Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Don't forget to stop by Dragonflaire for the grand reopening Friday, June 1st. I will be doing a hybrid challenge and there will be a bunch of other challenges going on. Some great freebies and some paper give-a-ways.

Also Serendipity Scrapbooks hybrid contest ends tomorrow. Don't forget to check it out as well!!! i got mine uploaded yesterday. The super fab Amy Teets will be judging and offering a great gift!

All links are to the right!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Okay so my drama is over, LOL...well not really but the past few days have been rough. Seeing your best friend and family in so much pain is the hardest thing i have ever been through. i find managing someone elses pain is not so easy, if that makes any sense at all. i do apologize for getting so personal.

i did get some good news....my pageframe with the Hambly that i did for my friend, Nat, who passed away 10 years ago is getting pubbed in Paper Trends Oct/Nov 2007 issue! how cool is that. i posted it on May 16th so feel free to scroll down :) i don't think mentioned that i got a spot in Blueprints 2, too!

well...off to update a few things and pour some emotion into a few pages before heading up to the rents for the weekend with a bottle (or tow or three)!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

pain, pain, and more pain

so it almost feels like, here we go again....i don't know how a lot of people handle it b/c i can't seem to manage this, the thing is it is not mine, it is one of my best friends. if i could take some of the pain away for her i would but heidi has always been too strong for that.

i got a call monday morning from one of my old college roomie's and best friends for over 10 years now --it was her husband....Angie, her older sister, 35, had died on Saturday along with her 8.5 month old unborn daughter.

i haven't talked to her yet, she won't talk to anyone but her mom and dad, paul, and her brothers right now which i can understand. she is carrying guilt for going away on vacation when Angie wasn't feel well so there is no convincing her otherwise. it is funny how we are such good friends yet so much a like. oh, and Tyler, no mother, no sister...that's a lot to handle at 13.

if you knew us girls...we are more than friends...i mean we live far away but see each other all the time and talk 24/7. we know all about each others "real" sisters but it is more than that for us. my dad tells me all the time that i have the most amazing group of friends and i all i say is, "i know, dad, isn't it great?". so this pain i have is more than i can even explain because i am just so overcome with grief for Heidi, we all are. i almost don't want to wake up tomorrow but i know i need to.

we are open about death with owen and i told him what happened and he just gave me a big huge hug. i explained that Angie was like losing his Aunt Amber and he trembled and said, "oh no mommy, oh no".

the one thing i remember Paul saying over and over again is, "she is so strong, Ellen, she is so strong". well, even strong people could use some positive thoughts and prayers.

so i ask to each and every person who may read this to pick up the phone right now and call the people you love and TELL THEM you love them. DON'T email it...DON'T text it. i did it yesterday.

with all that being said, i think i am taking some time from scrapping right now....just on overload i think...guilt... an undeniable feeling to just be. I talked to Maggie, the amazing owner of Dragonflaire and told me to take as much time as I needed and I think I will. I scrapped the phrase "be present" a little while ago and it cannot be more true. i find myself sitting in the big chair in the living room and just staring out the window and losing myself in a whole bunch of crazy "what ifs".

what if amber died over the weekend (my FABO sister)...same age...what if i was burying her and my unborn neice tomorrow? what if my mom and dad were burying me and owen? craziness, people...just plan crazy.

my mom's best friend emailed me today with the most wonderful words that i will leave you with tonight...

"sometimes life is too cruel to understand"
thanks louise...and mom and dad and amber and brian and owen and stacy and jess and kel and everyone who is praying for heidi and her family...may God be with us

Monday, May 21, 2007

I totally forgot that right before i left for Mexico i sent some lo's over to Tenika at http://scrapbooklayouts.blogspot.com/. I just love her blog about Multi-Photo layouts! soooo much inspo over there!

well i was catching up on some comments and all the eye candy and I saw my lo! yeah! http://scrapbooklayouts.blogspot.com/ go check it out and check out the amazing talent she has over there!!!! it is actually a hybrid lo, too!

Thursday, May 17, 2007


yeah! another one for BamPop Gallery! I cannot get enough of their stuff!

Also some more good news....I got a spot in BluePrints 2!!! It is another Bampop LO!

Here is the one going into the gallery.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007



The Riveria Maya Rocks!!!!! I am back and let me say, ah well, REALLY tan...i don't know who i am when i look in the mirror! LMBO! and we went through two things of 55 SPF while we were there...wowzers that sun is hot....
let's see...we spent at a minimum of 4 hours in the pool every day with the swim up bar (some days up to 8 hours!) wahoo! here is a photo of me, my sister, jess, and stacy showing off our legs....we had sooooo much fun, we really did...never laughed so hard in my life...i would highly recommend a trip with your friends. It was my sister and her husband, my two best friends from college, my sister's best friend and her husband and their friends. so we had a group of 10 and loved it.

here are a few things we did

1. swim
2. float
3. sleep
4. drink (a lot)
5. eat
6. swim
7. float
8. sleep
9. oh and i CANNOT forget drunk snorkeling (don't worry it was an inclosed lagoon so we were {kinda} safe!

so i have lots to scrap! if you haven't clicked on colleen's blog over to the right, please do...she is raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma...if you have ever had anyone that has suffered from this disease, you know how devastating it can be. Her and her team motivated me to make this for my friend Nat...you can see my post from 04/19/2007 for a bit more.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007




so we are off to SUNNY mexico!!!!!!!!!!!!


i spent a lot of time outside lately with owen...just hanging and diggin up worms...it reminds me of new life and new growth...things on my mind the past few days since my grandmother's stroke. love her to pieces and i can't stop thinking about the things i take for granted too often.

if you read this, send a prayer her way...or a thought...whatever your faith may be..

here are some fun photos of us outside...the first one is worms and the second is our boxer, Chase, drinking from the hose. Can owen's gardening gloves be any CUTER??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? and some tulips we picked outside (owen picked them so their stems are 1/4")that we put into a glass bowl.

cheers to all and i will have a margarita for ya!

Sunday, May 06, 2007


ok so a ton of people have been telling me to read Kristina Contes blog and i did and let me tell you how rolling-on-the-floor funny she is. I don't find a lot of people with the same sense of humour as me and, well, their love of beer and wine, as me too.

Didn't do much scrappin yesterday b/c of cinco de mayo....just one of my favorite days to hang, relax and have some margaritas or margatini's...whatever the bartender (scrubby, heehee) is serving that day. Plus we are in vacation mode here already...brian is off until NEXT tuesday and we leave for, ahem, Mexico~Riveria Maya more specifically, on Tuesday. Yeah baby!

Pretty pumped, Maggie...who owns DragonFlaire (pls come join our new forum to the right) nominated my hybrid card over at DST for a contest. She is the best!!!!!!! and has a ton of freebies over at the forum but you must register first so please come and hang with us!
Grand opening to be on June 1st!!!! karla dudley has recently joined the team...she is on the amazing Scrapologie Team..wowzers...

Wednesday, May 02, 2007




so i have been getting a lot of questions on how i made the hybrd card a couple posts below so i will share tomorrow when i have a few more minutes.....
i wanted to share this fun thing i did with an etch-a-sketch from a tut Julie Ann shared over at Srapbook Dimensionals...it was so fun! should i alter it, lol?

i love using filters!!!!!!!! they always amaze me, they really do!
please check out www.scrapbookdimensions.com if you haven't yet! great hybrid stuff and tons of fun!!!!!!

Here is a hybrid (a teeny bit of hybrid actually) I did with some of Amy Teets stars I picked up when i visited (stalked) her blog! I printed 'em, cut 'em, ink 'em, and sewed 'em to my hambly cutouts!