Most Awesome Make N Takes Ever!

Lucky Me...Yesterday I got to hang out with some of my fellow CE goers at By Designs Bistro Event. We made the most wonderful Make N Takes! And my friend Timi Forrest designed the very bestest one....the Celebration Plate! Who knew a plate from the dollar store and some scrap supplies could turn out so wonderful? Well, I guess I have to bow down to Timi's creative vision because she totally nailed this make n take !

Here is Timi's Design Example:

And while I sitting there doing my MnT, I too had a brain storm and decided to make mine a 50th Birthday Celebration Plate. So as Timi told me, take it home girl and "Debbify It", so I did!

Here is how my plate came out after "Debbifying It"

As you can see I added a few more lucious details like rhinestone flowers, gorgeous sequin flowers and a couple of beautiful gossamer and jeweled butterflies to complete my Celebration Plate to display in my home. Now all I need to do is wait until I turn 50 in September and get my picture taken in my favorite brown shirt and waalah...a wonderful keepsake plate!

Thank you Timi for the inspiration. I can see myself making these for all kinds of celebrations..weddings, babyshowers, birthdays, new home, etc.

Now I really must say the other two make n takes were equally as wonderful but I haven't exactly figured out what I am going to do with them just yet so stay tuned for final results in a later post.

This next one was taught by a couple of other talented designers at By Designs, including our very own CE goer, Beverly Harrison. This was a blast to make and is so beautiful!

This is a wonderful 6X6 transparency that we distressed and embellised to add to a page...I also think it would make an awesome album cover...so that is most likely how mine will turn out.

And the other MnT was really adorable too...A recipe card project. I plan on making a family recipe mini album soon and this is just the jump start I needed to finalize what I wanted to do.

I didn't take a picture of that one so will post it another day.

As you can see, I had a happy scrappy day! Hope you did too and found some inspiration and acted on it yourself!

Who Knew Zebra Stuff Could Be So Cute !!!

I joined another one of the fun swaps for Creative Escape to get to know another person going. This one is called "Lets Escape" and you make up a gift basket of goodies ...both bought and/or handmade getting one item for each letter of the swap name. You can use the questionnaire your partner sends you to make sure you pick things they will love.

L is for LIPS - pamper your partners lips and make them smile
(I sent cute lip shaped container of lip gloss in luscious pink shine)
E is for EXPRESSION - item that lets your partner express themselves on their scrap projects
(I sent Elles Studio Journaling Spots and Making Memories Animal Print Letter Stickers)
T is for TRANSPARENT - include a transparent item
(I sent Heidi Swapp's new adorable Clear Accent Shapes)
S is for SPARKLE - a girl's gotta have their bling!
(I sent packages of Kaiser bling in pink and green CE colors and CE Crystal earrings I made)

E is for Embellish - fun scrapbook embellishment
(I sent my and stitched felt flowers in CE colors and zebra felt and ribbon)
S is for SWEET - a yummy treat for your partner to enjoy
(I sent Gummy Bears cause she loves those as much as I do!)
C is for CHIPBOARD - some fun chipboard
(I sent Me & My Big Ideas "Kids" Shaped Mini Chipboard Album & matching embellies)
A is for AWESOME - something awesome from Heidi or Tim's scrap stuff for your partner
(I sent the new Tim's Tiny Attacher from my partners wish list)
P is for PAMPER - spoil your partner with something to pamper herself
(I sent Spa Gloves with lotion to pamper her hands after all the scrapping we will do)
E is for EXTRAORDINARY - create something for your partner to enjoy
(I sent a mixed texture shaped mini album with may textured papers, custom made zebra
flip flops and a beaded scissor charm for her to enjoy)

I can not tell you how much fun I had finding items to send my Let's Escape Partner, Veronica.
I have been dying to post the pic of what all I sent but had to wait for Veronica to acknowledge the package first since I wanted it to be a surprise.

And of course, she was sooooo sweet to say how much she loved all the goodies ! I can hardly wait to meet her IRL and give her a hug!!!

Wooohooo I Reached My 50 RAK Goal !!!

Each year the Creative Escape Yahoo Message Board of which I am a proud member of this year, encourages us to get to know other attendees by sending out RAKS (Random Acts of Kindness) packages to people we don't know. They can be big or small, handmade or bought...the point is you brighten someone's day by sending them a package in anticipation of CE.

Since I am going to CE this year as a special celebration of my 50th Birthday (thanks to my dear hubby)....I decided to send out 50 RAKS of goodness to my fellow CE participants. I had so much fun making and sending special items to 50 different ladies.

This week I reached my goal....I finished packaging up and mailing out the last of the RAKS to get to 50 ! I was smiling like a big kid when I put these packages in the mail at the post office :)

I hope that my efforts have brought smiles to the faces of people I hope to get to meet and know a little better at the end of August at Creative Escape.

I have really enjoyed the RAKs I have received from other participants and appreciate their thoughtfulness. This event is going to be so full of talented and special women that I am already honored to be in their midst come August.

Hope you have a wonderful week....do a little something to bring a smile to someone you would like to know.

Cool New Tool - The i-top from Imaginisce

CHA Summer is coming up at the end of the month, and I just LOVE to see what new tools will be hitting the shelves soon. This time the clear winner of the tool premieres will be by one of my favorite companies, Imaginisce ! They have come up with the most wonderful tool called the
i-Top to allow you to make your own brads!

My head is already spinning with ideas to use this tool with .....fabric and paper and pictures oh my ! I am so wanting this tool to make a family tree brads with my families faces on it to put on a canvas background ....doesn't that sound cool !

I know some of you may be thinking, can't I just use the button cover maker I bought at the cloth store? Well, speaking from experience let me tell you it doesn't even compare to this great new tool.

1. The i-top tool easily uses not only fabric but photos and scrapbook paper...the button cover maker thing really only easily does fabric, the paper tears in it easily.

2. The i-top tool is easy to use and you get perfect results each time....the button cover maker thing requires the strength of hercules to push the material over the button cover and if you push too hard it tears your material and makes it useless.

3. The i-top tool makes BRADS that are great for not only embellishing but connecting elements together and doesn't require further attachment adhesives....the button cover maker only makes buttons which require some other form of adhesive.

So, in conclusion, scrap tool junkies like myself will find many useful things to do with the i-top to make our projects even more special. Thank you Imaginisce for pushing the limits of scrap tools !

It's time to CELEBRATE!!!

As we celebrate our nations Independence Day, I am once again reminded to be thankful for the country I live in and the previleges I enjoy. Many men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enjoy that freedom. I am sending out my sincere thanks to all of them and their families.

The 4th of July has always meant four things to me....watermelon, bar-b-que, bug spray and FIREWORKS !!! I am a BIG FIREWORKS FAN...Always have been, even as a small child. We used to all pile in the car and head out to see fireworks sponsored by Astroworld or one of the big shopping malls here in town or head down to the beach house and fire off our own fireworks. We brought lawn chairs and watermelon in a cooler and lots of BUG SPRAY (yes, the mosquitos in Texas have been known to be large enough to carry off small animals and children - or atleast that is what my dad always said to get us to wear that stinky bug spray) LOL.

When I was really young, my dear dad used to tell us that the fireworks were in honor of his birthday which is 4th of July. He had us believing that for years....until I was old enough to figure out he had been teasing us ! But it was still a fun thing to hear him say every year...he has carried that TALL TALE tradition on to my children and my grandchild which has now become a family legend.

Happy Birthday Dad...you have always been my hero and deserved all those fireworks on your birthday !

I love this picture I took last year of the fireworks display and wanted to share it with you all. Unfortunately, this may be the only fireworks we get to enjoy this year since we are under a burn ban here because we are short several inches of rain. It has been HOT and DRY in Texas and that is NOT a good mix for fireworks. So, we will have to be content to see fireworks on TV or look at photos like this one.

Hoping that you and yours have a fun, safe and happy 4th of July. And remember to take a moment to thank the men and women of our country who help us all to enjoy our freedom.

I Love "My Little Shoebox", don't you?

As you saw in my earlier post of the "Tweet Family" album I made recently, I really love the colors and graphics on the My Little Shoebox products. Not only are their papers yummy but they have some cute embellishments too. I had a stack of the journaling cards sitting on my scrap table and decided to make a quick little mini book out of them about The Things I Love. I just might add this to a bigger album I want to work on that has pics of some of the things I love and why I love them.

I sent a pic of this over to Suzy West who is their lead designer and she posted in their website
http://mylittleshoebox.typepad.com on her June 30 post. It is the last one in a long list of other adorable projects made by their design team and other fans. I am so proud to see it on their site.

I can hardly wait to see what they reveal at CHA Summer in July.

Thanks for looking...hope this inspires you to use journal spots in unusual ways !

Happy Summer Everyone ...The HEAT is here!

WOW - where did the month of June go? Around our house, June is the month to celebrate the men in our lives. My dear hubby's birthday one weekend and then Father's Day the next, kind of filled up this month. And then of course, we have had our great HEAT WAVE here in TEXAS with several 100 degree plus days. Finding ways to stay cool in this weather has also been a priority :)

This year for hubby's birthday, I surprised him by picking one of our lesser known museums...The History of Printing and organizing an outing there with some friends. It was really fun and we even got to see an exhibit on paper watermarks which was very interesting to learn about. Afterwards we all went to a really cool place to eat that is kind of an upscale but casual old ice house called Beavers. We had a fabulous time and enjoyed the evening.

Happy Birthday Sweet Hubby....I Love You So MUCH !!!!


Staying cool during this heat wave has meant I was able to fit in some scrap time. In honor of our upcoming Indpendence Day, I made this layout to showcase some of the things that are family traditions at our house....Neighborhood 4th of July Parade....Big juicy slices of Watermelon.... And of course the ALL AMERICAN MEAL - Hamburgers and Hot Dogs !!

Sure hope you and your family have a wonderful and safe 4th of July Weekend !

What an Honor...A Blog Award for little 'ol Me !

I am so honored that Helen Mill's from the CE Yahoo group was nice enough to nominate me for this Kreative Blogger Award. I have NEVER won a blog award before ...this is exciting stuff !



Okay, so part of winning this Kreative Blogger Award is to PIF (Pay It Forward)...there some rules to follow too.

Here are the RULES for this AWARD:1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award - DONE !

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog - DONE !

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
http://www.helen-mills.blogspot.com/

4. Share 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting:
1) I almost got kicked out of the Louvre in Paris for touching a marble statue in a "private place" ....LOL
2) I LOVED Zip Lining over the jungle in Belize !
3) I have ALWAYS wanted to jump out of airplane (with a parachute of course)!
4) I LOVE anything with BLING on it !
5) I was the only woman playing Fantasy Football (for the first time mind you) at my office
and ended up winning the league much to the dismay of the 11 guys I beat !!!
6) My hubby and I blow each other a kiss EVERY DAY at 11:11 am when we are not together
and lock lips when we are actually together....been doing that for 28 years! (I highly
recommend you pick a time and do the same - helps keep the romance going).
7) My friends think I am a little bit crazy and a LOT OF FUN and they can always count on me to be there for them!

5. Nominate 6 Kreativ Bloggers and post links to their blogs. Here are my nominees:http://carolstoler.blogspot.com/
http://fayescrafticorner.blogspot.com/
http://dawnhueser.blogspot.com/
http://gbaures.blogspot.com/
http://elfgirlsmom.blogspot.com/
http://flatfishpaperarts.blogspot.com/

6. Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.
In the works now !

Check out all the wonderful nominees and Helen who nominated me! ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND LADIES...MINE STARTS NOW !

Tribute to my Tweet Family !

I noticed when cleaning up my scraproom the other day that I had lots of extra copies of some cute photos of my family. You know, those photos that were good but not "the picture" to include on a page or book. I know we all have these extras we hate to just get rid of, don't we?

Well dang it, I didn't just want to relegate them back to the storage box so I whipped up this mini album using a Fancy Pants Acrylic Scroll Album and some adorable My Little Shoebox pattern papers and loads of embellishments and trims and stickles..oh my !

It's kind of hard to tell in the pic but I covered the chipboard
pp covered birdie with some Glossy Accents so they matched
the fun Thickers Chit Chat Orange Puffy Letters...

All 5 of us..LtoR:Me, Michael, Crystal, Heather & Bianca

I decided after I added the pics to the pages that it would

be fun to add what each person loves but I didn't want to

journal so I came up with just using a few words...I

liked trying this different way of journaling on my album.

And of course I couldn't leave out my "granddog" Winston

since it is a MY TWEET FAMILY ALBUM

Definitely had a blast making this and really thinking about what my family loves to do. It turned out to be just the perfect place for those extra photos to call home !

I was INSPIRED this weekend....

Over the long Memorial Day weekend I was able to crank out some 8X8 pages for the Creative Escape Yahoo Group Page Swap...I only signed up to do 1 set of double page layouts but after I got all the stuff out and started playing around, I came up with one idea after another. I ended up making a total of 50 8X8 pages (2 sets of double pages and 1 single page set). Check em out:

"MOMENTS LIKE THIS ARE TRULY UNIQUE" layout plays off the WILD SIDE hint for CE. I just loved this zebra print pattern paper and had fun folding it to add more interest to the page.

"SO SWEET" SINGLE PAGE LAYOUT featuring Heidi Swapp's Bling, photo corners, paper flower and ribbon. Plus my favorite fiskars punch...threading waters added just the right touch to this sweet layout.

"Creativity is..." double page layout has many cute custom made embellishments....including using some Tim Holtz stamps and tag made from his glass bits and pieces. I added a cute Maya Road green leaf pin, some wonderful green vine Prima tape and absolutely beautiful embossed felt black paper with all the yummy piglet and parakeet bazzill to make this lovely layout.

Hope you have an INSPIRING day soon and crank out some things you love too !

How CHARMing !!!

Okay, I promised to post pics of the charms I made for the Creative Escape Charm Swap so here they are.....I had fun making them and I love how they turned out. I hope all the CE Charm Swappers like them too!

Here is a whole box of the little charmers...aren't they cute all tucked in and ready to ship !

I will take some pics of the pages I made for the page swap and post them later. Enjoy your evening everyone.

Miss Me?

Haven't had much time to post this past week. Had a big project at work that needed to be completed that kept me working round the clock. The little bit of time I had in the evenings I spent working on my charms for the Charm Swap for the Creative Escape Yahoo message board group. Just finished them up tonight...all 85 of them ! I will try to take a picture of them and post later this week.

Of course I have gone on a few bike rides on my new bike...still haven't thought of a name for her yet. Any ideas any one?

It is so wonderful to to be able to go on a bike ride with dh. We have ridden around the beautiful campus at Rice U. We also took a little trip through Old Braeswood Neighborhood this past Friday on our way to rent a movie. How fun is that? Riding your bike to the movie kiosk !

After sleeping in this morning (what a nice luxury-can't remember the last time we did that), we got up and went and saw the new Star Trek movie. LOVED IT !!! Had so much fun. Told DH we needed to go see it again on the big screen and then buy it when it came out on DVD....he agreed. If you haven't seen this movie, go see it. It has all the great elements of a good movie....touching scenes, great acting, humorous lines and incredible action scenes. What more could you want ? Seriously, I wouldn't consider myself a true Trekkie but I do recommend you go see this movie.

Gooooooooooooo ROCKETS !!!!! Just wanted to mention we will be rooting for the Houston Rockets to win the basketball game tomorrow afternoon. To make sure of that, we are getting together with friends, drinking beer and margaritas and eating fajitas while we cheer our team to victory!!!! Won't you join us in cheering them on :)

Okay, it's late, I am tired and starting to ramble. Hope everyone enjoys your Sunday as much as we will !

Check Out My New Sweet Ride !

This absolutely gorgous, comfy new bike is all mine...courtsey of my dear hubby! I have been wanting a new bike for a while since my old bike was stolen last year. Now that my eye is doing so much better I can finally do some exercising and biking seems like a great idea to kick that off.

After trying out a few different brands and styles, I was almost giddy after riding around in the parking lot testing this bike out. I rode up to my hubby and joyfully declared "this is MY Perfect BIKE" ! He was charmed by my apparent enthusiasm and we bought it immediately. I AM SO EXCITED !!

I used to love to go on bike rides. It is such an incredible feeling to be zipping around on a bike. I imagine it is similiar to the feeling a bird might have while flying around in the sky.

As a kid I spent hours on my bike traveling all over the neighborhood, riding over to friend's houses for sleep overs or going to the neighborhood grocery store for my mom to buy a loaf of bread (the only thing she would let me carry back while I was riding a bike). From sunrise to beyond sunset, if my parents could find me, most likely I was out on my bike. It was a purple schwinn bike with one of those banana seats and a white basket with flowers on the front and streamers on the handle bars. I LOVED that bike at the time....I can't remember whatever happened to it exactly but I know that bike was well used and appreciated.

I can't wait to ride my new bike up to Hermann park or along Braes Bayou or over to a friend's house. Such sweet memories it will bring back for me.

Now I just need to think of a good name for my bike. A bike this special certainly deserves a good name. Hmmmmmmm, let me think about this for while to get just the right name.

It is a lovely shade of lite aqua blue called prada sky and rides like a dream. If you have a suggestion for a possible name, leave me a comment.

I hope you find something joyful or a sweet memory comes to mind from something you loved as a child.

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to all the Mommies in the world!!!!

OMG ! I am actually G-O-I-N-G !!!!

Quick, Pinch me someone ... I think I must be dreaming !

I got "THE GOLDEN EMAIL" to register for Creative Escape sponsored by Bazzill and Heidi Swapp (http://creativeescapeaz.com/2009/classes/) in August 2009 being held at the fabulous Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa....

and I GET TO GO !!!! Because my DH is the BESTEST GUY in the world and encouraged me to sign up!

This is an ultra exclusive scrap event that you can only get in by "lottery" pick since so many people want to go. AND I GOT PICKED !!! YIPEEEEEE ! I registered way back in Sept 08 and they don't even start drawing names until end of March 09. Crazy, right? I have tried for the past 3 years to go and never been picked. 2009 is MY YEAR !!!

Creative Escape is the most AMAZING SCRAP EVENT IN THE WORLD .... 8 of the most amazing creative art teachers help us stretch our creativity in 8 different workshops with the latest and greatest products PLUS you get pampered like you wouldn't believe in a wonderful
4 star resort.

I am floating on air and dreaming of all the creativity that will be flowing around me with other scrappers attending this event ! It will be heaven....or atleast my idea of heaven.

LOTS GOING ON .....

It's been a very busy and exciting weekend for me.

CKC was in Houston this week and I volunteered on Thursday night at the CK Bookstore Booth. Had fun and the time went by quickly. I got a $30 voucher and entrance into the vendor faire for Friday and Saturday so that was great for the budget.

I registered to take a CK Class called Peek Into My Week...great class, very cute mini book project. I will post pics when I get a chance.

I was planning on shopping at vendor fair Friday AM when a friend of mine asked if I wanted to work with SEI for the morning at their booth. I did that from 9 am - Noon, earned $30 and bought some great product for dirt cheap....another great thing that was easy on the budget.

Friday night I spent time with a few of my scrap friends. And enjoyed all my new scrap treasurers.

Saturday was my in-laws 50 th Anniversary and the whole family got dressed up and went out to eat at a very nice steak restaurant, "Brenners on the Bayou". The food was delicious and we all had a wonderful time.


My in-laws are so cute together and kissed each other after a little speech my father-in-law made about marrying my mother-in-law was the best thing he ever did. Awwwww !

Of course, our resident 6 year old (aka Bianca) found all of that to be TOO MUSHY and asked that they "cut that out at the table since people were trying to eat"! That was so FUNNY!!

Saturday night my Bianca spent the night and we scrapped until Midnight ! I finally had to make her go to bed .... that girl is a scrapping fool ! Wonder where she gets that from ? LOL

My oldest daughter who lives in Dallas came down for the anniversary party and brought my "granddog" with her. I may have mentioned he is a just under 200 lbs and is the sweetest thing ever !

Sunday we made a big brunch for everyone and stuffed ourselves with sour dough pancakes ! So Delicious !!

Later in the day "Aunt Crystal" and Bianca made homemade dog treats for their dogs.

Bianca picked out the cutter shapes...hearts, stars, angels, bats and a Cat Head......... who knew those were destined to be dog treat shapes ?

Winston closely watched the proceedings...as if he knew those treats were going to be for him !

Once they were baked and he got to sample them, the CAT HEAD appeared to be his favorite...go figure !!

I just love having the whole family back at home. This weekend was very special to all of us and we are grateful to have been able to all be together once again.

Hoppy Easter !!!!

Just wanted to pop in to say we hope you had a "Hoppy Easter" ! I lost my camera bag that has my camera cord in it so I haven't been able to download pics from this year's Easter, however, I came across this "cute little bunny" picture taken last Easter that should bring a smile to your face.

I will post some pics of my latest scrapbook projects once I find a replacement camera cord...I hope you can order just a cord :)

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 !