Puppy and Mouse Priceless Friendship*

Good morning! We have finally made it to Friday! Woot!! I will be on my way to work in a few minutes. Yesterday... I worked... and I worked some more. I did go up and walk, but then I worked some more LOL It felt so good to head home! Kevin rode to work with me yesterday morning too.. and it was so cool outside! We had to pull out the sweatshirts to ride! I had a bit of leftover chinese for dinner. The boys had eaten already without me! Kevin always sits with me though.. he is the best :)  Then I took a trip to Michael's. I'm trying to work out what to give everyone for Christmas. And it's always the same old thing... what do you get for people that can get whatever they want. So... I think I have decided on both my sister and my mother finally. I did some shopping at Michael's and some shopping at the Goodwill store. I think I've found a few items that I can repurpose and make them into some nice gifts. We will see! I will post them as I finish them :) Okay.. time to go :)  Have a great day everyone! And Happy Friday!!

Here is a friendship card for today:







Yep.. I tried another CAS! LOL  The image is Snoozing Puppy from Gerda Steiner Design. The adorable little pup and mouse were colored with Copic Markers. I used some brown and bronze spritz for the background. I added a lined stamp over the top of those... you can barely see it under the pup and mouse. I also added a couple of paw prints stamped. I carried that over to the inside and did some paws there as well. The two papers are from my scrap stash. I stamped the True Friends Are Priceless from Unity Stamps. And that is it. My CAS attempt once again.

Copic Markers Used:

• Puppy Fur: W1, W3, W5, W7, W9
• Puppy Nose: C3, C7, C9
• Mouse Fur: E51, E55, E57, E59

Challenges:

• August: Stamp of the Month @ Gerda Steiner Designs Challenge*
• Challenge #48: Anything Goes (3) @ Inspiration Destination.
• Challenge #198: Anything Goes (3/5) @ Word Art Wednesday.
• Anything Goes (2) @ Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wednesday Challenge.
• Challenge #2: Anything Goes @ A Bit More Time To Craft.
• Fair and Square @ Crafty Boots Challenges.
• Just Because (1/3) @ Tuesday Throwdown.
• Cute and Cuddly (1) @ Cards In Envy.
• Challenge #23: Anything Goes @ Not Just Cards Challenges.
• Anything Goes (3/5) @ Simon Says Stamp! Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #5: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Crafting With Friends.
• Challenge #12: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Simply Paper Craft Challenges.
• Challenge #98: Use A Sentiment (3/3) @ Chocolate, Coffee & Cards Challenge.
• FFC #103: Anything Goes (1/3)@ Jo's Scrap Shack.

Back From A Long Hiatus*

Good morning everyone!!  And it has been a long time since I've posted! A lot has been going on :)  I haven't posted since March. I was getting ready for surgery.

On April 21st, I had Bariatric Bypass Surgery; I had the RNY procedure. I chose the RNY for various reasons: one being that sugar is a real down fall for me, another being the amount of weight that I needed to lose and another being that I was borderline Diabetic. I had a wonderful surgeon, Dr. Jean-Pierre, who works for WellStar (which is where I work). That whole office, Comprehensive Bariatric Surgery, is just wonderful!! My highest weight was 295 pounds in October of 2014. With a lot of hard work and support I was able to get down to 277 pounds as of surgery. The surgery went really well and I was in the hospital for two nights after. I was up and walking the night of surgery, I didn't have a lot of issues with gas and not a whole lot of pain. My sister stayed with me while I was in the hospital and encouraged me to get moving. She was fantastic!

Once I returned home from the hospital is when the hard work began. For three weeks I was on a liquid diet and that was the hardest thing through all of this LOL!  An all liquid diet is horrible! I was so tired of drinking my meals by the end of the three weeks. After the first three weeks I was able to move on to soft/mushy foods. It was eating things that you could cut with a plastic fork. That was much better! And I was able to experiment with some things. I was just happy to not be drinking everything!

Another three weeks later I was able to begin eating regular food again. Although, I am unable to eat a lot of sugar, so I have to be really careful with that. I still can't have raw vegetable, although I'm hoping I will be able to have that soon. I am not suppose to eat anything bread for another 7 months or so. And I REALLY miss bread! And my portion sizes are very small. I can eat about 1/4 cup at a meal. I eat every three hours and I focus on protein. I have to get in at least 60 grams of protein each day, so I focus on getting that first. I take a Flintstone Complete vitamin twice a day and my calcium three times a day. I was on medication for high blood pressure before the surgery, but I am off of that. I was off of that medication a few days after surgery.

I have worked my daily exercise up to at least 60 minutes a day for at least 4 days a week.When we are kayaking, I am doing 6 days a week, but we are waiting on wiring up the trailer so we can get back to that. Exercise has gotten so much easier as the weight has come off. I've been doing a lot of reading when I go to bed and while I walk on the treadmill. I also do lifting every other day. I've managed to keep my muscle mass so far, which is a good thing! I have been feeling really good for the most part. I have gotten sick only twice. There are times when I don't chew well enough and that hurts.. so I try to really pay attention to that. All in all, it has been a great experience so far and I feel great!

It was really hard to get back into a routine and I still think that is a work in progress. I struggle with not weighing myself every single day. I am not losing as fast as I would like to, but that is because I am lifting. There is so much focus on the numbers that it is hard to not focus on that -- the numbers on the scale! As of Tuesday evening, I am down to 237 pounds. I can't remember the last time I weighed that. And 200 is in sight! I'm closer to 200 pounds now instead of 300. That makes me really happy! And my family has been so amazingly supportive.. especially my wonderful husband!!

I completely lost my creative anything until just about a week ago. I'm really glad to be crafting again!! So, I decided it was time to get back into creating and posting! So, this is my first post, post surgery LOL!

I am posting a card that I made for Faery Ink. This was using The Bubble Fairy Queen.  Here are some photos:











I used Copic markers to color this amazing image of Amanda's. The paper is a stack that I bought at Michaels. I can't remember which stack it was. I added some Diamond Glaze on her wings and the bubbles. I added some pearls to her hair and paint dots. There is glitter around the circle. There are pearls and gems on the inside of the card. I also layered the image a bit. Hopefully you can see some of that in the photos.

Copic Markers Used:

• Bubbles: Y15, V05, BG34, BG07
• Hair: C1, C3, C5, C7, C9, BG13
• Clothing: BG11, BG13, BG18
• Wings, Dragon Wing, Belly and Pearls: RV10, RV21, RV23, V0000
• Lips: R00, RV34
• Dragon: YG01, YG03, YG05

Challenges:

• K For Kind Thoughts (1) @ Alphabet Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #36: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Art By Miran Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #87: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Creative Fingers Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #115: Anything Goes (1) @ Sister Act Card Challenge.
• July: Anything Goes w/Glitter, Flocking and/or Embossing Powder (1/3) @ Sparkle N Sprinkle.
• Challenge #7: Anything Goes (1/1) @ Doodle Pantry LLC Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #271: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Craft Your Passion Challenges.
• Things With Wings (1/5) @ Incy Wincy Designs*
• Anything Goes 07/21/2015 (1/2) @ Through The Craft Room Door.
• Anything Goes (1/3) @ Crafty Sentiments Designs Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #136: Anything Goes (1/5) @ AUD Sentiments Challenge Blog.
• CMC #70: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Card Mania Challenges.
• July: Anything Goes (1/5) @ Crafting By Designs.
• Challenge #43: Anything Goes (1) @ Inspiration Destination.
• Anything Goes (1) @ Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps.
• July: Feature A Creature *Dragonet* (1/3) @ Stamping Sensations.
• Challenge #193: Anything Goes (1/5) @ Word Art Wednesday.
• Challenge #27: Anything Goes (1/1) @ Crafting Musketeers Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #2: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Crafting With Friends Challenge.
• July: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Your Scrapbook Place.
• July: Use A Digi or Stamp (1/3) @ Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog.
• July: Patterned Paper (1) @ Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge.
• July Challenge #114: Anything Goes (1/3) @ DigiStamps4Joy.
• DSC #140: Anything Goes (1) @ Digitally 'Sweet' Challenges.
• July: Anything Goes (1/3) @ DL Dot Art.
• Challenge #14: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Lil Path of Crafty Friends.
• July Challenge #22: Anything Goes (1) @ Not Just Cards Challenges.
• July: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Sisters of Craft.
• Challenge #136: Anything Goes (1/3) @ Artistic Inspirations.
• Challenge #29: Anything Goes (1) @ CCC Digi Creations.
• Anything Goes (1/3) @ The Paper Shelter Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #44: Anything Goes (1) @ Creative Craft Cottage.
• Anything Goes (1/3) @ Petal Lu Challenge Blog.
• Challenge #200: Anything Goes (1) @ Use Your Stuff.

Tammy's Scrapin Corner Monday!

Happy Start of the Week Everyone! Today begins a new challenge at Tammy's Scrapin Corner. This week is Challenge #31 - Friendship!!

Challenge #31 - Friendship
Bugaboo: Best Buds
Scraps, button, twine, gems, charm
First Swing Card
Copic:

Skin: E000, E00, E11, E93
Blonde Hair: Y21 and Y23
Brunette Hair: E21, E25, E27
Khaki Pants: E30, E31, E35
Red: R24, R27, R29
Blue Jean: B93, B95, B97
White: E41 for highlights

This was next on my list of card types to try, a Swing Card. Okay... cute, but not my favorite. I don't like how it doesn't stay folded very well.  It is still a cute idea though.

Challenges: 

•  #6 World Card Making Day: Make It Shiny! (gems) @ Let's Capture These Sketches
• Anything Goes Plus a Sentiment @ Sentimental Sundays
• Challenge #26: Buttons @ Go Fish
• Challenge 26: For A Man @ Liastamps
• CCIC61: Sentimental @ Clearly I Stamp
• #19: Anything Goes @ Crafty Mess
• Challenge #138: Anything Goes @ My Grafico
• October Card Challenge: Boy Card @ The Ribbon Girl
• Challenge #4: Anything Goes @ The Crafty Bloggers Network
• Use a Digi @ Cutie Pie Challenges

I hope you all have a marvelous day. I'm off to work to try to get something done. Maybe I'll even get all caught up one of these days!! LOL

We should be getting the last of the information we need to send off to the Sydney Consulate this week. Once that is done we are just waiting on the interview to be set up. That could take three to four weeks. I still can't believe how far we have come in such a short time here at the end. And after all those months and months of waiting!

Finally Friday

Good morning everyone! It is finally Friday! I will be spending my day making some cards I hope! No plans to go out anywhere.. although I will probably go at lunch time for a swim at the gym. I'm trying to get back to the gym.. It's hard to keep motivated! I can come up with all kinds of excuses to not go... I mean, I have kids, they need to be fed, errands that need to be run, grocery shopping, cleaning up, and the list is endless. So I'm really trying to push myself and get moving again.

I also need to bring Michael over to his grandmother's to mow the lawn. He has never mowed the lawn before, no time like the present to learn! hehe We may do that tomorrow morning after our volunteering too. Just not sure about the timing... we will see how the day goes. My mother broke her wrist when her and my sister went to France. She tripped and fell going out of the hotel the first night they were there. She wouldn't go to a doctor there, so she waited until almost two weeks after it happened to go see a doctor. The doctor was going to put her in a cast, but she pleaded with him and he ended up putting her in a brace. She goes back in a month. We will see how good she has been with it and if it is healing properly.

There is a new Challenge Blog starting up...  Cut It Up ... Be sure to go over and check it out! They have a really awesome giveaway going on for their new followers. I'm always excited about new challenges hehehe  I wouldn't miss it! They will have their first challenge starting on September 7th! I'll see you there!

Here is a Miss You Friend card...

Let's see.. rick rack, rubons (Miss You and Friend), scrap paper, the Hi was from paint and foam stamp staples. Thats about it. Simple card.

Challenges:

• Challenge #126: Anything Goes @ Critter Sketch Challenge Blog
• Amusing Challenges: Anything Goes @ Stamped Blessings
• Challenge #44: Anything Goes @ The Stamping Boutique
• Challenge No #46: Anything Goes @ Bearly Mine Challenges
• Challenge #113: Paints/Inks @ Sentimental Sundays

Happy Olympics Eve

Good morning everyone.. or evening for those of you going to bed soon. And Happy Olympics Eve! The opening ceremonies are tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. I just LOVE the Olympics. The games have already begun; there have been some events that have been going on. Kevin and I were talking about that this morning... and he makes so much sense ;)  I was surprised that they were going on before the opening ceremonies, but when he said that the team sports take more time because they can only play a game a day.. well.. doesn't that make perfect sense LOL  Just things that I don't think about. The U.S. Women's soccer team played and won... that is all I've heard so far. I will have to do some snooping around today to see what is going on. I also need to find out when the opening ceremonies are tomorrow. I love to watch the opening ceremonies and everyone trying to outdo the previous years LOL It is always a lot of fun.. Okay.. except when all the countries walk in.. because it just takes so long and I lose interest really quickly LOL

What else has been going on? I have been training a temp to help out in another department.. and I hate training people! I've been back and forth and feel like I haven't gotten anything accomplished really this week. Today I'm not going over there so I will just focus and try to get a bunch done.

We have been home since Tuesday... Wow!  That isn't very long is it LOL  No wonder I haven't recuperated!  I feel so worn out, but at least I was able to work on a card last night for OSAAT and I'm almost finished with it. I worked on it some more this morning and when I get home I will put the last touches on it. I am also going to print some images here at work... better printer! I brought my paper and that will give me some images to work with this weekend.

Night before last I was watching Netflix in the bedroom.. dozing off, when all of a sudden I heard a 'POP' and a big flash of light which woke me from doze. My DVD player was fried! I have been having some trouble with that thing for a little while now. I stopped by BrandsMart and picked up a new DVD last night... making sure I got one that I could connect to Netflix. Wouldn't you know!! I paid attention to the Netflix part, but failed to pay attention to the WiFi part. Ughhhh.. so I packed it back up and I'll return it today. I hate when I do things like that. I get in such a hurry that I don't pay close enough attention. Or, I don't read something carefully. This is really a bad habit of mine.. I need to slow down and pay closer attention. i got annoyed when I went in there, because there were about five salesmen just standing around talking. So, I grabbed and ran.. My fault! I should have paid closer attention! I knew what I needed. Tonight I will stop back by and exchange it for the correct DVD on my way home.

Here is a card for today:

The stamps are from Stampin' Up. Its just pretty simple. The square is covered in Diamond Glaze and then I cracked it. I love Diamond Glaze!

Challenges:

• Challenge 18: Anything Goes @ ATC's + Cards With Attitude
• Challenge 26: Color Challenge @ E.A.D Designs
• Clean and Simple @ Paper Pretties
• Challenge # 94: Anything Goes @ Crafts and Me Challenges
• Day 140: Layered Stamps @ 365 Cards

Happy Monday

Good morning everyone! Or evening.. depending on where you are! :)  It is another Monday. The kids and I came back to my sister's house after church yesterday. We enjoyed the day swimming and just hanging out together. My oldest even came over and spent a lot of the day with us. I cooked hamburgers on the grill. We will be here for just a couple more days. My mother and sister come home on Tuesday.. still no idea what time, but at least I know the day!

Today begins a new challenge

The theme this week is BINGO!  I used A Day for Daisies wonderful graphic "Dragon's Gift". I love this image.. I love the little dragonet and I duplicated it on my card. For Bingo I used American Crafts Glitter Ribbon, the Free Space, and Stickles.

So, everything I used... American Crafts Glitter Ribbon, The Art of Glittering System: Crystal Transparent, Stamp "Friendship" from Stampin' Up, Stickles: Orange Peel, Turquoise, and Yellow, Derwent Water Color Pencils to color the image. That little piece of ribbon sticking up.. I've fixed that LOL  I fussy cut the little dragonets.. cut extra wings for two of them, popped them and lifted the edges. I popped some of the little tulips as well and on the fairy I cut extra wings for her, popped them and lifted the edges.. really gives them a great look.. like she has two sets of wings like she should LOL  I stickled all the little dragonet wings and glittered the fairy wings.  Hope you enjoy :)

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Challenges:

• Challenge #3: Anything That Shines @ Papelitos
• Challenge 44: Anything Goes @ Divas by Design
• Challenge #49: Angels & Fantasy @ Southern Girls Challenge
• Challenge #117: Anything Goes @ Digi Doodle Shop
• Royal Digi Challenge #10: Anything Goes @ The Scrapbook Queen
• Wings @ Card Cupids
• BBB24: The Beauty of Winged Things @ Flourishes
• Anything Goes #21 @ Liastampz
• Anything Goes @ Mema's Crafts
• Monday Challenge #1: Anything Goes @ The Crafty Bloggers Network
• Challenge #112: Things with Wings @ Sentimental Sundays
• Make It Monday #99 @ Make It Monday
• Day 138: Imagine This - Enchanged @ 365 Cards 

Scrap Sunday

I had a really good day yesterday hanging out with Jianna and her brother, his partner, her mother and her kids. She was dropping her youngest off to stay with her brother for a month. She will be back for the Fourth of July to pick her up. We are going to spend the day at Stone Mountain. We just hung out and talked, we took the kids to the pool for a bit. It's always so good to see her. I was exhausted by the time I got home though. Her brother lives about an hour away.

I love her brother and his partner too. They are all good people. It has always felt like family being there. They are always so welcoming and open. In the next couple of months they are planning to move to Key West. That will be a nice visit LOL I have never been there either. That was my day yesterday.

I came home and talked to Kevin a bit, but got so tired I went to bed. I must have slept weird too, because I woke up with my back hurting and really stiff. This morning I'm spending my time with Kevin. I will get the kids up in a couple of hours so they can get ready for church. Off for 9 am service and then I will spend the rest of my day scrapping I hope. The apartment is clean, there is only a couple of loads of laundry that the kids and I will finish. I have to go across the street and grab a new Zig pen as mine is almost out of ink and that will be my day. I'm going to try to focus on getting a couple of pages done for this album.

I did one quick layout this morning with random photos. Kevin had shot random photos just around here. So I stuck them on a layout and I'll add it that album. I used bazzill paper, Daisy D's patterned paper, my zig pen and that's it. The layout was a challenge I had seen some where, but when I went looking for it again I couldn't find it anywhere. So, I have no idea where it came from and I couldn't recall all of it.

Best Friends

My lunch with Taylor yesterday went well. I told her exactly how I felt about her leaving. I really needed to get that off my chest. I asked her about her job, we spoke about her car and what she needed to do to take care of it. I told her she needed to appreciate what my mother and sister did for her by repairing that car. It was over $850 to repair it. I spoke with her about school and when she was going. She is not rooming with her friend, so I'm pretty happy about that. Her friend and her boyfriend are both going to the same school as her. The funny thing about that is that neither of them had initially planned to go there. Her friend pretty much had it planned that she was going to the University of Georgia and her boyfriend had planned on going out of state. Some how that all changed. We spoke about what she was going to do for the holidays. I was hoping she would come home for the holidays and she said she would. So all in all it was pretty good. One thing really bothered me though. She is living with her girlfriend, her girlfriends mother and stepfather. Apparently, the mother and girlfriend have been gone all week to Florida. She is living in that house with the stepfather! She has always been one to put herself into weird situations like that. I kept my mouth shut though. I couldn't get into a fight with her about that and she knows how I feel about things like that. I brought her back home to see her siblings. Everyone was happy to see her. Then she left for work in her car. I hope she will do what is right by my mother and sister. She really needs to show them some appreciation.

Today I get to go visit with Jianna! Jia is my very best friend. We have been friends since my oldest was in elementary school. Several years ago she went through a terrible divorce and moved out of state to Ohio. I miss her terribly! She came in town yesterday and is staying with her brother in Madison. I will be waking the kids up at 6 am. That will give them an hour to get themselves dressed, teeth brushed, hair brushed, etc. Then we can head out. She is really awesome :) I can't wait to see her.

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I did scrap a page yesterday! It is just a page of Kevin and the kids when he was here at home. I see so many pages with just empty space and I really tried. There was a lot of empty space. I couldn't do it! I had it scanned and everything, but I just kept staring at it and ended up adding to it. I don't know what it is, but I can't do empty space LOL Another thing I can't do is crowded embellishing. Where there is so much embellishment that it almost loses the photo. Or you really have to look to find the photo. It's just not my style I guess. So here you go.. still working on that 8 1/2 x 11 album. I will be glad when I'm finished. 

All of the paper is from Club Scrap. This is an old kit that I received before I stopped scrapping for so long. I absolutely love the quality of their papers. I used paint and twine.

When I finish with this album I'm going to finish the small album I was making my sister about her bout with breast cancer.