Oh yeah!!! It is cyber crop time! I am soooo stoked! The Design Team girls have been super duper busy making up fabulous classes.....and the fun starts TODAY!!!! There will be tons of fun, PRIZES....oh, and did I mention FUN!!!! LOL!!!! Doin' the happy dance! I love crops!
I know I do!!! Oh...there is nothing like the anticipation of winning.....is your name going to be drawn???? Is this your lucky day?!?!?!!? I have a friend that has a whole system for drawings.....she swears by crumpling up her tickets, and ya know what....it works!!! Well.......you won't need to be doing any strategic planning....but you will need to be registered on the message board if you want to win!!!! Get your scrappy booty over to the message board and register, and get ready for some FUN!!!!
This layout totally caught my eye in the gallery......way to go Griffingirl!!!!!
I know, I know.....you are sitting there with your mouth hanging open in shock! She posted! WOW!!!!! Yes..I am am posting.......but to my credit, waaaaaaaaaaay back I told ya I'd probably be bad at this! LOL!! I didn't know HOW bad, but yeah, I knew I'd be bad! I am super dee duper good at chattin up the message board and entering all of the store info there, and then sending out emails periodically, but here, well.....this I let slip.....maybe I need a giant post-it note : "have you update your blog today?" (this week?, this month? LOL!!!) I promise....I will do much better.....it is one of my goals!!!!! :)
I have been in seventh heaven with all of the new store goodies that have been coming in left and right lately.....seriously, my porch is getting to see LOTS of the UPS lady and the Fed Ex dude! YEAH!!!! By far my personal favs are the Sassafrass "Life at the Pole" Collection and all of the Prima and Maya Road Goodies that have come in.....I am just itching to scrap!!!!!
Speaking of scraping I DID manage to get two LOs done in TWO weeks (how pathetic....we are NOT going there.....) but they are with the AWESOME Main Kit for October featuring Basic Grey Ambrosia.....this is just seriously delish!
Keep your eyes peeled for some super fun prizes and chances to win all November......all active message board members are eligible......the details will be arriving in your inboxes shortly (so if you aren't signed up for the newsletter....get on it!!!! LOL!!!!)
Until next time....
Happy Scrappin'!
That's right.....a couple of my friends (Punky and Nedralee on the message board) came over and scrapped the night away on Friday, and let me tell you, it felt sooooooooo good! We hardly ever get together to scrap......and the timing was PERFECT! I wrote down all five of the challenges that were on the message board and managed to get them all done (in between all of the food and chit-chat!) and even got my LO done for the newsletter.....whoooo hoooo! It is amazing what a little scrap therapy & good friends can do for a person....I played with new goodies in the store and from CHA....here are some samples.....
For all of you that have posted and/or emailed me this week...thank you so very much....my Stepfather does indeed have stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He began his first round of chemo on Thursday. I feel at peace with things right now, although I know this will be a long journey....I have a feeling I am going to have a big scrapbook with LOs on this journey (and that is OK by me.......) Thank you again for supporting me in this......
Until next time......
Happy Scrappin'
Heather
OK, first of all, this is not a happy post, so if you are sensitive, please stop reading now. This is a therapy post. Just warning you that this may be a bit graphic...not in language so much as raw emotion...This is something I need to do. You see, today I found out that I will be losing my second parent to cancer. My cancer journey started almost 20 years ago. Well, actually more than that. My mom was sick for a LONG time before she was finally diagnosed....she fought the ugly beast like a freakin' warrior for 7.5 years. She did everything in her power to keep going. Her goal was to see me graduate, and you know what, that stubborn little woman did just that!!! :-) She got to see her daughter graduate as valedictorian of her class. She also was able to meet Bryan (who later became my husband). Her journey was not an easy one. There were countless trips to the hospital, ugly medicines, treatments, and horrible proceedures, including a bone marrow transplant. She was a fighter to the end. But no matter how hard she fought it just wasn't enough.....it was time for her to leave us....my little brother was only 15. He still, to this day does not really remember our mom healthy. Our childhoods were robbed by this disease. My life, well, all of our lives were centered around it, and trying to get mom better. I helped to run the house while working three jobs in high school. Not your typical highschool experience. Cancer has a way of ripping away "normal" and replacing it with a warped sense of existance. We would actually say "put on your "happy face"......I mean, seriously?!?!?!
And now today, I get the phone call, call me on my cell. He never ever call my cell. No, not since Grandpa Ed was really sick. I knew something was wrong. I called him back. Well, he said, I went into the ER and they did a CAT scan and they found masses......I am being sent to Duluth.....my world was sent into a tailspin so very fast. The lunch I had just eaten almost came up. I knew that whatever he had to tell me wasn't good....I just never expected it to be cancer. Were they sure? Yes. I'll be there.
When I got to the hospital he had already met with the oncologist, and I knew by looking at my stepdad that it wasn't good....he tried hard to put on a good face....but it was there. Pancreatic Cancer. My stomach lurched. How could that be? It isn't fair!!!!!! Why!!!!! First mom, now Jeff.....he said we won't know more until the biopsy, but it is already very involved so there might not be much they can do. He was so flippant. How can he be so flippant???? I am NOT ok. I am NOT ready to go thru this again!!! I was the only one in the room with mom when she died. It was horrible. Now I have to do that again. It is NOT FAIR!!!!!!! I know God only gives us as much as we can bear, but right now I am asking for understanding and for my heart to be opened, because I am struggling. I really, really hate cancer. It broken me. It destroyed me. It destroyed my family. (My brother and stepdad are estranged). I lost my childhood. CANCER SUCKS!!!!!!! I need God's strength to get thru this. I know He is alway with me, but right now I am feeling so very alone. I need to feel carried.
Jeff (my Stepdad) talked about how all they have to do is put the date on the headstone (he and mom have a joint headstone/plot).....I am not ready to think that way......I don't want to think that way. I physically can't. I told him we can't. Not until we get some answers from the oncologist. Once the biopsy is in, we will have answers. We will know if we can do any treatment or just palliative care.
Walking thru the halls, right by the room where mom died. The waiting room where we gathered. It ripped open wounded that have been burried deep within me for 12 years. Tweleve years as of about 2 weeks ago. Ironically, the same oncologist will be treating Jeff......God does have His comforting hand supporting us.....I just need to lean into it.
If you have made it to the end, thank you for letting me vent........
OK, first of all, this is not a happy post, so if you are sensitive, please stop reading now. This is a therapy post. Just warning you that this may be a bit graphic...not in language so much as raw emotion...This is something I need to do. You see, today I found out that I will be losing my second parent to cancer. My cancer journey started almost 20 years ago. Well, actually more than that. My mom was sick for a LONG time before she was finally diagnosed....she fought the ugly beast like a freakin' warrior for 7.5 years. She did everything in her power to keep going. Her goal was to see me graduate, and you know what, that stubborn little woman did just that!!! :-) She got to see her daughter graduate as valedictorian of her class. She also was able to meet Bryan (who later became my husband). Her journey was not an easy one. There were countless trips to the hospital, ugly medicines, treatments, and horrible proceedures, including a bone marrow transplant. She was a fighter to the end. But no matter how hard she fought it just wasn't enough.....it was time for her to leave us....my little brother was only 15. He still, to this day does not really remember our mom healthy. Our childhoods were robbed by this disease. My life, well, all of our lives were centered around it, and trying to get mom better. I helped to run the house while working three jobs in high school. Not your typical highschool experience. Cancer has a way of ripping away "normal" and replacing it with a warped sense of existance. We would actually say "put on your "happy face"......I mean, seriously?!?!?!
And now today, I get the phone call, call me on my cell. He never ever call my cell. No, not since Grandpa Ed was really sick. I knew something was wrong. I called him back. Well, he said, I went into the ER and they did a CAT scan and they found masses......I am being sent to Duluth.....my world was sent into a tailspin so very fast. The lunch I had just eaten almost came up. I knew that whatever he had to tell me wasn't good....I just never expected it to be cancer. Were they sure? Yes. I'll be there.
When I got to the hospital he had already met with the oncologist, and I knew by looking at my stepdad that it wasn't good....he tried hard to put on a good face....but it was there. Pancreatic Cancer. My stomach lurched. How could that be? It isn't fair!!!!!! Why!!!!! First mom, now Jeff.....he said we won't know more until the biopsy, but it is already very involved so there might not be much they can do. He was so flippant. How can he be so flippant???? I am NOT ok. I am NOT ready to go thru this again!!! I was the only one in the room with mom when she died. It was horrible. Now I have to do that again. It is NOT FAIR!!!!!!! I know God only gives us as much as we can bear, but right now I am asking for understanding and for my heart to be opened, because I am struggling. I really, really hate cancer. It broken me. It destroyed me. It destroyed my family. (My brother and stepdad are estranged). I lost my childhood. CANCER SUCKS!!!!!!! I need God's strength to get thru this. I know He is alway with me, but right now I am feeling so very alone. I need to feel carried.
Jeff (my Stepdad) talked about how all they have to do is put the date on the headstone (he and mom have a joint headstone/plot).....I am not ready to think that way......I don't want to think that way. I physically can't. I told him we can't. Not until we get some answers from the oncologist. Once the biopsy is in, we will have answers. We will know if we can do any treatment or just palliative care.
Walking thru the halls, right by the room where mom died. The waiting room where we gathered. It ripped open wounded that have been burried deep within me for 12 years. Tweleve years as of about 2 weeks ago. Ironically, the same oncologist will be treating Jeff......God does have His comforting hand supporting us.....I just need to lean into it.
If you have made it to the end, thank you for letting me vent........
OK....what is it about back to school shopping that turns an avid shopper on her ear. I love shopping. Really, I do. Just not with three boys in tow and a checklist of items that MUST be bought. It was eye-opening for me though as DS#3 (Harrison) informed me that his footwear of choice for kindergarten was Etnies. WHAT?!?!!?!? Where in the world did that come from???? Neither of his brothers has Etnies....but somewhere, somehow he decided they were THE COOLEST things ever and yes, we left the mall with (I have to admit) a very cool pair of Etnies. Now the other two....did they know what they wanted? Oh no....we had to go store to store and check it all out, with mom lugging all of their bags along. Me, the power shopping extraordinaire was ready to collapse into a puddle. No......I don't wanna go there!!!! (No I didn't throw a fit, but man did I want to!!! :-)
In the end, we left with tennies for each of them and a couple pairs of jeans for Alexander and Harrison (Isaac is loaded up from his cousin) and some fun shirts. I think we are pretty well set. (THANK HEAVEN!!!!)
Alexander was sooooo excited to spend his birthday money....it has been burning a hole in his pocket since his big day on Wednesday. He knew exactly what he wanted: a digital camera. Not bad for a ten year old. We totally scored at Sam's Club on an Olympus 8.0 mp 5xoptical zoom....it is really a nice little camera....and because it was the last one we got it for only $114!!! Whoooo hoooo!!! (He used the rest of his b-day moola on nerf gun goodies.....typical ten year old!!! LOL!!!)
Needless to say, I was very happy to pack the troops in the Acadia and head on back home.......done for another year.....whew!!!! :-)
I don't know what is more exciting......the anticipation, or the actual ripping open of the boxes!!!! But seriously, all of these packages are starting to hit the house from CHA and let me tell you it is a welcome even here!!!! I am loving the sight of the brown truck!!!! (Our chocolate labs do too....he comes equipped with biscuits!) The Fed Ex guy has been very nice too....Scenic Route should be arriving tomorrow....I am totally stoked about that one!
I just put up for preorder a bunch of KI Sheer Delights - let me tell you - these thing ROCK!!! When I say rock, I mean, R.O.C.K......Like, Rock your scrappy world round and round.....they are totally amazing!!!! I was drooling over them at CHA.....(you would think a grown woman could control herself a bit better!) LOL!!!
Well, It's official....I am the new store owner....and with that comes the blog....for those of you that know me, you are probably rolling around on the floor right now laughing. Your sides are probably starting to ache.....the mere thought of me keeping up a blog has you giggling to the point of tears. Yes, you are probably right, but, you know what, I could surprise you!!!! I could become some serial blogger....some queen of blogging that blogs just to blog.....ok, well, I probably won't go that far, but I do hope to keep it up :) Keep checking back to see what is happening in the store....what's new, what's coming and for "blog only" discount codes.......that's right! I will have discount codes occassionally posted in my blog, just to see if you are paying attention! Hee hee!!!!!!!!
Here is a sneak peek of some of the goodness from CHA.....yummy goodies that I played with....the full monty will be in the upcoming newsletter!!!! 
I am home. Not at CHA. It was hard to miss it but something was telling me it was not a good idea to go. I am not sure if it was the fact allen's deployment is only 3 weeks away or if it was the fact pretty much everything is already available for viewing on the net. I hate traveling alone...although I accomplish more when I do. So, I gave up sunny Anaheim and am sticking the weekend out at home while it is like 12 degrees outside. On the upside...I have 90% of the lines I will be using in kits planned for now through July...possibly August. The downside...because so many manufacturers are not keeping as much stuff in stock, I need to order NOW. This means the amount of memberships I have now are what I need to use as a guideline and not order too many extras. This will not allow me to offer too many new memberships over the next few months. I will be putting a preview of the upcoming lines up shortly so anyone on the fence about joining can see what I have in store. I was so excited to see a lot of boyish lines this time. Really...the flowers and swirls are getting old and have always been pretty unusable for those of us scrapping one gender. Now is the time I need to have the Sugar Daddy kits again. The reason I quit doing those was lack of boyish stuff. Can't win.
I also need to let everyone know about the preorders available in the store. There are not too many lines for preorder because most of the lines I feel will be popular I have included in kits.
In other news...I am still working on the photgraphy skills. My new camera and lens came and I LOVE IT. When I get some time away from the business I have been practicing and reading the blogs of photographers I am in awe of. Sam decided he felt handsome today, sported some gelled spikes and offered to model. When the light was right, I took him up on it. Look out girls...his heart belongs to mommy!
