Hello Wednesday -- My Last Elle's Studio Layout

This is bittersweet, it'll be my last Elle's Studio layout for the Design Team.  What a wonderful time I've had working with Elle and the whole team. This has been a simply amazing experience and one that has really stretched me in a lot of ways.  

But, I'm also exited for what is next!  Here's to new avenues of creativity!!!

This was mainly using Elle's Studio and the Studio Calico So Cal kit, but I also included a number of other goodies that were just around and waiting to be used.

I'm still madly in love with the wood-grain card-stock.  Can you tell?  I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever use standard card-stock again??  And can I say, while I have your attention, that I really really think that Tim Holtz needs to make a long arm version of his Tiny Attacher.  Just sayin'.

I think that wood-grain cameras are a must have.  You can easily include them on any layout that has a photo.  Ha!

I edged each photo with one of the Prima Chalk inks.  They are so easy to use and to keep the ink only where you want it.

I hope you make sure and check out the whole DT gallery over at Elle's this month.  All of these girls have given their last hurrah and we should see a new team very soon.

And don't forget that there is still time to enter the drawing over on the The Lily Pad for some goodies from my shop!

And now, a bit more story.

By this time in my life, mama and I were the only two in the house.  My sister ran away from home just before my father left.  She never returned to live with us, but she was safe with our pastor and his family.  My brother turned 18 when I was nine and moved out on his own as well.  So, it was just the two of us.

We lived in a way that I was very ashamed of.  We owned the mobile home we lived in and the land it sat on, but there was no one to care properly for things and my mother didn't seem to have the heart or the skills to do it.  It wasn't long before things began to break down.  The insulation began to unravel from under the house and a family of opossums moved in.  As with many homes in Florida, it was also infested with very large cockroaches as well.

(This is a photo of me at about 8 yrs in front of our mobile home, ca 1980)

They'd join us inside the house at night, terrorizing my mother and I. She didn't know how to get rid of them or the opossums.  But after a while, she devised a plan for the offending marsupials.  She'd trap them in the plastic trash can and pour boiling water over them.  Horrifying!  I felt terrible for the poor squirming animals but at the same time, I lived in constant fear that they would come into my bed at night and bite me.

It wasn't long before they got smart and chewed a hole in the bottom of that trash can so mother had no way to kill them any more.  After than, they just kept multiplying.  Once, there was a large one in my bedroom.  I was utterly terrified. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find, which happened to be a baseball bat and beat that poor possum to death right there in my room.  I can still feel the hysteria that claimed my whole self as I 'defended' my space.

My mother didn't have many marketable skills.  She'd been a secretary in the 50's and  60's but for some reason, she never went back to that line of work after my father left.  She'd try for odd jobs here and there, cleaning house, working in a nursery (that competed with my father's of course) or caring for elderly people in their homes. 

However, due to her mental illness, she was unable to keep anything for very long.  The result was that we lived on a very tight budget.  My mother was well equipped to deal with that for the most part as, in spite of her issues, she was extremely frugal with our money.  

I never starved, but there were times that we had to rely on the generosity of our church family.  It happened now and again that a bag of groceries or an envelope with cash would show up unexpectedly at just the right times.  We ate endless TV dinners and hot dogs as they were the things we could afford. One thing in my life remained constant, my mother was a woman of deep, deep faith and always believed that God would provide for us.  

How that worked together with mental illness I will never understand. But my mother prayed hard and read her bible and begged God to care for her children.  Yes, she was also abusive, but I believe her prayers were heartfelt.  I think that she was so trapped inside her sick mind that she could no sooner treat us as she should than she could fly.

Our basic needs were always met but we often went without comforts.  In the summer, we spent most of our time without air-conditioning, but we did have fans.  In winter, the heaters went on just for a while when we first got out of bed in the morning.  Mama bought clothes in resale shops and tracked down hand-me-downs from friends.  We didn't ever buy extras, like school photos or gifts or candy.  There just wasn't any money for that.  And we NEVER went anywhere we didn't absolutely have too.  Mama would call driving any place 'gassin'.  And that meant spending money which we didn't have. 

I was never able to participate in extra-curricular activities because it would cost too much for the fees, uniforms and gas.  Our entertainment was mainly to spend time with friends when they were willing and watch TV in the evenings on our 13" black and white TV.

I was often embarrassed of my mother's willingness to 'mooch' off of the generosity of folks in the church.  Our church was in the next town and about 15 miles away. Since we were good Pentecostals, we always went for all the Sunday services. Mama would arrange with someone in the church for us to spend the middle of the day in their homes.  They'd feed us lunch and we'd just hang around and chat.

Mostly, it was older single women which meant I was bored to tears, but it's the way it was.

But my mama had faith.

I, also, believed what I heard on Sunday mornings.  Yes, God had created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.  Yes, Jesus had been sent to be born of a virgin, to do miracles and then to die on a cross for my sins.  Yes, I accepted that free gift gladly and looked forward to going to heaven.  My faith was simple and childlike.  

And so, because of that, I prayed.  I prayed for all the broken things I was aware of in my family.  Mainly, that amounted to wanting my sister and my daddy to come home and make us a family again.  I prayed that the other kids I went to school and church with would like me.  I prayed that my mama wouldn't be sick in her mind.

How many nights I went to sleep crying and praying after my daddy left I couldn't count.  But one thing I can tell you for sure, God heard my prayers and His heart broke for me.  He was already working out His plan for me.  He was already determining how He would show it to me, how He would restore the broken years.  I couldn't have begun to understand, but He was and IS faithful to that lonely, sad little girl who truly was crying out to Him for mercy.

Have a wonderful day and I'll see you all tomorrow.

Hello Tuesday -- The Cat is Bored, Can you Tell?

This is George.......George is bored..........George would like to take a nap.......NOT a photo.

My poor kitty was just not in the mood to cooperate with my photo taking efforts.  All I wanted was to record his amazing handsomeness but he simply couldn't bring himself to pose.

I'm falling in love with the new 'Notes' stamp from Elle's Studio.  The only thing that would make it better is a punch to match.

I must admit that I was pretty proud of my 'check box' style journaling.  Yep, made me grin.  My hubs just laughed at me and my proud self.

And have you tried coloring those gorgeous little Studio Calico wood veneer birds???  Makes me sooo happy.  I am going to have to color a whole flock of them now. I love them sooo.

About me.......

Well, before I share story, I have to tell you that I have some happy news that I can't wait, but must wait, to share with you. Two bits actually and, well, I can hardly wait........and it's pretty happy!  Just sayin.  Had to let a little something out or I may have burst.

Ok, story.....

Celia and I had an interesting relationship, as I shared yesterday.  But, as with everything, there was a lot of good as well.  The best things had to do with exploring the woods near our homes.  In the early 80's, kids still played out of doors without adult supervision.  We used to travel miles from home on our bikes or on foot during the summer.

We both lived in wooded areas, so that was a favorite haunt.  One of the unique things about the state of Florida is that there are a variety of different types of terrain.  Celia lived on the outskirts of Crystal River.  A lot of the land there is marshy, followed by tropical and junglesque (is that a word??), followed by pine forest.

In Homosassa Springs, the land falls more toward the pine forest, bordered by Live Oak and Oak forest and lots and lots of sugar sand.

Both of those options provided lots of places to explore.  Thickets of small trees became forts and hide-outs.     I'm not sure I can count the number of snakes we nearly stepped in, or the number of sink-holes that could have swallowed us.  Or the sugar sand pits that could have covered us.  Yes, we ran into angry wild boars, angry alligators and every kind of poisonous bug and plant you can imagine.

Mother's today would have heart failure at the things we did.

I can remember climbing to the top of what must have been a forty foot pine tree to a hunter's lookout on more than one occasion.  (I don't believe we mentioned that to Mother (Celia's mom) Nor did we mention that it was rickety and old and very ready to fall down)

Or how about the times we got lost right before dark and simply plowed our way through tangles of briars and thickets.  I had a 'feel' for direction and as long as we were desperate enough and I was crying enough, my inner homing device would kick in and we'd end up back at home, if a little scratched and bloody.

And then there was the old burnt down house. Well, it wasn't burned all the way down, the second floor was still there, and yes, we played in it.  And 'The Pit' which was an old abandoned gravel pit.  They'd abandoned it because it developed sink holes that were extremely deep and began with narrow holes on the grounds surface.  At least one child was killed from falling in one of those shafts, but it was still our playground.

Good times.

But as all good things seem to come to an end, our adventures did too.  This may be the most frightening of all of my experiences and the one that left the most identifiable and lasting mark for me.

One day, Celia and I were riding bikes.  We'd decided we wanted to explore a new road we'd seen while riding with her parents.  We headed out of her neighborhood, Celia in the lead, and onto Hwy 44.  As we were turning left onto the two lane road, I noticed a rather loud older car turn into Celia's street.  It was a  vague sort of 'noticing'.

We continued on our way, turning right down the street we'd intended to explore.  It was rather a dark road, having very tall trees on either side and the feeling of a very dense avenue.  The surrounding land was thick jungle.  We had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile when I heard a loud engine behind us.  I turned and saw the same older model, loud vehicle I'd seen turning into her street just minutes before.

Somehow, I knew that car was coming for us.

It so happened that there was a garden party going on at a home just then and so we stopped in front of it.  Lots of people were about and the offending car zoomed by.  But Celia and I were scared now.  Not knowing what was best, we made a snap decision to head back home.

We pedaled hard for home and I would guess we'd been en route about 2 minutes when we heard the car again.  My heart is pounding even now as I type out these words.  The sound of that car roaring up behind us was like the screeching of a crazed wild-cat to our frightened hearts.

We turned onto the highway and pedaled harder still!  Just as Celia came to her street, the car swerved to a stop directly in front of her! The driver leapt from his side of the car, ran around the car and ripped Celia from her bike!

Only the day before she'd made a weapon of sorts for herself out a thin piece of metal.  It was a thin metal dowel which she'd sharpened on the end.  She was trying to use it to protect herself but the perpetrator easily snatched it from her hands and threw it to the side.  He dragged her off of her bike and pitched her savagely into the car, breathing threats all the while.

I was 200 yards back, having stopped my bike in front of a small, lonely salon.  There I stood, rooted to the spot screaming and crying and watching helplessly as he sped away.

Gathering my wits about me, I frantically waved down the next car that came by and begged them to chase him, telling the cars occupants what had occurred.  They asked me to join them in their car, but of course, I would not.  (I am still grateful for their understanding and quick response.)

The salon proprietor rushed out to see what was the matter and again, I reported what had happened.  The police were called and soon arrived on the scene.  They questioned me again and again as to what had happened and I did my best to relay what had happened.

The car I'd flagged down had indeed, followed the perp, and obtained his license plate number, a better description of the vehicle and an idea of his direction and had then stopped to call the police and report on those items.

Within two hours, the police apprehended the man, as he returned down the same road he'd abducted Celia on.  She was still in the car and he had promised her that he'd return her to her home.  But the damage had already been done. He'd raped her, threatened her life and had scarred us both forever.

In the aftermath, we were questioned by police in a manner that demonstrated that, for their part, they thought we were somehow inviting the attack.  I distinctly remember feeling like I'd been accused of trying to prostitute myself.  An 11 year old on a bicycle.  It was a rude awakening.

Celia never wanted to talk about what had happened.  Her shame was complete and I was instructed that I could not share about what had happened at school in any way.

Any needs I had were completely ignored.  No counseling for trauma was offered.  But more trauma was delivered in the form of having to testify to what had happened while being questioned by an unsympathetic attorney.  I still marvel that we, mere children, were somehow treated as though we were the criminals.

It was especially alarming since we later learned that the police had already been on the look out for this man who've tried to accost two other women that same afternoon.  Why they seemed to be accusing us of causing  him to come after us is still a mystery to me.

When I tried to talk to my father about the experience, he advised me to be quiet about it. 'Why are you upset anyway?' he asked.  'You aren't the one who was kidnapped and raped.'  And that was the end of it.

But it wasn't the end for me.

For 25 years afterward, I would never walk anywhere alone again, never get on a bicycle again.  Always, always be looking over my shoulder, terrified of another attack.  I would wonder how it was that I had escaped, and somewhere in my distorted thinking, even wonder yet again if something were disgusting about me that would keep him from taking me instead.

I'll tell you later on how I finally found freedom from that suffocating fear.

Hello Friday --- Layout to Share

I am sad to have made my last three projects as part of the Elle's Studio Design team.  What a huge load of fun it has been to work with Elle, Jenni and the whole team.

The new Design Team gallery is up over at Elle's Studio so I hope you'll take a peek and see what amazing projects all the ladies have created to inspire you this month. Elle outdid herself with some fabulous new Summer themed goodies which I hope you have a chance to pick up.  Lovin' the colors.

I'll feature my favorite project I did this month.  It so happens that it is about me, but that's not why I like it so well. It's the colors.  I didn't expect to like them, but I really really do.

By the way, that tag  you see with the word Today.......consider that a sneak all it's own........

Oh, and you may want to take a peek at Lily Bee Design today too, I've got a post up over there as well!

As for my story today,  I don't think I have time to go into it.  I will take just a wee break from sharing all the details and express that the hurts have caused a great deal of scarring.  There are so many of those things that I still am dealing with, sorting out, reacting to and trying to learn not to react from today.

I am still angry and frustrated and working through it all.  I have hope that it will be resolved inside of me at some point.  It may not be till I reach heaven but I know it will happen.  I am thankful for grace, and for time (I think) and for people who love and support me.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a beautiful weekend.

Hello Tuesday -- Sneak # 2 and a Winner

Hiya friends!  How is your Tuesday shaping up?!  I've got a busy busy day today.  We are blessed to have Sarah and Caleb Coult with us last night and this morning.  We'll be shipping them off to California but we have the hope of getting them back again soon!  They're bringing news of Hunter who's been hangin' in Mexico for a bit.
I also have the chance to share a winner with all of you!  Woot!  Congrats go out to Scrap2010 who said 'My fav are the stamps'!  Make sure you get me your info so I can get you your prize!
And, I have another sneak to share with you.  I'm pretty excited for this one because it is actually two sneaks in one! Can you guess what the other sneak is????  Let me know what you think it is in the comments!

And on to a bit more of my story.  I almost feel like I need to apologize for sharing it.  So many of your have left such sweet comments and sorrowful sentiments.  It is a hard story, but there is also hope.  I'll just warn you now that the first 18 years of my life didn't hold a lot of that hope but the last 21 have been soooo much more than I could have hoped for.  Perhaps it is that very contrast that allows me to see that so clearly.
I'll be honest, I've almost been shocked at how difficult my own story sounds when written down.  Believe me, there were lots of good times too.  It is not as if every moment was dramatic, but it does seem to be true that the drama in a persons life really does shape the human spirit.  
That said, there was more pain that molded a very young Ursula.  
Around the time that my mother was committed to the hospital for those two weeks, I began spending more and more time at my father's nursery.  He's got quite the green thumb and his dream had always been to own his own nursery.  Hence, I had this sort of jungle like plot of land that I got to spend a lot of time in.
I won't say it was all fun and games there (dad sometimes put me to work, ugh! ;)).  But there were a lot of experiences connected to that which I wouldn't trade.  The earth was rich and dark and I'd often dig earthworms so I could go fishing.  The trees were tall and strong and hung with vines that I used to play 'Tarzan' with.  Swinging from a vine was a great past-time, if not also a great blister maker.
Sugar cane grew on the property and I loved it when dad would cut me off a piece and I could gnaw on it. The convenience store was just down the street and if I collected enough soda bottles, I could turn them in and buy a pack of Hubba Bubba!  I also made one of my favorite childhood friends there, Mandy.
Mandy was the daughter of the Nursery's property owner, John Holmes.  She was two years younger than me and in trouble more often than not, but when she wasn't, we had a great time together riding bikes, playing house, swimming in her kiddie pool and all the kinds of things kids do together.
Unfortunately, Mandy wasn't a well cared for child either.  She regularly had bruises all over her body from her father's beatings.  I don't know what all kind of treatment she received but I do remember that there was a thick leather strap that was played a wicked part in her family drama.  It happened quite often that I'd knock on the time worn screen door and be informed that Mandy was 'in trouble' and was not allowed to play.  All the windows were blacked out so I never saw hide nor hair of her during those times.
I did however, hear a lot of yelling and carrying on from that side of the property.
When she did appear again, she never made a peep about what had happened.  I wonder now if she was beaten so bad that she was unpresentable and that was the reason she wasn't seen for days.
At any rate, Mandy and I, both being children in need of love and affection were a prime target for a creeper from down the street known to us only as 'Pop'.  Pop had a home, but to look at him, you'd think he was homeless.  He was around 50 if memory serves and would often come and talk to us, offering the proverbial candy that you always here children are warned off of.  
Where I grew up, there were no fences around yards and anyone could walk into your yard at any time.  Pop regularly sauntered into the Holmes' yard.  He was well known to the family and presumably was considered harmless.  Unfortunately, he had an unnatural appetite for young girls bodies and that was what we came to know him for.
It was two years before I told anyone what was happening.  It was two years before I realized that I should.  I can't honestly say what caused me to ask for help.  But I do remember clearly going to my dad and telling him about what Pop had done to me and what my sister had done.
More on that later.
Have a beautiful Tuesday.  

                                                          

Hello Monday -- A Sneak, a Peek into life and story

Hey friends!  Hope you had a great week. We've been busier than a one legged man in a butt kickin' contest!  Here we are at a party recently.  Love that man of mine!  It is funny though how all of my photos of the two of us these days are taken at arms length.  Good thing that is in vogue.

Here is a little sneak of one of my projects I just finished for the Elle's Studio Gallery coming up.  I'm pulling the winner for my blog today so make sure you name is in the hate on this post.

This week is looking like it will be staggeringly busy just like last week so we shall see how many times I get to visit with you all.  I keep thinking things will slow down but they never seem to.  I did want to get back to sharing my story though so here is another installment.

I know that there are life changing events in everyone's lives but sometimes I get to feeling like I've had more than my fair share.  On the other hand, the kinds of 'life changing' experiences I've had has, I believe, made me more useful to others in the long run.  And look, I have interesting stories to tell don't I!?

This particular event took place the summer I was seven years old.  My mother's only living sister, Dorothy, had come all the way across the big pond from Britain to visit our little home in the sticks of Florida.  It was the first, and only such visit she ever made that I am aware of.

Dorothy was a number of years younger than my mother, having been born to my grandmother and her second husband sometime after the divorce between herself and my grandfather.  My mother had three other siblings younger than herself that were full siblings so my guess is that Dorothy was at least 7 years younger than my mother.

For myself, I wasn't a big fan of Dorothy right off the top.  They gave her my bed and she wasn't very thankful for my sacrifice that I could discern.  She also wasn't very generous with the candy she'd packed in her valise and in the eyes of a seven year old, that is a definite black mark on a person's character.

During our visit, we'd planned to all make the trek to Orlando to introduce Dorothy to Walt Disney World.  At that point, maybe 3 days into the visit, I had no knowledge of there having been any tension at all.

We spent the whole day joyfully traipsing from one fabulous ride to another and having a generally wonderful time.  In the early evening, however, we made the decision to visit the Haunted Mansion.  Now, if you've been to the haunted house, you know that there is a point in the ride when you see yourself in a mirror and there are ghosts seated with you in the car.  This, of course, happened in our cars as well as everyone else's.

The trouble came when my mother looked into the mirror and the ghost she saw looked exactly like her own mother.  She began to scream the most piercing scream I can recall ever having heard.  I was not in the same car with her and didn't understand what was happening.  All I knew was that my mother was very very scared.  My auntie tried to reassure me but it was very distressing to me.

My father was unable to calm my mother at all.  Her mother was still living in England and so I am guessing that my mother believed her to have died and showed herself there in the Haunted Mansion.  We had no choice but to leave Disney World immediately and get into the two cars we'd brought and drive home as quickly as possible.  It was a 2 hour drive normally.  I don't know how fast we made it, but I'm guessing it was less than 2 hours.

I wasn't in the same car with my mother, but rode with my older brother and sister.  My father and aunt reported that my mother continued her screaming all the way home.  She had utterly lost all sense of reality and soundness of mind.

Once we reached home, my father called our pastor to come and retrieve us.  At sometime near midnight, they arrived at our home.  My mother was still quite out of her mind and burst out of her bedroom completely naked and ran into the arms of Pastor Mike.  I don't remember what happened next, but I do remember that I was utterly mortified.

We stayed with the Reeves family for about 2 weeks while my mother stayed in the mental hospital and my dad traveled often to see her.  My aunt Dorothy repaired to a hotel near the hospital but didn't end up seeing my mother again as her presence agitated my mother no end.  Mother had accused Dorothy of stealing her husband.  Dorothy did NOT want to see Mother after that.

We had one more dinner with Dorothy at The Kapok Tree Inn.  I recall it because it was a remarkable location to a child.  Dorothy was very angry with Mother for her behavior toward and her accusations.  What is interesting is that in hindsight, I begin to wonder if my mother was right about my aunt making moves on my father, or vice versa.  I'll not ever know I guess but my father has since proven himself to be a philanderer.

It was after that long stay in the mental hospital that my mother was officially diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia.  She was very heavily sedated during her stay and certainly didn't seem herself when she did finally return home.  The prescription was to take meds daily and being therapy.  She refused both.

That started the proverbial ball rolling toward the demise of a family.

Hello Saturday -- Elle's Studio Summer Lovin' Blog Hop!!!

Welcome to the Elle's Studio Summer Lovin' Blog Hop! Summer is here and Elle's Studio has just released the perfect tags, stamps and workshop to document your summer this year!


Today, I get to giveaway this awesome workshop to one very lucky winner!

Summer Lovin' Mini Album Workshop

To enter to win, hop over to the Elle's Studio shop and pick out your favorite item from their new release. Then come back here and leave a comment letting me know which one you love the most!


A winner will be drawn on Monday, June 18th, so check back here to see if you won! Also, don't forget to continue on with the rest of the blog hop! There is a giveaway at every stop and I'd hate for you to miss out!

Elle's Studio 

Kim 

Kimberly 

Jenni

Meghann 

Steph 

Rahel

Ursula  You are Here!

Valerie 

Waleska 

And just in case you were wondering, I'll tell you that my favorite from the new goodies is hand's down, the WHOLE STINKIN LINE!  Ok, well, if I had to choose, it'd be two items, the Summer Lovin Tidbits and the Notes Tab Stamp.  Cause I just can't choose only one.

Hello Monday -- On Being Born

Happy Monday everyone!  You may have noticed that I'm back to my old site.  I'm afraid the Word Press site isn't going to work out so I hope you'll suffer through the issues that blogger has and stick around here.  I know there are some of you that have a tough time commenting and I am so sorry for that but I'm stuck with this for now.  Thanks for hanging out with me even if you can't leave your thoughts, I appreciate that you visit.  There is a link for my shop on this page now so make sure and check that out from time to time.

I thought I'd start today off with a layout to share.  Somehow, I haven't shared this one yet, don't know how it escaped the 'show and tell' but it did.

I have a very dear friend whose family is recently growing to include a most precious son.  Of course, that means I must take photos and photos, as you know, lead to layouts.  It's such fun to watch a family grow and change.  Here's a little 'welcome' for baby Jack!

This one was created using the Elle's Studio's kits from May, Everyday Moments and Here and Now.  Did you know they are on sale right now.  Snap them up while you still can!

I love the fun little button badges in the kit and that one piece of transparency really goes far.

I was super happy to find that my heart punch would go through the transparency!

So, back to my story.  I really don't know how many babies are brought into this world as a 'planned event'.  I can tell you that I was not one of that.  In itself, that doesn't mean so much really.  But I will say I'm thankful that I didn't end up aborted and that the infamous Roe v Wade was a year AFTER I came along.

My father always liked to tell me that he married my mother solely because of me.  Because he wanted me to have a dad.  I used to think that was so noble.  Now I think it's something of a joke.  I might even go so far as to suggest that his words were meant to convince him of that little bit of fiction rather than me.  If that sounds hurtful and mean I hope you'll indulge me for a bit.  As I've gotten to know my father over the last 40 years I've come to realize that noble is not part of his character.

My mom brought me into the world just in time on July 22nd, 1972.  The cord was wrapped firmly around my neck and I was decidedly blue upon arrival.  She delivered me on the gurney as they were wheeling her into the hospital.  She tried to tell them I was almost there but since they wouldn't listen, she had to show them.  Somehow, I wasn't any the worse for wear and it wasn't long before a hearty scream came roaring out.  (I'm still a little on the loud side.)

At that time, we lived in Crystal River, FL at a house just a few blocks from Hunter's Spring, which was the local spring fed swimming hole.  I can actually remember being around 1 yr old and walking down to the beach with my siblings.  I distinctly remember the feeling of the hot black pavement burning my tender feet and how I would hold my arms up to be held as we went.  Of course, my siblings hadn't thought about how my little feet would be affected so I toughened up those feet and just trotted along as best as a toddler could do.

By age two, we'd moved to Homosassa Springs, the next town over to a 5 acre plot where my parents began to establish a home for us in the middle of the woods.  It wasn't far from the waterfront, but the terrain sure was different.  Lots of oak trees and pine trees and a wonderful forested place for a child to explore.

We bought a small mobile home and installed it on the property and mom and dad really began in earnest to make it what they wanted.  Dad bought chickens and rabbits and pigs.  He put up pens and fencing and we raised a lot of our own food.  Some of my fondest memories are of helping my dad plant the one acre vegetable garden that we grew each year. (eating the vegetables was not my favorite memory.) They began growing a rose garden and putting in flower beds.  We kids were always around to lend a hand.  Our parents taught us how to work by making us work alongside them.

Everything must have seemed like it was going well at that time.  After my mother and father married, my mother was able to regain custody of my older brother and sister and so we were a family of five.  We were building a home, a family, a life.

More later, have a great Monday.

Precious

I've had a hard time scrapping about Maddie lately.  She's made some choices that have affected our family forever and have been painful.  Even so, we love her and we want her to KNOW that for certain.  

When people in our lives do things that hurt us it can sometimes be difficult to see the good that lies in them when their actions have long defined something in complete opposition to goodness. When that happens, I have to intentionally focus on what is good and right and excellent and lovely and praiseworthy.  It has to be a conscious decision.

For Madison, we want her to know that she's precious and loved and important and has place not because of what she does or how she looks or what she produces. She is loved because she is.  Because she is an intentionally designed creation of God and because as such she deserves, needs and even craves love.

Pray for her if you think of her as she is in a place of needing to face the difficult so she can find the beautiful and learn to celebrate that.

For this project, I played with the new Woodgrain Cardstock that Studio Calico is offering as a part of their add-ons now.  I love how it takes color and makes the grain show up so beautifully.  The page was created using the Studio Calico 35mm kit.

I gathered quite a few different Elle's Studio cards from some of the kits to pull this one together.  I'm particularly fond of that Polaroid frame above.

I both sprayed and painted the mists on with a brush.  For those I brushed, I added water to thin it down and get a bit more of a washed effect.

Oh, someone asked yesterday what font I used for the word 'clean'.  I believe it was 'Marketing Script'.  HTH

Hope you are having a fabulous day.

Mr. Clean.......well at least in these photos

This is a favorite in terms of recent projects. I think I really like the colors and textures in this one.  It's funny because I wouldn't say the photos are stunning but I was still able to tell the story I wanted to tell.  I think that is one of the reason's I like scrapping.  

You just take an ordinary activity like cleaning a room and show how it is important and really is something that shapes your daily life.

I combined the 35 mm kit and some great Elle's Studio goodies and my handy Silhouette SD to give this project the pop I wanted it to have.

Notice, I used both the positive and negative images of the word clean on my project, I just couldn't bear to throw the negative away.

I'm liking that there is a lot of color......and yet it's grey.

I love stitching!  LOVE! Did I mention that I love it???

It's been a busy time so I'm afraid I am quiet today but I hope you have a wonderful terrific fantastic day!

'A Love Story' Strikes again!

I interrupt this post to ask you to pray for my friend Marie's new daughter Emma.  Emma was born Saturday at 26 weeks.  She is 1lb 13 oz and has need of lots of care.  Her life is hanging in the balance.  Please keep her and her parent, Jim and Marie in your prayers as they fight for her life.  Thank you!

Ok, can I just tell you that I've been so excited to share this layout in particular with all of you!  I hope it's not bragging to say that I really love it!

Working exclusively with a kit is kind of new for me since Elle's Studio is my first time being on a paper design team.  But I am LOVING the challenge.

When I got this kit, I fell immediately in love but I also had to find ways to be innovative in order to achieve what I like to achieve in a layout.

I'm kind of a product junkie, meaning that I love to use a ton of different product on my pages.  But when you are working with a kit, you are limited to only those items. Given that, I had to step outside the normal box I live in and make it work.

The first thing that happened is that I fell in love with the stamp.  I knew right away that I wanted to stamp the design on the envelope and use a different color of embossing powder on each stamped design.  Of course, I didn't actually have an idea for the layout yet, but that is how I tend to work, sort of random.

Next, I fell in love with that multi-colored floral and thought it would be perfect for the flap of the envelope.  Sweet!



I decided that I needed to do a page about the love of my life, Jeremy, since this is 'A Love Story'. So I began building my page, knowing that I wanted to incorporate the decorated envelope, the black and red journaling card and another embossed stamp image.



I'm also having great fun with my Silhouette, but I really don't leave things alone so I had to adjust the ticket a bit to get it the way I wanted it.  I love it when designs like this allow me to put a contrasting paper behind the cut-design as I did with the ticket.  I added the word LOVE an it was a perfect fit.



And did you see those amazing handmade flowers?  Oh my, I am so in love with them.  I need more, MORE, Mooooorrre!  They were created as exclusives for this kit by Tara Anderson from 14 different fabrics.  Right up my alley!



Finally, I feel I must tell you that I simply had to enclose a little love note inside that darling envelope for my hubby.  (sorry girls, not sharing that one with you).  The only thing was, I wanted him to be able to see the note but I also wanted the envelope to be closed to show off the pretty decorations to best advantage. However, there weren't any buttons or brads in the kit.

What to do!?

I got out (for the first time ever, slap me later) my I-top Brad maker and covered one of those puppies in that luscious floral print. Then, I was able to tie the envelope closed with twine! I felt like a genius! LOL  It makes me so happy because now I know that I actually love this tool and I'll be using it way more often as a result!

I also used this punch to created the button from cardstock.  This may be another favorite tool.  (and I haven't really used it much before this either!)

Don't you love how this hobby challenges us to find new ways of doing things and to try something different!?

There are still a few kits left so you'd better run over to the shop and pick up yours before they are long gone.  The stamp is exclusive and so are the tags so you don't want to miss out!  And check out the blog for more amazing layouts from the other Elle's Studio Design Team members.

Have a great Monday, I'll see you tomorrow!

Thank you!

I just wanted to start by saying how all of you have blessed me with your enthusiastic response to my products.  I'm super excited with them and it makes my heart happy that you are as well.

Several of you asked when my shop would open and while these things are never exact, I am shooting for sometime toward the end of March.  I haven't yet settled on a platform for the shop. (if you are in the know about such things, please send me an email as I am in the dark and starting from scratch)

I'm a designer and business is not something I know a ton about so I've got lots to learn about taxes and packaging and all that fun stuff.  (so like I said, if you have insider information and don't mind sharing, I'm all ears!  Hint, hint!)

I can tell you that you are going to be excited for the next installment too.  And Moments isn't quite finished either so there will be some tweaks to that also.

For today, I'd like to share another layout.  I've been creating like a mad-woman for a few weeks and haven't been able to share so I'm really excited that I get to show you a bit more now.

First, this layout debuted on the Elle's Studio Blog yesterday and is made from the new 'A Love Story' kit in the shop.  It is such a fun kit.  There is an exclusive stamp set which I assure you, you DON'T want to miss.  Not only that but there are some yummy journaling and embellishment tags and some amazing fabric embellishments that are exclusive to the kit as well.  I could easily have continued making stuff from this kit.  So much fun!

Here tis:  1, 2, 3 Reasons 4 Loving You

The filmstrip is a Silhouette image as are the doilies, and the word 'loving'.





Loved playing with the twine in this kit.  To make the heart below, I glued a heart punched from the patterned paper in the kit onto the photo, then I ran a thin line of glue around that and glued the twine down.  Easy peesy!



And here is another bit of fun for you. This is my last week as the Challenge Maven on the Studio Calico Challenge forum.  For the month of January I've been issuing a challenge to the Layout A Week or LOAW girls.  This week's is one I'm super excited about.  You can see the challenge thread here.  (You really want to because it'll turn you on to another amazing scrapper who's work you must not miss.

So this was my take on the challenge.  You'll see a few more bits from the Moments collection in this one.





In the bit just above here, I love the little bow I tied between the thread ends.  It's hard to see, but that one detail made me smile big!







So now, why don't you give mixed media a try on your pages.  I have to admit that covering up my patterned paper and tape was hard, but I love the result.

Happy day!

So Much to Share today!

So, things are progressing in my corner and I have something I'm very very excited to share with you today.  It seems fitting that CHA is happening as I have my very own version of a CHA sneak to share with you right here.

I've been working on perfecting my process for getting my new button badges and die cuts produced.  There are still some tweaks to come but I'd like to unveil what is going to be the first of my collections for this Spring.  I'm calling it Moments.

Say hello to 'Moments', a collection of button badges and label die cuts by Ursula Schneider!





Colors don't always come out quite right in photos so here is a swatch of the palette so you can get a good feel for the colors.



I've created a layout to showcase what I came up with.  Is it wrong to say its one of my favorites in quite some time?  I'm really in love with the buttons and the color scheme.













I've got more excitement in the works so stay tuned for more news as it breaks!  (Squeal!!!)

Now, do head over to Elle's Studio blog to check out a layout I made for the new kit I showed you sneaks for yesterday.  I think you'll be excited to see it in use!  And Rahel Mehnig is also sharing a layout today.  You'd don't want to miss this!

I want to hear your thoughts on the new products coming out so make sure and share in the comments!  Tell me what is your favorite so far!  And feel free to put the word out!