One Mom...One Blog

Okay. I've come to realize that there are simply not enough hours in the day...and since I'm pretty sure that God is going to stick with the 24 hour plan, something has to give! I have decided to do all my blogging over at Caffeine Created Designs.

I'm gearing up to launch all my digital scrapping products at a brand new store that will be opening soon. We're busy loading products and planning all sorts of fun goodies! I am so excited and thrilled to be part of this fabulous team!

Change your blog reader or favorites list to visit me at Caffeine Created Designs! See y'all there!!

Help Bring Jada Home!

My sweet friend Becky has just received a referral for their fifth child and second daughter from China! I am just thrilled beyond words for Becky and her family. The cost of adoption has increased dramatically as have travel costs and Becky is working hard to earn the extra funds that they need to bring Jada home. Please take a look at the following options to help this incredible family bring home Jada!

Since Jada is older than they expected (she's 3 years old now), they are selling some of her big sister's clothes that won't fit Jada. So many cute outfits...almost makes me want another baby girl!

Becky also designs blogs that are just wonderful. If you want to spiff up your blog or do a complete overhaul or start a new blog, pay a visit to Busy Mama Blog Designs.

And, please pray for this family and their newest daughter waiting in China for her Mommy, Daddy, three big brothers and big sister.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

My mom and dad are celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary today, so I put this together to wish them a happy day!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We are counting down the days until we see you again...just 15! We love you!!

A special credit: My six year old daughter, Emily took the background photo using her very own digital camera.

Credits: Paper and embellishments (Love Story - Kristin Cronin-Barrow); Word Art (Just the Two of Us - Caffeine Created Designs); Tag (Caffeine Created Designs)

A Time for Everything

The line of scripture above has been my source of comfort over the past several weeks. I’ve had to make some choices about how I want to live my life and this passage reminds me that even though doors may be closing, others are opening.

One door that I have decided to close is my business, Li Tian Designs. I can’t believe that I’ve been making Ribbonlicious bag tags for two years! It seems like just yesterday I made my first tag and in other ways it feels like I’ve been tying ribbons for much longer than two years.

I have decided to focus more of my attention on digital art and the digital scrapbooking industry. It really is an extension of what I was doing with the bag tags and bookmarks because the design process was my favorite aspect of Li Tian Designs. The digital scrapbooking industry is booming and there are gazillions (that may be a slight exaggeration) of tremendously talented designers, but I plan to have a great time giving it a shot!

Credits: Papers and flower embellishment (Story of Us by Michelle Coleman); Font (CK Ali's Writing)

My Annoucement...Finally

Check it out over at my Caffeine Created Designs blog!

Vote for Colorful Adventures!

Well. Well. Well. This is new exciting news and I need your help to make it even more exciting! I entered the Design a Kit Contest at toNoodle several weeks ago and my kit "Colorful Adventures" is in the toNoodle gallery just waiting for your vote.

The winners will be determined by visitors to the toNoodle site voting for their favorite. Please click HERE to vote for my kit, "Colorful Adventures". You need to click the radio button next to the name of my kit and then click the "Vote For Your Favorite" button at the bottom of the page. You can only vote once and you don't need to be a member/signed in to vote.
What will the winners receive you ask...The winners will not only get free membership to toNoodle, but will also be offered an apprentice designer position with A Cherry On Top.

Please vote soon! The voting ends March 31, 2009 and the winners will be notified the first week of April.

After you vote, take a minute to check out toNoodle. ToNoodle.com is a membership website with 134 video tutorials on how to digital scrapbook using Adobe Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS3. Subscribers can purchase a one month trial membership for $5.95. I tried a few of their free tutorials and am very impressed with the content and quality. I even learned a few new things!

By the way...the original exciting news has nothing to do with a baby or a move back to Pennsylvania (sorry Mom and Dad)! I expect that I will be able to reveal the original news next week.

Celebrate!

Thanks so much to so many of you for the encouraging and kind words in your comments and emails after my last post. This week has been so much better and I even have some exciting news that I'm going to be able to share soon (before the end of this month)! I am busy getting ready to share my big news, so blog postings may be even more sporadic than they already are!

If you're a digital scrapbooker, you can pick up the above chipboard embellishment over at my Caffeine Created Designs blog.

A Rough Week

It was a rough week here at the House o’ Glamour… no need to rehash the details. Even though it was a rough one, here are a few things I recorded in my gratitude journal.

I am thankful…
- for the amazing women in my Bible study group who came to my rescue with prayer when I needed it most.
- that I have reconnected with my friend who encourages me to dig deeper in my relationship with God and to lay everything before Him.
- for an awesome God who protected me and Mia on Wednesday afternoon.
- for my husband.
- that I have been persistent. It is starting to pay off!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Find the good

--And praise it.

-Alex Haley

Naps and Laundry

I personally would prefer to participate in the former rather than the latter...

But, that's not really what this post is about. I just have a few random photos on my camera that need posting, so here they are!

Obviously, Mia's playdate with Meisey wiped her out...On our way home, we stopped at Wally World to get what we needed for the project involved in the next set of photos and she crashed in the cart! Poor little thing...her head was bobbing all over the place when we went over the bumpy sidewalk outside, but she never woke up!

When was the last time that you got excited about sorting laundry? Yea, me too!

I got tired of having to pull apart a wadded up ball of pants, underpants and socks when I sort the girls clothing, so I decided to get them involved. My hope is that they will be concerned with making sure each piece gets in the right bag and as a result those wadded up balls of clothing won't make it to the laundry room. Wish me luck! I may be totally delusional, but it's worth a try! So, we had a laundry sorting tutorial yesterday. They had a blast! I hope that their enthusiasm for sorting laundry continues into their teenage years. Yea, I know...but a mom can't be hopeful, right?!

A bit of laundry sorting cuteness...

Seriously. Could they be any cuter?

Recent Happenings at the House o' Glamour

Tuesday

It's a normal Tuesday evening. I give Mia a bath and blow dry her hair. While she is putting on her jammies I go into the game room to chat with Emily. I walk around the back of the sofa where the book cases are and see this...
Yes, that would be Mia's hair! After lots of tears and conversation (I didn't yell even though I wanted to), she told Chuck that she just wanted to look pretty. The worst part (or quite possibly the best part) is that I didn't notice it when I dried her hair! She sort of gave herself layers instead of taking a chunk out of the side or the front.


After the girls get settled in bed, Chuck and I were watching TV. The local news kept popping in to give updates about the line of storms headed our way. At around 9:30 the front line of the storm hits and we go to get the girls out of bed. They're talking about upper level rotation and a tornado just hit Oklahoma earlier in the day. so I wanted the girls downstairs. We usually keep the girls in our room during bad storms unless the sirens go off. Just as we get to the bottom of the steps, we hear the siren, so we head for the closet. Chuck continues to watch the news to keep up to date on what is on top of us while the girls and I hang out in the closet. And, this is how cozy we are in the closet...
Both of them slept through the whole thing. Thankfully, we were out in about 15 minutes and didn't experience any damage. Mia was sitting on my lap, so it was kind of hard to get this photo!


Wednesday
Our sweet four-legged daughter spent the day at the vet to get her teeth cleaned. She had a rough time recovering from the anesthesia this time. She staggered when she walked and was really loopy when Chuck brought her home. She usually hangs out in the kitchen with me while I cook dinner, but she could barely stand up, so we brought her bed into the middle of the kitchen.
I sat down with her after dinner and she put her bandaged leg (from the IV) up on my leg, so I could give her some lovin'. She's better today, but still slightly loopy. I guess just like us, she's getting older and it takes a little longer to recover.

Okay. If you're a man, you can stop reading here. Actually, if you're a man maybe you should continue reading so you know the torture that women endure...

I had my annual exam yesterday...yeah, that one. Anyhow. They have a new procedure called the Hal0 Breast Pap that can detect abnormal cells in breast tissue that may warrant closer monitoring for breast cancer. I think that medical technology is just awesome, so why not! I don't know where my head was because I never thought to ask exactly how they get cells out of your breast. Well. Let me tell you! The give you two cups to hold over each breast. The cups are attached to what can only be described as an over zealous vacuum cleaner. It starts by getting a little warm and you think, oh this is nice...but then, it starts to pummel your breast in an attempt to suction fluid from your n1pple. Oh! Holy cow! They send the fluid off and in 48 hours have the results. The nurse performing the procedure was really nice and we were cracking jokes the whole time (5 minutes), but still...Ouch! BTW, I still need to go for a mammogram. Swell! Just thought I would share a little more about this procedure that may not be fully disclosed when you sign up. I still think that it's pretty awesome to have this medical technology available to us, but there has to be a better way!