I'm Back!!! My Personal Update

Greetings my friends. I want to begin by explaining why I've been MIA for so long and give you an update on all that's been going on in my life.  I flew home to Nevada for my baby brother's HS Graduation on June 1st. 3 day's later, my Mom began having sharp chest pains so intense, I insisted that we get her to her Doctor who immediately determined that she had a large blood clot in her right arm and sent us straight to the emergency room.  Within a half hour, she was diagnosed with Pulmonary Embolism in both lungs--a result of the blood clot in her arm.  Both lower lungs were collapsed and she was clotting at a rate so high, the Pulmonary specialist said she was lucky to be alive.  She was admitted into the Telemetry unit for 4 days and put on heavy anti-coagulant medications and pain medications. I spent every hour by her side. During this time, my Dad who works out of town M-F, had a minor Heart Attack, most likely due to stress and was in the hospital as well! He is ok and will have a surgical procedure this month to correct the damage to his heart. My Mom was finally released on HomeCare where a nurse comes to take her blood every other day to determine her INR level (# at which one's blood clots). She was and still is on strict home care instructions. Because of the dangerous, yet neccesary blood thinning meds she's on, she cannot shave with a razor, use a sharp knive in any way, exert herself for more than 10 minutes, eat leafy greens....the list goes on. She isn't able to resume work as she is a caregiver to a 170 lb special needs man, and she cannot do any heavy lifting or cleaning. She also cares for my eldery Grandmother and handicapped Uncle who live a block away. Needless to say, I spent the next 4 weeks being my Mom's (and family's) primary caretaker. Doctors appointments, keeping my Mom's medications, charts and medical correspondance organized, busy days, sleepless nights and praying was my life in a nutshell over the past 5 weeks.  Unfortunately, my "normal" life was put on hold--but I wouldn't have it any other way. My Mom is my life, my angel and my best friend.  She has always been there for me and this was my time to be there for her. 
UPDATE is my Mom is still recovering as blood clots take 3-6+ months to completely dissolve and she will most likely have to take Coumedin daily for the rest of her life. However, she is doing better each day and continuing to recover at a steady rate. I'm back home in Seattle and settling into my regular routine, but my crafty mojo doesn't seem to be back in full swing just yet.  On a more happy note, I did make 1 card for my sister-in-laws new baby Charlotte, who will be arriving this week : ) I can't wait--babies bring such joy to our lives and will surely help me out of my funk. Unfortunately it seems that Blogger no longer allows photos so I'm not sure what I'll be doing with my crafty blog. I certainly don't want to lose my followers nor begin a new blog, but I may have to. Anybody have suggestions? Let me know please! And I wish you all a most wonderful, blessed weekend. xoxo

The Scrapbooking Queen June Stamp Release and Blog Hop Day 2- Royal Garden!

Happy Sunday! if you are coming from Julie's Blog then you are in the right place! Today is The Scrapbooking Queen's Stamp Release and Blog Hop featuring...........

ROYAL GARDEN

Thanks so much for visiting! Be sure to comment on all the Royal Court designers blogs for your chance to win prizes! Your next stop on the hop is BARBARA!

The Scrapbooking Queen June Stamp Release and Blog Hop!

Happy Saturday friends! Oh boy, am I excited! Welcome to The Scrapbooking Queen's June Stamp Release and Blog Hop! This is my very first blog hop since joining the royal court dt and I am thrilled to showcase some of this month's brand new stamps from The Scrapbooking Queen!
If you're visiting me today just because, thank you! If you're joining me from JULIE'S  BLOG, you are in the right place! If you would like to join in a super awesome blog hop with us for The Scrapbooking Queen, START HERE.

Today's stamp release feature is............

ROYAL WEDDING

What a beautiful and versatile sentiment set this is! It's perfect for much more than weddings--think Valentine's Day, Anniversary, Friendship or just general I love you cards!

Look at The Queen's brand new Royal Jewels and one of the sentiments from Royal Wedding

Next up on the hop is BARBARA!

The Scrapbooking Queen's Royal Digi Challenge #9 "Father's Day"

Happy Memorial Day!

It's time for The Scrapbooking Queen's Royal Digi Challenge #9 and we want you to join us!

The Queen's Royal Digi Challenge will be the last MONDAY of the month and this months theme is FATHER'S DAY so create a card using a digi image and make sure it all about the great Dad's and men in your life! 

Here are some rules for winning our wonderful Sponsor Blog Candy...

1} please become a follower of The Scrapbooking Queen's Challenge Blog

This will allow you to keep up with other great things happening at the Castle...we have many wonderful

sponsors who love for you to check out their site too...without them we not have all these awesome images!

I made a sweet card for Dad using TSQ The King's Birthday Sentiment Stamp Set and this adorable digi from one of our fantastic sponsors, Pixie Dust Studios.

Now it's your turn! Make a Father's Day card or project and link it up HERE

You may enter more than one project, but each project MUST be a new creation (no back posts) and MUST be linked directly to your project post NOT a general link to your entire blog. Please include a link back to The Scrapbooking Queen inviting others to play along too.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Make it a digi day!

The Scrapbooking Queen Saturday Feature!

Hello my friends! I hope you Memorial Day weekend is off to a wonderful start! Today I have the honor of sharing a couple projects I made for TSQ's Royal Court featuring The Scrapbooking Queen's most fabulous sentiment stamp sets, yaya!! In addition, I got to play with some of the best digi images on the planet from Pixie Dust Studio and Bugaboo Stamps!
A fun card for or from any boy--especially those who love fishing! The Scrapbooking Queen's "Have a wonderful day!" sentiment is perfect for just about any occasion you can think of! And isn't this image from Pixie Dust Studio darling (fun to color too!)

Sentiment from TSQ "The Queen's Birthday" stamp set

And just so you can see how versatile The Scrapbooking Queen's sentiment stamp sets are, I made a totally different card using the exact same sentiment from "The Queen's Birthday" stamp set and The Queen's Enchanting Eight Twine Assortment! Adorable Americana digi image from Bugaboo Stamps!

I'm entering this project for:

 Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog "Moon and Stars" challenge

Party Time Tuesdays Challenge #69- Vintage or Shabby Chic

Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge Blog "Show A Summer Holiday"

I'm linking up both projects to Sunday's Are Lovely Link Party 9 (Jaihart)

Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

Fabulous Freebie Friday with Sassy Studio Designs!

For Today's COOKING WITH CRICUT Blogaversay Celebration CLICK HERE!

Hey y'all! Just wanna remind you of this week's Sassy Studio Design's Fabulous Freebie Friday challenge over at PaperCraftPlanet. Look at Sandra's Graduation image--isn't she marvelous! You have 24 hours to grab her for FREE and make sure to join in the SSD challenge too cus you know you wanna win your choice of 2 images from the Sassy Studio Designs shoppe!

Here's the rules:

Today we are sharing "Sandra's Graduation". She is perfect for all those graduations you may still have to attend. Our challenge for this fortnight is "Celebrations"! To play along all you need to do is create a project - using any of our SSD images - for one of life's many celebrations. Think wedding, new baby, birthday, graduation... You get the idea! Be sure to grab your freebie (it's an attachment below), and we hope you'll play along with this challenge!!

■You MUST use a Sassy Studio Designs image
■A bonus entry will be given to anyone who uses either this week's or next week's freebie image
■You MUST create a project based on the current challenge
■You have until midnight EDT on June 7th to upload your creation here, under this discussion, on PCP
■You may enter as often as you wish during the two week period
■The prize is two Sassy Studio Designs images of the winner's choice

Get your Sandra's Graduation Freebie Now!

Linking up this project for Sunday's Are Lovely Link Party 9 (Jaihart)

Entering this project for: The Poodles Parlour MONOCHROMATIC Challenge

CWC/PCW Blogaversary Celebration Day 5- "Ruffles and Bows!"

Happy Friday friends! Thanks for visiting and letting me share my projects for our Cooking With Cricut/Paper Crafting World celebration all week! It's been my honor and pleasure to be able to do so! Today marks another fun-filled day with yummy blog candy, giveaways and freebies! Just stop by the Cooking With Cricut Blog for all the deets and to see the design teams project for today's theme, which is just as girly as can be, "Ruffles and Bows!"

I made a cute little dish towel with cherries, ruffles and bows

I ironed heat-n-bond onto my fabric qaurter flats, then cut the cherries from Paisley Cartridge

Ivory velvet and organza ruffled trim from Prima Marketing (other ribbon from Offray)

Linking up this project for Sunday's Are Lovely Link Party 9 (Jaihart)

Have a wonderful day!