I've been trying...

to enjoy this wonderful weather we've been having, so I haven't been inside much these days.  Can you tell  I'm trying to make excuses why I haven't been blogging or scrapbooking!  My chemo was cancelled last week due to very low white blood cell count, so I had an extra week of feeling close to normal.  It was nice to putter around in the garden, do a bit of running errands, and just sitting outside reading.  I've just come back from my chemo an hour ago, so I figured I should post something before I need to lie down.  I'm onto a new cocktail of drugs this round, so lots of different side effects and not sure how I will be affected yet.  So far so good, keeping my fingers crossed.  Unfortunately, my veins in my arm have been fried enough, so they are going to have to put a pic line in my upper arm that goes in all the way near my heart and stays there until my treatment is done.  Not sure how I feel about this, but I know my arm has been aching and something that is called "cording" is happening with my veins, so I will be going to physiotherapy to help with this.  But on the good side, I have only two treatments left and then I will be having a month of radiation.  If I can say one thing about this all to anyone;  it would be - If you are not eating properly and not eating a healthy diet, if you smoke, don't do exercise, are overweight - then change something, TODAY!  Breast Cancer takes almost a whole year of your life to get through if you have to have Chemo.  Could you afford to lose a whole year of work, have you and your family go through this for a year?  Normally, I'm a healthy person, I can't imagine how hard it would be if you weren't healthy or already having other health problems.  That's all I'm going to say about this, (you blog hop to escape not to get depressed!) that's my advise if you want to avoid cancer, and trust me, you do not want cancer!!

On a more happier note, we went to my in-laws lake last weekend, it was so peaceful!  I managed to take this photo of a hummingbird at their feeder on the deck.

















I used a couple of actions on this photo from "JoesSistah".  Those little birds are hard to photograph, by the time I could focus on him, he was gone!  He would come back every 20 minutes or so, but by the time I realized he was there, he was gone again!

This poppy bloomed in my garden last week, I couldn't believe how big it was, I'm sure it was 7 or 8 inches in diameter.  I find red flowers are hard to photograph, their color doesn't look the same as in real life.  I was trying to fix it and the next day on Pioneer Women's blog in her photography section, she had a post about the same thing!  She has the same problem (good - it's not just my bad photography skills!)
and lots of people commented and gave different ideas on how to fix, so some great advice there for anyone with the same problem!

















I did get my layout done for the next monthly challenge at Urban Scrapbook.  We had to use the word "Time" in our layout.  The papers in July's kit are from the new company "Echo Park" and are very summery so check out what the design team has done, kits are for sale starting July.  I love what everyone came up with!  Here's mine,

























My kids were always looking for something to do during summer, so one of things they loved doing, was have a lemonade stand.  My daughter is the one looking after the money and in charge, as usual.  I think she was only 4 here and my oldest son( he was 6) is the one with the goofy hat.  His grandfather gave him that sailor hat and I don't think he liked taking it off very much.  Don't know why he has it pulled right down, though!  Lol!  In each kit there is a bottle of smooch to use, and a mask.  I used the inner part of my mask, the dotted circle, with green smooch.
This photo brought back memories of our summers trying to find things to do at home.  We used to go for long walks, and our mission on these walks, was to find flat rocks for the kids to paint on.  Something so simple, yet they loved it and spent hours painting pictures and patterns on these rocks and then on another day try and sell them at their little table in the front yard.  We would make puppets and they would have puppet shows for all the kids in the neighborhood.  They even make a miniature golf course on our long driveway with wood from our woodpile.  All the kids came for days to help set it up,
and then after it was done, they all paid a nickel to come play!  We had to park on the street for a whole week, but it was worth it. They had such a good time planning out the course.  My husband never knew what he was coming home to in those days!  On rainy days, I would let them set up a fort in the basement, with all the blanket and chairs, tables they could find.  We would all eat our supper in the fort, even my husband and I.  If any of you are looking for ideas, try some of these!

Here's another layout for "The Color Room".  A layout of my dog; who, as some of you know, doesn't mind when I dress her up and make her sit there for photos.  She actually liked wearing these sunglasses!
Everytime we put the cushions on the lounge outside, she immediately jumps on there and lies down before we get to.  I used my new diecut and quilling kit from Cuttlebug for the orange and pink flowers. Love this kit, the flowers are addicting!  There are three different flower kits to choose from and "Urban" has all three.


























I loved this palette:  Sun Room




















I even followed the sketch this time.  There's always a sketch with each palette, so even if you aren't interested in the color schemes, the sketches are great for layout ideas.
That's it for me today, have a great week. Hope you enjoy Canada Day, July 1st and for Americans out there, July 4th!
0

Has it really been....


two weeks since my last post?  I've been trying to get all my yard work done while I'm feeling o.k. and the weather is nice.  Usually I go crazy in all the greenhouses, I can't resist all those wonderful plants and flowers, but this year I have been showing some restraint.  So far...  I bought a lot of herbs this year and I just mix them in with my flowers.  I've been using more in my cooking after reading these books by Gillian McKeith.  The recipes are mostly vegetarian, with a few that use chicken or fish.  For anyone who wants to change their eating habits and eat healthy I highly recommend them!  I thought I was a healthy eater before but now I've really stepped it up.  After reading the book "Anti-Cancer" that Heather recommended, it just confirms what this nutritionist says about eating all the right foods, to stay healthy.  That first week after my chemo treatment is so hard on my body, I feel so toxic inside.  So I'm really trying to keep myself strong and healthy in between treatments.























I haven't been scrapbooking much, have been spending more time outside and reading more. Right now I'm reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  Great book!
I did manage to get two layouts done, both for "The Color Room".  I haven't felt too creative lately, I think I need to visit The Urban Scrapbook for some motivation and retail therapy!























For this one, I was happy to use some old My Mind's Eye (Magnolia) from my stash.   There's also some Fancy Pants chipboard, Pink Paislee chipboard and a really old Daisy D's rub-on.  This rub-on was not cooperating, it was stuck on the sheet and started to tear, so I just cut it apart and put it on in sections.  I think I like it better that way, instead of a solid rub-on!

























I had trouble with this palette, for some reason.  The colors were beige, a soft blue, yellow and red.  I just stared at this page for a couple of days and nothing was coming to me so I just started playing with vellum and alcohol inks.  I really like the way the inks react when you combine a few colors together on the vellum, I might have to try this again!  Some of the cut-out pieces of paper are underneath the vellum and then I sanded the vellum with a cuttlebug dots embossing plate underneath.  I used Kaiser "Rustic Charm" patterned paper and the red is Cosmo Cricket, Snorkle.  The letters were from Little Yellow Bicycle.

Enjoy this wonderful weather and have a great weekend!


4

Some exciting news...

I have been asked to be on the design team for The Little Black Dress Kit Club!  Their kits look amazing, lots of product, even some vintage items included! (right up my alley!) I feel honored to be a part of this team and hopefully, can inspire you all!

Here's a layout for the Color Room palette #8




















Sorry, the photo isn't the greatest, I took it when it was cloudy out and it's a little dark.  The palette had blueish purple in it, and I don't have a lot of purple in my stash.  I was never a purple kind of gal, but lately there have been some new papers that have the reddish purple with green palettes, which I don't mind.  Anyways, I decided to make my own glimmer mist with perfect pearls (which I've had for ages and never really used) and water in a mini mister.  It worked great and I just mixed enough to use on my layout.  I like using the mini mister sometimes even with Glimmer Mist, I'll pore in just a small amount into the mini mister.  I find it's easier to control and your area that is misted is smaller.












I used a doily as a mask (I found some small ones in the cake decorating section at the craft store) and turned some doilies into the bottom of flowers.  I also cut out the other flowers with my slice, wet and glimmer misted just a touch, and layered.  I alcohol inked the butterfly center in the big flower (it was a Creative Imaginations pink jeweled butterfly brad) with a purple color.  If you don't have the right color of rhinestones, just alcohol ink them!


I'm just taking it easy this week, resting up from my treatment on Monday.  Everything went o.k., just a little more bruised in my arm where the drugs are put in (those drugs aren't easy on the veins!)  Hey, now that I think of it, I should have taken a photo of my arm and used that in my layout, it's the perfect purple!  Lol!


Take care and hope you have a great day!  The sun is shining here!  Yeah!
9
Back to Top