Great contest to enter

http://create.northridgepublishing.com/thirty-days-of-holiday-giveaways-day-17-fiskars-mona-luna/

Hijacked by Snickers

Howdy to all my mommy's friends, 
I am trying to convince Silhouette to give my mommy a special treat this Christmas.  They are giving away a Cameo and you all know how she likes to create fun things and off course make my pictures look like works of art.  So cross your paws and lets wish this for her.   Signing off before she catches me on the computer.   She really needs new passwords cause I figured them all out.  Hee hee hee
Meowy Christmas
Snickers

October 5th

In my lifetime there have been 50 October 5th's. They always say that one bad thing can destroy many good. In this life of mine 46 October 5th's have been fine - I think but there are 4 that have caused me deep pain and anguish. I am guessing to some extent they will come to define my life as I know it.

I am going to warn you know, this is going to get heavy. Very heavy but somehow God will use this post to enrich someone's life - I hope.

October 5, 2004 was the day that my sister in law Cheryl died. Cheryl and I had been best friends. I started out as her boss, became her friend and then her sister in law. With so much distance between us we had lost our closeness and weren't as good of friends that we had been in the past. Fortunately, that was healed before she left this earth but her dying unexpectantly reminded me that we aren't  guaranteed a tomorrow so don't miss the opportunity to make things right with those who matter to you. I have never grieved as deeply as I did the day she died and to this day miss her terribly. I will see her again in Heaven and that I do look forward to. It is so important to cherish the time we have with each other.  So many things I wished I could have done different but in my heart I know that we were good when she left.   So please love those around you and make sure they know that they matter to you.

October 5, 2009 I overheard Dave telling his brother Rick that he had done something so wrong that he may lose his job. Once I heard what he had done, I knew that he was indeed going to be fired and our life as we knew it was going to change in a big way. With me being on disability, our livelihood, our medical insurance, our everything was wrapped up in my husband having a full time job. Panic set in because all I could see was total chaos and it scared me. How were we going to survive this? A week later, Dave was fired and being unemployed in this economy was a disaster. Because we knew that income was going to be an issue, we decided to short sale our home and move in with my mom. I am beyond grateful to my mom because without her, I would be homeless. The process of packing up a house, giving things away and condensing what we had was very upsetting.   I had put my total faith and trust in someone and because he wasn't God, he failed me.   The next year was wrought with survival and just trying to deal with the the ricochet effects of our world falling apart. My family was awesome and without them I would have never been able to survive all of the turmoil.   It was a year that I don't ever care to relive.   Someday I will hopefully look back and see how God worked during this time.  I know there will be a testimony to share and until then it is raw and real and I think He can use that too.


October 5, 2010 - The house finally sold and the process to get it over with drug on and on and on. On this day we signed the escrow papers and I lost my home. Mom and I worked all the way up the the 11th hour getting things out of the house. Since we were downsizing, I gave away so much of life. I do know that stuff that meant so much to me was in my friends homes giving them joy. I really am still reeling from this one because I felt like I lost so much of myself and at times I still do. Trust me when I say that I do not put my value in what I owned and I am so very fortunate, I do know this.  It is just difficult to lose your home.   I didn't lose a house, I lost my home and it was sad.   But I am home again with my mom and sister so that is where God wants me and I am good with that.

Life is full of transition and unfortunately the weight of the past 3 years brought an end to my marriage.  October 5, 2012 the judge stamped the paperwork and my marriage of 20 years and 50 weeks was over. It just became a cruel joke that October 5th was becoming a key day. So many sad things happened on this day and I almost dread yet another one. I know that God has seen me through these days but my heart still hurts and wish that things could have been different. But there is no going backward. It may take awhile for me to understand the reason all these things happened and this side of Heaven, I may never know. I do know that eventually my October 5th's will be Heaven and I will be rejoicing. Until then, I am going to continue to trust in God, not dwell on the bad and seek God's purpose for these events and what He would want me to learn from them. My heart is broken over all the loss but I am looking forward to better days ahead.

So if you are reading this and your life is wrought with the similar challenges, just know that God will see you through just as He has me.   Sometimes we have to hurt to get through things but with God's love and support we each can get through anything.   Things for me are still new and I do get sad but I am excited to see what my new life holds.   God loves me and I need to learn to love me too, through this process I know only good things are ahead.   

Mini Album and Page Kits for sale

OK the adventure begins. I enjoy creating and hope to sell these awesome kits. If interested send me an email and you can pay via PayPal. Postage will be $5 or if you like I can deliver to you if I will be seeing you in the near future. Email for PayPal and to request a kit is: craftifaye@sbcglobal.net

First kit is this fun Disney Character Tab Album. Six pages of pure fun. Book measures approx. 6 x 14 inches. 2 kits available at $30 each

Walk In The Park 2 page layout. A fun layout full of flowers and Pink Paislee pattern paper to showcase those special Disney papers. 5 kits available at $12 each

Magical Moments 2 page layout. We all have those special moments especially with those sweet princess'. Pink Paislee paper and other fun embellishments. 5 kits available at $12 each (Note: tags will come pre-stamped / embossed)

Finally the last kit is this fun Doggy Diary Album. 14 pages of fun to showcase your favorite pooch. 1 kit available at $30

Please let me know if you are interested and thanks for looking.

Life goes on..........capture each momet

To say that the past couple of years have been tough would be an understatement. I can't believe that my life has come to this point. So many things have happened that I don't know where to begin share or even how to do it. There are too many of them right now that are too painful to express or put into words. I honestly thought that with time it would get better but then something brings it all up again and tears are shed and sorrow is felt. I do realize that I need to capture these moments and know they are part of who I am. Somehow maybe they will help someone else. With the loss of my sweet Emma last month, I have contemplated getting another dog and some puppies became available last week that were black labs just like her. I wrestled with it for awhile and the puppies all found homes. I went back to when I got Belle as a puppy and all the items that soon became her chew toys. As I thought about it I remembered the chew marks in the coffee table and the end table. Then I got sad, not only was Belle gone - I lost her just before the move to mom's, but I don't know where the tables are. In consolidating 2 houses things went everywhere. So 2 tables with dog chew marks may not mean anything to anyone else but they do to me and they may be in the garage buried with some other stuff but I don't know and it made me very sad. You might consider that silly but it is something that mattered and I don't know if I have pictures of the tables but realizing they may be gone brought home the fact that I didn't capture the moment. Life is about change some good and some not, but change none the less. We make decisions, sometimes ignore advice from well meaning people and we have to live with what our decisions bring. I am beyond grateful to my mom cause without her, I would be homeless. Moving in here was supposed to make things easier for her too. My hope is that I have been as much of a blessing to her as she has been to me. Now that it is just us 3 girls, things are definitely calmer and life is moving forward. We still have some financial issues but trusting for God to provide and see us through. This journey that I am on is not easy. I feel the tremendous sense of loss. Three of my beloved pets have gone. My pets are my kids and the pain is great. My first house became a short sale. I gave away so much of my life that every once in awhile like the tables things will bother me and call it silly but I grieve the loss. Then at the end of it all I ended up single. How did this all happen? How is any of this OK? I know God has a plan and I know that He has not left me but there are days it gets very overwhelming. There are some things this month that need to be taken care of and right now the money isn't there but I just need to trust that God will provide and I know He will. Somehow I need to undo some of the damage that has been done in our home in regards Christ centered life. Some actions have not shown a true Christian behavior and it has affected some people. My journey will be to make sure that Christ is seen in me with everything that I do and say. I know that God is protecting my family and me and know that He will see us through. But with each day and each moment we need to remember to capture those things that will mean something later on. I know that I am going to be OK. I just need to find my place again in this thing called life. I need to work on creating new memories and capturing those. I need to lean on my friends and start to trust again. Most of all I need to put myself first and keep me well physically, mentally and spiritually and be ready to do whatever it is that God wants me to do. Though the first 50 years didn't end with happily ever after, I need to gleen what was good and move forward to live the life that God has for me and do it with a happy heart and ready to serve. Thank you for your friendship and love and for walking along side of me on my journey. I really do have some amazing friends........................... (God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1) ............................... (Be still, and know that I am God; Psalm 46:10).......................... (I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 )

Emma Sue

November 20,1997 - July 2, 2012 My sweet girl it has been just 2 weeks since I said goodbye to you for the last time. My tears still flow when I think of you both happy and sad. You were such a trooper and you fought as hard as I did to keep you comfortable. So many things arose over the last 2 years and you just had the will to live and I wanted you to have a good life. Dimentia in humans is rough but with dogs it is a whole other world. Guess maybe my experiences with you will help me with mommies who are facing the same issues. I remember the day you came to live with us, Belle needed a playmate and you were Wednesdays Wagger on Sunny 106.9 You had been at the pound and funny thing was you old mommy and daddy were clients at my work. Though they painted you out to be a difficult dog, that did not prove to be the case. You could not have been more loving and an awesome dog. You had the sweetest disposition and loved to snuggle. You and Belle had a few scuffles but you were best buds. The only thing was you chased the cats and kind of freaked them out so we had to separate the cats from you. You loved to chase balls and could you jump!!!! You were very good at it. You could start in a standing position and be eye level instantly. You loved to go for walks but actually walked your daddy instead of visa versa. I wish that we could go back. I wish that I would have been more aware of the fact that all the change was stressing you out. Your little brain just snapped one day and we knew that nothing was going to be the same. After the move, you grew to love the bedroom upstairs. You could lay up there for hours and be so content. The cats loved you too. So often I would see one of them grooming you cause you just laid there and relaxed. We had you on such a schedule with meds and such that I find myself looking at my watch and thinking I have to give you meds and then reality sets in. The kitchen floor and the foot of the bed look naked without you, but the memories are still vivid and there. We all miss you and actually think we hear you. My sweet girl, I just hope you know that I loved you so much and only wanted your life to be full of love and comfort. Your body was failing you, so I had to say goodbye and with you went a huge chunk of my heart. I will treasure the moments that you laid in my lap and just snored before taking your last breath. So my sweet sweet girl, just know that I love you will all my heart and wish I could have done more for you but know that you are free of pain and suffering. I look at your picture everyday and smile (and cry) but mostly smile because my sweet Emma you brought so much joy to my life. I love you my sweet girl and miss you terribly.

Canvas Layouts

I had so much fun creating these 12 x 12 wall hangings using canvas. The family one was a Mother's Day present for my mom and the other is for me. My friend Treion and I went to Disneyland last year so just had to create something fun.

My Minds Eye Layout Class

This was a class I taught at Paper Daisies using My Minds Eye Miss Caroline collections. Perfect for the county fair or any summer/fall activity. I just love how it turned out. There are still 2 kits availble at Paper Daisies and I have one in my Etsy Store.

National Scrapbook Day at Paper Daisies

This years National Scrapbook Day was probably the best crop I have ever been too. It was so much fun to crop all day Saturday and Sunday. I could have cropped Friday but my body was fighting me. Wendy and Marie at Paper Daisies totally rocked the weekend. It was superb. I also participated in an online crop with Big Picture Scrapbooking and had fun working on my pages using there suggestions for challenges.

This was my space on Saturday. The pink carryall was our gift and had lots of goodies. So cute, I love it and it is PINK..........

These are 4 of my layouts for our trip to Arizona and our journey down Route 66. I so loved that journey, still need to get the pictures done, so behind yikes

This was a challenge to create a memory from my childhood / youth. So this was about my roommate Lynnette and I going to 7-11 to play Ms. PacMan

I had some kits to finish so I did these on Saturday and the pages on Sunday. What a great time and am already looking forward to next year..

Paper Roses

OK, here is my latest project. Just love the paper roses and there is so much you can do with them. These fun jewelry pieces are fun for young and old. I am taking the plunge into the land of Etsy and you can purchase these one of a kind treasures there.

SEI Nature Kit

These were 2 projects in the SEI March Kit and my mom loved them so much that I had to create them for her and they were a hit. Love the awesome colors with the butterflies and the paper in general was awesome. SEI you outdid yourself with this fun kit.

Creating a Craft Room #1

Part of the battle of getting my craft room looking the way I want it too and having my tools ready to grab, I decided to use vinyl and paint to add some pizazz. The first one is a Pampered Chef tool caddy and the second one is from Michaels. I really like the colors. More ideas to come to show off my craft space

New Zutter Books

Having fun creating or recreating themed books for others to make. This darling leprechaun made his appearance again. A great place to showcase those St. Patricks Day pictures.


New to the group is this Pot of Gold. Each coin is attached to a fun saying about luck. This would be great if you wanted to add your own journaling or talk about the photos in the album




The bunny and the egg were redone withh current papers from 3 Bugs and American Crafts. The new papers created and brand new look and were alot of fun.

Disney Kits for Sale

I am in the midst of creating kits for this fun Disney book. Would you like a kit, that will come with instructions and everything pre-cut?

Kit cost $35 plus $7 shipping.
Pay via paypal using craftifaye@sbcglobal.net

All kits will be mailed out next Monday.

This is over 12 inches long and about 6 inches high
Page size is 4 inches high and varies 2 inches - 12 inches.
Thanks for looking.

Daisy and the snow

I just love watching her. She loves the snow and just happen to have my cell phone handy when she decided to roll around in it. As you see, she was enjoying herself.

December through my I-Phone

I kept my I-Phone close during the month of December and took pictures to show what happened in my world. I then put together this digital layout. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Canvas Frames = Mini Tabletop Albums

This was a really fun project. I took two 8x10 canvas' and started creating hinged albums for Christmas pictures.

First I painted the edges and inside the back side of the frames.
Second I cut paper to fit each section and adhered it with Modge Podge
These steps are time consuming because everything has to dry.




I took page protectors for 6x6 albums and created mini albums to fit snug into the inner part of the frame. I did have to cut the width down to fit.
I used chipboard to make the album base and then used brads to hold it all together. Used coordinating papers to create pages.

I printed up some Christmas song lyrics and added those and some flowers to create something special.



These attach together with a hinge and you have an instant album that can be left open or stored away on a book shelf. Have fun and creating something wonderful. The possibilities are endless