BBQ

Haaaayyyy! Soooo guess what?! I finally got something "officially" published! Isnt that exciting?! Ive been waiting for so long to show you and now I finally can! Now, grab your July issue of Cards Magazine which looks like this;

Now class, turn with me to page 96 of your books which looks like this;

There it is, my first publication. About food no less. Surprised? Ha! Im not! lol I freekin love BBQ okay?! Golly. Such critics. Its so weird to see my name in print! Ill be honest, I didnt think this card was gonna be picked bcuz it feels super simple to me. I really like loading my cards up with pretties but I dont think they want cards like that ya know? And I try not to get discouraged when they dont pick the things I submit because the cool thing is, is that when you have a blog, you can "publish" your work every day if you'd like right?!   

I really am so thankful to be in there though and I just want to thank Cards Magazine for having me :) So my lovelies have a great night and thank you for stopping by!

xoxo Rah

An Encouraging Word

Good evening! How was your weekend? I feel like mine was quite productive actually. Went to church, saw the shortest display of fireworks known to man, devoured a funnel cake covered in powdered sugar, and actually started and finished a creative project. Yep. That just happened. Arent you proud of me?!  Thats the joy of mini albums! You can complete a project in one sitting! And if you have an amazing line of products in front of you, you can use the whole darn thing! This is how I felt when I saw Cosmo Crickets line "Odds & Ends." I knew I had to make something with it where I could incorporate alot of it at once, its absolutely GORGEOUS! My favorite of theirs. Hands down. Well, Ive been hoarding all of it waiting for the opportune time to use it (sound familiar?) and something just dawned on me this weekend as I was sitting at my scrap table...pondering...what to make...what to make...and something clicked. When Im creatively stumped I believe the best thing to do is to make a gift for someone. I find so much joy in giving handmade gifts I cant even tell you! When I thought of this something snapped inside me and I just got right down to it, down & dirty, glue dots a flyin.. First, let me explain something. Recently, at our church, a very dear friend passed away unexpectedly, leaving behind a wonderful wife and 4 sweet children. We were all very devestated, we're all going to miss him so much! I cant even begin to imagine what his wife is going through, so I thought she could use some encouraging words. This led me to create this little album for her. Something pretty for her to pick up and thumb through, maybe just a quick glance every now & then. I saw these two quotes in a stamp set by Waltzingmouse Stamps called Afternoon Tea, and I immediately knew what my theme was going to be. How soothing is tea? I love it! I paired that set up with 2 sets from Papertrey Ink called Tea for Two and Tea for Two Additions. So here is my finished product, I hope you all enjoy!

A girl can never have enough glittery spoons I always say...

I attached the tea bags onto the tags with the new little Smash paper clips and labels..

Well there ya have it peeps. Sorry there are so many pictures of it, I just love all the little details you can find while looking at these little treasures. Can I just tell you how much fun this was? Cutting apart that amazing paper in the Odds & Ends line with all of the words & phrases on it? Looking at the paper as a whole, its a jumble of words... But start cutting it apart and you discover so many delicious little morsels... Isnt that what life is made of? Bits & pieces of sweetness...thoughtful words...kind gestures...even a simple smile can change someones day completely! You know what they say, if someone doesnt have a smile, give them yours! Have a wonderful evening everyone. Love you all!

xoxo Rah

Chase Your Dreams

Yay its Saturday! I loovvee being home on Saturday! Its hard working full time I feel like Im not ever home.  Sometimes its just nice to be at home, putzin around, yes? So I just discovered Mojo Monday the other day and I thought it looked like fun sooo I played with this sketch;

And kinda flipped it over and came out with this;

I didnt do any stamping on it so I hope itll be ok. :)

I love this new line by Creative Imaginations/IOD. Its got alot of fun bits and pieces to play with! I thought these butterflies were perfect for the saying. ;} I feel like I need to be doing more "chasing" than "dreaming"....You just never know what could happen...

"..With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Matthew 19:26

Have a wonderful Saturday! Thank you for stopping by!

xoxo Rah 

Crate Paper June Sketch Challenge

Do you know how hard it is to type with a fat kitty (Mr. Miagi) laying across your arm n chest with his head on the laptop and his paw on your mouth? Its like he's saying "be quiet and just let me sleep here for a second gigantor." So anyway, how was your day today? I had some excitement this morning when I saw that over at the October Afternoon Blog one of my layouts was in the Flickr Feature! How exciting! There are so many awesome projects in their Flickr gallery! You should go check it out. Also, over at the Crate Paper Blog their June Sketch Challenge is going on, you should participate! Here's the sketch;

Here's my page;

Isnt it different?! I lovvve the minty green color, Ive been rather obsessed with this color lately I must say. The title was inspired by Frank Sinatras song "Summer Wind" which Ive been replaying over & over, and I used the black sequin trim swirlys to "simulate" the wind. (Did you get that effect at all? Please? Anyone?) The picture is of my great grandparents summer lovin each other at the beach. Isnt that so sweet? I love how men used to wear one piece suits how funny! If we saw that nowadays we'd be like, ummm, yeeeaahhhh....These are the same folks on that birthday layout I did a few posts back.

Those waves would have been so much cuter with some stitching across them, buttt I currently dont know the location of my sewing machine so they are gonna have to do.

So you should go play, you have until the 26th to enter so get busy! Good night!

xoxo Rah

First Day of Summer

Happy first day of summer! This is always a very special day because its also...my birthday yay! I am such a birthday person, I love making a big deal about birthdays and I dont freak out about mine...yet...Last year I turned 30 and it really didnt bother me whatsoever. I think life is so short that if you can make it another year by golly you should celebrate! Especially with blessings like my 2 amazing boys! I am thankful for each and every day I get to spend with them, truly. I think every day is precious and we should make the most of it, yes?  So here's a fun little birthday tidbit about a guy named Jack. Hes not actually a guy, he was my mas red hollyhock when  I was a little girl. I loved him and watched for him every year because he always always bloomed on my birthday! Sooo you could say hollyhocks and I have a special bond and you can bet my yard is going to have tons of them! I have a few now;

If I knew how I woulda photoshopped that little black bugger right outta there can you see him?...

Isnt Gods creation amazing? Can you imagine the world without fleurs? How boring it would be!  So here's a summery little card forya, one of my favorite lines by October Afternoon ever. Im gonna hit the hay.  Have a beautiful night! Ciao!

XOXO Rah

My Minds Eye Challenge #24

Hey there happy Sunday! What a gorgeous day! There's another sketch challenge over at My Minds Eye Blog. I decided to do the page instead of the card because I just got these beautiful pix of Brandon at the waterpark and wanted to use them. The theme is to use a song so I picked "Summertime" by Kenny Chesney. I really like that song its a goody. Here's the sketch;

Annnd here's my page;

I love all these bright colors!

I finally bought the waves punch, that is the cutest thing!

Okay soooo I realized that Im way far behind in my pictures and need to get a move on my scrapping. I feel so overwhelmed like I dont know where to start but I guess everyone feels like that sometimes, yes? Such problems ;} So yall have a wonderful day and dont forget to make each day count! Love yas!

xoxo Rah

I Scream For Ice Cream

Happy Monday! Just a quick post cuz my eyes are a tad droopy. I saw this transparent piece in one of the Glitz Design lines and I fell in love with it. I love ice cream cones! They are about as cute as cupcakes to me! I made this card for no reason really, just an excuse to use the transparency with the vintagie aqua letters. Not to mention these are my fave colors lately, pink and aqua/mint? LOVE them.

The patterned paper with the cones on it is from MME of course. ;} Adorable.

Thank you for stoppin by! Nyny!

xoxo Rah

Crate Paper Color Challenge

Happy Sunday! Today was such a beautiful day! I had a wonderful morning at church and then to the ole driving range to embarrass myself. I actually did pretty good considering Ive gone one other time since I was, lets just say, a little younger...My clubs are pretty old but I cant really afford to go get new ones so I thought Id givem a shot. Welll on my 5th ball that I hit with my driver, the stinking head flew off the end and went flying through the air. Yep. The end of the club freeking flew off. Has this ever happened to you with people all around you watching? Can I just tell you when I saw this older lady in front of me turned around staring, with that look on her face, all I could do was laugh and laugh and laugh. Do you know what she said to me? "Wow. Must be new clubs." (insert evil cackel here.) Sarcasm noted lady. My reply was, "Hey at least it went straight!"

So anyway, The Crate Paper Blog has a color challenge every month, and I thought Id give it a whirl this time around. I truly love Crate Paper products, they are amazing! Here is the color scheme;

Fun yes? Heres my entry, being that my birthday is coming up I felt like making a birthday card. The dimensions of this baby are 6x6.

I love the die that makes those rosie-posies, they are so easy and cute! And I love putting some bling in the middle it just adds a little something, yes? So I hope they like it! Have a wonderful evening & sweet dreams!

xoxo Rah

Happy 12th Birthday Kyle!

Good evening! Today is a very special day today! I want to formally introduce you to one of my boys, Kyle;

He turned 12 today! I cant believe it! Where is time going? On June 9th, 1999 this little bundle of joy came into my life and it hasnt been the same since. ;) I love him so much! He makes me laugh every day, is quite the baseball player, and tries to convince his brother everyday that he's adopted.  Right now his heart is set on entering the military when he comes of age.

  He loves catching, thats his passion. He is also a very good pitcher, he can throw some heat! However if you ask him about pitching, he is a "closer." Because of this boy Under Armour is kept in business. Really. Your welcome Dicks Sporting Goods.

Happy Birthday Kyle I love you!!

xoxo Mama

Sweet June

Hey yall! What a beeaauutttiifffulll day but a little toasty in these parts :} I really try hard not to complain when its hot because trust me sister, when its cold, I do enough complaining for all of us. So June has been one of my favorite months ever since I was little. It means the end of school, the beginning of summer, baseball, bbqs, fresh strawberry shortcake, sunkissed skin, Fathers Day, countless outdoor activities, and last but not least, my birthday that I decided not to have anymore because I swear the older i get, the faster time goes! Can I get a witness?! I must hand it to myself though turning 30 really had no effect on me mentally. But physically, it freekin stinks leeetttts just save that for another blog post....I have been thinking about my bday though and I like to look through all the old pix my ma took of my birthday parties growing up. I am so thankful there are so many! I really need to start scrapping them cuz there are so many amazing memories that flood my mind..so many people in my family that I love that have passed on. I feel like its my duty to start scrappin these so we can see these beloved faces all the time not just in our faded memory. Soo I saw all these old bday pix and realized that my great grandparents (Minnie & Gramps) were in so many of them! That really was a bittersweet feeling. I was happy they were always there but also they have been gone for awhile so I miss them soooo much. I wish I wouldve been older so I couldve appreciated them more and prolly learned so much about their lives. I knew I wanted to create a layout featuring these feelings I was having and I spotted this sketch over at Elles Studio and I didnt discover it in time to participate in the challenge but thats ok! Here's the sketch;

I flipped it around and put the 3 elements on top and used one of my all time favorite lines by October Afternoon mixed in with some Elles Studio Handmade Layers and Cosmo Cricket goodness.

Yes thats me in the middle, and no, I dont know what happened to the cuteness.

Ledger cardstock letters by The Girls Paperie, and the rose cabuchon by American Crafts.

A little pull out tag journaling action.

Sorry for the long post guys, havent been able to blog much. Its been work n baseball, baseball and work. Thats okay though! Life is beautiful!  Bring on the glorious summer. Have  a wonderful evening. Love yas!

xoxo Rah