Thursday, December 30, 2010

My Sweet Beauty

I will admit that it is nice to have all of this free time to scrap and I find myself thinking gee I wish I didn't have to work!  Then reality sets in and I realize that it has been six weeks since I lost my job, and jobs are scarce out there.  I've applied for a few, but have not heard anything.  I'm hoping after the first of the year that things pick up.  I've yet to see my first unemployment check and things are tight!  No little extras for me for awhile!
Well enough of my goings on . . . I have a layout to share of my daughter Sara taken in 2006.  She had been a busy little decorator, decorating her gingerbread house.
I  made this layout for the new sketch reveal at Sketches In Thyme.  
This week's sketch is another great sketch by Jana Eubank:
I got the Webster's Pages Sweet Season collection for Christmas and thought it was perfect for my layout!  You all know I love to work with Webster's Pages and did a lot of cut work on this layout.
  
Aren't these roses beautiful?  I bought them from Alda at The Flying Unicorn Store.
You should check out here store.  She has some gorgeous flowers and embellishments!
I looked through my Christmas stash and came across some embellishments that fit perfectly in with my layout.
I've got some special news to share about a guest designer spot for me, but I can't share it with you until after the new year!  Can't wait!!!
Thanks for stopping by!
. . . Debbie

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Visit With Santa Claus

All of the hard work and preparation for the holidays has come and gone.  I had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed those precious moments I spent with my family and friends.  It was a beautiful Christmas morning with snow flurries gently falling and thankfully ending.  A hugh storm chased up the east coast, left a lot of snow in many places, but fortunately only left me with some flurries.  I hope that everyone had a joyous Christmas!
December is coming to an end and it's hard to believe how quickly this year passed.  We've got a new sketch reveal over at Frosted Designs for our Sketch Along Tuesdays Challenge,
and a sketch created by me!
I flipped the sketch so I could add the Santa and tree I cut out from some paper by K and Company.
I just love these pictures of my kids!  Jeffrey was only 3 and Sara 9 months old.  My father in law dressed up as Santa and paid them a visit.  Jeffrey was  still to young to understand the meaning of Santa and was quite shy about the whole thing!

I used paper and embellishments by K and Company and lots of stickles!
Please stop on over at Frosted Designs to see what our talented design team has created.  I'd love to see you create a project using my sketch and submit it for a chance to win this prize:
  Thanks for stopping by!
. . . Debbie

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Silver Dreams Under A Winter Sky


We have a new sketch reveal at Stuck On U Sketches today!
and a beautiful sketch by Suepup:
Rather then scrapping a holiday layout, I chose to highlight the beautiful photo my daughter took a few years ago of icicles against the beautiful blue winter sky.
I'm making this one short, as I've got a ton of stuff to get done today!
Please stop by Stuck On U Sketches to see what are amazing design team has created.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!
. . . Debbie

Monday, December 20, 2010

Baby It's Cold Outside

Can you believe Christmas is this coming Saturday?  Where have the days gone?  Seems like yesterday I was sitting at the dinner table celebrating Thanksgiving with my family.  I'm in pretty good shape though.  My shopping is done and most of the presents are wrapped.  This weekend I made oatmeal raisin cookies iced with white chocolate, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies and snicker doodles.   
I wanted to share another layout with you that I made using the December kit from Artful Delight
I am fortunate to have 5.5 acres, and even though it is a lot to take care of, it can be a wonderful photo opportunity in the winter with freshly fallen snow. 
Here are a few close ups:
Well, that's all for now.  I will have a layout to share on Friday and some more next week
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Holidays!
. . .  Debbie

Thursday, December 16, 2010

MME December Sketch Challenge and Sketches In Thyme 12-16 Sketch Challenge

I've been busy these past few days working on some layouts!
My Mind's Eye has a great sketch challenge for December and I could not pass it up.
You have to use their sketch and title, It's a ______ thing!
I've had these pictures of Zoey for a few years.  Isn't she cute!  She had just gotten groomed, adorned with her pink bandana  playing with her pink dog.  Thus, my title, It's A Pink Thing!  I used  papers and embellishments from So Sophie, Alphabet Soup and Fine and Dandy Tickled Pink.

The new sketch challenge is up at Sketches In Thyme, and 
I couldn't resist another winter layout, especially one when my kids were little and so darn cute!
Now you have to agree, aren't they cute???? I had this Crate Paper collection, Snow Day and I thought the colors were so bright and cheery!  This picture goes way back, to 1992.  I had a wonderful sketch to work with by Jana Eubank, for the 12-16 challenge at 
The prize this month at Sketches In Thyme is a beautiful assortment of  handmade buttons by Charlenes Button Box
and here are the buttons some lucky winner will receive:
The Design Team was lucky to be able to work with some of Charlene's buttons.
I worked with her snowflake buttons.
There wasn't much I had to do with this layout, since Crate Paper has wonderful punchouts in their collections.  All I did was add a little sparkle and bling!
Now I have not heard from Mary, the winner of my blog candy.  If I don't hear from her by Thursday, I will draw another name and announce it on Friday.
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Holidays!
. . . Debbie

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

3 Adorable Beautiful Girls

Gosh oh mighty it sure is cold outside!  Here in my neck of the woods it is 17 degrees and very windy!  Definitely that kind of day when you want to stay indoors and scrap!  I thought it would be nice for a change and do a layout with some soft pastel colors.  I used paper and embellishments by The Girls' Paperie.

Those three beautiful little girls in the photo are my daughter (the baby) and two nieces.   The  picture was taken ages ago at Easter time.  My layout was based on the new sketch over at Frosted Designs Sketch Along Tuesday Challenge and was created by our very own Diana!


Our ever so talented DT has created some great layouts.  Please make sure you stop by and leave them a little love, and while you are at it, why not create a layout based on our 12-14 sketch for a chance to win the December kit from our sketch sponsor this month, Artful Delight:
Here are some close ups of my layout:
I added a little hand stitching around the die cut paper and added some flat back pearls.

I've got a few more layouts I'm working on for this week, and some others that I can't share until January, along with some exciting news! 
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Holidays!
. . .Debbie

Monday, December 13, 2010

Winter Wonderland

I've got another layout to share with you that I created with the December kit from Artful Delight.
This picture of my house was taken in 2002.  Not sure if it was actually taken on Christmas day.
I am going to enter this layout in the current challenge over at The Pink Elephant, which just so happens to be a Winter Wonderland challenge.
Everything on this layout came from the December kit with the exception of the blue stickles, which came in the November kit.   If you haven't picked up this kit yet, stop on over at Artful Delight as I believe there might be a few kits left to purchase.
Don't forget to check back tomorrow.   There will be a new sketch challenge for Frosted Designs and I will have a layout to share.
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Holidays!
. . . Debbie

Saturday, December 11, 2010

You Are A Gift From God

There is a great challenge going on over at The Paper Variety,  to create a project about or for a child. 
I decided to do a layout about my daughter Sara.  She is now 20 years old, but came into the world a little to early and with many complications.  I had a troubled pregnancy to start with, and had to have monthly sonograms.  In my 33rd week I started to have contractions.  I contacted my doctor and was told to pack a bag and head to the hospital where I was to be put on bed rest.  We had an hours drive to Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC.  God was with me the whole drive, because as soon as we arrived at the hospital, my placenta ripped and I hemorrhaged.  Had this happen in the car we would have lost Sara and quite possibly myself.

For a preemie she was a good size, 6 1/2 pounds.  A series of tests were run on her and besides having sleep apnea, she was born with five holes in her heart.  We were told that her heart worked five times the normal rate to pump blood through her little body.  For the first year of her life she was hooked up to a heart and respitory monitor.  At the age of 16 months she under went heart surgery to repair the holes.  When I think back about it now, I remember how scary it was. I was ever so thankful for the monitor that was a part of her life for the first year.  Many a time the alarm would go off in the middle of the night, and we would go to check on her only to find that she had stopped breathing, and that we had to administer CPR.  She was and is truly a gift from God.  This is the first layout I have done on this subject, and I don't believe I have ever shared this story about my precious daughter Sara with my blogger friends.
Miracles do happen, as I truly believe that God watched over my little baby girl .
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Holidays!
. . . Debbie