I am on the PRIMA BLOG !

OMG! I am so excited. I submitted a project for Prima's Frugal Scrapper Contest. Alas, I did not win the big prize but they are featuring my project layout "Prima Donnas" on their March 20th blog post. I am so excited to see my work on their blog. I truly LOVE Prima products, as many of my scrap projects and my scrap room stash surely proves since it is almost everywhere you look....from gorgeous flowers, beautiful trims, lots of bling and lovely papers !

You can check out the contest winner and other participants here http://prima.typepad.com/.

The contest was to use Prima product packaging on your project. I ended up being able to actually use FIVE different products on my layout....can you spot them all ?

The first person to spot all 5 products used will win a little PRIMA goodies bag from me.

the SUN is SHINING this early MARCH morning!

WOW -- It is absolutely gorgeous outside this morning. What a welcome relief from our rainy and cold weather earlier this week. Spring Breakers here must be jumping for joy today!
I immediately thought to grab my camera this morning and take a better picture of the layout "LUCK of the IRISH" because the pic in the post below did not do it justice and our "little Irish princess" wants to see a "prettier picture" of it on my blog. LOL....that girl is such a perfectionist.
Really, she is just a great little scrapper even at 6 years old and understands design and color better than most grown ups do. It is just a natural talent that she has always had.
So Miss B -- this one's for you ! Have a wonderful day sweetheart!

Notice the cute versatile Jillibean Soup Journaling Sprouts I used not only for journaling but also as mat corners and to frame the brad. I just love these products and can't wait to get more of them ! Jillibean Soup is a relatively new scrapbook company. If you haven't seen their stuf, check out their site under my Favorite Blogs.

Happy St. Patty's Day on March 17th Everyone !

With a last name like O'Neal, we certainly like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at our house.


This is a picture taken this weekend of some decor I put on the french doors to our patio. As you can see, it was a very wet and dreary day here but the Irish sentiment was still doable !

Generally, we even make the trip up to Dallas to the Irish Festival but this year we are staying home since I am still a little low on energy from my recent surgery.

I did spend some time this past weekend working on some photos from last St. Patty's Day and wanted to share a layout I did of my dear granddaughter, Bianca. She loved wearing all her "IRISH" Bling and thought it was funny when we mentioned "Luck of the Irish". She was eating her cookie and laughing in this photo about how LUCKY she was to have such a delicious cookie to eat. That little girl has kissed the blarney stone one time too many times ! LOL

Sorry that the pic is a little blurry and the beautiful colors in this layout aren't shining through. I may try to re-post it tomorrow when I can take a picture in true daylight. But don't you just love the Sassafras PP and the oversized St Patty's Brads. Plus I got to use some my new Jillibean Soup Journaling Sprouts. I just love that new company and their clever products.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you and I will leave you with an Irish Blessing:

"May your homes be filled with warmth,

your bellies full of food and

your hearts full of LOVE! "

SpRiNg makes me HAPPY!

I am always ready to SpRiNg forward...what can I say, I am a "love the daylight" kinda girl. Spring to me is more than just flowers blooming and birds chirping...in fact, I could do with a little less of those darn birds chirping so early in the morning. LOL.

But what makes me so happy about springtime is all the yummy colors that start showing up everywhere you look...in fact, I was pulling out some supplies yesterday to work on a project and was struck by how gorgeous and happy the colors made me feel.


In fact, all those yummy colors made me want to do a bright and cheerful project immediately so I threw together this quick layout using some of the new Sassafras "Hog Heaven" papers that are so, so yummy and colorful. Plus, I couldn't resist using a picture of my two favorite people...hubby and granddaughter who always add to my happiness!

What makes you happy? Find something that inspires you and brings a smile to your face!

Being Thankful !

Today I have been reflecting on how thankful I am for many things in my life since I have been slowly recovering from eyelid cancer surgery. Yes, Eyelid Cancer. Never heard of it? Neither had I until a month ago when I went in for a sinus infection that wouldn't go away and had a guncky eye. Before that, I had a stye that kept showing up but would disappear after a few weeks so I had no idea I had a real problem I should have kept asking doctors about.

You can only imagine my shock when the doctor said "You have eyelid cancer". Sure that I had misheard what she said, I said something clever like..."what did you say", and then "I never heard of that". After I was "reassured" it was very rare...the panic started to set in. How do you treat this, what is going to happen to me...HOW BAD IS THIS?!?!?!?! You can only imagine my emotional state as I grappled with this prognosis. Our family was finally moving forward after loosing my brother-in-law to cancer several months before.

Well, after a biopsy to confirm I did indeed have eyelid cancer, I had surgery a week ago to remove the cancer from my left lower eyelid and plastic surgery to rebuild my eyelid. It is painful, it is gross, it is UGLY.

Even with all of this happening to me right now, I am so thankful that:

• We discovered the cancer before I could loose my vision or worse
• I have a great team of highly skilled doctors treating me
• I am blessed with a support system of family, friends and co-workers helping me get through all of this
• Even though my appearance is slightly altered right now, it will heal and I will be okay
• Today is a relatively good day since my eyelid is less swollen and I can see out of it
• I felt good enough to record these thoughts on my blog
• I can help promote awareness of this type of cancer and encourage others to seek treatment

And most importantly of all....I am thankful for each special memory I have made and the joy I get from capturing those memories on film and documenting them for my family.
The week before my surgery I had lots of nervous energy and put it to good use creating a few scrap projects. Today I wanted to share this special layout I created with the new Jenni Bowlin Farmers Wife products. The picture is special to me since it represents FOUR GENERATIONS OF HAPPY O'NEAL WOMEN...my mother-in-law, my daughter, my granddaughter and myself. We have so few pictures of the 4 of us together...in the future I want to make sure I get more group pictures of us together.

Handmade embellishment using Jenni Bowlin Milk Cap Button

and pattern paper, crocheted flower and embroidery thread

I created the folded paper element that seemed to remind

me of a cute ladies skirt which seemed perfect for my subject

I love the clever Jenni Bowlin packaging and used the backing from

the milk cap cb button as pointer to my journaling on the layout

And PLEASE...spread the word about eyelid cancer and encourage people having eye problems to not ignore it and go to the doctor !