wednesday . . .

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes - I am still here - totally healthy & finally getting back a bit of my energy - bring on the second trimester (in one week, that is)!!!!! Things are good, we are doing lots of summer traveling & vacations but this should settle down mid-month thank goodness. It has been lots of fun but I am ready to be grounded at home again :) I have spent the past week scrapping it up between Magpie Club, My Creative Scrapbook and my Guest Design spot for Jillibean Soup (check this one out HERE next Tuesday!!!). It felt SO GOOD to be scrapping again :) Tara, from Magpie Club, already put her July kit up for sale & sent out her newsletter so I am able to share my layout & sketch for her - yeah!!!! I must say, I LOVED this kit - it is travel-themed but as you will see from my layout, it is totally versatile & can be used for other themes as well :) I think my favorite thing in the kit is the mix of patterned paper - love it!!!

Here is my sketch for July . . .

And my layout (isn't my little man so grown-up???) . . .

A quick close-up on the journaling . . .

And one more close-up on the title work - LOVE the mix of alphas & die-cuts & stickers in this kit!!!!!

Okay - I'll be back tomorrow to share about some of those new & new-to-me kit clubs I've found recently - I mentioned it last week but have been so busy scrapping I didn't get a chance to post so check back tomorrow!!!

ttyl - julie :)

saturday . . .

"I keep remembering one of my Guru's teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.

You fight for it

strive for it

insist upon it

and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations for your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't you will leak away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments." - Elizabeth Gilbert (from Eat, Pray, Love)

I found this on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog while doing a bit of surfing today & I liked it. I have been in a funk recently - don't get me wrong - totally happy that this pregnancy is going healthy - but I have been quite tired, missing scrapbooking as often as I used to, missing being a part of the teams I was on, nervous about being a mommy of two, trying not to allow myself to blow up like a balloon as I did with Ryan by walking 2 1/2 miles every day & attempting (most days) to eat healthy, worrying about some other things I'd rather not share, and the list goes on . . . I'm blaming some of this on simply pregnancy emotions - I can do that right ??? Just this past week I said enough is enough & tried to really work hard on being as positive as possible, not let myself get caught up in the funk, just really work on being happy. So far, pretty good - keep you posted :) Anyways - I am away again - here . . .

Okay - you might think an exotic island - water looks blue doesn't it - this is actually Lake Erie - can you believe it??? We are spending some time at my father-in-law's . . .

Here's Ryan & Granddad . . .

Ryan traveling the beach . . .

Gifts from Grammy Susan & Granddad . . .

Hanging with all the cousins . . .

Oh how I wish I had some scrappy pages to share . . . alas - many in the works - upcoming July work for My Creative Scrapbook & my Guest DT at Jillibean Soup - nothing I can share yet . . . because we've been traveling recently I haven't had time to do any other scrapping - however I have found a few (new to me) kit clubs that I am really enjoying just subscribing to for fun - I'll save that info for a post next week :) I do however have a fun sketch to share that I created for The Scrap Room - I really like this one & definitely want to use it myself. The DT at TSR did an awesome job with it :) Check it out below . . .

They are running a challenge with it on the blog right now - check out all the details HERE!! Have a fabulous rest of your weekend & be back soon!!!

ttyl - julie :)

friday . . .

I have been feeling overwhelmed & just plain exhausted recently so Ryan & I escaped this week . . .

Totally enjoying burying himself in the sand :)

Found this awesome old school amusement park that he LOVES!!!

Had a quick visit from my mom & dad :)

I feel like time is moving so slowly - I had a dream the other night I had a perfectly healthy full-sized baby at 8 weeks - can you tell the waiting is killing me already :) It is just such a long wait and I think with my past experience I just want to get to the end so I know everything is okay. Plus I'll be completely honest, I LOVE children but am not a fan of the whole pregnancy experience in general. Some women are - they love the whole process - I on the other hand would prefer to jump right to week 40 :) We have been at the ocean for 4 days now, busied ourself with the beach, the pool, amusement park rides, the boardwalk, you name it - being pregnant & keeping a 3 1/2 year old happy is tough (especially when the napping days have been done for almost 2 years now). I have tried to blog every day since I have been here - really - but it hasn't happened until now. We are currently in bed, snuggled up, watching Little Bear. Overall it has been a good week, although we had quite the scene last night at a restaurant & I came home after a long day feeling pretty defeated - but I'm sure we all have those days right??? Anyways, I'll be here for one more night & then head home tomorrow. Aside from feeling tired, I am doing good. No nausea, but then I haven't with any of my pregnancies (lucky, I know). Have I been scrapping???? Not much - so tired by the end of the night - which is when I usually scrap. I do have a few assignments I am working on though - looking forward to a wave of energy sometime soon (fingers crossed).

I realized I never shared my My Creative Scrapbook June sketch/layout with you & since I just posted the challenge over in the forum yesterday this is the perfect time to share!!! Pam sent me a gorgeous kit full of My Mind's Eye papers (LOVE!!!!!) and tons of other goodies!!

Here is the June sketch (surprise, surprise - tags!!!) . . .

And my sample using the Main kit . . .

Here is a close-up on the journaling which are really song lyrics - always wanted to use these on a page for Ryan & finally had the perfect pics . . .

Hope all is well with everyone - enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

ttyl - julie

saturday . . .

Tara over at Magpie Club always sends me such yummy kits every month - full of a fab mix of papers & all sorts of fun little tidbits!!!

Here is the June sketch (banners, banners, banners!!!):

And here is my take on it using the adorable June kit:

A quick close-up on the title work - LOVED the Studio Calico pre-printed paper with the alphas!!! And the layered circle, well the base is a milk cap & aren't the Jenni Bowlin buttons to die for????

Again with my tag obsession - here is a close-up on the journaling . . .

Tara will be running a contest with this soon - so make sure to check into the Magpie Club blog over the next few days!!

Last night I actually was able to scrap a bit just for me, and I played with these goodies . . .

If you haven't heard of them yet - Echo Park Paper is just fun, fun, fun paper!!! Nice & bright but also a bit distressed which I LOVE!!!!! Plus they have coordinating alphas & stickers - good stuff I promise :) I bought mine over at Your Scrapbook Stash but it seems to be popping up all over the net so you shouldn't have a problem finding it :) Here is my layout . . .

A quick close-up on the title work - don't you just LOVE that summer strip - AWESOME!!

A close-up on the journaling . . .

Be back tomorrow to share my sketch & sample for My Creative Scrapbook - have a great Saturday!!

ttyl - julie

friday . . .

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Your sweet comments and well wishes were so wonderful to read - I will keep you all posted on this little peanut as he/she grows. We will go in for another sonogram in another month or so to make sure all is going smoothly.

Aside from all this baby news/talk - have I been scrapping???? Yes, not tons but I have been doing a bit here & there. Cindy from Citrus Tree Studio contacted me a few months ago & asked if I would use one of her June kits and design a sketch & sample for her. I was ecstatic at the opportunity to join CTS for June and of course happily agreed!!!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my layout using Citrus Tree Studio's June 5th Avenue kit (will be released soon):

I am so into tags these days (not sure why) and handmade these for a fun little accent on the side :)

LOVED all these Pink Paislee diecuts & layered a bunch of them around the corner of this pic:

PLEASE join in the fun & try your hand at the sketch - Cindy is running a contest in the forum right now & up for grabs is this FABULOUS prize as well as two $10 CTS gift certificates (don't you love when a contest has multiple winners???). . .

But that's not all!!!!!! CTS has a Design Team Call going on right now - such a wonderful group of people over there & great kits - be sure to pop on over & check it all out HERE!!!

A BIG thanks to Cindy & CTS!!!! Be back tomorrow to share this month's sketch & sample from Magpie Club (get ready for my first sketch with a banner in it - yes finally I have entered the world of banners!!).

ttyl - julie

thursday . . .

"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all." - Emily Dickinson

What a journey it has been - these past few years - and finally just about 2 weeks ago a miracle. Only to then be thrown back to the days of worry, hoping, wondering, as our sonogram came back with a gestational sac but no embryo, no heartbeat. Having the doctor tell you "usually you should see these things at this point, but there is still a chance it might work out. But if it doesn't, don't ever blame yourself - these things happen." Don't get me wrong, she is very nice but I think was just being realistic based on the findings of the sonogram & my history, but to hear that after everything that has happened - well, nothing short of devastating. I couldn't believe it all seemed to be happening again - as of last Wednesday, all looked bleak. I was prepared to go in yesterday and find out once again we lost a little one - and then the little peanut popped up :) The heartbeat was 140 bpm - everything looked fine :) Simply amazing . . .

And yes, as far as we know it is only one - although the shape to the right threw me a bit - but the doctor says it is the yolk sac :) Thank you ALL for all the kind words & prayers & encouragement. I read each & every comment posted here & they truly mean so much to me!!! I will check back in tomorrow to share my June Guest DT spot & my layout/sketch for Magpie Club!! Thanks again everyone :)

ttyl - julie