Happy Halloween!

Okay, so it's not Halloween just yet, but it is right around the corner.  It's sort of Halloween for me, because I won a few prizes around World Card Making Day.  I will post a photo of what I receive.  So far I've only received my prize pack from Reminisce paper.  I was Runner Up in a Pin and Win contest.  I got a nice sized box of scrapbook paper, stickers and dimensional sticker. Some of the scrapbook paper is die cut.  There is a huge snowflake, ornament and peppermint candy paper. There is probably more than that I just can't remember it at the moment.  I had to take two photos to get all of it in and really the photos don't show all.  

I have been busy creating inventory for an upcoming craft sale.  It is called Gifted Marketplace and will help to support the Eau Claire Children's Theater.  Mitch, my oldest, has been involved with ECCT since last year.  He's been in Camp Rock, Footloose, Legally Blonde and is rehearsing for Peter Pan right now.  You can check out Gifted here on Facebook. So if you are in the Eau Claire area, stop on out and do some holiday shopping.  It will be at the Oxford Theater Nov. 16 and 17th.  Which is also the weekend of Peter Pan, so I guess I will go either opening night or Sunday.  

Here are some of the creations I've made.  I have never made a set of 3x3 mini cards until a couple of weeks ago and now it seems that I'm on a roll. Smiles. I've also made boxes to store the cards in.  

3x3 mini cards 

Box to hold 3x3 mini cards

side view

3x3 minis using Reminisce paper, nestabilities and SRM stickers

more minis

some birthday minis 

Box for the birthday minis

I must say nestabilities, SRM stickers and pretty paper make it easy to create these little cards.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and fabulous Halloween!

WCMD

If you're a crafter, especially a card maker, you know what yesterday was.  Yep, World Cardmaking Day. Here is how World Card Making Day started, if you're interested. It usually helps us to get started on those holiday cards and a good time to make cards for causes like Operation Write Home.  There are many other causes that accept cards too.  Click here to see what other places you can Craft It Forward. If you do not make cards or crafts you can always donate money to said organization. I know envelopes are needed at OWH.  Well enough about that. Onto the cards I made yesterday.  Not only is it fun and relaxing to create, but a lot of challenges offer chances to win more goodies to make more cards. :)

I challenged myself to make a Z fold card. I had previously watched a YouTube video, or two or three, a couple of weeks ago.  I decided to google it again yesterday and found simple instructions here.

Here are my cards:
This first card I used Tim Holtz Core'dinations cardstock, K&Co Brenda Walton Flora and Fauna and Cornish Heritage Farms What Cancer Cannot Do stamp.  This will be entered in Core'dinations WCMD challenge.

I hope you were able to create yesterday. If you were not able to, then today is always another chance. Smiles.  Thanks for taking time to stop by and see what I've been up to.  Hope you have a great week!!

What Cancer Cannot Do - My first Z fold card

My second attempt at  a Z fold card

A birthday card using SRM Tiny Calendar

SRM Stickers WMCD challenge was to use their border stickers

Card drive

Yesterday for the first time I read about a 12 yr old girl who has ovarian cancer. I follow or am a fan of Wings of Teal on Facebook. It's an ovarian cancer site and this is where I read about just a girl of 12 having ovarian cancer. Well as I was continuing to check my wall posts I came across my

friend Heather's post. And she had made a card for another 12 yr old girl who has a rare form of ovarian cancer. What??? I can barely wrap my

brain around reading it for the first time a few minutes earlier but then to find out about another girl having ovarian cancer was unreal. Michelle's Scrap has a post regarding a card drive for Haeli. She also posted that

Haeli is interested in art. So I picked up a few small embellies and stamps. I also raided my already punched goodies as well as my other embellies to

put together some more goodies for her. Hopefully this will give her something to take her mind off of her illness. I'm sure she'd be so happy to get cards from all over the world. Check out Michelle's Scrap for the

address to send her card to. Here is the card I created for Haeli. Teal is the ribbon color for Ovarian cancer. So I found this pretty K & Co printed paper and embellies. I used Core'dinations cardstock and my newest

nestabilities for the pocket insert with the Cancer is So Limited poem. You can barely tell that I embossed the PP on the front of the pocket.

Organization...I have been trying to organize as I unpack. It really gets overwhelming at times. I saw a card keeper by Iris at Michael's that I thought would work well as a file for smaller scraps. The last time I was at Michael's I didn't see it but when I went yesterday I found it. So I used my 40% off coupon. I was going to just put the scraps in between the plastic dividers, however if the scraps were small I'd have hard time retrieving

them. So I cut apart some hanging file folders to make file folders to fit the card organizer. I'm sure you could make file folders out of cardstock if

you

didn't have a ton of hanging file folders like I do. Here is what my scrap file looks like.

On Saturday March 5th I celebrated my 50th birthday by getting together with family at HuHot Mongolian Grill. Mitch and I had some awesome drinks, we all had fantastic meals and then there were decadent desserts to follow. We don't have many photos, my camera has been acting up and I'm not used to using Mitch's camera so a lot of photos had to be deleted.

But I can share a few with you.

Our drinks, my brother and mother and me.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a chance to send a card to Haeli, I'm sure you'd brighten her day. Mine will go out tomorrow. xoxoxo

Mitch's Birthday/BB Blog Hop Winner!

Today my oldest son Mitchell turns 20. I was teasing him at 7:40 am that it really isn't his birthday for about 12 more hours since he was born at 7:41pm. I made him some pumpkin cheesecake bars to take to work. Since I was too tired last night I made them this morning before he headed out to work. Pumpkin and chocolate are two of Mitch's faves, they go about as fast with the rest of us too! So I think I'll share a couple of photos of Mitch over the years. I'm sure he'll about kill me when he gets logged into his email and finds my most recent post. Ok so I'll post a layout I did of him I think I did it in 2007 and actually won like 2nd prize for it at a LSS.

Here is another LO of him when we were on vacation in NW Wisconsin. I believe he was about 18 mos old here.



And another of him and Noah fishing at a Family Reunion in NW Wisconsin.













Of course I have to show you one of him onstage in CATS.

Someday I'll do a LO of him as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast. You gotta see how he had to dance and sing with two large candles on his hands and he did it with such finesse. I mean he had those candles flick on and off at the right moments. Guess you really couldn't see that in photo ROFL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MITCHELL! I couldn't have chosen a sweeter, compassionate, more loving son if it were up to me. Love you bunches! Mom

Well now that you've gotten through my reminiscing I suppose I should announce my Busy Beauties blog hop winner. My winner is Craft Princess. Congrats! Please email Carolyn at BusyBeauties@nc.rr.com with choice of one of the fabulous Busy Beauties digi stamps.

HM Challenge #39

Challenge #39 over at House Mouse and Friends is Birthday. I blog-hopped at Hero Arts for their Memorial Blog Hop for Cards for Heroes. So I decided that once again I would make and send cards for CFH. While on Cards for Heroes.org I noticed that there was a special projects link and clicking that link I found that they are in need of A9 size cards. If you take a 8.5"x11" piece of cardstock and fold it in half that would be an A9 card. Apparently someone has donated 4000 A9 envelopes and they would like cards to fill those envelopes. So while deciding on what to make for this week's challenge I decided the card would be A9 size.

It was a bit of a challenge for me to figure out what to do for a larger size card, but I think I finally came up with a suitable card. I will make a few more of this size, then I think I'll do some of the A2 size also. I'm at the Spotted Cow in Adrian again and will need to pack up soon here to go get Mitch from the theater, so I will quickly post and add more if I need to later. Please check out Cards for Heroes and participate if you can. :D.

Reflections @ 48

Yes, I know a proper lady wouldn't tell her age or her weight! Believe me you don't want to know my weight. Age really doesn't bother me except when I try to do something that used to come easy to me :o)! Of course ask me that again when my 50th birthday is approaching I may have a whole different view LOL. This year my birthday also marks that it has been a year since I lost my job. It was on Friday of this week. I really am concerned about whether or not I'll find a job again. This economy is so scary! Today's Blade (local newspaper) showed the unemployment rates for Lucas and surrounding counties. It showed 13.3% for Lucas county and 14.3% for Toledo, of course that does not even include those who are off the unemployment rolls. Many of the surrounding counties are similar or worse. Ohio and Michigan are very high due to the high concentration of auto worker and manufacturing type jobs for the auto industry. So many businesses are closing up and I don't mean just auto industry type places. I have applied for everything from my Administrative Assistant background to a clerk at the local meat market, veggie/deli market, kohl's, home depot and Hobby Lobby...however that might not be a good place for me to work **grins**. Thankfully unemployment has been extended for this area, but it still isn't a job. Being a mid-westerner I have a strong work ethic and like the fulfillment of having a job. I've also met most of my oldest and dearest friends through working. Not that I haven't met some wonderful friends through blogging, but they tend to be far-flung and it isn't easy to get together and comisserate, oh boy would I love to do that! I do consider my blogging friends, friends not just blogging friends. Hopefully some day we'll have the chance to meet.

Noah got information on getting a class ring. Boy the cost is way higher than when I got mine 30 yrs ago! OMG 30 yrs ago, I just realized that it's been that long since I graduated HS! Hopefully I've talked him into waiting a year. He is working a work study job and gets a small check once a month (of course to him and his bro it seems like a lot). He got his first check this past Sat. He says to me go start an acct so I can have $$. I told him that's not how it works. I said you have to have a state id and some other proof of who you are. Plus it was Sat, so the credit union isn't even open after noon. Yesterday we tried to go get both of the boys state id's, but it was so packed we didn't stay.

Mitch is working on his schooling daily and will be taking the OGT's in just under two weeks. In Ohio you need to pass graduation tests in order to graduate. Most people here are surprised that you do not need to pass a graduation test in Wisconsin to graduate. I hope it goes well for Mitch! There are pre-tests online, so I'll have to have him do them so he can see how it works.

Tim will be starting chemotherapy again tomorrow. He was on a two week break. He has vacation in about two weeks it actually coincides with Mitch's OGT's so at least that'll be nice not to have to get up @ 4:30 to take him to work so I can have the car to take Mitch to testing. He also applied for vacation for the end of July so we can go to my family reunion. I can't wait to see family and Wisconsin again. Of course it'll be difficult because I'll want to see friends in Milwaukee as well as family in NW Wisconsin. It's all be good :).

March is Colorectal Cancer month and if you're interested there is a Cover Your Butt campaign. You can click the link and see what you can do to help support the campaign. It's a worthwhile campaign, I just wish that it would include ages younger than 50. Tim was only 43 when he was diagnosed with rectal cancer. His son will have to start getting a colonoscopy at age 30, that is what the surgeon recommended. Thinking about getting a Cover Your Butt t-shirt, wouldn't that be a hoot? Breast cancer has Save the Tatas! which would be fun to get too, but I think breast cancer has so much more support than rectal cancer or lung cancer.

Today I'm making steak and shrimp with pasta for my birthday supper. I should get going and get that started. Tim wants to drive up to MI for some computer parts he found on craigslist. The great part about that is that there is a Culver's in that city so we can get some frozen custard for my birthday treat! Today's flavor is Just Drummy which means it is vanilla frozen custard with peanuts, waffle cone pieces and hard chocolate. Yum Yum! Not one of my faves, but it'll do because ummm it has chocolate and nuts. I love their chocolate covered strawberry, mint explosion, almond hooray (similar to a mounds bar in frozen custard). Okay enough I gotta get going and get supper started Tim will be home soon from his PA appt. Have a great Wednesday!

Easy Squeezy & HM Challenge Snow

Yes, I decided since I'm running behind on my Christmas card making that I ought to do ones that go together quickly. I found MME paper at Michael's and matching Bazzill CS and just started making Christmas cards. If I do them this way I can get three cards from a 12x12 sheet of CS. Today when I was getting some done I decided I could make one for the HM Monday Challenge blog which this week is to include snow. So here is my card for the HM Challenge. Sorry about the blurriness.
Here are some of the ones I made the other night.


I put up the Christmas tree today. I haven't decorated it yet but here is our skinny tree. We live in a small place so it works out great that it is a smaller tree. My mom made the tree skirt so I had to take another photo to show you.
And last but not least here is the cake I picked up from Kroger's Sunday night for Tim's Birthday. It's an ice cream cake YUM YUM. Yeah I know I should've baked but things have been a little hectic and off kilter around here.
Still dealing with the crud. I'm better but coughing a lot and still using lots of kleenex.

Oh and the Santa Shoppe Craft sale went pretty well. I did sell a few things, nothing major, but it was for kids and it makes me happy to watch kids buy for others.

Noah decided to go to his Dad's for Christmas. He was going to stay here, but guess he wants to see his Dad and new step niece or nephew. His Dad calls last night to say his computer crashed and he wants me to order his mega bus tickets and he'll send us 1/2 in a check. I was a bit taken aback and said you do realize I do not have a job and money is hard to come by? So he was like if our computer didn't crash I wouldn't ask. So today I ordered them and called him to tell him his 1/2 of the amount. I asked when I'd see the check and he was like oh this week. Well he better!! I was talking to a friend and she said I should've given him the 800# shoot I wish I would've talked to her or remembered myself before ordering!! Well I will send him a reminder in the mail tomorrow!

Hope you are having a great week. I can't believe its only about 2 weeks until Christmas! YIKES.

19 Years

ago I had a 9 lb 6 oz baby boy. We named him Mitchell Ross. He had super chubby cheeks and dark hair. Today he lives in the Milwaukee area and is finishing school at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. I miss him a great deal. He's been going through a lot since his dad kicked him out of the house a year ago. He's lived with a few different friend's families and is on the move again. I hope this settles down for him he needs a stable place to stay and one less thing to worry about. Mitchell I want to tell you to keep growing and moving forward. Do not let anyone or anything hold you back from your dreams. You are always welcome here, I know you want to stay there with your friends, but you need a safe stable place to stay too. You are so very loved and missed!

Here is a layout I did a few months back:


One year ago today Tim had surgery to remove the rectal tumor. It was successful! After his wound healed he had 6 weeks of radiation together with chemotherapy. Here is a LO I did in May using the Cancer Cannot poem the photo was just after he was done with the radiation and chemo in April of this year.At this point we were just happy that he was done. Well the PET scan showed that he had lesions on his lungs. The cancer had metastisized to his lungs and he was looking at more chemo. So that's where we're at now him getting his 5 or 6th round of chemo since he started back in late June of 2007. Tim is only going to be 45 on Sunday Dec. 7 and was only 43 when he was diagnosed. The surgeon was surprised that someone his age had a cancer that usually happens to someone who is in their 70's. It just goes to show that a colonoscopy should be required before age 50 and definitely earlier if you have cancer in your family. The surgeon said that the tumor was probably growing in Tim for 7-10 years since it was quite large. We have decided to be positive and take each day one day at a time. There is so much negativity out there and it's just way better to remain positive.

I'm still feeling really miserable. I'm starting to cough a lot and still have trouble breathing through my nose. I really don't want to miss the Christmas Crop on Saturday, but do not want to infect anyone else with this. I have switched to drinking hot tea and it's soothing my sore throat that sure does feel better! Well think positive thoughts that I'll make it to the crop. So much to do in so little time...YIKES!

Sunset

I wasn't going to post today as I could not find a picture of a sunset or sunrise. One that I had taken, I know that you can get them online. Well low and behold my SIL accidentally sent me two pix today from her cell phone. Granted the photo isn't the best quality but it is an awesome sunset. She took it as she was leaving work one day last week. This picture is taken in Taylor WI which is NW Wisconsin not too far from the MN border. Thanks Martha!



Friday we found out that Tim will be going back for Chemotherapy. The chemotherapy oncologist said he did not feel that he needed to do a biopsy as Tim has metastatic cancer. He said if you were a new patient or had been in remission for awhile then a biopsy would be warranted. So he will get chemo once a week for 6 weeks and then they will have him get a PET scan again to see how the chemo worked. We asked several questions this time as we were ready this time. We were just so blown away a few weeks ago when he told us there were several lesions on his lungs. So now we can go ahead and fight this and still keep positive!!!

Thought I'd share some of the papercrafts I've been up to lately.

I did a Father's Day Card for my dad and his 70th birthday fell on Father's Day this year. I also think it is funny that he was born on June 15 and is the 15th and last child in his family. The next youngest is my aunt who's birthday is Aug. 14 and is the fourteenth child!! That of course is the only two birthdays of my dad's siblings that I can remember! The birthday card was made by youngest son Noah, our LSS had a make n take a few months back. I just added the 70 and inked it then added stickles.


Made with MME Wild Asparagus Dad medallion .... Used TAC stamps Fish Story on the tags.

You'll have to click this link to see the birthday card, for some reason blogger doesn't like it.

I have also done a quickie layout of Noah and some photos that his teacher had taken over the past school year and put together a montage and laminated it. I'll scan and stitch it soon and get it on here.

Thanks to everyone who takes time to read my blog. Also, thanks for leaving comments, it's always nice to hear what you think.

15

Today Noah turned 15! Wow where has the time gone? What happened to my little boy who listened? Well maybe he didn't listen that well, but the teenage rebellion is getting to be a bit much. At least he made it to school after telling me he wasn't going and took his pill after telling me he didn't need them anymore. I do fine without them. I said you're taking them, we just got a refill yesterday! So then he tells me he's not going to take them on weekends then.

Today Tim sent me an article from work about heart conditions and ritalin type meds. So I will have to mention it to the doctor next time we go. I did notice it on the warnings that come with the prescription bags last night as well.

Noah celebrated his birthday by going to a skate park to skateboard with friends. It's regular park that has a playground, skate park and baseball diamond. Our little Malibu was able to handle 5 teenage boys and a driver. Forgot to make him a cake, got too involved in cleaning. I'll make one tomorrow. It will be more of a surprise then :). Well just wanted to add this for today and will blog more tomorrow.