I Scrapped Some!

Lately it just hasn't been in me to scrap for myself. I did complete my Design Team projects for the month at CX, but I have done very little in the line of scrapbooking just for my own sanity. Actually, I haven't even really been feeling the urge in me to scrap, even though I've been wanting to. Sooo, I started surfing around the other night and came across a new sketch challenge blog, Inspired Blueprints. Well, they had a bonus sketch uploaded and it looked do-able for this mind who desperately needed inspired. I printed out the sketch, ventured down to my new scrap-cave and within the hour I was so excited to have completed my second page for Amelia's remembrance album! And here it is...

Here are the supplies I used for this layout-

Patterned paper and cardstock die-cuts: Sweet Baby Jane collection, April Cornell for Daisy D's.

Sassy Posies & buttons: Fancy Pants Designs.

Chipboard & Felt accent pieces: Creative Cafe.

Rub-ons: BasicGrey.

Vellum Quote: www.pregnancylossribbons.com

Other: Pink crystals, embroidery floss, lace & pop-pom trim.

So if you are searching around for some new inspiration and you like using sketches like I do, check out Inspired Blueprints for yourselves! It helped get me out of my scrap rut for the time being.

Let's see, what else has been going on since I last updated? Ummm, the yard-sale. It was a sure success if I do say so myself! We had the sale for 2 days, a Thursday and a Friday. The first day we didn't even have advertised because it didn't make it into the paper on time. Regardlass, there were other houses on the street having sale that day too. Can you believe that practically ALL the scrapbook items that I had out for the sale SOLD on Thursday. I had a huge stack of 12x12 paper that I had priced for .10 a sheet, and toward the end of Thursday's sale a girl offered $25.00 for the rest of the box of paper that was left. I was so wiped out of scrap stuff on day one, and since it was going to be advertised as selling scrapbook items for day 2, I went down to my room and scrounged up some more stuff that I wasn't using and could part with, lol! All in all, in the 2 days I cleared around $375.00... not a bad 2 day earning! The amazing thing is that I got to clean out my scrap-area and purge, and ya wouldn't even know it by looking at it!

This past Tuesday, the 21st, my sweetie and I celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary ALREADY! I just can not believe how fast these years have gone. I must say that we have had our share of trials and tribulations, but I wouldn't have wanted to go through them all with anyone other than him! He is my stronghold here on Earth, no doubt about it! We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!

Okay, I guess that's enough for now, I need to get back to CX. Tonight is the cyber crop and chat and I LUV me some chat time, so I must mosey on back! Later!

Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act, National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day ... Remembering Once Again!

Hi Everyone,

I'm posting to enlist your help. Pregnancy loss is something that we are all touched by in one way or another. If we haven't personally suffered a loss, the odds are that someone very close to us has. We've cried with them, prayed for them, and celebrated when they found joy.

In the world of pregnancy loss, October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Memorial Day. The goal is to light a candle at 7pm in every time zone around the world. The idea is that there will be a continuous blanket of light at that time.

I'm requsting, if you have a blog, to please post this on your main page:
October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.

Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.

On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let's help pass H.R. 5979.

Action Steps:
Step 1. Use Your Blog to Enlist Others-Copy the contents of this entire post and publish it on your blog immediately.
GOAL: Enlist 10 of your readers to spread the word
Step 2. Use Your E-mail to Enlist Others-E-mail 5 bloggers and ask them (nicely and in an unspammy way) to publish these action steps on their blog. Consider contacting celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, medical bloggers, or bloggers who are not part of your reading community.
GOAL: Enlist 3 bloggers outside of your normal blog sphere to spread the word in other online communities.
Step 3. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act-By October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. For maximum impact, title your post: "Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act."

GOAL: 1,000,000 Google results on October 15th when that term is searched for. Currently, Google only returns 20,400 pages - most of which have nothing to do with the bill.
If you don't have a blog, please post it on another message board that you frequent. If we can get the word out there, we can spare one more mother the pain of loosing her child. We can spare one more family the worry of something happening, and we can push one more doctor to check things one more time. Please help us get H.R. 5979 passed. If not for yourself, for someone else that you love.

And if you think about it, light your candle on October 15th. Think about your family or friends that have lost a child at any point during their pregnancy.

Thank you so much for reading this and any support that you can give! Let's get Google at 1,000,000 results!

Please, if you'd like more information about the importance of this day, feel free to check out www.october15th.com

Thanks again for all the love, prayers and support that so many of you have given us as we have struggled along our journey. You are all our Earthly Angels!

Must be October!

Yes, It's October, my favorite time of year! But it's a fast month because it's always a busy couple of weeks around here for us... we always seem to have so much to do and see in October and it kind of just goes by in the blink of an eye. Before we know it, it's Turkey time! It's only the 6th, but we've already gone to a few Fall Festivals in the area, while taking some much needed breaks from the moving and organizing hoop-la.

This week I am busy getting ready for our yard-sale that my mom and I are having on Thursday and Friday. We have soooo much junk! For the past week we've been purging my mom's storage unit, bringing boxes of stuff down to our garage and deciding what she wants to keep (or what stuff I want to keep here too, and what my brother and sil want), what gets sold at yard-sale and what gets kept to sell later at public auction. You should see my garage... I need to get a photo snapped! It is so difficult going through all my parents belongings. Just imagine, the majority of their 42 years spent together, all crammed into 2 storage units! It's heartbreaking that I no longer have my parent's house to "go home" to for the Holidays or for whenever I need to get out of town for awhile. And I can only imagine how my mom feels about not having her home anymore with her husband, my dad. It's been great though having her close-by again, and she does enjoy spending time with us in our new home when she gets down our way (10 minutes down the road). I've purged many boxes of our junk too through this move. Amazing what all we've accumulated over the past 8 years of our marriage as well. Ohh, and I'll have plenty of scrapbooking items to sell too, so if you want any... come on over!

So I thought I'd share a few pix of my Fall/Halloween decorations that I put up. Silly me, I didn't really take any pictures of the new house itself to show, but I will. We have a big old honkin' pine tree in the front yard that we are planning to have cut down, so as soon as that baby comes down I'll be able to get some better view shots.

Here's my cute punkin' couple...

I had the man last year but he was lonely, so I brought home a lady friend for him!

Above is my newly decorated front porch with my scare-crow lady. I just love mums and pumpkins and all the beautiful Autumn colors!

Next is my window sill with my shadow-box decorations.

And last is my favorite punkin' dude, which my dad bought for me last year. Mugi decided to let punkin' dude hold Ava and Amelia's Gerber baby this year. They look pretty happy together!

Before I get going though, I thought I'd share a layout that I did late last week and entered into a Fancy Pants layout contest over at CMK.

I even used a lot of pretty Fall colors in it. Although it's a prom page from my niece's prom last May, she did wear a gorgeous Autumn colored orange and yellow dress. Perfect match to the Fancy Pants papers! I did happen to win one of the three prizes in the contest, but it was for a different page that I had entered. Very excited for that! Here's the page that won...

(What Makes A Mother?)

Also regarding Fancy Pants, very happy to add that I was selected as an Honorable Mention again this year for their Design Team selection. I was holding off in saying anything because I wasn't sure if we were supposed to or not, but it's been a few weeks and there hasn't really been any mention of it, so I can't help but to toot my own horn! So, I will be doing a Guest Design Team spot for FP sometime throughout the coming year! Yay!!! :)

2 Years Ago!

Yes, two years ago already. Two years ago one of the most amazing things happened to me... to us! We welcomed the most perfect little Angel into our lives and she rearranged our world forever! Because of her, we are more loving. Because of her, we are more understanding and compassionate. And we are stronger. We are all these things together... because of our Angel.

Dear Ava, our Angel, thank you for blessing and enriching our lives! We love you and miss you soooo much.

A little while ago, my sweet hubby left for work and I was sitting at home here doing some stuff on the computer. I heard someone knocking on the door and I was wondering who it could be because I hadn't showered yet and I hate answering the door when I look all frightful, lol! It was M, and he was holding a bunch of pink roses and a card for me and for Ava. He is so good to me! Thank you God, for sending him to love me... ME!!! What did I ever do without him? Look at these pretties...

The butterfly tea-lite candle that is glowing in the photo is a remembrance gift that I got from the hospital staff last year at a Remembrance Service for the infants and babies who were all lost throughout the year. We light it now for her every 1st of October, in honor and in memory of her Birthday.
~Happy Birthday, baby girl! Hope that you are playing and celebrating with all our other Angels today, and be sure to give Pappy and your sisters lots of hugs and kisses from us all!~