Flying Free

Hi everyone. Miss me? I've had some personal emails, asking if I'm ok, and I wanted to touch base here. I try to keep my blog about my crafting side, but recently I went through something that I'm ready to share now. A friend of mine, Lianne, was diagnosed with bone cancer 5 mths ago. I watched her boys after school and when needed and when she was diagnosed, I stepped up and helped in any way that I could. I live one street over and work at a church, so it was very easy for me to take time off if needed. My routine soon involved Lianne, her mom and 2 boys almost daily. Whether visiting, helping with appt's or helping arrange drivers, we were in touch quite a lot. I also became very close with her mom, Liz. Over the summer, Lianne ended up in hospital twice and once was her oldest sons 11th birthday. Well, Liz and I packed up the boys and we stopped and bought cupcakes and took the birthday party to mom. As hard as it was, it was fun at the same time. Another time, I stopped and visited with Lianne and another friend of hers and since it was just us 3 girls, did we ever laugh and visit. Another time, it was a short 20 min visit and catch up on Y&R. I became a huge help to Liz and just a friend to listen as well. No parent should lose their child. She once said to me "I asked myself once, why Lianne? But then I thought .. why not? I wouldn't wish this on another parent". Throughout Lianne's journey over the last 5 mths, she taught me so much about myself and I learned so much from her. She was very strong in her faith and that in itself amazed me. A single mom, 2 young boys - 11 and 8 - terminal and looked for the good in what was happening to her. She never once gave up her fight. Her arm broke and she was told she may lose some motor skills, this was last mth, and she said "So give me some physio, what can I do??" and she exercised her hand. I never once saw her in pain, although I know she was. Lianne and I talked a lot about Godwinks .. I'd never heard the word before I met her .. but I tell ya, there was a LOT between her and I. I had been to see her a week prior to her passing and she asked me to get a nice pic of her boys, so I did. Then I had a cold, so I didn't deliver it right away. I thought she had more time. A week ago Friday, I had an overwhelming feeling to get the print and frame it. The next morning, I had such an overwhelming feeling to get it to her. I left and when I got there, the PSW met me at the door and asked Liz if I could come in. I knew then it wasn't good. Liz invited me up to sit with them and to visit with Lianne, but she was "already on her way" as her mom said, so we visited and I hope she saw the photo - she passed about half hour after I arrived. Lianne told me a couple times that I had a calming affect on her mom, so I feel I was meant to be there for her. This past Saturday was Lianne's Celebration of Life and wow, what a very full life she lived. Always giving, accepting you no matter what. She loved her canoe and being on the water. Her canoe and all her camping gear was at her Celebration. It was perfect and again, I learned even more from her. I've missed her mom and her boys so much, but we plan on staying in touch. Even at the reception, I was talking to a friend of Lianne's that I had met very briefly and it was like Lianne met us both with a little Godwink - Vicky said she wanted to stay in touch and handed me a business card. She runs a B&B up north, so I plan to visit her as well. I've met a new friend. 

Lianne, thank you for everything you brought to my life - I feel so blessed to have been your friend. May you fly free and may your next life be the happiest ever .. xoxo

PS: Your Celebration of Life was absolutely perfect, full of love and laughter, well done. 

It's Coming!!

It's coming!! Our first challenge at Suzy Bee's on Saturday, November 1!!! Any project - cards, altered items, layouts - all qualify as long as we see embossing on it! Mark your calendar and see you on November 1st at Suzy Bee's!!!

White Chocolate Oreo Popcorn

I had to share this! My mom made it for us and it was SO good!! White chocolate, Oreo Popcorn! So of course, I went to Pinterest to see if I could find the recipe and of course I did!! 

Thank you to "Yes Please Recipes" for posting this recipe!!

Try it yourself and I bet you can't just eat one handful!!

A Blessing ...

Here's the last of the LO's I did with Riley's puppy pics. Scroll down to see more! I managed to do 4 LO's using the Huntington CTMH WOTG kit and still have lots left to do some more. I never thought I would enjoy them to be honest because I like to do my own thing. But I love the kits. I always add my own little spin on them and even turn them if I need to, but have really enjoyed the kits I've done so far.

Too cute, right? Yeah, we think so too .. lol .. thanks so much for stopping by today and have a terrific Thursday!

Life is Sweet

Our CTMH WOTG kit club last mth was "Huntington" and I LOVE this paper!! Here's another LO I did using up Riley's puppy pics. He was so little compared to what he is now. We should have known when we seen those HUGE paws!! 

Have a wonderful Wednesday and thanks for stopping by!

Baby Face ...

I'm sure you've noticed, but I am far from a chronological scrapbooker. I tend to look through my paper, pics and go from there. I thought this paper was perfect for Riley's 'baby' pics (he's 150 lbs now!) so that's what I did! He's 8 weeks old here and now he's 5 yrs old. 

I absolutely love this photo of him!

LM # 161 - Use a black background

Hi everyone!! Happy Thankgiving to my Canadian friends. We celebrated on Saturday .. lots of food and satisfied tummies!

This weeks challenge at Lasting Memories is to "Use a black background" and here's what I came up with .. 

click to enlarge

I'm showing a 2 pg layout together. I cut the large designer paper up the middle to get this affect. Come on over and join the fun, we'll see ya there!

DSC #57 - What's Your Favorite Color?

Time for a new challenge at Digitally Sweet AND we have a new sponsor, BigHeadsStamps!! Bruna is just getting started, so please stop by and see what she has to offer!

Our challenge this week is to Use Your Favorite Colors and I'm showcasing "Renoir". I love color period, I don't know if I really have a favorite? I do love blue and red together (my house is country blue w/bard red trim) so here's my first interpretation for this challenge:

And I wanted to show you the same image, but completely different!

This is the COOLEST thing about digital! You can have so much fun with it! All I did was take my pre-colored image from above and change it to 'monochrome' and voila! What do ya think?? I use MMS v4 and love it. Come on over and join the fun for your chance to win 4 images from BigHeadsStamps!

Bare with me ..

Looking for a new template, so bare with me as I change things up!

Do You Use Leelou Templates?

Hi everyone!! Just a quick post - for those using a Leelou free blog template, please read THIS as it's very important and will affect your blog as of October 19th .. or for a low cost of $15, you can keep the template you have and have it personalized:

As of today all free blog designs will now become Premade Blog Designs. Premade Blog Designs are custom blog templates that have previously been created and designed. You send in your  blog title, tagline and even a picture if you’d like, and we’ll add your information to the design.  We also will do all of the installation so you don’t have to mess with a thing! Premades blog designs are a great way to get a totally custom look for a great price. They will be $15. If you would like to order or take a look at our premade designs, click here. They are still under construction and we are trying to update the thumbnails as quickly as possible. - See more at: http://leelou-blogs.com/2013/10/big-announcement-about-free-blog-designs.html#sthash.BCjMPlwe.dpuf

I have enjoyed using her templates and wish her all the best! Family comes first and foremost!

DSC #56 - Snowflake Fairy

Hey! Hope everyone has had a fabulous week! The weather here has been amazing. So warm for this time of yr and even the nights are decent. We've been sitting outside at night and loving it. Certainly not complaining! So, we have a new challenge at Digitally Sweet and we're being sponsored by:

One person will win 5 awesome images! Our challenge is "Anything With Wings" and here's what I created using Digi Darla's "Snowflake Fairy". I colored it up in PSE9 and then played with some editing techniques. Once I was done coloring up my image, I opened it up in MMSv4 and created what you see here. You could use this as a Christmas wall hanging, card front, even a little scrapbook page on your Christmas album. Lots of possibilities!

Hope you can find some time to join us this week! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!