My emerging craft studio!

This is where I am playing these days......

I have taken over the boy's bedroom with all of my cardmaking/rubberstamping supplies. That is a bay window behind the chocolate curtains but the sun comes up on that side of the house and it's like an oven without the thick drapes. I am leaving Spongebob just in case I have to give the room back! I have only been moving into this room 2 days now. I have chairs for 7 at the table but 2 are pretty tight seats against the wall so I think 5 folks could happily play in here for hours with the right snacks (chocolate, of course).

Today is my little one's birthday. Yippee for Adam. He is 7 and he just pulled his first tooth yesterday. Gotta go to Toys R Us!

Barry's recent eye test

Whoopie! Barry had his first shot in his left eye at which time his vision in that eye was 20/100. He had a shot in the right eye at which time his vision in the left eye was 20/50. He says that he can see a difference but it is not well enough to drive, read or return to work at this point. There has been no change in the right eye but is was the most damaged and it has only been a week since the shot in that eye. He went to the Marriott last night and did a sleep study and he does have sleep apnea so they are setting him up with a CPAP. Anybody else think they have sleep apnea wanna go for a test at the Marriott?
I am sitting at my craft table but not getting in to much since I have to pick up the boys from school in 30 minutes. I will be posting some cards later. I have one done in my head(with all that other stuff).
Thanks for reading my blog. Come back soon!

A romantic Valentines's getaway!

What could be better than a nice romantic getaway to The Great Smoky Mountains

a wonderful suite with a full kitchen, living room with a fireplace, 2 king size beds and a huge hottub to relax in in your suite?

4 kids to enjoy it with you! Yes, we took our sons, our granddaughter and grandson on our romantic Valentine's Day trip! Don't panic, we all have our swim suits on! Barron and Adam were not in the hottub yet so we had Barron take this photo:

I also got to go to the 2 scrapbook stores in Sevierville while the gang played carpet golf. I took Jack with me and he ooh'd and ahh'd at all the stuff in the scrapbook stores. I got a couple of new toys to play with while there.
Monday, I also got an Embellishment Center from Makin Memories for being such an awesome Valentine!(my own interpretation)
We went yesterday for the shot in Barry's right eye. He says he is noticing some improvement in the left eye from the shot 3 weeks ago! He almost did not let the new doctor give him the shot though. It was $205 and the first one at the other doctor was $65. He questioned the difference in cost and I told him that I would prefer to pay the difference to driving 5 1/2 hours for the less expensive doctor. I know that the cost of the drug itself is $50 from the conversation with Dr. Fekrat and she charged $15 to administer the shot. So the new doctor in Gastonia is getting $155 to administer the same shot! What are you going to do though? Vision or no vision? Insurance does not cover these shots even though they work. Insurance will pay for the laser treatments to the tune of $600 each which does not restore vision, only reduces swelling. Makes no sense to me. Aetna will pay $600 for as many laser treatments as the doctor says are needed but will not pay for the shots of Avastin which dissolve the blood stains in his eyes and restore the vision. Even crazier is that Aetna will pay for the Avastin but not the procedure(giving of the shot) to administer the Avastin. So they cover the drug but not the shot. Can anybody make sense of that? Anyway, Barry may be recovering some of his vision. Y'all do not know how happy I am! Thanks for all of the continued prayers and fasting on Barry's behalf. We love you all so much!
I will get to making some cards to post! Check back for them later!

Isn't she LOVELY?

This is our granddaughter, Chloe Jade Earls. She was born last night at 9:02 pm to our son, Willie and his wife, Heather via C-section after 14 long hours of labor. She weighed in a 7 lbs and 8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. A perfect, precious slice of heaven.

This is why my husband's eyes have to heal! No changes in his vision yet. I had so hoped for him to be able to see this sweet angel's face. He is holding her in this photo. I cropped him out 'cause I figured y'all would rather see a larger photo of our little blessing than see another photo of Barry.

I have been tagged again!

http://pookascrayon.blogspot.com/ The guilty party who tagged me!
Not once but twice!
The Middle Name Game! These are the rules:-You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details.)
M-Mad about all the tagging-I have cards to make,shopping to do,Oreos to eat.HA HA
C-chunky,yes I am thank you Nabisco!
S-sweet as sugar that's me.
W-wishful,wish I had more cardstock,ink,punches,Cricut cartridges,stamps,TIME!
A-Athletic- NOT! (though I am getting some exercise RITF laughing about this)
I-Intelligent-ha,still rolling in the floor laughing so maybe I am athletic!
N-nosy- said my 10 year old who is now grounded for the rest of elementary school!
Second tag:
The rules are:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) List the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag 5 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged.
6 non-important things/habits/quirks about me:
1) I love Hardee's Big Twin burgers and it bugs me that they have them out for a limited time only. I go to various Hardee' s in neighboring towns and fill out the customer satisfaction slips suggesting they keep the Big Twin year round. (SHHH, I think it's working)
2) I like for everything to be in the same place in my frig all the time. Like don't take my ketchup off the door and put back in on the top shelf. The mustard, ketchup and mayo should be together like a little family. I don't know why other people do not KNOW THIS!
3)I collect cookbooks. I have over 250. (My husband said that it is an addiction)
4)I do not have any tattoos (but I went with my BIL to get his at a real scarry tattoo place when it was illegal to get them in SC). I rarely wear make-up, do not even have pierced ears and I prefer small simple jewelry. Pretty plain Jane!
5) I love to travel back roads. I don't mind getting lost as long as the gas tank is full! I used to carry maps for Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia in the dash of my car then I got married and settled down a bit. Now, we carry only 3 of those state's maps.
6) I plan my appointments around the free make-n-takes on Wednesdays at Scrapbook Creations. And I have gotten my sister, Patty, who never liked crafts into going with me almost every week.
7) A BONUS---I hate tags!
Now who can I tag? You can choose which tag you want to participate in so you don't have to do BOTH like Pooka MADE ME do!
Teri at http://bigideasfromalittlegirl.blogspot.com/
Leslie at http://continuingtocreate.blogspot.com/
Carol at http://carolsheartlikehis.blogspot.com/
Otter at http://iotterbestamping.blogspot.com/
Jacki at http://thecardcastle.blogspot.com/
I better go warn the taggees. Now this was a long post!

You can win this set of stamps!

Go here http://qkd.blogspot.com/ Find the post from Friday, Feb 8th and leave a comment telling them that I sent you. That gives us both an entry in the giveaway. I have this already and it is a great set.

Like Pancakes? Have a bee stamp?

Tuesday, Feb 12th is National Pancake Day at IHOP. You can get a FREE short stack from 7am to 10pm. They are doing this to get donations to Children's Miracle Network. Barry and I went last year. The pancakes are soooo good at IHOP. Not at all like those frozen babies I pop out of the microwave! Hope you can make it.
Also, if you have a BEE stamp, buzz on over here http://studiobeecreations.blogspot.com/ to see the opportunity to get some secret blog candy. I won blog candy from Debbie a few months back and I am still using it up. It is also a way to support our Fabulous soldiers.
I took my boys to Lowe's this morning. Not sure how many of you know that Lowe's has a FREE make-n-take every 2 weeks for kids. Today they made a sweet Valentine Mailbox. I should have taken a photo and posted it but I am being lazy today.
I have just layed around watching tv since the early morning trip to Lowe's. I have dinner in the crockpot so I am just blog hopping today looking for inspiration. I may post a card later. I have some things layed out but not assembled yet.

The men in my life

Here are my men just outside the NC Estuarium in Washington, NC and there are 32 of these crabs all over The Inner Banks. All are painted differently by local artists. We had fun spotting them. I think we saw about half of them.
This one had a map of the Pamlico Sound on it. There was even a little YOU ARE HERE on it so we could see where we were. After a really nice walk on the Boardwalk, we headed to Bath. Bath is where Blackbeard the Pirate lived until he was beheaded. The legend says that his headless body swam around the boat 7 times before it sank just off the Ocracoke Island. After Bath, we drove on out to Swan Quarter and then over to Lake Mattamuskeet. This is a photo of my men standing by the edge of the lake. We were almost to the end and ever so glad to see the other side at this point. CLICK ON THIS PHOTO to enlarge it so that you can see the thousands of swans that were all over this lake. We were amazed to see this. I wish we had stopped and taken pictures when they were closer to us as we were crossing the lake. The weather was awesome for nearly our whole trip. It began to rain on the way home but it was a soothing rain. The boys slept for hours and it made the long ride home so much easier.
No changes yet in Barry's vision. Dr. Fekrat gave him a shot of Avastin in his left eye. We go on the 18th for the shot in the right eye. He can have 3 shots in each eye. Each shot has to be a month apart. This treatment has only been available for 3 years but they have had great success with it. Please remember him in your prayers and me too(for my lack of patience). I want him to see 20/20 in both eyes so he can see the faces of our children and grandchildren.
My apologies for taking so long to post what is going on with him. Our cell phones, our house phone and the email in box has been full of loved one's messages checking on him. We truly appreciate all of the love and concern that everyone has shown for him. He is so precious to me.
Barry had an appointment today and I was able to get a 30 minute nap in the parking lot at the doctor's office while the boys quietly did their homework in the car with me. Amazing, huh? Still wiped out. Forgive me if I have repeated any info in this post. I can not remember what I have posted this past week. I am going to bed earlier than usual so I can catch up on some rest. Gnight.

Amy's 3rd challenge-Fav QKD stamp

Here is a card made with my favorite Queen Kat Designs stamp set. It is the Lucky You set and can be purchased here http://katstamps.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=213
This marks the end of the Round Robin. It was a boatload of fun. Thanks to all of the Design Team members for all of the creative challenges. Now, what ever will I do tomorrow?

Amy's 2nd challenge-RED

So this is almost the end of the Round Robin. Only 1 more challenge but I am nearly out of time for the last entry. It's an easy one and you can enter too. See the location below. I have to get going on it myself!

Amy's 1st challenge

http://lorealle.blogspot.com/ for details on this challenge.
Here is my entry:

It is a white cardstock base with Bazzill cardstock in raspberry and bright pink layers. The Daisy is from Paperbilities with a pastel pink rhinestone brad from SEI in the center. The swirl stamp is a $1 Studio G clear stamp. The I Love You stamp is also a $1 Studio G Katie & Co stamp. Both are stamped with Archival Ink in Jet Black. I stamped the I Love You on shrink plastic, punched a hole with an office hole punch, shrunk the piece and ran a piece of pink ribbon through it. I used the Stampin Up slot punch to create the holes in the raspberry layer for the ribbon to feed through.
I am wiped out from our trip but we got a good report and expect wonderful things from this new treatment. I will post more about that tomorrow. I have to get on to my next challenge since this leg ends tonight.

Pooka's last challenge

Here are where you can get the details http://pookascrayon.blogspot.com/
I will have to miss this one. I did not pack shrink plastic (don't know why) I was able to stop in a Michael's an hour from here earlier and get some. However, I have tried the microwave, the hairdryer and heated prayer and none of those are shrinking the shrink plastic. I thought about sneaking up to the waffle maker in the continental breakfast area but I am afraid that I might mess up my free waffles in the morning!
Oh, well. I have totally enjoyed the Queen Kat Designs Round Robin these past couple of weeks. I hope that the Queen will do this again. And I was lucky enough to win one of the sets of stamps that were given away. They are fabulous (that word again). You can shop here http://www.katstamps.com/shop/ to see the 15 catagories of acrylic stamps.
I am anxious about Barry's doctor appointment tomorrow. We have come a long way with a great deal of hope resting on this specialist. He says he is not worried or anxious. He is so obedient to GOD. He is not in fear and I know that I should not be. God did not give us hearts of fear. I am weak and in great fear that Barry will not be able to recover any of his vision and that it will continue to worsen. Lord, strengthen me in my weakness.
We were able to take the boys to Bath, NC yesterday which, is where the Pirate Blackbeard lived his last days. We went to the visitor's center and watched a movie about how the town was cursed to never grow to much size! (came true, keep reading) There were no gas stations that took cards, only cash and we were on empty. We had $7 on us and gas was $3.25 a gallon. We bought the gas and left for the next station. We were so hungry and there was NOTHING for miles and miles. We finally crossed Lake Mattamuskeet and found the one and only station within an hour and a half's drive and they took our VISA! We had about 6 miles of gas left according to Durango. We filled up with gas and got some hotdogs for lunch at their deli. Let me tell you, those were the BEST hotdogs. As good as Harold's for those of you reading from Gaffney, SC. Never were we so unprepared for such a trip. It was quite the adventure. Thanks to Hampton Inn, our boys did have 4 apples to eat since we had each taken one with us after breakfast! Barry and I gave ours to Barron and Adam so they could have 2 each. We are not terrible parents, really! We just left the cooler in the hotel room because there is a McDonald's everywhere. NOT. Never go to the Outer Banks via Hwy 264 without a fully stocked cooler and a full tank of gas and CASH. Really, there is nothing but swamp land between the towns and the townspeople say they don't need that (McDonald's) kind of food 'round here. My guess is that they cook up the tourists who happen to get stranded there without cash and gas and food!
Nuff said, I am outta here. Thanks for reading and for your prayers for my family, for the emails with well wishes and the phone calls of support. You all mean so much to me! Those of you who do not blog, you should. It is very good therapy! Gnight!

Shh, I am a little prepared.

I was all shook up about missing Pooka's challenge tomorrow as I was packing for our trip. Sooo,

I have a question for you scrapaddicts. What do you take with you when you go out of town in the middle of some very important challenges? This is a photo of my emergency scrap tote. My DH did not think I packed anything until I took my laptop tote out just now. Earlier, I opened my suitcase and he commented that he thought it would be full of scrapbook stuff because it was so heavy. He seemed surprised to see clothes in there. ha! ha! Fooled him (for awhile anyway). My rascal son ratted me out! I hid away a few ink pads and a few stamps, some scissors, glue stick, pop dots, various sizes/colors of rhinestones, several colors and sizes of pre-cut cardstock in with my laptop. (It WAS a very good hiding place) I have checked the phonebook here. No Michael's, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby or even JoAnn's. What do these folks do?
We will see some things here in Washington tomorrow. There is an Estuarium that offers river excursions aboard an Aqualab. Sounds fun, huh? Then, we are heading to the Outer Banks. This is a long overdue trip. We tried going the year before they moved the lighthouse but we had van trouble on the way (twice). That is a long story so I won't tell it. Those of you who know me have heard it, I am sure. I will say that I cried (a lot) on that trip which was cut short and I did not get to see the lighthouse in it's original place which was NOT the worst part of the trip.
Being here, comfortable in our hotel with some of my favorite people (DH, DS#9 and DS#10) sure makes life good. We just went swimming and I enjoyed the hottub alone. Barry can not do hottubs as much since his blood pressure became an issue. We have a lot of hope for our visit with Dr. Fekrat. I pray that God will lead her to the proper treatment to restore Barry's vision. The fabulous front desk clerk, Jessica just brought us (she called and asked first if she could) a bowl of chocolate chip cookies that she made today. (Yikes, I ate 3) She is a sweet, young girl with some turmoil going on in her family. She and I talked for awhile at the desk when I checked in. (The Lord sent us to this hotel) Please pray for her family with me. Pray for forgiveness and healing and love between them (peace in their family).
Ok, enough right? Gnight all. I will try to get in on the challenge tomorrow if I have the supplies. Thanks, friends. I love you, every single reader and friend.

Pooka's 2nd challenge

Details for today's challenge can be found here http://pookascrayon.blogspot.com/
On September 19, 1783, the first hot-air balloon was sent aloft in Versailles, France with animal passengers including a sheep, rooster and a duck. On that same day in 1964, I was born. This is my entry for today's challenge:
There was a lot of cutting involved here. I had to create a hot-air balloon with some shimmery cording and a circle of lilac cardstock cut with a QuicKutz nesting circle die cut and I paper pieced the basket. The stamps are from Technique Tuesday's Dog and Pony Show set and I colored them with Hobby Lobby brush pens after stamping them with Archival Ink. Then I cut them out and glued the rooster and sheep on. The duck is attached with a pop dot. In the background, the trees are a Cricut die cut that I made with my Design Studio software and the Cricut Sampler cartridge. I handwrote the date on the basket with a brown brush marker. It is done(though I wish I had a stamp that says "You lift me UP").
Also, on my birthday, but I cannot remember the year, Steamboat Willie was released. I wanted to use that one but for lack of time, I found another event to create this card for.
Please remember my husband in your prayers as we travel to see a specialist for his loss of 50% of his vision.
Sadly, I may have to miss tomorrow's challenge but I hope you will participate. Be back soon.

Pooka's 1st challenge

Here's my entry for yesterday's challenge. It is Bazzill cardstock in pink and white with a Delta Music stamp that I got at Big Lots yesterday for $2.00. The sentiment is a Stampin Up stamp from the 1998 Say It With Scriptures set. I used the Stampin Up slot punch to punch two holes for my ribbon to feed through. I also added a gold heart brad near the sentiment to draw your attention to it. I used Archival Ink in Jet Black and Stampin Up's Regal Rose Classic Ink to stamp with.

And here is the very simple back:

The stamp is from a Christmas set from Hobby Lobby. I liked the simple back because it reminded me of the plain backs of the Valentine's that you got when you were a kid. They usually folded over and you had some cute little stickers to close them with. I can not tell you how many times my children folded them the wrong way and put the stickers on. Yikes, those were the toughest stickers to remove without damaging the card!

Now, I must get on to today' s challenge. It is a very cool challenge! I will post my entry shortly.