My moms

It's so nice to have my mom down visiting. She's been spoiling me with her cooking dinner every night. She's a great cook!! It's so nice to not have to worry about cooking. Here's a photo of my mom and Eric's mom.

The book is here!

First I want to thank Jamie Tharpe for letting me be a part of this tear jerking book. If you get a copy of this book, be sure to have a box of Kleenex on hand because the book is about memorials, tributes, etc. Jamie was inspired to create this book to honor the lives her two sons, Tyler and Hunter who have passed away. She is a remarkably strong woman to have endured the pain of losing two precious children.

In this book is my first published layout. I just got my comp copy in last week. This is an idea/inspiration book designed around I did a layout on the fourth anniversary of my dad's passing. It's incredible that it was my dad who gave me the gift of my first publication. So even after death, Dad is still giving to me. My layout is at the top titled, "I Miss You". It was such a coincidence that my mom happened to come at the same time as the book came, so I was able to give her the other comp copy of the book to her. My layout is on page 14.



Thanks for letting me share in the excitement!

Connor on Mother's Day

With all the hubub about the RAK I forgot to post a photo of Connor on Mother's Day. This year he actually wrote "MOM" on the card. Every year Eric and Connor pick me out a card and Eric traces Connor's little hand on the card. This year he signed his own name. I can't believe how fast my little man is growing up. This photo is as good as it gets. He's getting to where he acts silly when I try to take his picture. I must've taken around 5-10 shots of him- all with the same face! LOL!

Drum roll please......

Guess what?? You are ALL winners! Everyone who participated in my RAK challenge will receive a little something from me, so congratulations! Actually, those of you who completed a TWO page layout will also get a little something extra from me for doing twice as much!!

But, I have to give away the Heidi Swapp album kit and the card prize contest to the submissions with the most votes. And can you believe that the person with the most votes for the layout ALSO had the most votest for her card! Can you believe that? She won in both categories!! After counting up 30, yes THIRTY, votes, the winner is...

.

Emily Barklage!! She said she's never submitted her work for publication. I guess she's now someone ELSE I am competing against for pub work! Ha ha!

Congrats, Emily!

Everyone else, be on the lookout in the mail for something from me and thanks for playing!

Please stay tuned to my blog for more RAKs/games in the future!

What color are you?

I took this color quiz and boy was I surprised to find out that I am the color VIOLET!! Any shade of Purple is my most absolute favorite color in the world!! How'd it know that?? And what it said about my personality also rings true for me! I love art and I AM a musician! I must express myself or I get grouchy. Yes, I daydream! This is how I work out all my layouts and cards. I don't have a sketch book. So I'm not really an airhead- I'm a daydreamer! Ha ha! Also, I'm a Christian which the last part refers to!

To take the quiz, click on the link below and post your color on the comments here! I can't wait to see what it says about YOU and if you think it's accurate!


Have fun!

VIOLET

You surround yourself with art and music and are constantly driven to express yourself. You often daydream. You prefer honesty in your relationships and believe strongly in your personal morals.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

Connor can officially write his name!!!!!!!

Connor and Grandmama are really hitting it off!! This is important considering when he wasn't even one year old he was already telling my mom, "go away" and shaking his little finger at her! It was so stinkin' cute, yet mean an honery. Mom would just crack up. He just for some reason did not like my mom. On this visit, the day before I was to pick her up from the airport, he was jumping up and down on the bed with excitement chanting, "I love Grandmama!". So when she got here, he was shy. My mom played it cool and didn't want to force herself on him. Then he started getting closer and closer and inching his way to her. Now, they're the best of buddies!!

As some of you know, last summer while we were in Texas and mom was down for her yearly visit from the Philippines, she had a massive heart attack the day after we arrived. So our visit was spent mainly in the ICU unit of Methodist Hospital in Houston while mom clung precariously to life. It was a harrowing experience. Anyway, less than a year later, her chest scar has healed up nicely, she's lost 30 pounds (she looks totally different!) and moves a little slower, but she's still here! Thanks be to God and prayers!! I started this blog in July a year ago for the purpose of family and friends getting updates on my mom's condition after her heart attack. It transitioned into my daily life blog and also a showcase for my art.


Back to the reason of this post-
We were eating dinner with mom last night. Earlier in the evening, Mom asked him if he knew how to spell his name. I was eavesdropping and was surprised to know that he can spell it perfectly. A couple months ago, Eric taught him both our cell phone number and he knows them by heart, so the little stink pays attention to everything! Anyway, while we were sitting down to supper, Connor asked for a paper and pen. We asked him if he could write his name for Grandmama. He said, "yes, I can". And I'll be darned if he didn't. Not only did he spell and write his name correctly, he even tried to keep each letter in the box of the graph paper he was writing on!! (See below) I'm so proud of my little man!! I asked Mom if I could write my name at age 3, and she said no. I don't think my two older boys could write their names either at 3, so this is quite impressive to me!!

Anyway, thanks for letting me share my joy and pride!

I know some of you are watching the announcement of who wins the contests. I will post the results tomorrow- I promise! So far I've had around 30 people voting, which is incredible! Thanks to all who took the time and trouble to vote!!

Votes!!!

So far I have votes from the following people. If you do not see your name here, it means I didn't get your vote so please email it to me at ttyree@fidnet.com

Detta
Kelly
Wilna
Carla
Laurie
Liz
Kara
Anam
Joz
Desi
Kim
Peggy
Debbie

Airhead moment!!

I knew this would happen. I felt like something was missing, and sure enough, not one but TWO beautiful creations were not posted!! UUUrrrrggggHHH!!!!!

So they get to be spotlighted here all by themselves. Ha ha! Sorry y'all!!


Now, please take a look at them and send your REVOTE to ttyree@fidnet.com!!

Please, please, please click on the layouts to get a better look at them, especially the layouts. If you click on them, you can get a blow up of it and see all the beautiful details!!

Card Entry #7



















Layout Entry #9

Hanging with Hudson





Journaling reads:

It was your Daddy who decided to see what would happen if he put you in the swing with * uncle * Hudson. Who would’ve thought you two would be a perfect fit? We couldn’t stop laughing at how cute you boys looked. Plus, back to back we could really see the size difference 11 months makes. This close in age, Hudson will be more like your brother than Mommy’s. Already it is so much fun to watch you boys grow up. I can’t wait to see you really play together and to see what kind of trouble you are going to get into!

RAK Contest Entries!!!

Well, the big day is finally here!!! Congratulations to everyone who participated!!Everyone's creations were FANTASTIC!!! I hope you had a great time playing with your kits!

Please take a look below. If you do NOT see your creation posted, it means I had an airhead moment and forgot! I'm puzzled as to why I had more layout entries than card entries, but maybe some of you did not turn in a card?? Please forgive me and email me a reminder (ttyree@fidnet.com)

To refresh everyone's memory, the kits I mailed out to everyone can be viewed here.

Here is what to do:
Pick your favorite layout and card and EMAIL your vote anonymously to: ttyree@fidnet.com
Don't post your vote on the blog comments. I don't want to sway anyone's opinions either way. I want to do this as fairly as possible!

ANYBODY who reads this blog can vote, so send your friends over here to vote for you! One more rule, you CAN'T vote for yourself, so spread the love around!!

Here's your last surprise! Anyone who participated in this contest will get a little "thank you" gift from me!! So you are ALL winners!! I'm so excited!!

So without further ado, here we go:

Cards


Entry #1



















Entry #2
(She even decorated an envelope!)











Entry #3




















Entry #4















Entry #5



















Entry #6

The top left photo is the card entry. The remaining three photos are the entry for the layout contest. She created a cool mini album for the layout contest.
















Now for the Layouts!!



Entry #1



















Entry #2





















Entry #3




















Entry #4




















The journaling reads as follows:

"I sit here thinking that somehow I need to develop design skills and
then perhaps some magazines will start to notice my submissions. Perhaps
some online communities will also want me for their design teams. Perhaps I
will be a scrapping superstar...

Then I hear my little girl gasp as she enters my scrapbooking room and
spys my new layouts. As she exclaims how "beautiful" the layout is I realize
that I am her scrapbooking superstar.

I am always torn... I want to develop my skills, I would love to be
noticed but in the end I really do scrapbook for me and my family. I love to
record my feelings, to capture those silly moments between siblings and to get
my fingers dirty as I play with the glue and paint... but I still submit
to magazines and still long to be on a design team, why?! I always seem to
be wanting more, why can't I be satisfied with what I have?"

Entry #5











Entry #6


























Entry #7






























Sunday evening - april 15th 2007
I had a drink outside my boyfriends pub when Anja and Pascal came with their daughter Camille. Later, my dad and his girlfriend joined us.
When Camille woke up, I could hold her. It felt so strange to hold a baby but I loved it.
After me, my dad wanted to hold her too. I guess he's so ready to be a granddad.


Entry #8 is a mini book:



The top left photo is the card. The remaining three photos are the mini book.


















And that's it! I've had a great time being inspired by y'all. Please visit my blog in the future for more challenges and prizes!!

Which White Pen is the Best??

Here's an interesting read. For an in depth discussion on which white pen will best suit your needs click here. With that said, what are your own experiences? I have the Uniball Signo Pen which you can buy from my favorite online store. If you tell Mary Beth that I sent you, she'll give us both a free paper pack. Sorry about that little commercial. But back to the subject. Do you have a favorite white pen?

RAK update!!

Hi everyone! I'm so proud of everyone's creations! Everything looks fantastic. You're going to be surprised at how different everyone's creations are using the same products!!

I know you each worked hard getting everything done by today. But I have one girl who is in the middle of finals (it's that time of year, ya know) and has been using every spare moment studying. Since I can totally relate, and not thinking about making the due date at the concurring time, I thought everyone would understand if we waited for her. She should be done with finals by Wednesday, so please stay tuned!!

God bless!

Rak check!

How's everyone doing on their pages? Don't forget to have them ready by this weekend! I can't wait to see what you come up with! I will post later today what the card contest prize will be!