Mom's Lucky Charm Scrapbook Page Featured!

What a great way to start my Monday! I just found out my recent scrapbook layout was featured on the Core'dinations blog! I absolutely love the Core'dinations cardstock and I'm so pleased that my page was featured! Also, I've got another Core'dinations project posting at Crafts Unleashed later this week. You can get a peek at the project in my tutorial of how to make a paper daisy.

Happy Monday!

Weekending...

I had a much needed relaxing weekend. A time to reconnect with my family and with myself. While my job as a social worker is very rewarding, it also requires diligent self-care. If I don't take the time to tend to myself, then I'm no good to anyone else. Pretty good words to live by for anyone. So, I spent this weekend tending to myself; doing things that are good for my soul. My camera is good for my soul. I've learned a lot about photography by playing with my camera this weekend. I've got plans to share the little lessons I've learned about photography since I bought my DSLR, so I hope it's not too long before I'm able to share my resources, links and inspiration with you. Until then, I share a few of my shots I captured this weekend.

Hubby is an avid golfer and Taylor's been watching golf on TV since she was born. She's been asking when Daddy's going to take her golfing pretty much since she could talk. Well, strong willed, independent, high energy, and short attention span, are not characteristics that combine to create a good golf student. So, we had held off on exposing her to the actual game until we were convinced she would have the patience to listen to instruction. Golf is taken very seriously in our household. Lucky for her, today was that day, and Daddy took her to a nearby driving range.

This last shot is my favorite from the whole weekend. She did really, really well. She listened to Daddy the whole time. No arguing and was very focused. In looking back at the shots, Daddy is quite impressed with her form, too. She was just disappointed that she didn't get to ride in the golf cart.

I had a great weekend. Hope you did, too!

Derailed by asthma...

We've had a really crazy couple of weeks since my last post. We had a really bad scare almost 2 weeks ago on Thursday morning. My daughter, Taylor, has asthma. Anyone who has a child with asthma or manages asthma themselves can understand what a complex condition medical condition asthma is and how scary it can be at times. Our pulmonologist tells us that managing asthma is like flying a 747. Pretty complicated and scary at times. Well, that Thursday morning was one of those incredibly scary times for us.

When Taylor woke up panicked, with uncontrollable coughing that wasn't responding to nebulizer treatments, we thought she was having a severe asthma attack. A scary trip to the ER concluded with a diagnosis of croup. Of course, given her underlying asthma, she was given a steroid shot to help reduce or fend off a severe asthma flare. Croup is generally caused by a virus. For children with asthma viruses that affect the respiratory tract (a simple cold, for example) can trigger an asthma flare. So, while she wasn't suffering from asthma on Thursday morning, it didn't take long for the virus to trigger an asthma flare. Then, on day 3 of the simple virus, Taylor spiked a fever, indicating a secondary infection. She has a history of pneumonia so she was put on antibiotics and a second round of steroids. She was finally well enough to go back to preschool by the middle of last week and was very happy to be back with her friends. I'm finally feeling like I've recovered and have "caught up" after being derailed by this. And Taylor's back to her playful self, but it seems as though her baby is sick, now.

So, this explains my lack of craftiness and subsequent lack of posting here. I've got a tutorial up tomorrow at Crafts Unleashed and I'm expecting a special crafty gift for myself that will be arriving on my doorstep sometime this week! I'll be posting about it when it arrives. And, I've got some pics that I want to post of a lil' shoot I did with Taylor this past weekend. So, stay tuned and we'll get caught up together.

Mom's Lucky Charm Scrapbook Page

I know, I know. We just got over Valentine's Day and we're already moving on to St. Patrick's Day. Today, I'm posting over at Crafts Unleashed sharing step-by-step instructions on how I created this 12x12 layout using my new Storybook Cricut Cartridge from Consumer Crafts. So be sure to pop over and check out my latest project as a member of the Crafts Unleashed Design Team!

Project 365 {Week 6}

OK, so, once again, I have less than 7 photos for this week. Actually, I have a bunch of photos, but only photos from 5 days this week. Oh well, I think we can all get over it and get on with the pics I do have ;). And, apologies for not posting these yesterday but I've been hit with a nasty cold and I was up against a deadline for Crafts Unleashed so I spent what limited energy I had yesterday, finishing that project and writing the post. By the way, I'm quite happy with the finished project and it will be published Wednesday, so stay tuned and I'll post a link when it's published! OK, now, on with this week's photos:

Spontaneous date night with hubby!

Finishing up a page from one of my Donna Downey albums

We're undecided if we want to have another baby. (Well, by "we" I mean hubby and I. Taylor made up her mind long ago that she absolutely wants us to have another baby.) Until we decide we want one, we'll just borrow this little cutie from our friends. I can't even imagine how many shots I'd be snapping if we had another baby in our house!

There's something so fun and playful about sidewalk chalk.

I actually got my girl to wear jeans!!! She hates the feel of denim, but somehow I got her to oblige on Saturday. We enjoyed a beautiful "spring" day at the park. This time of year is just gorgeous in the desert.

I hope you enjoyed your week ;)

Storybook Cricut Cartridge

I've written a feature post to highlight the awesome Storybook Cricut Cartridge over at Crafts Unleashed, today. So, head on over and check it out!

More Pretty Craft Storage - Altered Jar Mini-Tutorial

You all know how much I love flowers, and I use them in almost all my crafty projects. Well, I've got quite the collection of flowers and I used to store them in their individual packages or little baggies and whatnot. While organizing my craft room, I decided to use this large jar to store my whole collection of flowers so it can sit on the shelf as a pretty and inspiring piece in the room. The lid was stained wood, and I painted it using a rag with purple, pink and turquoise acrylic paint. I cut the pink scalloped rectangle and the turquoise label from my the Storybook Cricut Cartridge (Thank you, Consumer Crafts). I punched holes at each end of the label and tied the pretty ribbon through to hold the label onto the jar. I stamped the word "Flowers" using the Classic alphabet stamps from Stampin' Up. Finally, I embellished it with a multi-layered flower, of course! Aren't flowers just the perfect embellishment?

The jar coordinates perfectly with the rest of my craft room and the cardboard caddy I made, too.