Family Legacy?

I was challenged to celebrate MY heritage this week on a LO....well, I don't HAVE a heritage!
Heck I barely know about my blood ties, or I try not to anyways LOL
I was always told I was German and Indian (who knows which one) and Scandinavian? So I say American MUTT!? I have no clue! But my name is french LOL

So instead I celebrated the Legacy I will leave my children.
Which is that Family means EVERYTHING!

I grew up that family meant...dog eat dog...if your not the strongest you don't survive and you abuse anyone weaker. Or emotionally hurt them until they break. Well with 6 kids, most of us broke....some didn't and some did but in the greater sense we all broke eventually because we all have to or had to deal with our past and how to fix it and be normal humans in the real world.
So I want My kids to have the OPPOSITE experience!

Family means EVERYTHING! and you never turn your back on your family....and you stay true.
Our traditions may not be traditional always, we might spend Easter at the BEACH! but we are a family and if we are together, nothing else matters.

My First Frames

I have never altered Frames before, these are 1.00 wooden frames from somewhere
I used a lot of paper and paint! LOL
I wish I would have sealed them before the flowers...I think I might spray them with acrylic paint to seal them.
I think they rock...I am pretty happy.
On the second one....I covered it with yellow paper, then glitter glue...then I used white ink all over! It was a process, then I cute out about 30 dots and made sure they were attached raised for depth.
The first one I use blue paper and white paint and lots of polka dots in glitter glue again!.
Notice I did NOT use pink at all, I did not want them to look like my work.
So I refrained from the PINK! LOL

Scrapping sure is tugging on my heart this week

What a week for challenging my inner self! LOL
I had two challenges to complete and one was to Honor an important woman in your life.
Well, I don't have those.....I mean I grew up with a highly abusive (non-mother) and my dad has been married like 5 or 6 times now....
So I had to dig deep, but then I realized....I have this "friend".
She stepped in when she got married to my dad and she defended me...defended me from all the people who were blood related to me. She stood along side me and always had a shoulder for me to cry on.
She now has Lupus and has been very ill as of the last year, but she I believe is who inspired me to move forward with facing my abuse and past, for the bettering of my life and for my future children. So I did get to complete my challenge *YA*
Thanks "MOM"

Missing!

I have been MIA this week....it seems BOTH my precious boys have come down with a cold that involves, wheezing and severe asthma attacks! Its only lasts a couple days but it has been consecutive. This morning I woke to Justice wheezing and crying he could not breathe....
I did get a few scrappy projects done and will post later this weekend. Hopefully the boys will be better by then.

To Blog or Not to Blog?

I was challenged to write out WHY in fact I do blog.....so I got to thinking about it for the last couple days....and here is what I came up with.

I blog both personal and crafty blogs, all the time. I mix the two.
Frankly, for Crafting, I feel so much joy and stress relief crafting, I figure someone else might want to try it so why not put it out there! I love seeing new techniques and trying new things!

And for my more personal blogs, well....we all know what an open book I am.
The more I talk about my personal experiences the more response I get from others who have been through the same thing or similar experiences but are afraid or don't want to talk openly about it.
For some reason when I blog about my own experience or talk about it, it seems to make them more comfortable to tell their story and honestly, we all need to be able to feel SAFE enough to share our stories or else they will stay hidden and keep happening!

So its pretty much my goal to be 100% open even if it makes people angry with me. Because there are those few women that aren't angry and see that its ok to be broken, flawed and human, and you can still be beautiful, successful and Happy!
And to me just one other person, feeling safe and brave enough to speak out is enough for me to blog for a lifetime!

Certifiable?!

Well, here I am at the Fiskars Certification Class!
I finally did it and I FINALLY met some scrappers in real life!! Like OMG! LOL
It was pretty fun and a full weekend. Nice to get away from stress for a couple days and just have fun this weekend.
Our weekend was so busy thought. No scrapping or anything for me.
I spent all day Saturday driving to and from class (80 minutes away) and all day Sunday with the kids for Easter. We went to the beach and also we went to see Horton Hears a Who!
So back to reality today!
YA for Fiskars! I was RAK'd a NEW scrapbooking kit and some PINK yes PINK Heidi Grace floral scissors!!! hooray for them.

I think I also have resigned to the fact people call me Pinky now LOL
Everyone in Class called me Pinky and seems like its been sticking these days.
Too funny.
On another note....more personal

Oh and a sort of profound moment this weekend.
Of course by NOW I am used to the questions and stares and all that about my hair.
Well in a class of 12 women, when I was to introduce myself....instead of introductions, the questions started coming about my hair.
I sort of surprised myself.....when the questions came....
WHY? Did you dye your hair....usually when I am one on one I make a silly comment or something, but for some reason the words just sort of flowed this time.

"I am a survivor of child abuse and when i faced my demons, and changed my life, I changed my hair and it stuck."

I don't think anyone was more shocked than ME to hear those words come out of my mouth, but the coolest thing happened. Everyone applauded and it was 100% OK!!
So I was proud of myself I think that was a major step for me.
I think from now on that is what I will say instead of hemming and hawing around it.
YA for cool supportive women!

Spring Card Tutorial *On request*

Begin with a 10 1/2 " X 5" strip of cardstock.

Score or fold one side in 2.5"

Then at 5"

Then between the 2.5" and 5" fold cross paper to score of fold a line

Do this on EACH side creating an X between the 2.5" and 5" scrores

It should end up looking like this.

Now cut ends into V shap.And there you have it!

I highly suggest you glue this tab to make it stand better.
Specially with any decorations.

Hold down to dry glue

And that is all...now decorate accordingly!

OWL CD CARD Tutorial

Front of OWL CD CARD

Back of OWL CD CARD

You will need 1 SHEET of double sided Cardstock....or one plain and one patterned.
Scissors,INK, Ribbon, glue dots or hot glue, glue stick, scalloped scissors or corner rounder, file and an old CD, and one tag or note.
Begin by gluing all over CD and placing on one side of cardstock and trimming around leaving a slight lip on paper (to be filed later for more perfect edge)

Now flip it over and do the same thing making sure one side is patterned and one side is not.

Trim each side when you are done...better to glue, then trim and glue then trim.
Trimming both at the same time never works as well.

Now file off edges to make perfectly round and INK for affect and to cover any imperfections, also it makes it pop out more.

Cut a wide triangle about 4" at widest point. 3" to 4 " is fine, its flexible.

Cut orpunch out 2 approx. 1 1/2 inch circles

Now ink the eyes circles and triangle head piece...and cut 3 strips approx. 5" long and 3/4" wide.
Scallop one side and leave the other straight.

Now I just glue stick the first strip but for added dimension I use glue dots or glue gun for the other 2 so they layer and pop out...I do make sure to ink them as well for added depth.

I trim and ink each one as I glue it on.

Now glue the eye circles on after testing out and eyeing the shape and placement you want.
And HOT glue OR glue DOT the triangle on for added depth again.

Now the front of card is finished, turn the CD over and begin the back.

Carefully glue around the outside edge of CD for the pocket

Place Cardstock on and trim, don't forget to sand and INK to match the rest.

Glue on ribbon and bow or embellishment. Add Note or TAG...
See ABOVE for finished product!

WHO!? WHO!?

This is another CD card I made last night...and OWL...in case you can tell.
I really like him I think he's funny. It was actually really easy to do!
The note in the back is removable for writing.

UNIQUE

Well, as most people know I don't only scrap, I am a
home school mom and an avid seamstress/designer.
Well I have had off and on requests for more goth/retro looking dresses and tops...but not every day, so I decided to start buying some of the higher end fabric and selling them for more. So far so GOOD!

I never did it before because it seems NO ONE on eBay wants to pay over 25.00 for anything! BUT I already have 2 orders and bids so I can't complain.

I even named the line...UNIQUE by Plus size Designs. I think it adds a nice flare to the dresses.
It will be fun!

Birthday Card

ONE down and ONE to go! OMG I can't believe it is taking me this long to make my MIL and Nieces birthday cards! They have to be mailed by today or tomorrow. But I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I like using my heat gun on glitter glue! LOL It bubbles and splays...

Fiskars Certified??

Boy this weekend was just hairy.
We went to town on Sunday and I planned to hit Target and Lane Bryant and a couple places...but I went to the fabric shops first and I was so dang frustrated....I sort of lost all focus...took the kids to Chuck E Cheese and forgot about doing the rest of my shopping *DOH*.
My mental focus was all out of whack!

But then last night I heard from Wendy Jo, she is doing a Fiskars certification Class in Richmond...Ok ok technically Colonial Heights (which is closer to me anyways) ...
SOOO Saturday I will meet My first every scrappers in REAL LIFE!.....No shit huh?? pretty weird. But I am kind of excited to go away by myself for the first time in 10 months now.

Oh ya and one a side note....I was listening to the boys while they talked yesterday in bed (going to sleep) and Justice said " OK Gage!, Now you say BUTT and I am going to say...." Ya you guessed it LOL
HOLE! So I had to explain that while being funny and not so bad in my house...outside the world won't exactly find it proper!

I realize I am a bit more lax about language and all that in my house but not all parents want to hear it...I respect that. It was cute and funny though!

Another Sister's Lo for my sister's album.

I did this page for my sister's album as well. This is one of my all time favorites. I have never used Fancy pants paper before but i just LOVE it! Its dual sided (I love that) and is so fun.
I hardly had to do anything I just used the flowers as my guide!!
I have been doing these pages for my sisters and everyone keeps thinking the pictures are me! ACK driving me crazy LOL
Well hopefully I will be Fiskars Certified next weekend. They are having a training seminar in Richmond Saturday. I just have to check with hubby and see how the drive will be.....woohoo!

All POINTY!

I saw a LO in Fiskateers that had a circle and arrows and it inspired me to make this one.
I freehanded the arrow and stitched a smaller one on it. Then I went sew crazy LOL and ended up sewing all over!!
Its for my sisters album. it was so much fun to make. It has 11 questions....you know Coke or Pepsi....Is your glass half empty or half full? etc....

I sure love those thickers letters. I just ordered MORE! Easy to use and easy to paint/ink.

Rainbow challenged

I swear I am monochromatic challenged! I was challenged to do every color of the rainbow this week, and I did but BARELY!
The yellow is below and here is the red and orange.
I don't know if I am challenged or just don't have supplies of one color on hand!
That is frustrating.....not having exactly what you need on hand.
I did order a LARGE corner rounder this week. Its hard for me to spend a bunch of money on punches BUT I use my corner rounder so much I figure it will be worth it!!
On the red LO I used up a bunch of chipboard scraps! YA for scrap scrapping!
And on the orange well, I went crazy LOL

Gettin' Jiggy with it

*Jiggy* Yeah I know I pulled it out of my old school ASS!!
I am so excited I actually got to SCRAP last night for the first time in Days!
Things have been so darn busy, but last night at 10:45pm /11:00 pm I got all the kids to sleep and ignored my crazy messy house and Just did scrapping. I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed but I didn't! It was worth it. I got 3 Lo's done.

Here is a LO I did with Pictures of GAGE and his stinkin EYE!
I took two pictures and cut the face off one and used glue dots to put it on the base picture for more depth, it doesn't show well in photographing but its cool in person...very 2-D.
I got the idea of making a skinny folder from a Sketch I saw and did before....this time I made it and placed it on the page....The story of him taking bubble wrap, placing it on his face and POPPING it with a fork....therefore CUTTING his eye! IS inside the folder! What a nut he is.
I know we better have good insurance for him as he gets older! The idea will come bigger and faster I am sure.

Rememberance

I haven't been blogging much due to life getting pretty busy!
They offered him very low wages in TN so we won't be moving this week but we are still hopeful for other jobs in the area.
This is my latest LO I did for a frame. My friend Becky lost her Mother in law last year and this was to commemorate her.
I didn't really want to publish it because it is so personal but I thought I would post it here anyways.
It was a real hard piece for me to do I am not sure why. It was very emotional and put my heart into it. I have never met Becky, nor her MIL But I know how it feels to have such a great sudden loss and how undervalued it is. How much it sort of pricks at you every day for that first year especially. Anyways...nuf said...
New and exciting things happening this week. Can't blog about it right now but Fun stuff in store!

Sister's album

While packing and getting ready to go today i decided to do another page for my Sister's album.
She is always so excited to see the pages and so nice about it.
The picture did not turn out the best because of the tornado like winds outside...50+ MPH all day today. Crazy!
Andrew is in good spirits and feel he is going to get this job no matter what!
Let's hope so