Warning: Bipolar Post Ahead

Note: I originally began this post on 7/29/09. So the updates are from today, but everything else was from that date.

So do you want the good news first of the bad news?

I'll start with the good news. Or the good (happy) project I should say.

This first project is something that has been keeping me busy during the evening hours for the past week or two. The sad thing about this mini album is that I have had it in the works for over a year now! A friend of mine had twin boys back in August of 2008. I knew I wanted to make her an album and told her so, but with my having had Makaela in May, I informed her it would not be reaching her on time. Never did I imagine it would be their 1st birthday that they would be getting it. So rather than my typical baby albums, I have made this more of a little boy album to showcase all they are at age 1. I am putting it in the mail today. I hope she likes it. I think she'll be surprised when it arrives. (update: she got it and said she literally almost cried upon seeing it ... music to my ears)






I'll post more pictures in the coming days. I need to crop them so you can't see all the distracting elements of my kitchen.

Now for the bad news or project. Here it is:

Doesn't look bad right? Well, it's purpose is due to a very negative and sad circumstance. My stepmom has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma. It metastasized inside her on one of her ovaries. Basically this is not good. Just Google Melanoma and Ovary and you'll be crying a river, deep seeded in pessimism. Therefore, I have sworn off Google searches related to this cancer and am opting to be positive. There are bits of good news though. It's not in her brain, lungs, or bones. There are a couple of spots in her abdomen that they are assuming are infected lymph nodes. The course of treatment for this type of cancer is extreme and you supposedly only have one shot at the two treatments. So they are going to scan her again in mid-August to determine its aggressiveness. From there, they will determine their next action. So I was immediately inspired to make her something that she could see that would remind her how much me and my siblings all love her and are praying for her. (update: she had her oncologist appt today to read last week's scan and it has not spread but is growing = intense chemo beginning this Friday. She'll be in the hospital for 5 straight days receiving chemo, then home for 2 weeks. Then back to the hospital for 5 days of chemo and then home for 2 weeks. Then they do another CT scan to see if it's responded and to determine the next course of action.)

If you would all be so kind, I would appreciate it if you could add Nancy, my stepmom to your prayers. She's going to need them. She's only 46 and has only been a part of my family for the past 4 years. But she is a wonderful lady. So kind. So undeserving of this kind of illness. Not that I think that certain people are deserving of cancer, but I cannot yet see God's plan in this.

I feel a huge desire to say "F you Cancer!!!!!!!" It has touched my life in too many ways recently. My grandfather succumbed to pancreatic cancer a couple of years ago. Around the same time, my cousin was diagnosed with a serious brain tumor caused by a cancer typically found in young children the day before his second child was to be born (he made a MIRACULOUS recovery - Praise God!!!). One of my friend's cousins was taken down rapidly by cervical cancer, leaving behind three young children. I notice as I get older how different my outlook on this terrible disease has changed. When I was a lot younger and thought I was invincible and that I knew everything, I used to say, "We're all going to die of cancer someday anyways!" Ugh! To think how flippant I was about the whole thing. Very shameful. I guess that's one good thing about getting older. You grow in maturity, awareness, respect for life.

So I will continue to pray. For all of those who suffer from cancer and other often times incurable diseases. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Like I said earlier, any prayers for her recovery would be welcomed with open arms.

I'm still alive, I swear it!

Ugh! It's been so long since I have posted and I hate that. Especially because I check all the blogs I follow daily for new posts and get bugged/bummed when weeks pass before one shows up. Maybe that's why I never have time to post here. Because I am too busy checking out other people's blogs. Actually the real reason is that I have an iPhone and that we recently purchased a second computer thereby allowing the older one to be placed in my scraproom. What's the problem? I know! I have all this technology at my fingertips and my post numbers drop???? What the heck?

Though I love my iPhone I think the blame has to be placed with him. It's terribly easy to be technologically connected at ANY time of the day and to not be in front of an actual computer to do it. So to sit at the big computer and draft a post, upload pictures, and finalize it has become in an effort in my gotta-have-the-info-right-this-second world I am living in; actually that I have created for myself.

So I need to make a change. Dedicate myself to uploading pictures, finishing posts, and keeping up with my desired blog duties. I have two posts in draft form that I just need to finish. For one, I need to complete a project and then take pictures. The other, I just need to make sure it says what I want and that the pictures are in order. C'mon lady right?

So here's hoping I'll be back with some interesting posts soon.

Have a great week everyone in the meantime.

If you can help ...

A very good friend of mine, Roxanne Fitkowski, is doing the Challenge Walk MS: Southern California 2009 in a couple of weeks. It's a 3 day, 50 mile walk put on by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to support research of Multiple Sclerosis as well as to help the families that suffer from it. She needs to raise $2500. As of last week she was only at $1000. We all know how difficult it is to raise money. Even when it's for a good cause. And with our economy being in the toilet right now, it's even more difficult. If you're able to give a little bit (even $10) it would be most appreciated by my friend and of course by me too. If she doesn't raise enough money, she won't be able to do the walk. Here is the link that will take you directly to her donation page.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. And thank you to those of you who will donate to this great cause.

Have a wonderful day.

~ Krista

My August Projects

Here's a quick post showing my design team layouts for Scrappin Good Times in San Dimas, CA. Did you know they turned 5 yesterday?! Crazy how time flies. I had a lot of fun with these layouts. Typical me waited til the very last minute to complete them so I feel fortunate that they came out as well as they did.

This first layout features We R Memory Keepers "White Out" line. You should be able to click on the image to get a bigger view. I used my QK Silhouette (love that machine!) for the title, the orange border at the bottom, and the flower embellishment on the right page. These pictures are of Makaela on her actual birthday. We were getting some sun while waiting for Daddy to get home from work. Her shirt says "Lemonade 25 cents" hence the title.


This layout uses the My Little Shoebox line called "Who's There". I really like this company. All of their papers seem to coordinate with each other. I added some stitching with my sewing machine on the right page to "beef up" the pattered paper a bit. Again I used my Silhouette to do the title. And I layered three different flowers (each a bit off center) to fill in some white space. In this layout Hannah got a lollipop she'd begged for (how can you not cave in on something so small?) and was enjoying it thoroughly.

Hopefully I will be back soon with some more projects. Some happy, one in particular not so happy.

Have a great weekend.

Having fun at JessicaSprague.com

Several weeks back I was alerted to a free photo editing class that Jessica Sprague was putting on. Free was the magic word and I signed up for it. For the past week, I have actually been following along and learning so much. This is a good thing and a bad thing. The bad being that no longer will I be satisfied with any image taken and printed straight from the camera. Oh well.

So I thought I would share a few before and after samples of the photos I have been editing. Don't be too hard on me as I have a limited number of photos I can access. We just got a new computer and most of my photos are on the old one.

Lesson 1:

Original Photo

Edited Photo (she gives you the digital frames and words)
Lesson 2:

Original Photo

Edited Photo
(again she provided the brush)
Lesson 3:

Original Photo

Edited Photo
(you can't tell but there's supposed to be a white frame around the pic)

Lesson 4:

Original Photo

Edited Photo

Lesson 5:

Original Photo

Edited Photo
(she provides the textures)
Lesson 6:

Original Photo

Edited Photo

How much do I love my 3 year old?!

Hannah so very much wants to be a big girl these days, as would any three year old going on 22. One of the ways she likes to express this is to beg us to let her take pictures with the camera. Not an easy thing for me to let her do I must say, given we have a rather large Canon Digital SLR camera. But a few months back, I let go (after wrapping the strap once around her upper arm before putting the remainder of the strap around her neck) and let her explore the world of photography. Needless to say, any time we're out with the camera, she wants to indulge herself. Last night at the park, awaiting the fireworks show, was no exception. Actually I prompted this photoshoot by asking her if she wanted to take pictures. You see, I am too much of a worry wart to just hand this camera off to a stranger and ask them to take a picture. Something I MUST get over, but probably won't. I use all sorts of creative excuses not to do it. Our camera is too fancy. They won't know how to use it. Or someone could take off with it. But what it really boils down to is I am just too much of a wuss to ask. Anyways, Hannah happily accepted the task of photographer and caught this cute photo of me and Joel. There's not enough of these photos in our collection and I am not only happy to have this one but proud to say my three year old daughter took it. Way to go Hannah!!!

Here are some others from our wonderful 4th of July. Unfortunately, my camera battery ran out of juice prior to the fireworks show so I didn't get to experiment with taking pictures of the actual fireworks display.

Walking off into the sunset with her hairbrush.

Hurray! Daddy has glow sticks!



The Nash and Fitkowski girls.

Happy 4th of July!

Just want to wish everyone a fantastic and safe 4th of July. I hope it's a great weekend for you all.

July Projects

Here's what I turned into to SGT for the month of July.

This layout features "Penny Lane" by My Mind's Eye and showcases the day we brought our sweet Makaela home from the hospital. Nothing like getting to those pictures over a year later right? If only that was how behind I was. {sigh}

And this layout below uses Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday line. I really like this line! More so than I first thought I would. There are so many different directions you can go with these papers. I chose to document Hannah with all the flowers we saw on our trip to Breckenridge, CO. Holy cow! If there was any other place I would want to live besides CA, it would be here. Truly a stunning place. And awesome for skiing and snowboarding in the Winter if you're into that.

I did something different with this layout. I chose to not only make a 2-page layout but to also add a sectioned page divider in between by Pebbles, Inc.

So here's the regular 2-page layout.

I used my circle cutter to get a nice half-circle. Then I backed it with cardstock and used some scallop decorative scissors to trim a border/mat for it. Got this idea from Kelly Goree of Basic Grey.

I grabbed some KI Memories lace paper I had and cut a section of it out. I backed it with cardstock as well to give it some punch. Got this idea from Christine Middlecamp.

For this little journal spot, I simply into a piece of patterned paper. This design was printed on it and I took it! Probably got this idea from many different people.


Now here's how this project will look when you flip through my scrapbook. The title page on the left and then the front side of that page protector. See how it has six 4x6 sections. It's perfect for extra pictures or added embellishment. I didn't have enough pictures to fill every slot, but didn't want to leave the ones I did have out. So I chose to embellish several of the sections. It's like doing mini layouts. I loved it!


Here's a closeup of the front of the page protector.

It's hard to see in this picture, but I actually cut out a circle from the plastic protector and then glued a flower directly onto the paper "showing" through. I wish I had popped each level of the flower up more, but hindsight is 20-20 right?


And here's what the scrapbook will look like when you flip the page protector. A couple more pictures and some embellished sections.

A closeup of the backside of the page protector.

These pockets still allow you to add some dimention.


I am so very hooked on these page dividers. If I sit and think hard enough, I can come up with endless possibilities for them. Like for example, cutting a slit on the very edges and making journaling tags that can be pulled out. I remember interactive pages were big a while back, but the problem was always how to allow for the interactive portion and still keep the layout in a page protector. This is one way to bypass that. I also think just loading them up with nothing but pictures pertaining to the event you're scrapbooking is an awesome use for them.

Now I am off to attempt to do some scrapbooking. I have so much I intend to work on but am feeling uninspired. I struggle with this A LOT! It's very frustrating. The times I am most inspired seem to be when my kids need me the most! When the house is all quiet ... crickets chirping! Go figure! Happy 4th of July if I am not back before then.

What a wonderful weekend!

Couldn't ask for a better weekend. The weather was perfect. It was the first day of Summer, our 6th wedding anniversary, and Father's Day. On Saturday we had so much fun and were quite busy. We went to Irvine Spectrum for a little family fun. Returned and then Joel and I headed off to Victoria Gardens to celebrate our anniversary -- had sushi from Kabuki (pretty good).
On Sunday, Joel got his Father's Day present (a Disneyland Pass) so we ran over there to pick it up. Good sport that he is, we even went inside the park for a bit. See, he's not the biggest Disney fan, but I was so pleased that he was actually excited about his gift. He recognizes that it will be good times with the girls.

Then it was over to my dad's place for some pizza and good old kicking back. I just can't say enough wonderful things about my husband. Fortunately I was able to catch a bit of this amazing father on "film" this weekend.

The anniverary card I made Joel. Very simple. I used the Fiskars too that gives paper that textured corrugated look for the big heart. Am so loving my white gel pen. When I am strapped for time, it really adds to a project without having to get out a ton of tools.



And the Father's Day cad. Used the Silhouette and a Disney font for the large Mickey Mouse head. And then a small handheld Mickey punch for the smaller ones. It's hard to tell, but all of the small Mickeys have Pearl Glimmer Mist sprayed on them. Love that stuff!!!


The "DAD" Mickeys are popped up with pop dots.


And a little poem I crafted to indicate what the gift was. Found a free Disney font to download so I could keep with the theme.