Happy New Year Everyone !

Anyone know where I can get a t-shirt that says "I survived the 2009 Holidays"? LOL

The recent holidays were both a blessing and a challenge at our house. A blessing that I have such wonderful family and friends to help take care of me during my post surgery recovery and help "make Christmas happen" at our house. It was really frustrating not being 100% full speed during Christmas. There is always so much I LOVE and ENJOY doing during the holidays...decorating, baking treats to share, shopping, making and sending Christmas cards, making gifts, wrapping presents, cooking special family meals, going to parties, enjoying holiday events around town, the list goes on and on as I know you can relate.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention that Miss Bianca turned 7 years old on Dec 11th so we had a little party at our house for her since I was't up to galavanting around and she insisted I be at her party. She is really into Hello Kitty, and LOVED the Giant Hello Kitty pinata her mother found to add to the festivities. Hard to believe our little granddaughter is now such a big girl.

With the help of my dear family and friends, the shopping did get done, the gifts got wrapped, our tree got put up and the house decorated. I even managed to carve out time to send out Christmas cards (store bought but atleast I got the cards mailed out :)

My BFF, Anne, organized a decorating party at my house the weekend after I got out of the hospital because she knows how much I LOVE all my holiday decorations and that I just wasn't up to doing it myself this time. She and members of her family and mine, took on the daunting challenge of not only putting up our tree with over 100 Santa ornaments on it but also placing my favorite snow man and Santa decorations around the house. Bianca enjoyed playing Anne's "elf helper" (see her in background with Santa hat on).

Anne's daughter Joan was just the right person to put the Santa tree topper on top of the tree under the guidance of my mother-in-law, Gladys. (I will post pics of the results of their efforts in another post later).

I finally felt like it was Christmas when one night after work, I finally got around to making my traditional Christmas fudge. And the next night, hubby drove me around to look at Christms lights....funny how some traditions just give you that good ol'e feeling that the holiday IS actually happening!

Christmas Eve was spent at my dad's new house (he has spent the past three years building) with all my side of the family in attendance. It meant a lot to my dad to finally host Christmas at the new house. After his recent liver cancer surgery, we were all thankful to be together this year especially. We even took time to all pose for a big family photo which we haven't done in years. I can hardly wait to get those pictures in my hot little crafty hands!

My mother-in-law graciously hosted us on Christmas Day at her house and we enjoyed our time together with my hubby's side of the family. Crystal was here with Winston and we loved having her home again for a few days. And we got to pamper our Granddog too :)

And viola....the New Year arrived! Wow, the past few weeks have flown by haven't they?

I have recovered from my surgery and feel more like myself, finally !!! We have put away the holiday decorations already and have been enjoying some relaxing time watching movies and I even got in some crafting time.

This weekend I want to concentrate on setting my goals for 2010. Also, I am anxious to update my blog design so stay tuned for a revamp !

Sorry this was such a long post but I had a lot to catch up on. Hope you enjoyed a few of the pics and catching up with me. Stay tuned for the blog update and some pics of recent craft projects that you might find inspiring.

Hugs and Happy New Year to you all.

Emergency Rooms, Pain Meds, Surgeons....Priceless!

A week ago tonight, I doubled over in so much pain that I just about passed out. I scared hubby by demanding he take me to the emergency room. He has never heard me utter those words unless it involved one of our children.

Here is the readers digest version of my past week:

• Sunday, November 29...10:30 pm hubby drives a whimpering in pain Debbie to the emergency room.
• Monday, November 30...1:30 am after many lab test and scans diagnosed with Pancreatosis....infection of pancreas with enzyme levels of 5,000 instead of a mere normal 100 range
• Monday, November 30...5:00 am admitted to St Lukes Hospital. Got to ride in an ambulance for the first time ever in my 50 years of life
• Monday, November 30 through Wednesday, December 2... LOTS of PAIN MEDS, NO Food, NO liquids, not even ice chips.... only saline IV. I didn't care. I just wanted to either sleep or die at this point it hurt so bad and was uncomfortable even with the meds.
• Thursday, December 3...Doc decided I was well enough to have Gall Bladder surgery today. Lucky me! I was asleep, I didn't care since they promised I would feel better afterwards.
• Friday, December 4...7:30 am woke up feeling a little bit better except for the 4 new holes in my stomach from the surgery. Did I forget to mention, more pain meds ?? My mind is a little foggy at this point. Oh....and it is suppose to SNOW in Houston today.
• Friday, December 4...9:30 am Doc says I can go home to recover...whoopee, it is started to SNOW and I get to go outside and see it in my drug induced state :)
• Friday, December 4...2:00 pm Hubby picks up his drowsy wife from the hospital and drives home in the SNOW. He assures wife it is really snowing and she is not imagining it.
• Saturday, December 5....took meds, slept, took more meds, slept...oh, I got to eat something too :) slept some more.
• Sunday, December 5...feel a little better today, stomach is sore, I am soooo tired but happy to have made it through the past week. Some dear friends and family members came over and decorated my christmas tree for me while I slept this afternoon. It was a joy to see when I woke up. Will try to take a picture when I can tomorrow. Tired again...going back to bed now.....

This has undoubtedly been one of the hardest years of my life. I can hardly wait for this year to be over. With my eye cancer earlier this year and then my dad's liver cancer and now my recent medical issue, I am definitely praying for a new healthy 2010 for me and my family.

For those of you wondering, my dad is doing well after his recent liver cancer surgery but will be starting his 6 months of chemo in the next few weeks. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

At times like these, I keep reminding myself of one of my favorite sayings...."What Doesn't Kills Us, Makes Us Stronger!" Okay LORD, I think I am strong enough now!!!!

As We Gather Together

November has been a loooooooooong month and I just haven't made time to blog. Sorry blog followers.

I spent a lot of time in the Transplant ICU helping take care of my dad who had a tumor removed from his liver including cutting out entire right side of his liver and was in the hospital for two weeks. It was so hard to see my dad so weak and in pain. You just never think that your dad will ever be like that. Wishful thinking on the part of all daddy's girls I think.

Happily, dad is recovering well and we were so Thankful to have our family together this Thanksgiving. Bianca came over the day before Thanksgiving and helped us decorate and set out our special Turkey place cards we made last year.

I did find some time this month for a little bit of "scraptherapy" and created a "GIVE Thanks" Banner. The pictures are not the greatest but you will get the general idea. Loved using a mix of wonderful fall papers from some of my favorite manufacturers.

I took some close ups of the banner and will post latter this week for those that want to see it.

Hope everyone of my friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. Enjoy the rest of your long weekend.

Starting to get a little SPOOKY around here !

Halloween week is such a frenzy of activity....with all the decorating, costume making, trick or treat candy decisions to make plus the school and church carnivals going on.

One of our favorite SPOOKS dropped by earlier this week to give us a FRIGHT!


Can you guess what her costume is...... A Skeleton Bride ! Oooooooo...Soooooooo Scary!!!!!

We had a lot of fun shopping for just the right things to make her costume unique....the half skeleton mask, the black rose bouquet and the glowing skeleton necklace added just the right touch of gruesomeness to make Bianca thrilled with her costume.

I had a lot of fun designing and creating a new tablescape for the entry hall. I was inspired by something I saw on my Creative Escape trip .... decorating empty spools with loads of fun items. The transformation of a wooden spools, a tulle roll and a thread spool was eeiry...and so much fun to do ! I even added one of the vintage Halloween postcards on an easel to complete the look. Love how this turned out in such a short time.

Hope your Halloween week is full of fun and inspiration too !

It's a Banner Day !

I love it when I get inspired by things I see when I travel. Don't you ?

While I was at CE in August, I went to some fabulous shops... a favorite was Melrose Vintage. A wonderful eclectic mix of antiques, shabby chic decor and amazing scrapbook products and projects. One of the things I just fell in love with was an awesome Halloween Banner. It was an upcoming class they would be teaching but alas, I wouldn't be in Arizona to attend.

So I purchased as many products they had on hand and took a few photos to inspire me. This past weekend I was able to spend a little time creating my very own banner with loads of Halloween products I have been collecting over the years.

I need to make a few more tweaks to it but I couldn't wait to post if for you all to see. Let me know what you think about it so far. If this doesn't inspire you to create some Halloween decor of your own, I don't know what will :) I wish you could really see the awesome glittery paper and embellishments but the photos just don't do it justice!

Fav Fall Goodie Time !

The air is crisp and cool, finally! The fall festivals are at the churches and schools everywhere around me. I can not resist the pull to stop and just take a quick turn through to see if they have my favorite treat.....KETTLEKORN !!

This weekend I was able to score some fresh made, sweet and salty, uber delicious treat. I start craving this as soon as the weather cools off in October. Brings back fond memories of my childhood. Over the past few years I have added to my treat some Brach's Autum Mix...candy corn and candy popcorn ! YUMMY !!!!

What is your favorite Fall treat ?

Fall is Here.....

Well at least on the calendar anyway! Happy October everyone!

It is muggy and warm here but a cool front is headed our way so tomorrow morning I am hoping to step out into some cooler weather when I go for my bike ride :)

I have always loved the month of October! Cooler weather is always welcome here after our hot, hot summers but I really LOVE:

the fall colors everywhere
Festivals and Church Bizarres
the crispness of the air
sitting outside again
enjoying a fire and making s'mores
family movie nights outside
college football games
Halloween !

I have started decorating the house and have more to do this weekend. Will hopefully get some good pics to post later this weekend so check back. I have made a Fall Banner inspired by something I saw on my CE trip. It is "U-DORD-IBLE" as my granddaughter would say :)

This weekend I hope to get my Halloween Banner completed .... it has vintage Halloween items on it and I am so excited about adding it to my other Halloween Decor.

I will leave you with a few pics of some past fall memories....we are ready to make more this fall memories this year :)

What do you LOVE about Fall ?

Post a comment and let me know.

My Family and Friends are AMAZING !

After my family's plotting and planning and hiding all the details from me of my 50th Birthday Party, the big day arrived on September 19th (just three short days after my real birthday on the 16th).

And let me tell you.....THEY ARE AMAZING PARTY GIVERS!!!! I never could have imagined all the fabulous things my family planned and executed to help me celebrate my 50th in such a special way! I guess after all these years of my being the party giver in the family, they really did absorb some of party planning tips I use. They are still assuring me that I remain responsible for our future family gatherings even though I am more than willing to step aside at this point :)

Mere words cannot explain all the wonderful details ... the barbque dinner, the cake, the games, the decor, the slideshow, the caricature artist, the flashing 50 pins, my crown and sash and ALL the FUN!

So enjoy a few of the photos from my 50th.....they speak for themselves. You will be able to see why I am so humbled by all of their efforts on my behalf! I LOVE YOU ALL....

Diva Debbie's 50th Birthday Party at Armadillo Place on September 19th.


The fantabulous Scrapbook Diva Birthday Cake.... The pics were edible and the cake was CHOCOLATE of course !!

The kids at the party enjoyed an imaginative game of "PIN THE CROWN ON THE DIVA"!

A pic of me and a bunch of cute crowns, a blind fold and the kids were having loads of fun!

It wouldn't be a party for me without a luscious strawberry margaritas in my hand!

Note: The Crown, Sash and Caricature Artist are normally optional at most parties but I highly recommend them :)

The guests enjoyed my favorite dinner....Bar-b-que of course for this Texas Native!

It is truly humbling to see 50 of your nearest and dearest family and friends at a party in your honor!

My Daughter Heather was the major planner of this shinding for me. She has always been so creative and this party really showed off some of her creativity....I wonder where she got that from :) Thanks for all your efforts honey...it was a wonderful party !

My Daughter Crystal even managed to find time to help with the party even though she lives out of town and just started a new job! I was so happy you could join us to celebrate your mom becoming "old". LOL

And my # 1 LOVE....my dear hubby Michael who worked so hard to plan a special night to celebrate!

I am not sure who is more of the character....the REAL Gary or the drawing of him! Thanks for coming all the way from OK to my party dear friend!

It was no surprise that the caricature artist made my dad's wild and crazy eyebrows such a feature in his drawing! LOVE IT and you too Dad!! I was so glad you were able to be at my party.

And we KNOW that my nephew Nicholas is the real cutie in this picture and the drawing just shows that off!

Crystal, Michael and me!

My oldest (not her age, just how long we have known each other) and dearest friend Anne. She made the slide show that both made me both laugh and cry that night! Thank you sweetie!

I was so thrilled to see my granddaughter Bianca and my dear friend Joan hit it off at the party. They are both such social butterflies it really shouldn't have been a surprise :) Thanks Joan for jetting in to help me celebrate!

Note all the western decor at this place....that is a real horse saddle with silver decor on it on display and loads of great western memorabila on the walls. And yes, the bar-b-que is as good as it looks here. YUMMY !!!

My dear in-laws and my hubby sharing some time together. Thanks Gladys for picking up the cake at the bakery. I hear it was an experience since the cake was so large !

My new dear friends, Rochelle and Rick. Thank you Roc for helping with the party. Heather loved getting to hang out with you during the party planning/shopping!

As you can see, the party was super fabulous! I certainly am thrilled beyond words...well almost! Thank you to all my guest and family who helped make my 50th birthday something special and memorable!

There were a ton of photos taken that night and I might post some more another time...sorry I couldn't post pics of everyone this round but know you are loved and appreciated too!

Today I Reach One of Life's Milestones

50 Years...WOW !! You know when you are a kid, 50 seems like you are ancient. When you are a young adult 50 seems too far away to contemplate. When you reach 40, 50 seems like it will be here too soon! But now that 50 is actually here...it is just a number.

I like to think of it as half way to the ripe old age of 100 which is my personal goal to reach. As I take a little time to enjoy my 50th Birthday, I am so thankful for the many blessings that I have obtained over the years.

I have been blessed with a wonderful family. And yes, I do know how lucky I am to be able to say that!

• The best husband I could ever hope to have...I LOVE you soooo much honey :)
• Two amazing daughters who make me proud every step of the way, even though there were times I wasn't sure which direction we were running :)
• A bright, fun loving granddaughter who I treasure beyond words :)
• Loving and giving parents....both my own father and my in-laws :)
• Brothers who are great men and whom I admire :)

I have also been blessed with many, many friends. Friendships that are old are dearest, friendships that are newer are special to me as well. Friends help you when you are down or share joys when you are up! I have learned so much from all my various friends over the years. I hope I have always been the kind of friend that you can count on and you know how much you mean to me.

So Happy 50th Birthday to Me ! Watch Out World...I still have 50 to go !!!!!!!!!!!

She's Back !

I survived the whirlwind known as Creative Escape. Loved each and every minute of it !! So many great projects, so much amazing shopping, so many new friends met and old friendships renewed !!! I got back on Sunday evening and have been busy with getting back in to work and family life the past couple of days including attending a Texans game last night....the fun never stops :)

Tonight I hope to down load some pics of a few of the special moments to share with my blog readers, so stay tuned for that.

Hugs to you all. Sorry I didn't update during CE but frankly even if I took my laptop I am not sure I would have found the time to write plus I had to save room for all those wonderful things I received.

Creative Escape Here I Come !!!!

Bags Packed - Check

Blingy Pink Cowgirl Hat Ready -Check

Loud and Fun Blingy Zebra Tote Bag Crammed Full - Check

First Class Plane Ticket - Check

Ready to Have a Fabulous Time ? YOU BETCHA !!!!!

I am all ready to hit the door in a few minutes and go to the airport to head to Phoenix for Creative Escape. I managed to get a little bit of sleep last night as I am so excited to be going I can hardly stand it.

After several months of getting to know a few of the ladies going from around the world...Japan, Norway, Hawaii, Canada and across our great nation, through the yahoo message board, I know I will have a fabulous time! I am so anxious to actually meet these wonderful ladies who are just as excited as me to go to Creative Escape.

I will be at the posh Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa for 7 glorious days. There will be lots of shopping, hugging new friends, drinking and laughing in my future!

Plus the best part is the workshops I will be attending.....so much dang creative people are teaching the projects this year, they out touting this as the best CE ever!

Thank you hubby for letting me go on this trip to celebrate my 50th Birthday coming up in September. I love the fact you know how much I love to feed my creative spirit!

Below is a picture of one of the humongous suitcases I have crammed full of gifts, workshop supplies and snacks. So much Pink, Bling and Zebra is stuffed in this bag it hurts your eyes ! LOL

I promise to post pics when I get back. Gotta go eat some breakfast real quick....so see ya when I get back !

More CE Prep Goodness !!

Do you know what happens when you take a Hambly pink transparency, some clear acrylic and a graphic print out of a button and a fiskars circle punch and mix them all up ? Yep, you guessed it ....one more adorable charm for the charm swap.

Here is the new charm I made the for 2nd Chance Charm Swap at Creative Escape.



The Creative Escape crew and Heidi Swapp's latest venture, House of Three, posted a fun digital autograph book for us to print out and create a book to have our teachers sign. I whipped up this little book over the weekend. The front cover is actually flocked embossed black pattern paper that is gorgeous IRL but you can't see in the photo too well. I also POPPED the Creative Escape graphic up over the pink Hambly transparency.


On the inside of the book is a page for each Creative Escape teacher to sign. I designed each page to represent the style of that particular teacher. Here is the page I did for the INK GOD, Tim Holtz to sign...So very excited to be taking a class from him !! On the left hand side of the layout, I will put a pic of me and the teacher.

Hope you like what I did. I can hardly wait for Creative Escape...only two more weeks and I will be on that plane heading to Arizona !!!

How Charming !

I posted a few months ago that I had joined the Creative Escape Yahoo Message Board. As part of being on the board, participants get a chance to sign up for some amazing swaps.

One of the several swaps that I did, was the charm swap. We had 75 amazingly talented ladies participate to create all handmade charms. I received my set of the charms this week and have spent the past few hours placing them on a custom beaded necklace to show case all these beauties at CE.

Here's a pic of what I will be wearing in just a couple of weeks at CE.

Isn't it beautiful ? I just love how different each and everyone of these charms turned out.

I loved this so much, I have joined the 2nd Chance Charm Swap so I can add even more to the necklace :) Stay tuned for more charming goodness !

Lookeee What I Got !!!

I was so excited to see the USPS package from my CE Let's Escape Partner, Francisca B. of California, sitting on my porch when I got home today. I was SHOCKED when I tried to pick it up because it was so heavy. After checking out the pictures below...you will see why the box was so heavy!! Francisca really out did herself in putting this package together for me. I can't wait to give her a big ole Texas size hug when I meet her at CE in a few short weeks :)

Have you ever seen so many wonderful things all in one package? I am so excited to get to play with all these goodies!

Francisca took so much time and effort into creating this wonderful hanging magnetic board for me. I just love it! It is already hanging in my scrap room in a place of honor and ready for use :)

And this adorable journal that Francisca sent me is so cute and will definitely come in handy for CE notes.

THANK YOU FRANCISCA...your generousity and creativity is greatly appreciated !!!

Okay, now I gotta go find room to add all this loveliness to my stash !

Wish I was there ....

Hi Fellow Scrappers !

I didn't go this year to CHA Summer...between my eyelid surgery earlier in the year and work and going to Creative Escape in August, I just couldn't commit to going this year. However, I hae been following closely all the great stuff being released this summer show.

I don’t know if you are all just as big of a fanatic about CHA new releases from the various manufacturers but I wanted to share this lady’s flickr pics of Summer CHA….she has great photos of tons of the booths and up close views of projects too.

Grab yourself a favorite beverage, a note pad and pen to make your wish list, then hang up the “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door and sit back and watch the show. Warning…it will take you about 45 minutes to go through them all…I kind of skipped through some of it so it might take longer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoppingdiva/sets/72157621752730603/

Note: In upper right corner is the slideshow button …hit that to get started. Then you can skip around double clicking the pics on the scroll bar across the bottom.


Some of my favs are:

The Ribbon Truffle and cupcake Display at Ribbon Ring booth
Melissa Frances vintage line…gotta have a bunch of those white embellies and the little girl paper line
Pink Paislee stuff
Maya Road
Primas
Inkessentials display….check out that clear Rock Candy Distress paint..tons of possibilities with that stuff
Sassafras Monstrosity line….cutest new line of the show IMO (in my opinion)
And Teresa Collins Friends Line, Basic Grey and Glimmer Mists screens and Hambly and…..

Okay, I will stop now. My hands are shaking at the thought of getting some of this stuff later in the year when it hits the stores :)

Enjoy !!

Wanna See My New "PET" ?

For the past three weeks I have had a little visitor on my front porch like clock work every day between 2 pm to 3 pm, without fail. He comes to take a nap and then runs away after about an hour. It is the darndest thing I have ever seen!

I posted a couple of pics I took this weekend. Take alook and let me know what you think of my new "pet"...I think he must have escaped from Disney, don't you?

It is the only "pet" my dh will let me keep as long as he stays outside :) LOL

This is his cute "Disney Squirrel Look"....don't you agree ?

This is my "Pet" in nap mode....ususally his eyes are closed but the sound of the camera woke him up.....So sorry little one.

We are guessing that it is sooooo hot in Texas right now, it is even too hot for the squirrels to hang out in the trees.

Hope this post brought a smile to your face today! Now bring a smile to someone else you know.