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 !

You Gotta Love PINK.....Right?

I don't really consider myself a girly girl....but lately I have been loving everything PINK ! If it is light pink, dark pink, hot pink... you name it, I LOVE IT!

I was surfing through some manufacturer blogs today scouting out more "wish list" items from CHA W and found this awesome PINK Craft Mat from Tattered Angels !



It is HUGE too.... 2' X 3'. I can hardly wait to get one of these for my very own!! It will look great on my craft table and be well used and loved too.

And the best part is that some of the proceeds from each sale go to Breast Cancer Research. How awesome is that !! If you spot these for sale anywhere PLEASE let me know where.

Happy Lazy Sunday Afternoon Everyone !

TA DA -- A Whole New Look !

Well, I have been restricted to the house for the past few days so I don't scare small children with my ugly eye surgery eye...trust me, you wouldn't want to see it either. Let's just say, I could give Mrs. Frankenstein a run for the money in attracting Mr. Frankenstein. And I never realized that purple came in so many colors. LOL !! If everyone didn't already know that I have the BEST DH IN THE WORLD WHO ADORES ME....it might be easy to claim spouse abuse if you saw the shiner I have now.

So, what all this means is that I had some time on my hands and decided to give my blog a MUCH NEEDED BLOG FACE LIFT. After searching high and low for the just the right look, I found the perfect place to get some cool background art that I abolutely loved....

I found it at House of 3 - the cool new digital scrapbook site by Heidi Swapp, Rhonna Farrer and Janet Hopkins. Not only have these three ladies put together some amazing blog candy, they are going to have digital kits, cool projects, WALL ART, tutorials and an Inspiration spot. I can hardly wait to see all this as the roll it out over the next few weeks.

You can check it out here: http://www.houseof3.com/.

Let's just say I was so inspired after I found wonderful "blog face lift" worthy designs in their Blog Couture section that it was all I could do to contain myself from purchasing and downloading them all !! Truly, if you are a blogger YOU GOTTA check out their new site and see for yourself.

And the best part is that their tutorial section had directions even the "digitally,technically impaired" like myself could follow along and create the beauty you see surrounding yourself now on my blog!

Woohooo....I wish getting a "face lift" for myself was this easy !

Leave me a comment and let me know how you like the "new face" of my blog.

BTW -I am in no way associated with these talented ladies other than a big admirer of their work, including this latest endeavor of House of 3.

TOP FAV from CHA !!!

Well the weekend just flew by I was so busy. First of all, CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) Show started last week and ended this weekend so I spent a lot of time drooling over all the new products from some of my favorite companies. I was very sad to not be there this year since I have so enjoyed going in the past. Now that life has settled down, maybe I can try out again for another manufacturer design team and work the show again next time.

Some of my absolute favorite companies came out with some items I have got to get my hands on soon ! Besides the cool new stuff from Queen & Company I posted before, hands down my favorite of all was Maya Road !

Maya Road totally ROCKS once again ! I have such wonderful visions of what I can create with these new items:.

First off, the textures of leather and velvet on their new FLOWER BLOOMS just beg to be touched and is bound to add that extra special oooomph to my projects - all I can think when I see these is the word "LUSCIOUS !"

These totally new Vintage style PEARL PINS are definitely a must have ! And they even come in green leaves too......so hard too choose so I must have BOTH !!

I always have loved the wonderful TRIMS Maya Road comes out with but OH MY....these new POM POM trims are gonna look mighty good on my layouts and mini books, don't you think ? Such rich colors, YUMMY !


and there are lots of new FUN SHAPED SHEERS - theses little owls are so dang cute ! And will come home to roost on my Rice OWLS mini book I am working on right now.... HOOT loves YOU !!! HOOT, HOOT !

I am just dying to get my hot little designer hands on some of their new really CLEVER LAYERED CHIPBOARD ALBUMS like this one....

There are many other wonderful things to share but DH is kinda of expecting me to get dinner on the table. Will post more another time. Good day and happy scrapping to you all !

(P.S. The pics are courtsey of the Maya Road Blog post)

CHA is Here...Check out Queen & Company New Sampler Buckets

It is CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) tradeshow time again ! Woooohooooo! I just love seeing all the new stuff that I will soon be lusting after and adding to my scrap stash to beautify my projects :)

One company that never disappoints me is Queen and Company and this year is no exception. They have come out with the cutest Sampler Bucket ! Too dang cute and I just love the variety of things that will come in the buckets....Here is an excerpt from their website about these new buckets :

"Queen & Co New Bucket Kits Included in this release are new Queen & Co Bucket kits. Fabulous themed embellishments poured into adorable, reuseable buckets! Grab yourself a Bucket of Baby, Boy, Girl, Summer, Magic, Queen or Love. Buckets are overflowing with fabulous embellishments including, big brads, glitter brads, flocked brads, printed brads, sequin flowers, felt flowers and ribbon buckles! Everything you could ever need to embellish your hand crafted creations!"

I can hardly wait to get my hands on those buckets...I love their embellishments. I can't wait to see what they debut tomorrow.

Join Me In Appreciating the Small Things...

I am lounging on my back patio this afternoon enjoying an unusally gorgeous sunny day for this time of year. Normally I would still be at work but I had a doctors appointment mid-afternoon that gave me the freedom to come home earlier than ususal.

As I sit here enjoying the sunshine on my face and the sound of birds chirping, and my favorite songs playing in the background, I am reminded how important it is to appreciate the small things in life.

Take time my friends to just sit and enjoy a glorious day. Notice the shadows playing across the back fence and the sounds of nature all around you. Life is fleeting and we lose so much by rushing around and not taking a moment for ourselves.

Rest assured your chores won't notice if you don't get to them for 5 minutes !

Join me in my backyard oasis and take 5 for yourselves.

I Am Especially Proud To Be An American Today !

My heart swelled with pride today as I watched history unfold as President Barack Obama took office. When Obama said "The challenges we face are real and they will be met"... I truly believe that. Each and everyone of us needs to take time to do something for our greater community and we will make a positive difference in the world around us.

I am so glad to see a President that can motivate Americans to get involved. I pray that he can motivate people to stay involved.

Best wishes to you President Obama and your family...keep the faith and stay close to each other in the upcoming four years that will certainly bring times of joy and strife!

I am Especially Proud to Be An American Today! YES WE CAN !!!

ROAD TRIP !!!!

Last year we took the grand kids on a Road Trip to Dallas to the Annual Irish Festival. To pass the time along the way we played car games like 'I Spy", License Plate game and sang songs like B-I-N-G-O. And of course, no road trip would be complete without snacks...pretzels and juice were among the favorites.

The Festival is held in a beautiful outdoor event area and we had a beautiful sunny day. Lots of great Irish food, Shopping for celtic items, people in authentic costumes roaming around and a stage for Irish bands from around the world that totally rocks all day long !

There is a special kids area with loads of games and rides. The kids had so much fun and we got some amazing pictures of them on a whirly ride that they road again and again!

To keep the memories alive from this special trip, I made this mini album using the amazing Cosmo Cricket blackboard book and their fun and playful "Get Happy" line.

The kids are already asking us if we will take them again this year.....I see another great Road Trip in our future :)

LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST AND I WILL DRAW A NAME TO WIN SOME GOODIES TO MAKE YOUR OWN ROAD TRIP ALBUM !

What Do You Love the Sounds Of ?

It's a cold winters night here...well cold for where I live anyways! It is about 46 degrees and the temperature keeps dropping. It is supposed to get down near freezing tonight. Definitely wintery for us. LOL !!!

As I am bundled up tonight, I have been surfing some of my favorite websites and found on one message board where someone posed the question...."What Do You Love The Sounds Of "?

I was so intrigued by this question, I have really given this some thought tonight and come up with the following list:

I LOVE the Sounds of:

• a gentle rain during the night ....
• the soft sound of my husband's snore while sleeping next to me...
• the warm laughter of my girlfriends as we share a glass of wine or scrapbook...
• my grown daughter's voices when they call and say "Mom, I have a question for you"...
• sounds of college football games in the fall from the college near my house...
• the sweet little voice of my granddaughter asking me if she can come over because she wants to scrapbook with “her Noni"...
• the quick pace of my husband's feet as he runs into the room to give me a quick kiss (again and again)...
• children giggling hysterically about something really silly
• my Dad calling and saying "I love you"... (you never get too old to hear a parent say that)

These are just some of the things that come readily to my mind. As I look at this list, I feel the strong urge to document this on a scrapbook page so I will definitely be doing that later. Sharing thoughts and feelings in such a meaningful way may help give future generations another bit of information about who I am.

Now, what Sounds Do YOU Love? Give it some thought...it will surely bring a smile to your face ! Have a lovely evening and stay warm and cozy wherever you are tonight.

Finally....good bye Christmas 2008!

Good news - My cold is under control, my eye is a normal color again and I finally feel more like my self again. Thank goodness!

After getting some much needed rest the past couple of days, today I tackled putting up all my holiday decorations. Yes, I am that far behind this year already. Oh well, it just means I got to enjoy my Santa collection a few more days. I still BELIEVE in SANTA, don't you :)

Christmas never seems to last long enough...all those weeks of planning and shopping and looking forward to enjoying the holiday with family and friends. Then it is a whirl of events, eating goodies, gift openings with paper flying, hugs hello and goodbye and whoooooshhhhhhh...the holidays are gone!

I wish we could just stop and enjoy the holidays a little more than we seem to every year, don't you? As a final swansong to Christmas 2008, I wanted to post a few pics of my favorite holiday decor since I never got around to that this year.

I cross stitched this little pillow a few years ago...


This 1950's Santa is my prized Santa possession...but
don't tell all my other Santa's that! LOL

This year I did an ALL Snowman dining room table decor...

it was a nice change of pace.

Just a few more in my Santa Collection...there are more actually

scattered all over my house.

P.S. We don't have a fireplace in this house so

I got creative and hung the stockings from

the Santa bookshelf instead...Santa was still

able to locate it and fill them up :)

Our fresh Christmas Tree this year was very fragrant for a long time.

It made coming home each day such a nice surprise when you

opened the front door. Oh, and guess what...my tree is also ALL SANTAS....

And Yes, I do realize I have a slight "santa addiction" but with his twinkling eyes and jolly laugh, who could resist him ! Have a wonderful week. I will post some scrapbook projects I finished last week so stay tuned.

Aaaaaaaaachooooooooo!

Well, just as I made big plans to start posting every day I have come down with a heck of a cold. I have been sniffling, sneezing and running a low grade fever for 3 days now. And today, I woke up and my eye was swollen and red. Guess what? After three hours at the doctor's office....don't get me started on how long I was sitting in a room filled with other sick people. The doctor said I have congunctivitious...isn't that special. I feel terrible but wanted to atleast make a quick post today. Heading to bed to get some much needed rest.

Hope you are feeling happy and healthy tonight !

Welcome 2009 !!!

I am sooooooo glad it is FINALLY 2009. The last few months of 2008 have been tough to get through and I was very very thankful to see the backside of '08!

GULP......has it really been 4 months since I last posted here??? So sorry to those of you that follow this blog regularly but I just lost my mojo to Blog OR Scrap.

However 2009 will see me being a more dedicated scrapper and blogger so rest assured you will once again be getting your "inspiration" fix here :)

Let's see..what have I been doing for the past 4 months:
* Helping Hubby deal with my BIL's death in July...it was truly tragic and we were devastated.

* Working like crazy launching a new HR application at my office...it became much more complicated and time consuming than I had anticipated so I spent many a day and night working through to get it launched by year end. Thank goodness that is over !

* Surviving Hurricane IKE in mid- September....12 days without power can really test a girl's resolve to blog or scrap or be civil ...LOL. We are fine, house is fine , just a huge inconvenience.

* Celebrating my 49th birthday mid-hurricane power outage with grilled food and s'mores in the backyard with family and friends.

* Planning, postponing due to Ike and re-planning a WAKE for my BIL...we ended up with about 75 people coming to a celebration of Robert's life party....it was a fitting tribute to Robert and helped ease his lost for many of his friends and our family.

* Decided to make a BIG personal lifestyle change in October...entered a weight maintenance program through Methodist Hospital system and have already lost 35 lbs !!! Woooohoooooo. I am about halfway to reaching my goal.

* Completed a home project to re-assign room functions in my house which included shifting lots of furniture from room to room. We now have a room for use as a dedicated library for hubby AND I have a new HUGE scrap area with room for up to 5 of my nearest and dearest to scrap with me PLUS have room for my scrap stash (promise to post pics later).

* Helped my dear friend launch her new graphic arts business by hosting an open house to introduce her new business to new clients. So fun...turned out great.

* Packed up and sold my BIL's house. Lots of work but we finally can put that aspect of his passing behind us.

* Took the entire family to Renissance Festival the Friday after Thanksgiving and have a lot of fun hanging out together, eating yummy food, seeing some shows and going on some rides.

* Planning and hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas and Birthday activities for my family and friends. All the decorating, shopping, meal preparations and gift wrapping seemed to be nearly endless activities for November and December. I am sure you can all relate to that!

* Planned and hosted our company Holiday Party at the #1 Seafood Restaurant voted by Bon Appetit ...REEF. Food was fabulous, employees had a marvelous time and the staff was wonderful. Could not have turned out better :) YIPEEE !!!

* Attended a broadway production of White Christmas with my dear friend, Anne. It was a birthday gift to me I had waited months to do and I was not disappointed. The music and costumes were spectacular AND at the end of the night they made it SNOW (ok it was bubbles) down on the audience....what a fun surprise for all of us who attended !

* Enjoyed a 4 hour snow here in Mid-December which only happens about every 20 years ...it was so beautiful but I don't know how all of you in winter wonderful deal with all that cold for weeks on end.

* Helped my DGD celebrate her 6th birthday...hard to believe our little princess is growing up !

* Attended the Rice Owls Texas Bowl game...Enjoyed a tailgate party with dear friends before hand and finished the game off with a spectacular fireworks show....leave it up to to us in TEXAS to combine FOOTBALL and FIREWORKS !!

* Learned how to download music to my IPOD....so MUCH FUN !! And so easy too!

* Instituted "Jammie Time" at our house and watched a zillion movies over the past four weeks.

* Had girlfriends over for a "scrap day" at my house. FINISHED BG Calendar AND a Mini album about a trip we took in 2008 to Irish Festival in Dallas.

That should just about catch you up with me for the past 4 months.

Here are a few pics of some of these events. More pics to follow in the next posts.

Some Christmas Decor...my special Santa Treasures.


Swinging on the BIG SWING at Renaissance Festival !




SNOW falling in HOUSTON. See it....on our BBQ Grill Cover!



Friends gathered at BIL's WAKE...




DH and I hosting the Viking Send Off at BIL's Wake




Happy New Year Everyone !!

I'm BACK !!!

Many of you who know me as either my dear friends or those who attend my scrapbooking classes, are aware that I am generally a highly creative, energetic scrapper. The past few weeks have been a struggle since my brother-in-law passed away. It is amazing how much loosing a loved one can block your creative juices. I haven't scrapped or blogged...just too hard to get motivated. Well, the dry spell is over for me!

I had a few projects underway before things came to a screeching halt and wanted to share one of those with you now. Let me know what you think.... I used Reminisce's Freedom Collection's 1,2,3 to cover a metal barn star. I enhanced the pp by adding stickles and glossy accents to give the pp more dimension, added silver inking to all edges of pp, and then strung silver beading wire across the front and hung glittery chipboard letters that spell out "Celebrate". There are also acrylic stars with stickle highlights hanging from the wire as well. I can use this for any patriotic holiday as either a mantel, table or wall display. I just love how this turned out. (Sorry the image is poor..I will take a better picture tomorrow and repost the pic)

With a Sad Heart ....

In April of this year, I mentioned on my blog post that my dear brother-in-law, Robert, had developed rapid growth melanoma cancer. It is with a sad heart that I let you know that Robert lost his battle last Sunday evening, July 13. We are so going to miss his bright smile, generous and giving spirit plus his big booming voice. It has been a struggle this week to do much of anything but we know Robert would want us to go on so I am making an effort to at least get back to normal.

Robert had always been very supportive of my scrapbooking and even made sure on gift giving occasions to purchase expensive scrapbook magazine subscriptions or special tools I wanted to aid me in my scrappy efforts. He always wanted to see what I had been working on and was very complimentary of my work. That is really saying something about Robert since even being a single guy he took the time to support and enjoy the efforts of his extended family.

I wanted to post one of his favorite layouts I did recently that he really liked since not only did he love the photos of his grand-niece Bianca but he even noticed that I had altered the American Crafts Pink Thickers I used for the title "Precious". I had used a pen cap and indented the foam thickers with dots and then filled the dots with a white sharpie pen ink. Robert thought that was a stroke of genious. Plus he was intrigued that I had used a tiny hole punch in the scalloped border along the bottom edge. He was such a great guy and really went out of his way to make others feel special.

Dear Robert, know that you were loved and appreciated for everything you brought to our lives.

Ever Sit Around and Wonder?

The other day a few scrap friends of mine were wondering just what types of materials the cuttlebug and various dies would cut through. Since I was restless last night, I decided to hunt down various materials I had lying around do my own experiment to find the anwer to that question.

Here are my results : If you use the regular size (thick) Sizzix/Ellison dies it cuts through everything listed below "like butter", clean edges on all of it:

Thick chipboard 1/8"
Thin Chipboard - like shirt box thickness
Transparencies Acetate - like those clear report covers
ACRYLIC - yes, 1/8" acrylic --- no problems at all !!
Thick felt with the adhesive backing
Thin felt with NO adhesive backing
Glitter Cardstock Paper -- like Doodlebug Sugar Coated paper or DCWV Glitter stack
Craft Foam - Kids colored project foam sheets
DCWV pre-colored chipboard sheets
Mulberry Paper - I know...old hat but I had some in my stash and wanted to try it :)

Pics below of some of the thicker stuff t show you how nice and clean the cuts were.



I have various dies -- sizzix thick, sizzlets, quick kutz, cuttlebug, etc. All the thin dies could only cut things as thick as cardstock...nothing thicker than that.Here is pic of my results to prove the experiment. Gosh I feel like I am in School again doing a science project :)

This weekend I want to play with some new Glimmer mist colors I bought and the new Glimmer Screens from Tattered Angels. What have you experimented with lately?

Gosh....Finally time to Wind Down !!

It has been a wild and crazy busy time of year around here!

4th of July we woke up early and went to march in the 4th of July Parade in our neighborhood. Loads of cute photos of all the kids decked out in their 4th of July gear.



Bianca won for "Most Enthusiastic Parade Girl"....she walked the whole route waving TWO FLAGS and singing at the top of her lungs....just too cute!!



Fireworks .... at our friends house!



Have you ever seen such a PATRIOTIC DOG ?!?!



I made a nifty necklace on sea glass to wear for 4th of July.....check it out. A pearly wax you melt and then can stamp before it cools off.

It is Finally Here....Scrap-A-Ganza!!

Today is the big day -- The Scrap-A-Ganza Expo in Houston opens today. I know the three ladies running it are probably going crazy this morning as they kick off the show in a just a few hours. What started out as a burning desire to bring a modest scrapbook show (atleast the first year) to the Houston area, has turned in to a much larger endeavor. There are over 20 classes being offered being offered by local and celebrity instructors, the all day crop on Saturday was so popular and sold out so quickly they added another crop day on Sunday! There are quite a few vendors offering various scrapbooking, stamping and other wares in the expo side.....I can hardly wait to get there this morning.

And yours truly is teaching a SUMMER WORD BLOOM MINI ALBUM class there this morning and it is SOLD OUT !!! I am so excited. Now granted, I did think the project was rather cute and am so thankful that others thought so as well! We are going to have a lot of fun in the class and everyone is going home with an adorable mini album to keep their special Summer Photos in.

Well, I better get my stuff in the car and head over there. I hope to see some old scrapbook buddies and make some new ones this weekend :) Have a Happy Scrappy Day !!!

$1 Inspiration that is "Priceless"

Ever wonder what to do with all that cute $1 stuff you see at the store? I recently was inspired by a fun "golf" pen I found at the local discount store. I needed a quicky gift card for Father's Day and decided the "golf' pen was a perfect base to create a one of a kind card for Dad. I took 2 of the $1 pens, punched holes in the cardboard backing, tied a little ribbon through each hole to create a "card".

I added some AC Vinyl Thicker letters to the front for the title and covered the inside of the "card" (which was the back of the cardboard holder of the "golf pen", added a Father's Day missive....and wallaaaaah!!!! Trust me when I say I will be looking for more fun $1 items to create with in the future. Let me know if any of you have ever "altered" a $1 item to create something inspired.

Family Reunions are FUN!!

Who would have thought it would have taken me this long in life to learn more about my mother's KEPKA side of the family? And that I would have enjoyed it so much ? Since the late 1950's, the KEPKA's who are of czech descent have had a family reunion in Kansas around or in the town of Wilson where our first KEPKA relatives from Bohemia in the 1876. This is the first time I have ever gone...frankly, I just found out about it a year ago and promised to go. I was able to meet my Great Uncle Don and he had a treasure trove of old pictures of my mother and uncles as little children on the family farm in Wilson. I don't have any old photos of my mother, a farm or anything like that so getting these was so exciting!!! My cousin Randy, my great uncle's son, had put over 50 pictures on a cd and brought them for me. Can you imagine my delight? These pictures are from the 1940's so cool to see the clothing, hairstyles, cars, buildings, etc from that period of time.


There were around 150 KEPKA's at the reunion, most of them all living in and around the town of Wilson. And I was so surprised they all brought pictures to the reunion to share....many from the late 1800's......WOW!!!


I was able to hear many stories from some of the older generation of relatives about my great grandfather and great grandmother, grandfather and my mother as a child ...it was so rewarding to hear these stories. I will be able to add many more stories of my family history scrapbook.


I encourage any of you who get a chance to attend a family reunion to take a leap of faith and go....even if it is three states away and they are people you have never met :)

You must be wondering ....What's She Up to Next?!?!?!

I hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day. I think my family must have thought I had won MOM OF THE YEAR or something because they really went all out! My oldest daughter sent me a really fun gift in the mail....A PAJAMA GRAM ! Yes, you read that right....PAJAMAS by MAIL !! The PJ's are really adorable and came in a lovely box with a little scented sache and a hang tag for the door that reads "RELAXING" . Such an original gift! I just love them. My youngest daughter, not to be topped by her big sis, gave me a beautiful amethyst and diamond ring! I just about fell off the chair when I opened that gift - definitely something to treasure. My dear granddaughter made me a one-of-a-kind scrapbook page to display in my scrap room that I will enjoy seeing every day to remind me of her smiling face. Hubby took me to my favorite place for brunch and later we enjoyed a nice meal with my mother-in-law. All in all a very memorable Mother's Day for me.

I taught the Sweet Memories Album Class today. It was so fun. The ladies in the class were fun, worked hard and loved their albums when they left. That made for a great Sunday afternoon for me!

Now, on to the next thing....I am teaching a kids class for a Father's Day gift project which includes a wood clip, photo mount, a card and a gift bag. I am expecting up to 30 kids in this class so wish me luck! I just love working with the kiddos on art projects and seeing them make something to share with their loved ones. Here is a peak at the project they will be doing.

I am working on some more adult classes for the summer so you need to check back to what's up next !

On a final note, Thanks to all who have said prayers and sent well wishes for my brother-in-law. He is still doing poorly and we are all pulling for him to get some relief from his pain and deteriorating health. It is hard on all of us but we are trying to keep our daily routines as normal as possible. I try to blog whenever I can and my spirit is lifted by everyone's kind words.

Happy Scrappin' Everyone ! Keep the creative juices flowing!

Sweet Memories....ahhhhhhhh!

I just finished the acrylic album that I am going to be teaching at A Scrap Affair later this month on Sunday, May 18th. I fell in love with the Vagabond paper line from Kaiser Scrapbooks and knew it would be perfect to create an adorable mini album. I think it will be great for all kinds of subjects...since the title is "Sweet Memories". This album is loaded with acrylic, chipboard, transparencies, a large variety of techniques, hidden journaling, custom made tags, inking, stamping, flowers and bling! Here is a sneak pic of the cover of the album. Space is limited for this class so if you are in the Houston area I would recommend you call the store soon to reserve your seat.

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On another note, I have been busy getting used to my new day job as an HR Manager, helping out with my brother-in-law who is receiving treatment for Cancer, Mother's Day planning, creating a cookbook of 180 plus recipes for a family reunion in June and last but not least, preparing for all the upcoming scrapbook classes I will be teaching soon....Acrylic circle album, Kids's Father's Day class, 4th of July Home Decor class using a Barn Star and mantel piece, Summer Word Bloom book, etc. Whew...makes me tired just writing all this much less doing everything.

So forgive me for not blogging much lately...life has a way of getting in the way of posting, doesn't it !?!?!?! LOL Happy Happy Mother's Day everyone! Enjoy this special day with the woman you love.

What are you doing for National Scrapbook Day?

I can't believe it is time again for National Scrapbook Day! I just love having a whole day dedicated to my favorite hobby, don't you? This year I will be spending the entire day at the "A Scrap Affair" NSD crop since I am on the design team. We have so much fun stuff planned it is really going to be an exciting day of cropping and pampering. I wish I could tell you about the make n takes but they are top secret --- let's just say that everyone will be ecstatic about the 4 Make N Takes. I am teaching one where everyone will learn a new technique they can begin to use on all their paper crafts.

And the best part of any NSD is the goodie bag - I just love it when they include a "special surprise gift" to make you feel pampered. I am already dreaming of the wonderful lunch and dinner and snacks we will be having that day. The new restaurant next door to the store is doing the meals and their food is so YUMMY!

I just can't wait for NSD!!! 50 crazy, happy, scrapping gals all in one place is my kind of day!

So what are you doing for National Scrapbook Day? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Scrap-A-Ganza...Coming Soon !

Have you heard about Scrap-A-Ganza ? It is a new scrapbook expo being organized by some local Houston gals. They have put together two full days of classes, a bunch of vendors to host an expo and an all day crop. It is June 28 & June 29 at the Stafford Center.

A Scrap Affair decided to participate and we will not only have a booth at the expo but we are teaching two of the classes. I am teaching one on Saturday....it is an adorable SUMMER Fun Word Bloom Book ! I had so much fun putting it together. And Alicia Merrifield is teaching a really cute tabbed flip album on Sunday that is great for boys or girls pictures..

This event is sure to be loads of fun and I encourage everyone to try and attend. Wouldn't it be great to have our own Scrapbook Expo in Houston EVERY YEAR....help support this one so there will be another one next year. Here is a link to Scrap-A-Ganza website: http://www.scrap-a-ganza-expo.com/ Class registration has started and it is sure to sell out fast so be sure and sign up for classes soon.

Here is a peak at the SUMMER Fun Word Bloom Book class that I will be teaching...there are some really fun surprises inside the album too. Sure hope to see a few familiar faces in the class.....YOU !!!

Finally - A Great Day All Around !

As you can tell from previous posts, my life has been a little hectic lately to say the least. I am glad to report that today was a really nice change of pace and I wanted to share with you all. Today started off earlier than usual since I had to drop hubby off at 6:00 am this morning so he could ride in the MS150 to Austin. So that meant getting up at 4:30 am...ugh, yes to those of you wondering-there really is a 4:30 am, I thought it was a myth ! LOL So while my day started off a little groggy I slowly warmed up to the idea of being up that early. It was really great to see all those dedicated bikers ready to ride to raise money for charity. I am so proud of my DH for doing this! Maybe one of these days I will work up the courage to ride myself....who am I kidding? All the training for the ride would cut into way too much scrap time :)

After getting back home I had about two hours before I had to be at A Scrap Affair to teach my first class at the store. So I had a leisurely breakfast thanks to Mickie D's and then I was off to the store. I had 3 amazingly talented ladies take the Eggstra Special Easter Mini Album class today - we had so much fun working on the project and sharing stories with each other. A few others want to buy kits of the class so that was nice to hear as well.

I spent the afternoon desigining and shopping for my Acrylic and Chipboard Circle Album that I am teaching in May. That was loads of fun -- I can hardly wait to get all the stuff in my hands to create the sample project. I promise to post some sneak peaks soon.

When I got back home, my Scarlet Lime kit was on the door step -- so jazzed about this months kit. Awesome cheerful colors and very fun embellies....I hope to work on something fun to post later this week.

To end my great day - my bff and I went and had Ritas and Tex Mex - just the two of us! That has not happened in a Veeeeeerrrrrry long time. Usually we are surrounded with hubbies and kids and other friends. It was so nice to have a night all to ourselves. Don't you just love your BF -- seriously, I don't think I would have made it this far in life with her!

Time to head off to bed, gotta get up early tomorrow and drive to Austin to pick up DH. Weather should be gorgeous and a nice day for a drive. Have a great day ...no matter where life takes you tomorrow!

Crazy, cRazY, CRAZY !!!

C-R-A-Z-Y...that is what life has been like for me this past week. After my last blog post, I got a call from a company that offered me a dream job - well, maybe not a dream job but pretty darn close if you have to go back to work. The catch was I had to report to work on April 1..yes, for those math wizards out there, that was only about 5 days notice! It totally threw me into a whirlwind of activity...what to wear, get the nails done, get the hair done...try to remember what going to work was like. YIKES! The company is great and so are the people. The best part is that it is only 30 hours a week and I have EVERY Friday off! That still leaves me loads of time for my scrapbook business, teaching scrapbook classes and of course my design team work. I am so jazzed about the job!! So far so good.

But every time you think things are going great, something has to come along to make you re-think, right? We just found out my brother-in-law has the big "C". It is in a very difficult spot to operate and it is very fast growing. He already has limited mobility in both arms because of where it is located on his neck and he is in terrible pain. They are trying to keep the pain down with medication and he just started aggressive chemo and radiation treatments to try and stop the growth. He is my husband's only sibling and is a really great guy - it is hurting us so much to see him in this condition. Please help pray a miracle occurs and they can erradicate this evil disease.

However, life does go on and my BIL wants us to keep doing what we love. I am teaching the Easter Album class at A Scrap Affair this coming Saturday morning if anyone is interested in taking the class...there are a couple of spots left. Call the store to sign up (see the store link to the right).

Well, I need to get back to finalizing preparations for the class. Hope to see some of you there.