Getting Work Done

Well, nearly had this whole post done and accidently bumped the touchpad mouse on my computer. It is now disabled, I hope, since it deleted the entire post. :(. Anyway, I was saying that today I have been clearing off my desk. My husband is getting stuff ready to build my counter while I'm up at school later today working in my room for a while and then working at the Fall Festival at the Kindergarten booth. So, I spent a good bit of today organizing and trimming my photos that were already printed. Now all I have to do is pull out the bag of pictures I want to scrap and get busy--at least for a few layouts! Now on to the fun stuff. These are the layouts I've done over the last several days. 

The first is another senior photo shoot picture by Laura May. Archie is on the back of an old work pickup in front of the old stables. If you look closely, you can see part of the word Stables on the sign behind him. I used several ribbons and some dried flower embellishments I have had in my drawer for years. The quotation is: Amid a world of noisy, shallow actors it is noble to stand aside and say, "I will simply be." Henry David Thoreau.

The next layout has two more photos by Laura May. She played with the focus on these giving one a sharp focus and the other a soft focus. I loved the bird on the background paper and found the cardstock sticker in my embellishment file. The epoxy stickers were there as well. They say, Sing, Play, Experience, Happiness (if you read that together, it's almost a sentence.) I used Tim Holtz distress tissue tape for the stripe. 

These reflection pictures amazing. There was little wind and the reflections were so clear. Laura had such fun with them. I had to laugh while doing the layout. The reflections were so clear, I nearly stuck a picture on upside down. The layout is based on a Pinterest sketch. The sticker says: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. I had to use at least one Prima flower in this album, but Archie, I promise it does have music notes on it. 

Blizzard Band is a two page layout of pictures I took throughout Archie's senior year. The large shot is the trombone section. I used ribbon for the left border and under the smaller pictures. I used some scraps for the patterned paper at the top. I had one last snowflake brad in a set of brads, so I used it. At some point during Archie's senior year, I found a chipboard mini-album that was snowflaked shaped, so I snatched it up, knowing our school mascot is the Blizzard. (We live in Winters, remember.) The outline for the cover seemed to just fit around the snowflake brad, so I inked it Blizzard Blue and then wallpapered two other pages of the album with some more paper. I used one for a journaling spot and the other for part of the title. The journaling reads: Archie was active in band all during school. His senior year he was section leader. He was asked to perform in a brass ensemble with Mr. and Mrs. Mooney and another student for the Veteran's Day program. He had a solo during marching season, as well. 

Catching Up Part 2

One of the things I got behind on with my cancer was my son's senior album. He graduated from high school in May of 2012 and will graduate from college this May, so I'm frantically getting that album finished. I've challenged myself to use my stash up and not buy anything but adhesives and cardstock that I might not have in the right colors. So, I'm having fun pulling out all those old embellishments, patterned papers, ribbons, Primas (well, not many of those! He might protest,) and all sorts of goodies.

Here are the first few layouts from the album:

We start with the title page. This photo is by Laura May of Bluebonnet's Photography. I loved the layered look I saw in a layout on Pinterest, so I scraplifted it for this one. The scripture quoted is Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

The pictures for this next LO were taken at the end of Arch's junior year for his 17th birthday, but we both agreed since he was 17 for most of his senior year, they worked in this album. Besides, I found the stained glass paper in my stash and HAD to use it. The quotation is People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. The photos were taken at the Old Buffalo Gap Cemetary.

Next is a layout I actually did a few years ago. Arch competed in Robotics competition all through high school and was team captain his senior year. Team Fluffy took 5th place in the Regional Competition that year. 

This is another LO I did back a few years ago. Photos again by Laura May. This is Grandpa's old tractor. Arch really wanted to wear his tux for a few of the shots and play his trombone (much like his sister did her formal and flute) in unusual places around the farm and other spots around town.The epoxy sticker says "Life is better when it's fun." 

 

The photos on this next one are the proofs for the senior photos the school took. Photographer was Wayne Hennington Photography. I put them on Artist Trading Cards and used a sketch I found on Pinterest. Arch was concerned the "bling" would be too girly, but he approved after I got it finished. The scripture is "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1.

The next is another photo by Laura May. It was taken at an old, run down stables that is now owned by a church member. Lots of interesting old architecture, in this place. The quotation is "The life given us is short, but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal. Cicero

Next is another Laura May photo. This was an old Butler bin on our farm that a storm blew over several years ago. Jeff and Arch hauled it up to Heartbreak Hill on the place and it just curled over like this. It had such a cool look that Laura and I had to get it in some shots. I love the juxtaposition of the tux and brass horn with the rust and corrugated metal.  The charm is from an old zipper pull that I saved. I added a rub-on to the velum tag at the top and a sticker to metal tag. The cog embellishment is from a set I had. The quotation is "Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. John Quincy Adams. 

These are all fun shots of Arch being silly (and not happy with us making him get on the bike) that Laura May took. They just all seemed to go together. The top two are at the old stables and the bottom are at the farm. The quotation is "You are you. Now, isn't that pleasant?" Dr. Seuss. 

Last for this set, we're back at the curled Butler bin. Laura had fun with settings on this one, I love this shot. I had to include all three variations.  Kathleen told Arch it looked like a cool album cover. I spattered the patterned cardstock with paint and inked the edges of the photos to add to the rustic look. The quotation is, Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and everything. Plato

Catching up Part 1

So, I intended to get back to scrapping and posting back in January, but at my check up that month we found some suspicious nodes in my lungs. We had to wait till March to see about getting a biopsy so that they could either grow or go away. In March we confirmed that they were indeed the cancer that had metastasized again. So, in April I started chemo. After a very long spring and summer full of treatments (and some horrible allergic reactions), I finished chemo in August just as school started. I have moved to kindergarten this year and have been busy getting adjusted to the move. Speaking of moves, in July and August we worked around my treatments and got Kathleen moved to her new apartment and job teaching Pre-K and K music in Snyder. So now I have a new room to craft in. I've spent the past several weekends getting it set up--sort of. I have some more stuff to move and Jeff needs to build a counter and put a door on the closet, but I'm organized enough to scrap. More about that in another post. I'll post pics of my new room as soon as it gets finished. I haven't had this much space--ever! I'm having fun playing with my stash and finding stuff I totally forgot about.

Wow! Time to Catch Up!

It has been a while since I've posted! So sorry! For those that don't know, I've had an interesting couple of years. In March of 2013, I finally mentioned the knot under my tongue to my doctor and she sent me to my ENT. It turned out to be a squamous cell carcinoma tumor. We had it removed and I was back at school in just a week. Monthly check-ups went well till the end of March 2014. I was having what I thought were persistent sinus infections (normal for me), and I mentioned the swollen lymph gland in my neck to my ENT. He ordered a CT scan and sure enough, the cancer had metastasized. At the end of April I had a surgery and they removed 28, lymph nodes, my left jugular vein and the muscle above it. Eight lymph nodes including the tumor were positive for cancer.  We were referred to MD Anderson Cancer center in Houston and saw the doctors there for the first time in early June. A CT and PET scan showed that I had another lymph node positive for cancer. I had surgery again the following week and that was the only positive node so it was removed. Two weeks later I began a series of radiation and chemo treatments. After 33 radiation and 6 chemo treatments I came home to recover. My first check-up in October showed no cancer. I have another coming up in January and feel like it will be the same. For the first time in a couple of years I have energy to get stuff done and feel like I'm really accomplishing a lot. I see 2015 as a year of continuing to heal and recover and make progress. I'll try to get back to scrapping and posting my creations as soon as I can get the house better organized. 

First Altered Canvas

So I've been wanting to do an altered canvas for some time now. My son is graduating this year and wanted to give the school band directors a gift. I decided this was the perfect time to try an altered canvas. Michael's had a 2 pack of 12x12 canvases for $10 (expect number 2 soon).  I used 3 colors of paint--metalic blue, brown and black to give some depth to the background. Then after it dried I added Paper Studio papers in a music theme, torn and inked with Tim Holtz distress ink. I used a rub-on that said, "Encore!" in the corner and a piece of ribbon left over from an old homecoming mum  that said "Pride" Our band is called, "The Pride of West Texas Winters Blizzard Marching Band" (yeah, it's a mouthful!) so the word pride fits. I used some Tim Holtz tissue tape with a music motif and some tickets that say, "Play" Then I added a metalic flower and some pearl ribbon embellishments. The picture is printed on matte photo paper to keep it from being shiny (sorry for the flash glare, I got impatient and couldn't wait for daylight). Arch will give this to our directors at the band banquet later this week. Hope they enjoy it.

Catching Up

With Archie's graduation fast approaching, I decided to get things in gear and get Kat's senior album finished. So several layouts later, IT'S COMPLETE! Here are the last several layouts in her album. Most pictures are by the wonderful Christa Holland. So here we go:

This is the album's opening page. The handmade paper with the roses is one Kat made for me just before her senior year. The other is one I've had in my stash for years. I loved these pictures, they capture her personality so well. And they go with the ones that I've used for the last layout. More on that later.

This layout uses some inking and is based on a layout I found on Pinterest. I love all the pearl and jeweled flourishes I found. In fact, they seem to be a running theme in this album. The saying is "Simiple moments make great memories."

These pictures were taken in the back of an old pickup-turned-trailer. The flowers were wildflowers growing nearby. I loved these prima flowers, especially the bottom ones. They have music notes on them. The saying is, "Joy is the feeling of grinning on the inside."

I love the look of layered papers and in a recent challenge had a layout to follow that used the layers like this and I loved the look. The quotation says, "Sometimes it's good to sit quietly and let happiness come to you."

This is a happy accident. I was trying for a spattered paint background I saw on Pinterest and got blobs, I folded the paper and make a "blotto" type picture and then before it dried sprinkled on Martha Stewart glitter. Then I used my heat gun to dry it giving it the slightly bubbled texture.I added two journaling pages, some flowers, a bit of ribbon and the quotation, "Happiness is reflective like the light of heaven."

I love this metalic paper. So beautiful! I gathered the ribbon to make the curve and added the flowers and butterfly. I used scraps for the four squares. The quotation on this one is "The years tell us much that the days never know."

These are the only pictures in this set that Christa didn't take. It was just about sunset and I was far enough away that my poor camera had a hard time getting a good picture. Kat was third in her class and led the pledge of allegience. Then the music for the national anthem wouldn't work, so she ended up leading everyone in singing it accapella. I've had these Jolee's items since Kat was in 6th grade and I just had to use them.

And the last layout. As promised the pictures just after the opening page. If you know her, on those opening pictures, you can see that she's thinking about jumping. This series of pictures just seemed symbolic of jumping off into the world and growing. I've always loved Mark Harris' song "Find Your Wings" so I used the lyrics with this layout. Again, I love the layered, textured look of so many current layouts so I used folded ribbon, beaded flourishes, flowers and a butterfly. And so after two years in production this album is finished. I can't wait to give it to her.

Now, Arch graduates in four weeks, guess I should get busy on his...

Card Time

We had two events on one day today, so it's divide and conquer time. My husband has gone to a wedding of a dear friend who was one of his mentors when he started teaching and I'm headed out to a baby shower for the granddaughter of a friend. So I made two cards this morning. I only got a picture of the baby card, since Jeff had to drive 3 hours to get to the wedding and needed to take off. For both cards I used Juliane Tags from K and Company, ribbons and for the baby card a cute butterfly and flower. For the baby card, I had a ribbon tag that I wanted to use with the word "precious" and I used a clear sticker that said "Love and Laughter" and instead of the flower and butterfly, I used a organza bow. For that one I used one single white grosgrain ribbon across the front.  For the baby, I had 3 narrow ribbons using colors the mom used for the baby room.