Sharing a Good "review"

In this modern day of internet it's very easy to share our opinions and reviews of customer service and products both good and bad (more commonly bad as it seems every one wants to warn others of a bad experience)
I want to share with you today a good experience I had this week.
This isn't your typical "customer service" or "product" review actually there is no product involved.
This is about prayer and how God does listen to our prayers.
On Tuesday my youngest daughter, Lilee had to go have surgery to get tubes in her ears and her adenoids removed. This is a pretty common procedure and you probably know at least one kid, if not your own, who has had this done. But that doesn't change the fact that it was my little girl and I was scared for her. Not so much the surgery itself, but putting her under anesthesia and all that goes with it.
So last Sunday I shared in church my concerns and asked for prayers for Lilee and myself in dealing with the events to come on Tuesday.
Her procedure was to take place Tuesday morning and I was a huge ball of nerves. We didn't really tell Lilee ahead of time since she probably wouldn't understand what surgery is and no need worrying her so she had no idea what was going to be happening, just that she was going to see her doctor to "get her ears fixed".

After we arrived and I completed the admissions paperwork they gave Lilee a coloring book to keep her busy while we waited to be called back. So we took the coloring book and sat down at a small coffee table so she could color. There on the table was a bible. A little unusual to see in a non-religion based medical office. But I kinda felt comforted to see it sitting there and even considered reading a little to help calm my nerves. However I didn't because I was more concerned with entertaining Lilee.

So she gets called back to a room so she can change into a hospital gown and get prepped for surgery. The anesthetist comes in and explains to us how she will take Lilee back and sedated her yadda, yadda, yadda. The nurses came in to take all her vitals, ask us a barrage of health questions and answer any of our questions. Then they wheeled our little girl away and Kevin and I were sent to the waiting room again.
There were a few other people in the waiting room, all minding their own business. Kevin and I sat, each reading our smart phones and waiting on the time to pass until we would hear how everything went.  When I had checked all my emails, surfed through facebook posts and briefly watched a little TV, I kept thinking wonder what's going on back in the operating room. So I closed my eyes and began to pray - Lord, I know this is a common routine procedure, but it isn't common for me to have my daughter going through this. Please Lord let everything go as easily as it is supposed to and help me stay calm so that I can be there for Lil.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Therein the waiting room was another family, also waiting on someone who was back have surgery. They had just been called back to go see their family member who was now in recovery. One of the women was wearing a t shirt that said in big bold letters "God is good - all the time" and on the back as she walked away I noticed it said "All the time - God is good". I almost cried, I am certain God was speaking to me, letting me know He got this, everything was going to be just fine.
It was only a minute later that we were called back to go see Lilee in recovery, surgery went well and she was just fine!

Homemade Shelf

I've had this project in mind for a while and with the help of my husband, Kevin my idea came to life.

I wanted it to be rustic looking, but still match the colors of my decor.Thank goodness Kevin is handy with woodworking and willing to build whatever is in my head :)
He used cedar siding, that still has a rough sawn texture and we left it unfinished so it would continue to age.
I got the hangers/hooks at Hobby Lobby. Kevin cut out the rectangles for my letters from 1" thick MDF and I painted them a chocolate brown. Then using my Cricut and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge I cut each letter in shadow then regular using the patterned cardstock. I also inked the edged of all my papers with Vintage Photo distress ink to give it a further aged look. I adhered the letters to the blocks of MDF with mod podge. I applied 3 coats total (letting it dry completely between each coat). Then I inked the edges of the blocks with Staz-on saddle brown (because that won't smear off of the slick mod podged surface)

The shelf/rack has already become very useful. The girls hang their coats and back packs on it when they come home and I always know where my purse is now :)

I'm Still Here, I'm Just Not All There

I'm not saying I've lost my mind ;) just that I've been so busy I may have forgot where I placed it!
Me and my family just got back from another vacation at Disney World last week (and I can definitely say that is my most favorite place on Earth)  If you're a friend of mine on facebook you have already seen many of the pictures.
Here's a couple of my favorites:

 My Cheshire Cat ear hat!

Marlee just loves to pose for the camera!

 Relaxing at the pool

 The really awesome kiddie pool at our resort...really awesome in so many ways. The girls loved it, it had 2 fun water slides just right size for them. The water wasn't deep at all, only like 6" max so they could play all they wanted and mom and dad could play too or just sit back and watch  :)

 Kevin isn't crazy about having his picture taken (hence no smile) But as you can see, I don't care I'm taking his picture dang it!

 Amazing dessert from Tutto Italia in the Italy area of Epcot. I have mentioned that I love food before, right?

 Kevin and the girls right after riding Star Tours...twice (it's a really fun ride)

 Mickey ice cream bars...the perfect snack to cool off with.

We joined Mickey and Minnie for some Halloween fun at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, a special event held select nights in the Magic Kingdom. It was so much fun, I recommend if you get the chance to do it, GO! A really magical experience - but I think everything Disney is magical :)
I'm not going to make any promises - because I don't like to break a promise, but I'll try to be back soon with some crafty goodness to share or at the very least, some craft related news!

My Blessings

Whoa, here I am posting a project, I know it's been a while. I really have been making things the truth is I just hate uploading photos from my camera to my computer, then editing and then adding to the blog...
For this post I was able to cheat a little and use my webcam to take the pictures (of my project in progress) and they are automatically uploaded to my photo file so it's a lot less hassle. I know you're thinking "how lazy can she be?" I really am THAT lazy!
Now on to my layout...

(clicking on the photos will make them larger/easier to view)

I used Prima's August build-a-page sketch for my starting point (if you go check out the sketch on Prima's blog you'll see I didn't follow it very closely) The back ground paper is from the Prima Pastche collection and this sheet here is "heart strings". The other papers that my photo is placed upon are also Prima, from the 6x6 inch Backstage paper pad. I chose relatively plain/monochromatic pages from that pad so that I could stamp on them with a couple of my large background stamps (one is a script, the other is from Prima called Hexagon - but I call it chicken wire :) ) I used Saddle Brown Staz-on ink  so that I could use my glimmer mist and glimmer glams over top of the designs and they won't run or smear.

For my page title I used a Prima chipboard font and I painted the letters I needed with "Hayride" Glimmer Glam. I find it easier to paint them while still on the sheet - they stay put and I don't lose any letters before I get them stuck down (don't you hate it when you are trying  to position your letters and one comes up missing, usually one that you didn't have an extra one to begin with?)

So I placed my title on the page using Helmar 450 quick dry. Yes, those alphas are self adhesive, but I don't want them falling off later on down the road. With Helmar backing up the adhesion I know those suckers are there for good!

Next I added the bling. A dress form shape cut out of chipboard with the "body" of it covered in linen fabric that I colored using Santa Baby Glimmer Mist. I dressed it up with some Prima Pearls and Crystals swirls and a little piece of Prima lace trim that I colored with the Hayride Glam. I also glued all that down with the Helmar 450 quick dry - it really is the all-in-one glue. I also added a couple of Prima flowers to the bottom of my daughters' photo.

Lastly, I finished it up with a couple more Prima flowers, a beautiful Prima vine and a couple of Pastiche pebbles that I tucked in beside the flowers on the upper left corner of the photo. All adhered down with - you guessed it Helmar 450.
I also wanted to mention that all the crystal and pearl swirls on this layout came from one package, I just cut them apart to make them go a little further ;)
I get nearly all of my supplies at www.YourMemoriesHere.com because I really like the owner :)
I hope you'll take the time to count some of your blessings today.
HUGS,

Birthday Card for GG

Hi All! Feels like I've been away forever (OK well, at least the month of May) So much to do and so little time, I'm afraid my crafting suffers the most from it.
Well, last Friday was my grandma's birthday ( I won't say how old she is but if you saw her, you wouldn't believe me anyway) So I just HAD to make her a special birthday card. I was reading my sweet and incredibly talented friend, Karli's blog where she made this card and said it was so easy! I thought 'really? easy? OK I gotta try it.' You know what? She was right! Now some of you are probably thinking, "duh I knew that already Krissy, I've made tons" Well, I've always been too lazy to try because I though it must be a lot of work. I was SO WRONG. So if you've never given these tri-fold shutter cards a try, please do. You'll be thanking me just like I'm thanking Karli now!

*Disclaimer: I must apologize for the poor quality of the photos and the distracting backgrounds (I tried to edit the best I could) but I had taken these photos at my Mom's house, with my cell phone, right before we left to go to my Grandma's*




The details: This card is ALL Prima!
I used the Sparkling Spring 6x6 paper pad for the patterned papers, the flowers are assorted Prima's the lace trim is Prima Alencon and I even cut it apart to use the individual flowers as centers for the hydrangeas! There are also a couple of Vintage Trinkets on there.

Wanna know a little secrete? I decorated this entire card while driving from central Ohio to Pittsburgh PA!
Here's the proof:

Yep, that's Helmar 450 Quick Dry you see sitting in my cup holder!

So go try something new today!
HUGS

Back from Vacation

Hey everyone, I'm back from my trip but still can't get into the swing of things. Is it possible to have jet lag if you've only flown from Florida to Ohio?
While at Disney World we went to Epcot, which was holding their annual Flower and Garden festival and WOW how beautiful it is. All the different plants, flowers and topiaries. It was a treat for the eyes and the nose :) It also gave lots of inspiration for some projects using Prima flowers. While the Epcot Flower and Garden festival will come to an end soon this month, the beauty of Prima's flowers will last forever (and you gotta love that!)
So I'm sharing with you some of my family's vacation pictures until I can get my butt in gear and make a project.

Ladybug Love

Hello and Happy Tuesday everyone! It's a soggy day here, perfect for staying in and working on something crafty.
Today I wanted to share with you a lamp shade that I made for my daughter's bed room. Do you remember Lilee's Ladybug room?
Well she needed a new lamp shade to match because her old one had farm animals on it :)
So I bought a plain white shade and dressed it up using red with black polka dot ribbon.

I glued the strips of the ribbon using Helmar 450 quick dry, covering the entire shade in ribbon.
Then I took a white Prima flower and sprayed it with Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Mist and glued it along with a Prima leaf to the lamp shade.
I finished it off with a yellow button center that I glammed up with some yellow Stickles and a cute ladybug button.

Lilee just loves it and that makes me happy! I love when I can make things for my kids and they appreciate it. I know someday they are going to prefer "store bought" like all their friends have, so I'll enjoy them wanting 'Mom to make it' for as long as I can :)