Happy Easter

  

Easter is a time to enjoy all of your many blessings: 

Jesus, family, friends, and of course...chocolate molded into tasty bunnies!!

HAPPY EASTER!

HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

aka The Rebel Blogger

I Am A Graphic 45 ~ French Country Winner!

WOW, HOORAY, YAHOO....I am jumping for joy!

 I won this gorgeous prize!

First up we have a winner to announce for this week's blog contest! Chosen at random from this week's blog comments, the winner is...

-Cindy Wirl: "Gorgeous frame, this awesome giveaway would be perfect on my recipe box I plan on making for my sister,who happens to have chicken decor in her kitchen! Thanks for the chance to win!"

Congratulations, Cindy! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! This is the amazing French Country prize that Cindy won this week! We will have another marvelous blog contest on Monday so stay tuned for more chances to win some amazing Graphic 45 goodies!

I have been drooling over this French Country collection from Graphic 45 for quite some time. 

I knew it would be perfect for the recipe box that I want to create for my sister.

My plan was to scrimp, and save....scrimp, and save. 

Now I can save for OTHER projects I have in mind,

thanks to Graphic 45 and this awesome prize!

SENDING A BIG HUG AND THANK YOU TO GRAPHIC 45!

I can't wait to create!

  

Happy Crafting!

Hugs to you all!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Webster's Pages

Webster's Pages is having Giveaway Kind Of Day {Just Because} !

You can win one of these gorgeous folder & card sets below....

Here is a sample:

And this:

And there's more matching extras on hand for this awesome giveaway! 

Check out Webster's Pages blog for all the details and instructions.

Good Luck! 

&

Happy Crafting!

aka The Rebel Blogger

You Are Delightful & CutterPillar Pro Giveaway

I have been missing in action for a few days. The flu bug got the best of me and had me out of commission.

BUT....

I am back and feeling better (yeah!) with another creation of mine. 

I wanted to do a CAS on white cardstock with a just touch of color. 

So I added washi tape from my stash, that has been collecting dust! 

Recipe:

Hampton Arts ~ precut card

Inqueboutique ~ felt embellishments

Fiskars ~ stamp

Bellablvd ~ buttons

We R Memory Keepers ~ twine

Oh... and PS!

I ran across a fabulous giveaway at OH MY CRAFTS on Facebook.  The prize is a CutterPillar Pro!! 

It is the ultimate precision cutter and the blade never needs replaced! I could have so much fun with this! Lets see...matting would be a breeze, I could finish my niece's lapbook with ease!

Hey, that rhymes!

Go check them out. You can't win if you don't enter!!

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Spring Is In The Air FCCB #153 Challenge

Fantabulous Cricut challenge theme this week is 'Spring Is In The Air'. You are to use a kite or balloon on your project!  So here is my entry...

I could not decide which pattern from this paper pad to use for a balloon... I love them all! So I went with several balloons incorporating most of the patterns!

Supplies used:

Cricut Cartridge ~ Stretch Your Imagination 

Patterned Paper ~ Simple Stories Harvest Lane

Stamp ~ Fiskars Sentiments

BakersTwine ~ Memory Keepers Blue Lagoon 

Ink ~ Colorbox Chestnut Roan & Dune

Enjoy and happy crafting!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Cocoa Daisy February Stamp Winner ~ ME!

Wow, I am so excited! 

I am the winner of Cocoa Daisy's February Stamp Selection!
Thank You Emily at Cocoa Daisy for contacting me.

My very first time as a winner since I started my blog!

I can't wait for the stamps to arrive in the mail. I'm already thinking of what I can do with them!

Here is the link to their Facebook page Cocoa Daisy Facebook

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

Savor The Moment

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I know....this layout has not one thing to do with St Patty's day but I have been lazy the past week and trying to recuperate! 

This is another older layout from my scrapbooks. 

I love this picture of my granddaughter and hubby. She is the 'apple of Papa's eye'! 

The flourish was made with a Paper Pizazz stencil - Swirly Doodles. 

I tore some tan cardstock to make it appear like sand. 

I found the patterned paper in my stash that I thought resembles water.

I wish I could remember how I made the flowers....

Oh well !

Happy Crafting!

Have a great day!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Origami Star Box

Good Wednesday to you!

I made this box for my 'favorite' (a family joke) sister-in-law, JoAnn. Oh...and while I am on the subject of family, I want to mention my wonderful brother Glenn! 
He suggested that I do a blog post just about him and how wonderful a brother he is. 
Ha, ha, isn't he full of it?!! LOL

I made all the flowers out of paper, ribbon and a coffee filter! 
The double sided patterned paper is from Martha Stewart's Elegant paper pad.

I bought the hat pin from Christina Griffith's shop at card-making-magic.com. 
Talking about Christina, card-making-magic is 4 years old!
She is celebrating by giving away an awesome 6 set of Spectrum Noir Pens- a total of 72 pens!!
Visit her at flowersribbonsandpearls.blogspot.com 

Have a great day!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Thyroid Cancer ~ My Journey

This post has nothing to do with scrapbooking, card making, or paper crafts. I am posting this to journal my thoughts and feelings, my story about my cancer.

“Cancer is not a battle that we win or lose. It is not our fault or a sign of weakness. We are not responsible for our cancer outcomes. The crapshoot of cancer and recurrence can NOT be controlled. Celebrate yourself for each time you, despite all the trauma of cancer, treatment, and the mindset of “survivorship”, choose to love, live, lust, laugh… We are not a success story based on our cancer progression or not. We succeed when we are courageous enough to keep walking forward even with missing parts, severe pain, addled brains, and broken hearts.”  ~Dr. Erica D. Bernstein

 

Those profound words by Dr. Bernstein really hit home with me. It was October 21, 2011 when I found out I had thyroid cancer. 
You never forget the initial day and place when you hear you have cancer for the first time.  
As anyone with cancer or in remission, you are always brought back to the initial fear and racing thoughts.

I have the aggressive variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma called Tall Cell.

It is shown to have a more aggressive behavior that other papillary cancers. Prognosis is poor because these Tall Cell tumors represent high local recurrence and suggest the necessity for aggressive treatment.

I was staged at mpT3 pN1a pMX or more simply 4A. 
This means that I had multiple tumors that one or more was larger than 4cm and had grown outside of the thyroid, and has spread to nearby lymph nodes and tissue. 
The tissue that was involved and had to be removed was my 'muscle strap' in the neck and 1 parathyroid. 

The parathyroid regulates calcium and phosporous levels in your body. I now have to take calcium supplements daily. If I miss any doses I experience tingling sensations in my fingers and or face.

I had the initial high dose of radioactive iodine treatment (RAI) in February 2012, 3 months after surgery. About 6 months after, my saliva gland started to swell and become painful intermittently. I was told it is a side effect from the RAI and I might always have that problem.

I need to receive tracer (smaller) doses of RAI annually for the next 4 years. I had the first tracer dose last week. The preparation prior to receiving RAI is not pleasant. 

This means being on a low iodine diet for 10 days. No dairy products, no store bought bread, no fish, no beans, nothing that contains salt or soy. 
The worst part for me was the two Thyrogen injections. I experienced extreme physical weakness, nausea, deep bone pains. 

There are times when I want to 'throw in the towel' and give up. The daily fatigue gets in the way of even simple chores. But I am a fighter and a rebel.

What Cancer Cannot Do

It cannot cripple love

It cannot shatter hope

It cannot kill friendship

It cannot shut out memories

It cannot destroy confidence

It cannot silence courage

It cannot reduce eternal life

It cannot quench the spirit

It cannot corrode faith

I am grateful for the chance, once again, to what matters most in life. It made me aware of how strong of a woman I can be.

I can...
I will...
End of story.

aka The Rebel Blogger

Sister Act Design Team Call Entry

While I have never applied to be part of a Design Team, the thought has been in the back of my mind for some time. When I was invited to apply, I said to myself " Cindy, you don't have the experience, nor the supplies". I had thought of every excuse why I should NOT apply! After a week of crafting, thinking, crafting, thinking....I am applying! 

Sister Act is a new challenge on the block. Jenni and Tricia are sisters-in-law. They are an Anything Goes-all the time challenge blog.

I don't have one specific style. Here are my 3 card entries. 

#1: Here is a simple,easy,fun card. Card base is made out of Kraft card stock. I used Fiskars border stamps with various colors of ink onto white card stock. I cut Kraft card stock to make a sort of " banner " like background for the words. I used Tim Holtz ; Grunge Cirque  stamp for the " Love Wish Dream" and attached them with pop dots.

#2: Another fun, cute card. The base is white card stock, the pink card stock is embossed with Sizzix textured impressions, dots and flowers set. The blue cardstock and the pink inside the card are rounded off with a Fiskars corner punch, then embossed with Fiskars embossing stencil that I have had since I started scrapbooking.  The cupcake ribbon is from JoAnn's. The Birthday stamp is a Fiskars stamp. The cupcake chipboard embellishment is from K&Company called Sweetie Birthday.

#3: This card was made incorporating the vintage look. I painted  the white card stock with Making Memories specialty glaze in copper. The flourish stamp is from Scrappy Cat using StazOn ink in jet black. The patterned paper was inked on the edges and  I applied Ranger Distress crackle paint in clear rock candy. The large black patterned chipboard behind the flower is covered with washi tape, then stamped with various stamps in jet black ink. The flower is from Prima, Love Note collection and brushed with the copper specialty glaze . The lace was from my stash and the leaves are from Recollections.

Thank you for considering me for your Design Team! :) 

Yellowstone National Park

My husband and I vacationed out west in August of 2010. 

We visited Yellowstone and The Grand Teton National Parks, and the surrounding area from Utah to Montana. 

The mountain views were amazingly spectacular! 
Those mountains make ours in the northeast look like molehills! 

One week there is not enough to enjoy the beauty of all the magnificent views!

I have been working on our 'vacation' album off and on since then and probably have only 10 pages finished.  

I have oodles of beautiful pictures still sitting in a box calling me!  
Maybe someday I'll get it finished...I keep telling myself that anyways!!

I am not happy with my photography skills of this whole page. 

I probably took at least 10 shots of my layout but I just could not get the lighting right or something. 
The actual photos are gorgeous!!

Any tips, tricks on taking photos of cards and scrapbook pages would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by  :)

 
aka The Rebel Blogger


                                                                 

Sister Act Challenge DT Call Invite

     

Hurray!! I am so thrilled to tell you about another great challenge blog has started up called Sister Act. 
They are looking for a design team to join their family. 
I just love the name, it reminds me of the movie!

I am totally amazed and thrilled that they invited me to apply for their DT, since my blog is only about a month in the making. 
I am still learning about this wonderful blogging community and what fabulous people you truly are!

So, with that being said....I need to get busy creating and apply!!

Happy crafting and have a great weekend!

aka The Rebel Blogger