April 4th — Kiwi Lane Blog Hop

Happy Friday everyone! Happy April 4th! Happy Blog Hop and blog resurrection day for me!

If you are playing along with the Kiwi Lane blog hop you should have arrived from the amazingness over at Jen McDermott's blog. 

Yes, my blog has been severely neglected and I thought maybe once I quit "having" to blog that I'd get a little more active around these parts. Truth is, I haven't so much as even sat at my creative space since this week. Thats about 6 weeks of doing absolutely nothing crafty-wise, and it's been kind of a nice break.

However, I'm grateful that I was able to create a project for this months blog hop at Kiwi Lane Designs, as today is a very special day as it marks the 17th birthday of one of the greatest gifts in my life, and the 1 year passing of my dad. 

I don't know whether or not it's a curse or a blessing to have this day shared with mixed emotions, but all in all I think it's a blessing as a day that is etched around the edges with heartache is also filled with light and remembrance of why we are here on this earth - to continue a legacy for good and to be happy, and what better way to preserve those memories than with a scrapbook page. 

I always greatly struggle with 2 page layouts, but I needed the space to express my feelings and one page wasn't going to cut it. 

I was thinking of using the Kiwi Lane Celebrate Designer Template set in a traditional fashion of a birthday banner, but it seemed a little off to me, so after much relocating, my "sunshine" was born. I'm happy with that as this time of year is truly a representation of re-birth and without the sun or Son, none of this would be possible. 

The banner from the Celebrate set worked well for my title block. 

And I had to add a little embellishment by cutting out the butterflies from the Nature and Tiny Nature template sets in an adhesive backed metal paper, and then I ran it through my embossing machine. I love the shine and texture that it adds to my page. 

So there you have it! And guess what, it DID feel great to create again.

Now don't forget to leave a comment as one lucky random winner will be receiving a $25.00 gift code to spend in the Kiwi Lane shop. You have until 11:59 PM on Sunday night to do so. Winner will be announced next Thursday on the Kiwi Lane blog. 

Have a great day and a great weekend and be sure to swing on over to the blog of my dear friend Heather Conklin and see what she's got to show! I know it will be fab!

Oh snap! Where Does the Time Go?

Holy schmoley! Where DOES the time go? Well, I guess that August has been a wee bit of a busy one with a few days in Vegas with my hunny, back to school shopping and also getting into the back to school groove!

Let me tell you—once I got over the tears of sending my baby off to first grade, I've totally been LOVING the free time. I mean it's not like I'm just lazing around doing nothing. I've been back on the exercise horse, the dishes and laundry are always done and my work is even a bit ahead! (At the moment). Here's hoping it lasts because I like this feeling.

I was able to have a "sisters" day this past Saturday and spend the day on Saturday with Tracey's sisters scrapping. Of course I decided to tackle a few sketch challenges from my favorite sites all while finishing some more pages in the album about dad.

However what is sad is the fact that it took me nearly all day to do FIVE layouts. Yeah. I never claimed to be fast.

The first layout that I created was of the morning after dad passed. It was so fitting, yet a total punch to the gut to leave mom and dad's house on the morning following his passing to see the flag at half mast. Such a wonderful tribute to an amazing man, but somehow this made it official, to see the flag flying at that elevation.

(Layout based on ScrapbookSteals.com Mid Wee Mojo—Aquamarine #7 Sketch)

Paper Authentique Fresh Collection

Next I made a layout about a photo that I had taken of the downpour that was occurring the night of dads viewing. 

It wasn't a sad thing and in fact really hit the spot for the mood. I couldn't help but think that it was Heavenly Fathers way of sharing with us that he was joining us in our sorrow at missing the great man—even though on His timeline the time is short until we will be together again. 

(Layout design based on Lets Get Sketchy August Week 2 Sketch)

The outpouring of sympathy from neighbors and friends was unbelievable. Even though dad requested that donations be made to the Latter Day Saint Temple Fund, we were still blessed with a bounty of color from those we love and those that love us. I was especially touched by the beautiful spray of flowers that my very dear crafty friends arranged and sent. Such a thoughtful gesture from some of my very best friends—many of whom I've yet to meet in this life. 

(Layout based on ScrapbookSteals.com Mid Week Mojo—Aquamarine #5 Sketch)

Lastly in the pages that I created for the memory book was this layout about the viewing. We were honored to have a Murray City Police officer stand as an Honor Guard at the head of dads casket. It was touching that an officer that had no work experience with Dad would take the hours out of his night to stand guard. A wonderful tribute to the many years that Dad spent as an officer. 

(No sketch inspiration for this page. I whipped it up in about 20 min! Yay!)

I managed to create one more layout during the day, which I positively LOVE! This layout was inspired by the August sketch challenge on the LilyBee Designs blog. Oh goodness how I love LilyBee! Such fun prints and great colors and a perfect companion for the silly photos that I took with my boys one night to send to Tracey while he was away on a business trip. 

Well. There you have it! I keep hoping to sneak away to my crafty cave and scrap the day away while the kids are in school, and mayyyyyyyybe, just mayyyyyyybe one day I will. If I could get these dishes and laundry and everything else to take care of itself then it might be a wee bit easier. ;)

You're Not Sick of Dad are You?

Nahhh.  No one in my little cobweb of the interwebs is tired of seeing my layouts about dad, are they?  Well if you are, you can just wait in that corner over there, because I'm on a mission to get this entire journey scrapped and put into a book, because quite frankly it just makes me feel better.

Maybe I'll be nice and throw in a random project here and there, but for now the mission is all about my Daddy Dahl.

I boggle my mind sometimes. And not necessarily in a good way. I just don't get being a girl. It's a wonder that any man is willing to stick with the female species as we are just so darn unpredictable. Why do you ask? Well let me tell you.

I've been holding off on scrapping these particular three photos for quite awhile because the pain was just too much and I didn't want to cry splatters all over my project.  Because what good would that be—a layout with streaks all over. (Then again, it might just be the next big thing!)

Amazingly enough I made it through this layout with nothing but smiles and memories of good times.

Yup. Unpredictable.

I'm so happy that our dear family friend Mary Hughes, thought to snap this photo of my brother holding on to dad's hand. It was heart wrenching to see dad walking the line between this life and the next life and all we could do was console him, help him be comfortable and encourage him to let go and join his party in heaven. 

(Sketch based off of Sketch Challenge #9 at Paper Bakery Kits Click link for details). 

The other layout that I completed over the weekend was a fun one to make. Or maybe I should say a cheery one. I honestly had no clue that dad's favorite flowers were the Daffodil. Dad was lucky enough to have been able to see a few open their faces before he passed, but on the Sunday morning following his passing, they all exploded into bloom.  It was as if dad was smiling on us from above and this was his way of saying everything would be alright. 

(Layout based off of Mid Week Mojo—Aquamarine Sketch #4 at ScrapbookSteals.com.  Click link for details).  

Oh and a huge thank you to those of you that take the time to share in my life. And a huge thanks to my new follower that I gained over the weekend during the Kiwi Lane blog hop. I feeel sooooo groovy cool!

Blog Hopping with Kiwi Lane

 

Hello Kiwi Lane Blog Hoppers! Welcome to my work in progress of a blog. It's not the cutest thing on the block, but hey—it's a place to host my thoughts, and that works for me!

Speaking of thoughts, I'm THRILLED to finally have had the guts to participate in one of the Kiwi Lane Blog Hops. 

Truth is when it worked out with the line up that we have for this month, I couldn't resist participating in the fun. Why do you ask? Well some of these girls are some of my long time favorites and highly inspiring and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to "work" with them. 

Well first things first, if you haven't stopped by the other blogs along the way to leave a comment, be sure to do so! I mean, you don't want to miss out on every opportunity possible to win a $25.00 gift code to the Kiwi Lane shop, right?

You should have arrived from the home of the ever so gorgeous and spunky Leslie Prinkki. 

And if you're lost or just happened to have stumbled across my blog, which I realize is nearly impossible since it's such a cobweb on the internet, then here's the line up:

1. Kiwi Lane—Home base!
2. Kristy Mackeen—Mama’s Sanity
3. Elizabeth Hellum—Life and All That Goes With It
4. Martha Bonneau—Mugysboo
5. Brie Pinales—Classic Coture
6. Heather Gray—Heather’s Crafty Corner
7. Linda Auclair—Bliss
8. Melissa Dehne—A Bit of Scrappy Goodness
9. Leslie Prinkki—Scraps of Mine
10. Kristy Lee—Life Scrapped—YOU ARE HERE! I FEEL SO LOVED AND FAMOUS! ;)

And now: The projects. :D

The templates that we are working with this month for the blog hop are some of my favorites. I use the Tiny Brackets on almost everything that I create. They are just so darn cute and tiny, and—well—everything that is tiny is cute! It's a law, isn't it?

When I was thinking about what to make I saw an empty Crystal Light canister sitting on my counter, and thought it would be fun to alter, as a pencil case to give to my kids' new teacher, as a condolence gift for starting out another year in the books. ;) (Hooray for kids never throwing out empty containers, because this really worked out perfectly!)

I rifled through my stash and found some of the We R Memory Keepers, Hall Pass collection, which for obvious reasons works well to create a school themed project.

After wrapping the canister in the "Pop Quiz" paper, I thought the Sunnybrook Lane 1A Designer Template, made a great border to go around the bottom of the canister.  I used the Bracket 1T template and traced it back to back to create the yellow design behind the embossed die cut. 

Next I had to get my paws back on some of the Jinger Adams Sweet Tart Collection that we are highlighting throughout the month of August on the Kiwi Lane blog.  Not only is this paper so darn cute, it smells really good too!

I started out this layout with the traditional framing process, to get an idea of how I would design my page. 

You can see how the idea is similar, but thanks to a perfectly splatty splat of yellow Mr. Huey's, I had to modify the design to let it show. 

I just love how pleasantly perfect, Jinger's Sweet Tart collection works with this haul I made from my tomato bushes just yesterday!

Add some Sunnybrook Lane 1A, 2A and 2B Designer Template action along with Bracket 1 and Bracket 1T and a splash of mist, some buttons and a little stitching, and an easy peasy layout was made!

Thank you so much for taking the time to hop along with us at Kiwi Lane Designs! Don't forget to leave a comment at each of the blogs at some point by 11:59 MST on Sunday the 4th for your chance to win!

The winner of the $25.00 gift code will be announced on the Kiwi Lane blog next Thursday.

Have a great day and a fabulous weekend!

Dad's Album—6 More Pages

Geesh I need to be better about blogging my pages as I create them. Then again I was kind of on a crafty binge over the weekend and I think I did most of these in the past few days.

This round of pages has been kind of difficult for me. Typically I love basking in the memories of dad, but this time has been hard.  Not sure if it's because a very dear friend of mine recently lost her father or if I'm just missing his wise counsel and his incessant teasing.  I loved that.

The first page in this crafting binge I created was about the Valentines that I created for the boys. Lets face it. I kind of felt like rockstar mom actually pulling off these beauties and it was only because of having time to kill while at the hospital that I made it happen.

 

Layout based on Let's Get Sketchy July Week 2 Sketch.  See this post for sketch!)

Next was another layout that was hard to do. It was one of those photos that I kept grabbing to scrap and kept putting back—because it was such a powerful and special moment. One I genuinely wish I could be a part of again. I miss dad's wisdom. 

 

(Layout based on Aquamarine #1 Mid Week Mojo sketch at ScrapbookSteals.com).

After dad's surgery he was on I believe the 4th floor of the hospital for the maximum amount of days he could be before his insurance co-pay would re-set. Thankfully he was able to have a great room with a view and plenty of space for visitors. Often dad would become discouraged and wish to be home, and his strength just wasn't returning as quickly as he had hoped, however, he did do his best to find enjoyment in simple things, such as what was on the menu for the day and entertainment coming from Sean reading his journal entries from his youth to us.  (Good times for sure!)

 

(Layout based on Aquamarine #2 Mid Week Mojo Sketch at ScrapbookSteals.com).

Once dad was moved into the orthopedic recovery ward on the bottom floor, I decided I'd be brave and share journal entries from my youth. WOW. I. WAS. ONE. HORMONAL. BOY. CRAZY. INDIVIDUAL.  That particular day Sean and his daughter Alyssa were there, mom, Maddi and Sarah and Mary. I was genuinely blushing due to the fact that I changed my crush every 3 days and liked some guys considerably older than me.  My girls thought it was a riot. Alyssa didn't pick up her cell phone once, she was so engrossed, and me? Well I was bright red from blushing.  Dad was quietly rolling his eyes in bed wondering what on earth he did wrong when raising me, I'm sure. :D

 

(Layout based on Sketch N Scrap Sketch #37 (LOVE!))

Moving along in the time line (I don't scrap in order if you can't tell!), I did this layout of the last photo I have of dad with most of our kids. I truly wish Maddi would have been in the photo, but alas, sometimes you can't force a stubborn teenager to do what you want them to.  ;)  

Our boys were SO excited to share their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes that I had made from them the Friday before. Don't judge that 3 days went by before I washed Aarons blue hair out. :D

(Layout based on Let's Get Sketchy July Week 3 Sketch).

Lastly I created another dear to my heart layout of another powerful moment. I will never forget this day—less than 48 hours before dads passing when he was talking on Skype with Rich. It may even have been their last conversation. The tears were truly pouring when dad was talking with him, filling him in on the details of his doctors visit and the anticipation that his life would not extend through the week. 

Dad in his infinite wisdom told Rich that he was not afraid and in fact was very much looking forward to meeting his Savior and his parents and his dear grandma. When he was talking with Rich he said how there will be times throughout life when the memories will hit and the heart will hurt (and boy was he right about that), but that we should remember the happy times we had and just have peace in knowing that we will be together again.

Even though it was a moment filled with tears, it was also a moment filled with giggles thinking about the happy times. The last decent conversation we all had together, prior to the confusion setting in.

 

 

(Layout based on the Paper Bakery Kit Club Sketch #8 challenge).

Thanks for stopping by! If I don't see you before stop by on Friday as I'll be participating in this months Blog Hop with Kiwi Lane.