Dealing.

I'm about to be real and kinda depressing. Please no judging. :-)

For those of you who don't know, we lost the baby this week (I was nearly 12 weeks when I started bleeding two weeks ago today). My body is still going through the process, and it bothers me that it makes every day a reminder that I won't be having a baby in six months. I can't wait for that part to be over. I'm ready to move on and look back on this like it was a bad dream.

We are trying to stay optimistic for the future though. The pregnancy ended due to a blighted ovum, so, for some reason, that actually makes me feel better about the whole thing... hopeful that a baby will be in our future. :-)

I have waves of being positive and optimistic and then waves of wanting to sit on the sofa and watch Friends and eat gluten-free chocolate chip cookies (which I'm now currently out of) all day long. I've heard that through the grieving process, both are good for healing. :-)

I'm angry and sad, and I just don't feel like *me* these days. I have three Studio Calico kits sitting right next to me, and I can't even touch them. My motivation... it's just gone. I'm praying that will get better soon too. :-)

I think I'm getting a bit better. Today, I took a shower in the *morning* and got halfway dressed... pajama bottoms and slippers with a nice top and sweater. I even put on earrings and a bit of makeup. :-) I think every day will get better. I'm hoping, praying that it does. *sigh*

Hmm... can't think of anything else to say. And just talking about it makes me feel more down, so I'm going to go watch Friends now. :-)

And here are two layouts I did a couple weeks ago, but never posted. Both are mostly SEI and American Crafts. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm not sure when I'll be back with the remainder of my scrap room photos, but I'm hoping soon.

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Just keep swimming...

Organizing and Editing (and okay, Decorating too).

Well, today I was in the mood to play in PhotoShop, which is a rarity. LOL. I edit all my photos in iPhoto these days, and by "edit," I mean quickly crop and lighten up... takes me a grand total of 15 seconds.

So I took some more photos of my scrap room and then played with my PW Actions. (Okay, I was inspired by Jennifer Johner. Who the heck is *not* inspired by that woman? She's so talented... it sickens me. In a good way. :-)

So still a few sneak peeks because I'm not completely done yet. And I've been a scrapping fool the past couple days, so my table isn't as clean as I'd like for photos. ;-)

My border punches, stapler and paint brushes are stored here in this vintage Squirt container:

On the top shelf, along one wall, I have just odds and ends. Favorites of mine that inspire me... things I've been collecting for years and years. Most of the things on this shelf do *not* have any storage/organizational purpose. However, this cute little blue train case (which is open because I used my snowflake punches out of there... tee hee) holds all my Christmas embellishments. :-)

I just adore vintage books. And photos of Shirley Temple. ;-) This one came from a magazine, I think...

Ahhhhh.... one of my favorite things is next. Found this chair at the Goodwill for like $2. I gave it a paint touch-up and then added some October Afternoon paper on the seat. The bird was a gift from a friend. It's sitting on the bottom shelf of a cabinet that I *completely* made over.

I keep staples, paper clips, mini punches, and cat's eye inks in these blue boxes. And as for the baker's twine... I started out with 2 or 3, and they looked so cute displayed on a shelf. Then I got more and more and I set them all out, so I could decide *where* I wanted them and in what container I'd *place* them. But then I fell in love with having them displayed all the time... and very convenient to just grab. Hee hee... so I left them, and this is their home now. :-)

Looked through, literally, hundreds of wine holders before I found the perfect one for my pens. I spray painted it to match my room. The little boxes are from IKEA (which were a STEAL for the set)!

And that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll get it all cleaned up and photographed this weekend! :-)

Oh! And here's a layout I did last night. My bestie, Camille, left me an awesome comment on my FB the other day, and it totally inspired this layout. Thank you, Camille! You're the bestest, and I miss you something fierce! ;-)

(Cardstock: Bazzill Basics, Patterned Papers: SEI, Alphas: Sassafras,

Punches: EK Success, Creative Memories, Pearls: Basic Grey, Pen: American Crafts)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Favoring Two Things Right Now.

My favorite video in a long time...



And I want these...

http://www.cerealmarshmallows.com/

Trying to Motivate Myself.

This week, I have been super-motivated to get my scrap room DONE. We moved into this house TEN months ago, and my scrap room has been a work in progress. It must be the perfectionist in me. ;-) I figured if I posted here, then I would feel accountable, get it finished, and then get photos up this week! LOL.

Here is a very sneak peek... tee hee.


And also, Ella turned ONE year old last week! Yay!


If you haven't been there, you have got to check it out! It's SO cool and so much fun. Plus, I always find tons of inspiration and cool tricks and tips! :-D

And here is a super-simple layout I did last year and forgot to post. LOL. Photos from my first eight birthdays. :-) It's for my baby book... I figured one page for eight of them would take up much less room. ;-)

Bella papers and BG alphas.

Hopefully, in the next few posts, I will have photos of my scrap room. Yay!

Note to self: Get it done! Get it done! Get it done!

Announcing. Finally. :-p

First off, I've been wanting to share this video for a LONG time.

I wanted a *really* cool way to share this awesome news with our families, so this is what I came up with: The Story of Us.

(Thanks to my friend Traci for actually bringing it to life! And thanks to my friend Jody for introducing me to this song, The Luckiest by Ben Folds. Funny, it actually was not my first choice for the video, but on the first trial run of the slideshow, I didn't have my choice of song downloaded yet, so I just had to choose one at random. The Luckiest was the slowest song on my playlist, so I chose that. Didn't even plan on it being PERFECT for this.)

I'm ten days away from the end of my first trimester. I was going to wait another ten days to share this, but I wanted to show this layout, and well, had to share the video first. ;-)

Another challenge is up at Journaling Challenges! The theme? Babies. Serendipitous, yes?! ;-)

Used Studio Calico's August kit here.

And here's another recent layout I did (also with the August kit) about my sweet, Ruby. She's just SO cute! Every time I walk by her, I can't help kiss her and cuddle her. LOL. I just had to do a layout about that. :-)

Happy Friday!