What's Brewing and some pesky little critters

So, Scot came home last Friday.  That was awesome!  Then, just a few days later, I discovered a louse on Georgia Kate's head.  Yes, just one louse.  No evidence of any other critters on anyone in the family, but we chose to treat it as an infestation.  No sense taking a chance on having a really big problem. So, we washed and washed and washed.  Found nothing else, but in the battle with this insidious little creatures, I feel power when I wash.  And wash some more.  Hopefully we have seen the last of them.  Gah.

On to more pleasant topics!  Jennifer Labre Designs has got a kit out this week that made me swoon.  Seriously.  When I saw it, I hit the floor.  And she took Scot's suggestion for the title, which made me even happier!  :D  If you love coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, you MUST have this kit!  What's Brewing is new today at OScraps.  RUN!  Run, I tell you!  You will love what you find!  Here's a layout I created using the kit:

Elise's Pieces gave us an adorable kit this week, too!  We Are In Love is full of pretty, rich colors and lovely elements as sweet as Elise can make them!  I added this kit to Fiddle Dee Dee Designs' latest template offering, Fuss Free: A Meaningful Life.  Add to it a super sweet picture of Maggie from 2003 and you have this:

And in a final digital moment for the day, I have been hard at work with the True Team, battling it out in the Rumble in the Orchard at Scrap Orchard!  This week's challenge was Yin and Yang.  We went with it!  This is our team layout with all 4 of our parts together:

And these are two versions of my portion, one with the scallop and one without. I kind of preferred it without, but with went better in the group shot! You be the judge! :D

Everything you see here is from Faith True Originals' store at Scrap Orchard!

I suppose that is all.  It is cold and rainy.  And foggy!  I can't see but a few feet out my living room window!  Praise God because we are desperate for rain in this dry land!  And I'm thanking him for this tiny little gas heater which is keeping at least half of my body warm right now!  :D
 

Until next time, my faithful readers...

One Day More!

So, who is now singing Les Mis with me????  :D  Scot comes home tomorrow.  In just over 24 hours he'll be back with us and all will be right in our world.  I can NOT wait!

There is a Rumble in the Orchard and it's super FUN!  It's a Creative Team contest for the designers who sell in the Scrap Orchard store.  We're 4 member teams and we have to create a layout or series of layouts following certain requirements.  The layouts have to fit together somehow to create a whole.  Round 1 results are due today and have started trickling in.  You can see the layouts here!  I'm part of The True Team for Faith True Originals.  Here's my part of our team layout!  We went in a little different direction than the majority of other teams.  We've created a single layout using one of Faith's templates.  To create the kit we used Faith's A Mother's Joy kit.  It's pretty cool to see the completed layout, which should be posted in our thread sometime later today!

I have no idea how this all works, but it's just fun to play along!

I worked on this layout a few weeks ago, using Faith True Originals and mle Card's Made Anew kit and Fiddle Dee Dee Designs Fuss Free: Shake It 2 templates!  Here's my sweet Georgia Kate and all her personality!

I hope to get more scrapping done today...after I get some real work done, that is!  :D


Until next time, my dear readers...

Alone? Never!

Well, I'm doing the single parent thing for about 2 weeks (give or take a day!).  Props to all of your ladies (and gents) who say goodbye to your spouses for long periods of time!  I couldn't survive it.  Honestly.  I miss Scot, my constant companion, conversation partner, and rock.  But the kids and I are surviving.  2 have been a little under the weather.  But we're trying to do fun things like try out a new shwarma place and play some games together.  It helps the time to go faster and I love family bonding.  I.E. Family LAUGHING!  :D

There's a RUMBLE going on at Scrap Orchard!  It's a battle of the creative teams, and it's proving to be tons of fun!  Even if you aren't part of the rumble, you can check out the fun here!

I've started a new novel the other night:  Mornings in Jenin, by Susan Abulhawa.  I can't put it down.  It's not a light read, but does give some perspective to the way Palestinians see the world, the things that they have suffered, and gives the Palestinian refugees a voice.  It's moving and sad and funny.  An extremely well-written book, I highly recommend it.  But it is not for the faint of heart.  I've have wept while reading it.

And I've been trying to scrapbook some, too.  I created another Facebook Timeline coverphoto using Fiddle Dee Dee's awesome template sat, Fuss Free: So Timely.  This time I used Elise's Pieces newest kit, Affirmation.  I love these templates and how they look at the top of my FB wall!

I'm offering my services to anyone who would like me to create one of these awesome pictures for your FB wall!  Just comment here or send me an e-mail.  The templates use anywhere from this many pictures to just 3.  You send me the pictures and give me an idea of color scheme and I create something using the kits I've got.  Honestly, I love doing it, so just let me know!

I plan to scrapbook more today.  I've got some kits to use for the designers I create for as well as the RUMBLE at Scrap Orchard!  I also have to get my workout in.  And maybe a mad game of charades!  And cooking some Palestinian rice that we all love.  And today I begin my official countdown until Scot comes home.  It's down to just a week today.  Before today the time felt waaaay too long for me to start counting, so I just ambiguously thought that he'll be home soon.  Let the countdown begin!

Been reading through the book of Matthew in my devotions.  That Sermon on the Mount is radical stuff!  I love following Jesus!  And he's the reason why I am never, ever alone.  What an awesome feeling!

Okay, blog readers, maybe I'll be back later today with some scrapbooking goodness!  Until next time...bye!  :D

Happy New Year 2012!!!

It's always crazy when a year passes and a new year begins, isn't it? How did an entire year fly by without me noticing? I hope that my scrapbooking and obsessively taking pictures helps my family remember the good times (and the bad) and helps us all to pause for just a moment to thank God for all of his blessings. I have so much to be thankful for, and I stand at the beginning of 2012, I just know it's going to be a year of blessings! Challenges, of course, but blessings, still!

Scot left today for a nearly 2 week stint in Nyack. Back to our old stomping grounds. I'm feeling a little sorry for myself for having been left behind. Though he knows I'm his biggest cheerleader and support his doctoral studies 100%! I'm just jealous that he's with our families and back to the life that is familiar and somewhat easier than our life here. But mostly that he's eating New York bagels and pizza! Just kidding. I really am most sad that he's with loved ones! But he's excited about his studies and I know he's going to be stretched and challenged and he's going to come out on the other side of his doctoral work a stronger person and leader.

What will I be doing? Well, I decided that today was a lounge in the house kind of day. I did wash all of our bedsheets (YEAH, ME!) and cook a good lunch (can someone say Mjuddara???), and put 99% of the Christmas decorations away (the nativity and the Advent Calendar are both still out). But I didn't actually "work." But the coming 2 weeks will be business as usual for me and the kids. They return to school on Monday after a 3 week vacation and my schedule presses on. Hopefully we'll have time to enjoy each other, too!

I have been scrapbooking! I'll share a few layouts! :D

First, using Winter Wonderland by Jennifer Labre Designs, I created this beauty, featuring Mam-mam's tinsel tree! As a child I loved that ridiculous, tacky tree! The template I used is another great one by Fiddle Dee Dee Designs from her Fuss Free: Daily Goodness collection.


Next is a little something I created for Cheryl's feature at The Daily Digi.  I used a retired Nikki Epperson Christmas kit and one of Cheryl's templates from the same pack: Fuss Free: Daily Goodness!


Finally, Cheryl created this awesome templates, Fuss Free: So Timely, to create fun coverphotos for your Facebook timeline!  I came up with one for myself and then I did one for my mom and BFF, Mara!  LOVE the results!
This one uses Jennifer Labre Designs' Holly Jolly kit:


Faith True Originals The Sweet Life


I am anticipating an amazing year full of JOY and happiness!  I hope and pray the same for you, my faithful blog readers!  Happy 2012!!!