. I applied a little embellishment to each one. There is a heart or this one as you can see.

And here is the Christmas Tree. Its fake this year because I don't know where to get a real one around this little villiage, and its just me and the pugster, so I'm not sure I would have been able to get it stood up in a stand if it were real. I'm absolutely loving the silver and turquoise this year. so pretty. By the way, turquoise is the color for 2010, and happens to be my new (tied for first place with pink) favorite color!!

And finally, to leave off, a cute little battery toy. When you push the button it sings "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," and the little penguins ring their bells as the snowman sways. Too cute. Happy Holidays!! More to come soon.

I'm So Blue!!

BlueMoon is a fabulous site about all kinds of fun stuff. They feature a lot of inspiration and product features that you will just have to get your hands on. I'm just loving them. I'm loving them even more after this morning when I found out I am their weekly winner for a gorgeous pack of Christmasy yummies!! Hooray! I'm so blue!

In other news, the company Christmas Gala is tonight. I was fighting with myself over whether or not I really wanted to go. Dakota is not here, so I don't have a date. Don't get me wrong, I love to dress up anyways! Mostly, the biggest part of it is that there are only a handful of people I can stand...especially when they are drinking. Most of us are prior military, and I hope that I don't effend anyone by saying that a lot of times military and drinking go hand-in-hand. It is no exception with these people. Open bar means open bar. another thing too that seems so true most of the time, is that these military people have no shame about acting like fools. It does lead to some entertainment, but there is always that point in the evening, that it becomes less entertaining and more plain out annoying. Needless to say, I didn't really want to spend the night alone, when I kow everyone else will be eating yummy food and having some fun at least, so I got rid of my scrudgey attitude, and decided lazt minute to go. Yes, I'm dressing up a little bit. I just hope that my pretty red shoes still fit me while wearing tights. You read it right, tights! This should be very funny, as I NEVER wear nylons or tights.
One last point....I am sorry that I did not post pictures like I promised I would try to do. I could not find my camera for the life of me. I found it this morning though....in my purse where I put it. So, we'll see how quickly I can get those pictures posted. I'd do it now, but I'm at work. I don't have my cable, and who knows what they are tracking now. Have you ever read the book 1984? Well, I feel like that now. We are banned from sooooo many things now, and really should just sit like zombies staring at the white institutional walls all day! I'm honestly not even sure if I should be on blogger! They have blocked every other social networking type thing...it just might be next. Besides, we were told that unless it's work related, we cannot do it. I promise you though, that there is absolutely nothing to be done at work. All my work is done, and has been for a while now. Occasionally something small might come up here and there every day or two, but other than that, I'm not doing anything! Yuck...boring! Alright, I will leave you on a high note...
Less than a week until Christmas!! WooHooo! and just over a week until Dakota comes to visit! So excited. Have a beautiful day!

I am currently....

I was totally inspired by Nancy to create a post about my currents! So here you have what I am currently...
feeeling....

I have no regrets! I love my life right now. Everything that I have done up to this point has made this life worth living now!

Missing....

I miss Dakota each and every minute that he is away from me. Two more weeks before he comes to visit!

Wearing...

Old Navy Diva Jeans. I have mine in a dark wash though. I had to break up with my Boyfriend Jeans from American Eagle after they no longer look good on me since I have put on a little weight. Believe me though, I hope they will take me back when I get down to my size again.

Surfing....

I am addicted....to everything on this site!

Eating....

Jackie sent them to me for my birthday. Love love love them! Awesome friend!

Watching....

Every single night...new ones, old ones, whichever!

Reading....

I have not gotten too far into it. I need to read more often though, and this book had good reviews. Updates to come.

Creating with....

I want about 10 more full lines to play with! I only got 1 to begin with. I need more...hint hint Santa!!

Jody's Rusy Pickle Winner!!

Thank you so so so much Jody! Jody was one of the members that helped put on the Rusty Pickle blog hop over the weekend. She had two awesome giveaways on her blog to celebrate holiday fun. She has been so generous in selecting me as the winner of the Rusty Pickle White Christmas Paper Packet! WooHoo!

Yesterday I got my package in the mail of the items that I bought using the gift certificate that I won from D-Lish Scraps! That was pretty exciting. I will be trying to post up some pictures before the end of the week if I can. I know I have been so bad about posting things up....
Ok, maybe tonight? I know that I have pictures to post of Kaye's first birthday, our Christmas tree, and fun in Texas with my boy! I promise I will try to find time to do all of those tonight if I can. This time of year has been quite hectic. Travels, present projects, birthdays....oh goodness... So I will try. I'm also about to post a fun little what I've been up to post inspired by Nancy. Look for it.

Dakota and I have been texting back and forth all morning. He is sitting through some very boring briefings (in Texas) to get out of the Army and I have absolutely nothing important going on at work. He is arriving here on Dec. 29th for our Christmas together and New Years! I can't wait, in case you couldn't guess that already. I asked him what he would like me to cook for our "Christmas" dinner. Turkey, smashed taters, gravy, and green beans! Oh dear! I told him I would cook whatever he wanted me to...this should be very interesting because I have never made a turkey before EVER! To be honest, I barely explore my kitchen except for the pathway between the freezer and the microwave! I can cook, I just really never do, and it is always a surprise what the food actually tastes like when I am finished. {side story....I once was making instant potatoes and read the directions wrong....instead of 1/8 teaspoon of salt, I added 8 teaspoons of salt!} Wish me luck...I don't want for my house to burn down!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

I thought I would share with you some of this weekend excitement...
Saturday morning began with a weet text message from Dakota...I knew there was a reason that I love him! Then off to WalMart with a hopping list. Yes, I actually wrote a list, and somehow managed to leave the store before I bought too many things that were not on the list. Did I mention that I got all the way there without my purse? I had to drive all the way back home, get the purse and drive all the way back to WalMart. So I got some great things...Christmas tree decorations, storage bins, laundry basket, new pillows, new sheets, a phone charger for my car, and some random other things. When I got home I cleaned the laundry room. Yikes! I put away all of my summer clothes into bins to make more hanging room in there for when Dakota comes beause I do not have closets! Gasp!!! My laundry room is outside by the way, so I froze! I then came inide and decided that the kitchen floor needed to be mopped. Smart me put cleaner directly on the floor and thought I would just use the water bucket to rinse the mop....obviously I do not ever use anything other than the swiffer on the floor....I had cleaner sud and water everywhere. It took me two hours to finally get it all soaked up and the suds gone...too long. Then I baked a carrot cake. Yummy! I put up my wonderully ugly new fake christmas tree! I hate fake trees but it seemed to be the only option since it's just me and the puppy right now. Pretty decorations though!! Teal and Silver! I talked to Dakota for a while about random stuff. then I put the freshly washed new sheets on the bed! Oh so soft. The old sheets were two years old and wearing thin. I want to have nice sheets for when Dakota comes. I love them! The only bad thing is that they had the light blue color only in king size so I had to go with the deep brown ones. I have a brown comforter....lots of brown! I did get an extra pair of pillow cases though in the light blue. It looks so luxerious! I think that was just about the end of the day.
At 12:15 am I got a text message from Dakota being the first to wish me a happy birthday but not wanting to wake me up! It woke me up but that is ok. Grandma A called at 7am and I didn't answer. She let a message wishing me a happy birthday. I went back to sleep. Mummsie called at 10am and I woke up. She sang to me. I froted the cake and made it all pretty with leafy vines and pink flowers. I wrote happy birthday Kaye and me on it. I put candles on it and brought it down to puppy level. I got some pretty funny pictures of kaye licking the frosting! I did manage to get one picture of the cake with candles ablaze, kaye and me, then quickly blew them out a cut a tiny peice for her. So many funny pictures of her chowing down. She loved it. I put her new sweater on her and gave her a bone. She likes the sweater and the bone so I got more pictures. Called grandma back. Accidentaly called grams and gramps so I figured instead of hanging up I would talk to them. They had planned to call in the aternoon, but that is fine. Misty, my awesome friend (and only one I really have here) called and wished me a happy birthday and asked if she could take me to the city for sushi. I would be crazy to turn that down! I love love love sushi! So went to eat after I took a shower... she convinced me to go to the company Christmas party on Friday night. I had to go to Target to buy a new skirt to wear. I've gained quite a bit of weight lately and didn't have anything to wear to the formal business dress party. Found a skirt that could not be any more perfect. Fell totally in love with it! Bought it! My ather actaully called to wish me a happy birthday. I was shocked! I have talked to him (including today' call) three times since August. we don't talk much. Then I talked to Staci...his recent ex-wife, who I am still very close to. And talked to my little siblings about Christmas. And that is about it for the wonderful birthday weekend! Hope you are all doing well!

Who wants Paper?

Urban Swank is giving away a bunch of awesome papers! Go check out the blog and enter for a chance to win. Good luck ladies!

Mission Create

Mission Create where have you been all my scrapbooking life? I just found this blog today and I love it. they have somre really great challenges that really will challenge you! I cannot wait to play along. Check out this post from the site today, and visit them for your own chance to win some yummy yummy goodies!

December's
Prize!
Here is a little peek at the prize we are giving away for the
December Challenges!
Thank you to the Scrapbook Cottage for being
December's sponsor!
There will be challenges posted on December 13 th
&
27th and you will have until January 7th to link up your layouts
for a
chance to
win this prize :-)
Living in the land of reality we
know
December is a hectic
month for everyone and we may not have quite
as much
creating time-so we have an
additional way you can try and win
this
prize!
All you need to do is become a
follower (see the left
hand
column!) and post a link to this site on your own
blog!
Once you
have
done both just post in the comments here to let us
know!
**Don't
forget
you have until December 7th to complete Mission 0003,
0004 or
0005 to be
entered to win the November Prize**

Long Time no Post (Kind of long!)

Hello all!
I know that it has been quite a while since I posted last. I had an absolutely wonderful trip! Dakota was supposed to come home on Wednesday, but got delayed until Friday night. then he had to work when he got back. Yucky! That's fine though because I got to extend my stay in Texas a little while and really get to spend some good time with him. we did so many nice things...played with the puppy, went out to eat, played monopoly, played rock band with friends, and just spent some much needed time together. Don't worry...I have plenty of pictures to serve as memories of this very happy reunion. I am so glad that he is finally home from Iraq. Oh, and he got me an early birthday present - the new Droid phone! what a sweetheart, huh? This way we can talk all we want because we are now on the same cell phone plan. So, even though he had to stay in Texas, and I just had to come back to work in Tennessee, we can talk and text all we want to stay in touch! so excited about that!
I put together a mini-album before I left to display all of the awesome fun we had. Last night I spent most of the night editing the pictures and getting them ready for print. He has to email me the ones from his camera still though. As soon as those are printed, I can put them into the album real quicklike and add some finishing elements! Woohoo! My first mini-album will be completed and I will post up the pictures.
While I was waiting for Dakota to come home, I spent some time in the hotel by myself. I did some 2Pea searching and some blog fun stuff. Out of the Hat announced their November winners while I was there....and.....I won! Now don't get too crazy with the congrats because they had 4 winners. Two of the winners were people choice and people choice runner up. another winner was the Design Team favorite. I managed to squeak in with the random draw winner slot! So, although I won, and I think my layout is awesome, i'm not up there with the pros yet! heeheehee. The other winners did such awesome layouts too! I thought it was a great challenge though....trees and diecuts are so much fun! All about Me also announced their winner for November. Now they also do the random winner thing I believe, which is still pretty great because it gives beginners just as much of a chance at winning as the pros. they have two challenges a month and for each challenge that you complete, you get a chance in the drawing. I completed both. You can see them in earlier posts...I can't live without you much longer and my forever mark. So I just want to thank the wonderful ladies over at both of these blogs. The design teams are totally amazing! The sponsers were also just as amazing! Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker and De-Lish Scraps! WooHoo thanks so much!
The last thing that I really want to talk about is in regards to a previous post. If you read my post about hating my job, saving money, and wanting to return to school, then I hope you will be interested in a little followup from that. Dakota and I had some long talk going on about my situation here in Tennessee. He knows that I am so very unhappy here, but it does seem kind of silly for me to move down to Texas with him right now. He gets a couple weeks off at Christmas and New Years in order to go visit his family that he has not seen since this time last year. then he will go back to Texas and pretty much just be doing all the crazy things you have to do when you get out of the Army. after that (sometime around the end of January) he is going back up to see some of his other family members that he can't see during his first trip - the ones in Winconsin and his dad I believe. So, basically if you really look at it, he is going to be back and forth a lot and actually done with the Army for good on February 20th. then he will be coming to tennessee with me. I might as well keep working right now and keep paying those bills and saving that money for a little bit longer. At that point, it will be time to start looking for a new place to live up in Nashville so that I can start school. the actual date for the quarter to start at The Art Institute is April 5th. I am working on my application now so wish me lots of luck! I just can't hardly wait!
Well, I truely hope that the holidays are magical for all of you right now. I wish only the best for you all in your family time, fun crafts, and the dreadful Christmas crowds! I'm praying for you all that you continue to be blessed, and that you have a joyous season. In two weeks from tomorrow, I will be heading north to Michigan to spend a quick Christmas weekend with my loving family. I cannot wait to see my mumsie, little sis, grams and gramps, step-dad Rodney who I haven't seen in a long while, Staci, and the whole rest of the gang! Woohoo!

Hugs and Scrappy Loves!

A shocking win!

As I blogged about a couple posts ago, I participated in the blog launch activities for Scraptivity. There were a few technology issues that I had, and I was unable to post my submissions on the page in time. Scraptivity has been so awesome in all of this. They were able to fi the issue that I had, and then even had my submissions put into the contests. To top it off, I won!!! My layout that you can see below - Cause Every Girl Is Crazy 'Bout A Sharp Dressed Man - was the winner! I was absolutely shocked. I had so much fun doing the project. I was ecited to at least get them up on my blog, but what Scraptivity did about submitting me to the contest was totally unepected. I am incredably greatful to all the wonderful ladies over there. This is just another proof that people in the scrapbook community are amazing! Thank you so much Scraptivity! I love the site over there and can't wait to participate in the future.....

Dakota's home from Iraq *VACATION**

Hey all,
It's Tuesday night, and I should actually be sleeping right now. I know, it's really early in the night, but I have to wake up later and drive for a long time! I am leaving tonight to drive to Texas. Google says that it is a 12 hour drive. It will probably be more like 14 because I have a bladder the size of a pea and a psycho puppy too! Why am I going that ar, you ask? I get to see my Dakota!!!! Hooray! Dakota is coming home from Iraq! It's about time! So, I don't know how good the "free wi-fi" is going to be at the hotel, but I may or may not be on blogger for a bit. Oh so sad....I'm going to go through withdrawls from 2Peas if I can't get on!!! HAHAHA! I'm so addicted 24/7. So, um, just wanted to let you all know that I am super excited, wish me luck on the road, and thank God, Dakota will be home soon!!

My Forever Mark

For the All About Me Challenge, we needed to scrap about our mark. It could be a scar, a tattoo, a beauty mark, or even a non-physical mark that you have left for someone or something. I immediately knew that I had to scrap about my cherry blossom tree tattoo. It takes up my entire right side and part of my back too. I love it, and would never regret getting it. The meaning behind the tattoo is so important to me. I journaled about it on the LO.

Weekend Scrap Challenges over the weekend

Over the weekend I have worked on several Challenges using old and "newer" pictures. As you'll see, I used song lyrics or a couple of the journaling spots. I really love music and I think that it can really tell the eelings and events going on. The first Layout, entititled "I'm Leavin'" is about the last night that Dakota and I spent together before he had to leave for Iraq. Everyone has heard the lyrics to leavin' on a jet plane...I took some of them out that didn't quite apply, but most of them are there. The lyrics are so true to our situation! For the Layout I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays. I have been hoarding the white paper with the little hearts and envelopes on it for Years!!!

This was based on a sketch rom 52 sketches 52 weeks.
The journaling reads,"You've never really been one to let your sadness show. After spending 15 days together, it came time for you to return to Iraq and finish your 1 year tour. As we spent our last hours together, you didn't want me to cry so instead, you made me laugh!" I used a few different collections here the basic grey june bug paper, fancy pants kraft kuts, and the heart strip and journal spots are sassarass lass!

This next layout is based on Let's Capture These Sketches #18. I followed the sketch pretty closely. I love my little puppy, Kaye! She is so sweet. I used a little Love Bandit product here. I just can't get enough of it! I also did some stamping on my thickers. Altered embellishment - part of a challenge from Cheryl.

I have decided that we need to bring hats (headwear, haedbands, cute littel barrets, and such...) back!!!! I ust love how women used to wear hats all the time no matter what. I absolutely love hats. I have over 20 of them!! this layout tells just that, and shows me at work {working of course!} while wearing a hat!! Love it!

Scrap and Stamp Challenge

The following two layouts were for Scraptivity's blog launch today. They had a lot going on over there today! It was pretty exciting. Something was wrong with the webmaster, so I was unable to submit my layouts for the contests, but I had a lot of fun doing them so I still wanted to post them tonight. This first one is Dakota. While in Iraq he had the chance to have some suits custom made. He sent me these pictues from Iraq when he picked them up! I love love love them!!! After all, every girl is crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man!! I also used a little side challenge from Cheryl : using song lyrics for your title!

Sketch Challenge

Janine Says was a really fun game over there as well. Every 20 minutes, she posted up commands. We had to do the ones that were started with Janine says.... I had so much fun with it. I did have one issue for not following directions! Originally I had the brown paper with all the big circles on it, as the background. When I realized that a lot of it was going to be covered, I switched it to the paper framing the picture. I forgot that it was not double sided! Oooops! When we cut it into strips and started curling, I realized my mistake. I had to use another paper and adhere it to the back, then cut the strips on it to match the previously cut strips. That was tough! When I curled it, it looked pretty good though. Then I realized that once again, not much of that brown paper was going to show. I decided not to curl it up completely, so that way you could still see some of it. I was hoping that I would still get to put it on the page in another place too! Our next step was using three strips of paper. Hooray! I would get to use the paper I loved so much on the layout after all! Then I realized that I didn't have the right sizes for it except to make one strip. I actually like it this way though. I think that because of the aboriginal picture, maybe any more of the special "aboriginal-like" paper would distract too much from the picture that I was trying to highlight on the LO. So anyhow....I loved the game, and here is my LO:

Mini-Album First Attempt!

Woot Woot!!! I am so excited! I got three mini chipboard albums last night in the mail. I jumped righrt into them, too! Now, if you have read my previous post, you might ask, why three? They are all going to be one album....not so mini I guess, but it is a big deal that I will be scrapping about. Dakota has been in Iraq for a year and his return is very important. I will be in Texas for a week so see him in and spend some much needed time with him. I did a search in the 2Peas gallery for mini-albums....did you know that there are over 6,000? Holy cow!! Every single one of them is so beautiful and so unique. So far though, I have not found a single one that is like the idea I have in my head. I am using different size and shaped pages in my album....almost every page is different. I want this album to be FULL of all kinds of stuff. Normally I am not a big journalor, so I am making sure to put plenty of journaling areas in the album to force myself into it. I have about 10 pages done so far. Well, I wouldn't say done! I obviously have no pictures in them, and of course that means, that I don't have all the embelishments either. I want to do lots of layers and fun stuff with embelishments to add tons of demension and fun to the album. I can't put in all the embelishments of course, at this time, because I want them to layer over the pictures too! I just hope that when it is all said and done, it doesn't look like one big mess.
I think this is one of the hardest projects I have done yet. I see other albums full of embelishments, or with see-through pages, tags here and there, or little elements that hang from the album. I want all of that....it may prove to be a little crazy for my first attempt! I suppose there is nothing like jumping in for the full affect. I just have this vision of amazing, wonderfulness, and I am getting scared that I won't be able to live up to it! Yikes, scary! Wish me luck, please! ANY IDEAS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!!!! tHIS JUST HAS GOT TO BE THE BEST!!!

I did a bad {good} thing!

One thing that many of you probably do not know about me is that I absolutely cannot stand my job. Now, I really try hard not to be negative, but I just have to point that out before my story. So, I am currently in a huge rut. I absolutely dread going to work every single day, and really, I don't like any of the undermotivated people that I work with except for maybe 2 or 3. Every single day, I think to myself, "I can fix this!" I can get out of this rut because I am better than this! I guess the main thing that is keeping me here is bills. We all have to pay bills. In the last two weeks I have been so good. I have not bought anything that I have not actually needed. This does include scrapbooking stuff. I mean, my goodness, I am really starting to collect a stash. I just need to use my stash! I am trying very hard to use my paychecks to pay off the bills that I have collected....mostly medical bills by the way. Next week Dakota comes home from Iraq, so I have to drive to Texas for a week to see him. I absolutely hate when anyone pays for me (to include Dakota who I have been with for so long - and who also happens to be the man I am going to marry) so I am also paying for the hotel to stay in. It will be pushing it if I pay too much over the minimum this month on any bills because of all that. Well, I just have to have a mini album to scrap the wonderful reunion in, and I have a ten dollar gift certificate to 2peas, and I looked at my bank account....I bought some stuff today on 2peas! I know I should not have, but I did. now, mind you, I did not get too much. Just a few important things that I did not have such as an actual mini-album! So, I am super excited for it to come in, but I'm also a little mad at myself for falling into my own trap. I keep saying that I can get all these bills paid off by May if I try hard and make that effort. At that point, I plan to go back to school for design. I am prior military, so I have what is called the post 9/11 GI bill that will pay for my tuition and give me a monthly income for housing arrangements. I will be able to make it just fine, but I will need to have all these bills paid off. So, anyhow, now that I have gone on and on about the same thing that many people find trying right now, I will end with this: Scrp your Stash, Renay!!!! Ha!. I'm sorry that I ranted, but I just needed to get that off my chest right now.
My current project that I am fighting with is printing pictures for more layouts. My prointer is printing in all these crazy wild colors, and it is upsetting. I cannot figure out how to fix it. It's like one or two will print fine and then a bunch will print funny. Then it prints a few more juzt fine. so bare with me that I have not posted up much lately. I don't have too many pictures left to scrap without my printer working right! That is actually where I got the mini-album idea from. I started to collect stashed stuff last night into opne place so that I can work on a mini-album. I can do the whole album without having any pictures. Instead of uploading the pictures to my computer and printing them, I will take them to the store and have them printed out so I can use them! Good idea? I'm trying to find ways to keep my creative energies flowwing right now so that the time passes quickly. I feel like a little child the week before Christmas. I just can't wait to see Dakota. I miss him so much!!!

Super awesome and generous giveaway!!!!

Scrapbooking from the Inside Out
November 10th, 2009 Ana
Scrapbooking from the Inside Out has launched their November kit Generosity, perfect for this time of year. This kit is so graceful and stylish – full of rich, deep color and elegant design, with coins, copper accents, shimmery self-adhesive mosaic tiles, and pretty Prima.

This month they’ll help you explore how you give of your time and money, inspiring a generous spirit in yourself and your family, positive self care vs. selfishness, and the big and small gestures that create connection in your life.
Here are two GENEROSITY-themed LOs from SFTIO’s DT Coordinator, Nancy Doren, that were created using the kit:


Scrapbooking from the Inside Out’s industry-exclusive content will help you explore your inner world with a music playlist, journaling prompts, moving photos, inspiring quotes, and meaningful monthly challenges.
To enter to win one of these great kits, repost this post on your blog and link it back to Scrapbook Trends, then give us a link to your blog post in the comment section of this post, and you could be exploring what GENEROSITY means to you!

Faith Sisters *My Lifetime Story*

As the year is coming to an end we are busy planning for next year. In 2010 we are going back to the basics of leaving a legacy of faith. This years challenges are all focused on YOU and your lifetime story. When you join us in this challenge you will be creating a mini-autobiography. We are counting down the days till January 6th because we are so stinkin' excited about the My Lifetime Story challenges!!! Wouldn't you to know what your grandma's favorite toy was as a child, how she felt when she met your grandpa, her favorite scripture and the song that expressed her heart? Your children and grandchildren will have that treasure when you join us in this challenge! We will start out with your family roots in January and move into your childhood in February. We will continue throughout the year with your teen and adult years as well. The last challenge of the year will be a letter to your future generations or anyone who reads your book. Each of our stories is important. This is a book that everyone should create about themselves. It will be the most treasured album of your family. As you create this album about your lifetime story you will be leaving YOUR LEGACY OF FAITH. This is an album that can make an impact in your life as you create it, but it will also create a major impact in the lives of your family both now and in future generations. As your children read your story in this scrapbook that YOU created, they will take your stories to heart. Your stories may have more impact on them than even Bible stories, because they are personal and from someone they know and . When friends and neighbors pick up your storybook and look through it you will be witnessing without even saying a word. They will read your lifetime history and discover your of Jesus, and His forgiveness and faithfulness in your life! The My Lifetime story challenges will begin the first Wednesday in January. A new challenge will be posted each Wednesday all throughout 2010. The last challenge will be posted the last Wednesday of December. Just because the challenge series ends at the end of 2010 doesn't mean your lifetime story album is finished. We will continue to offer periodic challenges to continue your autobiography and keep it current. Please join us in this year long challenge! Some of these challenges may be layouts you have already completed. That is ok! We need to get these all compiled in your lifetime storybook. Everyone deserves to be the star of their own book, including and most importantly YOU! If you don't put some time aside to create your My Lifetime Story album now, you may never find the time. If something were to happen to you, would your legacy of faith be lost forever? Take action now, join us as we create our lifetime storybooks for the next generation to see the glorious work the Lord can do in the life of a woman that loves God! Begin thinking about what size album you would like to use for your My Lifetime Story challenge. started hers in an 8x8 but now has decided that she needs more space so is moving up to a 12x12. is doing hers 12x12 also because she knew she had a lot she wanted to fit into this album. What size do you prefer? Start gathering your supplies now so you will be ready to start when we kick off the first challenge January 6th!

Write Love on Her Arm Day 11/13/2009

Friday, November 13th is To Write Love On Her Arm Day! Below is an explaination taken from the fan page on facebook. Please, please, please participate! Very close to my heart. Here are some pictures

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.*****To Write Love On Her Arms Day is a day where anyone can write the words love on their arms, to support those who are fighting against depression and those who are trying to recovering. On this day, just write love on your arms, and show it off, other people will ask why you have love written on your arms, and you tell them you are supporting to write love on her arms day, and how its benefiting a non profit organization helping stop depression, and make love the movement ♥ ****** upload pictures of love written on your arms on November 13th!"what will this acheive?". It will achieve the goal of people knowing that there are other people out there with the same problem, and/or people who are supporting them with love. become a fan!http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180283055427#/pages/TWLOHA-To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms/207297905122?ref=tsJoin this group!http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36235764583there were over 500,000 people who attended to write love on her arms day last year, lets aim for over 1 million people

Another Lucky Day

Oh my goodness, I am so overwhelmed! This week has really been a very lucky one for me. I have never really been the lucky person before, so you can only imagine how greatful I am right now to have found out that I am the lucky winner of funky Halloween rubons and a few other things from Tina. I am so blessed. I am so excited, really! Thank you Tina so very much.
You all should go check out her blog. She is a member of a couple design teams, and I absolutely LOVELOVELOVE her creativity. Tina's use of fun and simple embellishments is simply amazing!

Big Calender Mistake! Please help me!

I was so excited last week when I picked up an adorable little date book calender. It has month view and day view sections. When I got home, I filled in all the dates(it was an empty calender that you make to fit the year) and when I got to December 13th - My birthday - I realized that it was on the same day as this year. "Well, that's not right." I thought. So I went back to check each month and try to figure out where my mistake was made. Oh, my goodness! I made the mistake on January 1st! I started the calender on the wrong day and every single day from then on is incorrect! I can't believe I made such a huge mistake. Does anyone have any ideas for fixing this by altering it or adding some kind of embelishment over all of the dates so that I can fix them? I am so OCD that I want to make it look like the covers I put over my mistakes were actually meant to be! Help?

I played over the weekend!

Over the weekend, I had so much fun scrapbooking. I scrapped about the past mostly. I miss my friends so much. I participated in the challenge over at Lets Capture These Sketches. Here is some of the stuff that I worked on over the weekend. I hope you find some inspiration!! Oh, and the last LO is a scraplift from the talented lory bucaria in the Two Peas Gallery!! Try to have a splendid week. Happy scrapping!!

Such a lucky day!

Oh my goodness, I am so excited right now! I'm talking to Dakota in Iraq right now over the computer and I decided to check out the AAM blog hop....I won two of the giveaways! To win one of them would be amazing I thought, but then I won two! For the last 5 minutes I have been singing, "I won! I won! I won!" to Dakota and I think he gets the picture! He can't believe it either. Thank you soooooo much to Kim and to Melisa for participating in the blog hop and giving away some very exciting prizes! I love so much! You guys totally rock! Thank sooooo much again and again and again!
Everybody else, you really need to check out their blogs and the rest of the Design Team blogs over at AAM! They all rock so much and are very inspiring!

I can't live without...

I can't live without Dakota much longer. He has been in Iraq since December and I miss him so much! This was an AAM challenge that I just had to do. (I also participated in the blog hop that they sponsered!!) It seemed just perfect timing considering that they are getting ready to come home right now. I should finally get to see him again at the end of the month! Hooray! I cannot wait much longer. I am really excited about how well this turned out. I think I looked at every single item in my scrapbooking collection before I finally decided on these supplies. I just had to make this layout perfect! I looked at a ton of different pictures that I have of Dakota trying to figure out which one was the best for this layout. Sometimes I am able to just make it up as I go, but this Loayout ws very well thought of. I thought out each element that I used, and I am so proud. I used hand cutting which Ihave been doing a lot of lately. I love these little clocks that I found at Target...especially the clear ones because overlays have become a bt of an obsession of mine lately. The thickers are pretty great too. Two Peas just had a big sale on them and I really stocked up!!!! Can't get enough of them. Oh, and the fact that the stiching was already done, made it perfect for me because I don't have a sewing machine and sewing by hand for me seems to take hours and I truely mean hours! So, I hope that you enjoy all the fabulous elements of this layout that really touches deep in my heart.

Target makes scrapbooking cheep!

Hey all, I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to Memphis today for a doctor's appointment. Yucky! I hate that long drive, but I made some good use out of it. We do not have a target where I am at. The closest one is an hour away. Sadly, Walmart (a very unstocked one) is the only place that sells anything crafty around here. So, anyways, while I was in Memphis, I decided to take advantage of being there, and I stopped into Target. I just had to peek down the scrapbook aisle. Holy cow! I found a ton of super cool stuff for 99 cents! Yeah, you read that right! They have a sign up and everything about how we should be able to do our hobbie without spending tons of money. So anyhow, I picked up some great items that could have easily gone for 4 or 5 dollars by other companies! I was just so excited. I hope you might check it out too

I was doing some

sorting of pictures today. I had "lost" my external hardrive and was oh, so sad. Good news is that I finally found it!! So anyhow...I was sorting pictures and came across some that I absolutely love! I have been working on uploading them to my Kodak gallary so that I can send them out to get printed. I cannot wait until they come back to me so that I can get scrapping them! I thought that I would share the pictures though. They show a little fraction of my fun life. I love the people in my life. I love the adventures I have had. I love my life! Sometimes while I sti here all alone in this little town that I moved to for the job, I get so sad and lonely. I miss the people that mean the most to me. I miss my friends and my family. I miss everything we used to do and all the fun we used to have. I look back on the memories (the photos especially) and smile, but sometimes I cry too. I smile because they were such good times. I cry because I miss those times and I miss those people and I hate to admit it really, but I feel sorry for myself. I know that is the last thing that I should be doing...feeling sorry for myself....but sometimes I jsut can't help it. So, I am posting up these pictures as a reminder that I have had good times and there are good times ahead for me. Sometimes life just throws a hardball at us and we have to learn to let the bruises heal.

I wonder if I can scrap about this?

Julieann got a well deserved blog award for having a pretty grand blog over there. In her post about the award, she listed some questions which you will see below. (I answed them myself for this post) I got to thinking....why couldn't I scrap about this. I'm offering up an idea for all you followers....scrap some of these questions! Anyway you want would be perfectly cool. Just a thought. I'm going to try and then in the next couple days I will load up some of the LOs I came up with... good luck!

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your hair? too short still - wish it would grow
3. Your mother? my best friend**
4. Your father? not close to him
5. Your favorite food? pasta or rice
6. Your dream last night? never do remember those**
7. Your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
8. Your dream/goal? Art for a living**
9. What room are you in? livingroom
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking and photography**
11. Your fear? forgetting my memories**
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? successful
3. Where were you last night? home - I'm usually always at hime if I am not at work
14. Something that you aren't? strong**
15. Muffins? naw, that's ok
16. Wish list item? Cricket!!!!, new camera (DSLR), and a new printer
17. Where did you grow up? Michigan**
18. Last thing you did? shopping
19. What are you wearing? sweats
20. Your TV? watch the same 3 channels always - crime shows and HDTV
21. Your Pets? My little Puppy Kayerayna Amore (she'll be 1 year in December - we share our birthday!)**
22. Friends? just a few, but I couldn't live without them**
23. Your life? lonely at times**
24. Your mood? blah
25. Missing Someone? Dakota comes back from Iraq in 27 days!!!**
26. vehicle? junk but it has wheels**
27. Something you're not wearing? socks and underwear**
28. Your favorite store? Target and WalMart
29. Your favorite color? pink!**
30. When was the last time you laughed? talking to Dakota today**
31. Last time you cried? talking to my shrink today**
32. Your best friend? ok, can I pick 3? Dakota, Mom, and Misty**
33. One place that I go to over and over? to visit family - 15 hour drive each way - yuck!**
34. Facebook? certainly
35. Favorite place to eat? grandma's house

Tina's Totally Fab Giveaway!

Tina has a fabulous giveaway...check it out here! She has a really cute site. I just found it and had to start following. Love love lvoe it! Ineeded to make this entry short, but I will blog more later today!

Lucky 3

Die Cuts are my friend! Love love love em!!!

Can you tell that I love Sassafras? Way too cute!

A little tone on tone here!

Today is one of those days that I have a little inspiration. I know there are times when many many days go by before I post anything, then there are days that I post multiple things! It's always a surprise with me, huh! So, as I was saying, today is one of those good days of inspiration. Here are three LOs that I have done recently. Hope they pass on some inspiration.....