Snow Bunny

I've been a bit MIA from blogland recently,

and much of that is due to the pregnancy.

I have to laugh at my own ignorance, 

I just assumed that I would adore pregnancy

and that I would just be the happiest girl on the block

after waiting 4 years to become pregnant.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited to be starting a family,

but pregnancy is not at all what I expected it to be.

First off I've been sick everyday, all through the day

pretty much from 6 weeks on.

I started to get a bit better at 14 weeks, 

but am still tossing my cookies pretty much on a daily basis. 

Recently I switched my anti-depressant medication

to cope with daily life and to manage my panic attacks.

I've also had to drastically change my daily activity level

to manage pain associated with adhesions 

from my surgery last spring for endometriosis.

I wasn't aware that I would have these issues related to the surgery

and so the first time I had major tearing we made a trip to the emergency room.

It didn't help my emotional state at the time 

that I've been spotting throughout the pregnancy.

But throughout it all I've had an incredible support group,

many of whom are dear friends from blogland

offering love, support, and advise.

So while I'm not as productive as I would like to be,

I'm still trying my best to keep up on my digi kits.

This month I released Snow Bunny

a sweet pastel winter-wonderland of kawaii bunny rabbits, pretty papers,

and ready to print gift tags.

I have to thank my dear friend Danielle Thompson for putting together

these beautiful preview images to showcase the print quality of the kit

I'd also like to humbly pass along that a group of designers from Kitschy Digitals

will be donating all our proceeds from this weeks sales to benefit the community

of Newtown, Conn. 

For more information and a list of participating designers 

visit the Thompson Family blog.

Bunny Love

Although I completely understand why, it still kills me

that I can't share my foster kiddos here. 

Oh what fun I would have with some of there darling and amusing snapshots

But I do have one little fellow in my life who deserves a bit more attention.

If you don't recall Sunday is my bunny who we found in our neighborhood

and who has become quite a big part of our family.

(you can read our "Sunday" story here)

Sunday lives in our home, which yes is a bit smelly

but he gets a tad grumpy if he's left alone in his cage to long.

He does however LOVE his outside pen where he spends his time

digging an amazing fortress of a den.

It's amusing to say the least how much work he puts into his hole,

digging and pushing dirt around like a little bulldozer.

But just as soon as I think I'm never going to get him out of there

he covers it back up. What a silly rabbit!

But the day he was the silliest of all

was the day my husband found him carrying around this wad of grass in his mouth.

After hours of watching him hop around in such a manner,

I finally "helped" him put it down.

I was afraid maybe he had lock jaw or something... 

it was just so strange that he wouldn't put it down.

We tried to google this strange behavior, but everything suggested he was nesting.

I wonder then why he never put it down, and began to eat it as soon as he was free of it?

hmmmm... any ideas? 

I should mention I'm not 100% sure that Sunday is a boy,

we just had a friend check for us who's had a lot of bunnies.

Either way Sunday hasn't been around any other bunnies,

so why would he/she be thinking about nesting anyways?

Plus he's standing on top of his den in this picture

so I can also conclude he wasn't trying to make his little home more cozy.

Hopefully we'll be able to get him fixed soon,

as I've heard they may get grumpy otherwise...

Sunday has his moments, but in general he's such a love bug.

He's especially lovable at night-time when I'm up feeding the baby.

He rings his little bell like crazy just begging me to come over and pet him.

ALL DIGI GOODIES AVAILABLE AT KITSCHY DIGITALS!

Danielle Thomspon: Chalboard Parper, & Washi Tape Frames

(not yet available at KD) Kawaii Cute Fruits, Granny's SewingBasket, & Retro Kids

Chelsea Ann (ME): Hello Fall

Minitoko: Plastic Charms, & Torn and Frames

(not yet available at KD) Needle Work

Team Kitten: After School Special

Party in The Sky

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to a sweet young lady who has been

in our home these past 11 months. It was a bitter sweet goodbye

with much concerned about her future welfare.

Sadly there is only so much that can be done to keep children safe

and now we must prey and hope that our fears will not come to fruition.

But of coarse she was very excited to return home

and so we hope above all that she will be safe and happy from this day forth.

We recently celebrated her 13th birthday with our friends and family.

It was her very first birthday party, and that made it all the more special!

Unfortunately I've been quite under the weather with the pregnancy,

(now 10 weeks along) and so I only had a few short hours to devote to making

this party as special as I could for her and our guests.

Leaving the house is a nightmare with a house full of kids,

and a miserably unhappy tummy

so ALL the decorations were things we had around the house

and a digital kit from Minitoko called Cute.

And CUTE her party was indeed.

Confetti Border is also available from Minitoko

For the backdrop I hung a bed sheet for the sky

offset by a black tablecloth for a really bold and graphic pop.

I spread out a multi-colored rope light along the table and covered it with

cotton fluff from my craft supplies closet to look like floating clouds.

The effect was so pretty with the lights turned low.

We are so lucky to have a wonderful organization in our area called 

Community Cakes which provided free homemade cakes to those who would 

otherwise not receive one.

As a foster parent I can't express enough how much this service 

has blessed the lived of our children. 

I HIGHLY recommend using Digi Kits for party decorations and invites

There are so many unique kits out there, with themes you

might otherwise never come across in a department store.

It's easy to think that a party is going to cost a bundle,

but if you think outside of the box, repurposing items from around your home

you can come up with something that leaves your wallet happy

 and your guest in ahhhh! 

Hello Fall

My newest digi kit

Hello Fall, it's now available at Kitschy Digitals.

I had a lot of fun with this kit, especially designing the woodland critters.

Fall really is one of my very favorite times of year,

I tried to capture some of my favorite aspects of the season

such as visiting the pumpkin patch, celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family,

and playing in the leaves. 

Do you recall my Wizard of Oz mask kit I made for Kitschy Digitals?

This past month my mask kit has been featured by 

 Apartment Therapy, Moddern Kiddo, and The Long Thread

just to name a few. 

Some one pinch me!!!

Character Drawing

Last month I was lucky enough to take a character drawing e-coarse

taught by Tascha Parkinson.

I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone interested in character drawing

join in the fun when next the class is offered. 

I learned so much!!!! 

The fox and bear illustration will be included in my next digi kit

available sometime next week.

Wizard of OZ Masks

I often refer to myself as a gluten for punishment,

always trying to tackle more than what's really necessary.

The more chaos around me the more I seem to be able to accomplish. 

Although I must admit I'm also prone to anxiety attacks when things

aren't exactly going my way or sticking to schedule.

Which is pretty much all the time...

But when life settles down, when there's no foster kiddos

driving me batty and draining my energy

well something really sad happens -

I loose my creative mojo! 

We decided to close our home to new foster placements

before starting IVF and while the break was nice,

it was rather difficult for me to stay focused on my projects

even though I seemingly had all the time in the world!

Now I'm prego potatos (and starting to get sick)

have a new born foster baby in the house,

a rather moody pre-teen, and in just two short weeks

possibly a 4 and 7 year old. 

LOL I'm tired, but once again I feel reenergized creatively...

if only I could find the time and energy!!!

So if I were off on my own adventure 

to meet the Wonderful Wizard of OZ

I'd ask for bounds of energy

and to possible take away my recent super smelling

that has me not wanting to leave my house for anything! 

So whilst I was in a creative slum

we designer chics at Kitschy Digital were each challenged to 

create a diy (print yourself) mask in celebration of Halloween.

At first I was terrified (have I ever mentioned I don't exactly love trying new things?!)

But then I thought of Tim Gunn of Project Runway

and decided I was going to rock this challenge and have my very own 

"Make it work" moment. Now seriously,

this was in no way a competition, and I'm not even a competitive person in the slightest

but thinking each day and each mask through in this way,

as if Fashion Week was just within arms reach made it exciting

and well frankly GOT THE JOB DONE!

I know, I must sound like an oober geek!!!

I'm certainly not the only designer that got inspired though-

the team pulled together and Kitschy Digitals is just chalked full of some amazing

and truly unique mask for kids and adults alike.

CHECK THEM ALL OUT!!!!!

So are you a Wizard of Oz fan?

Excited for the new movie The Great and Powerful Oz

coming next March?

I was a huge fan of Wicked as well,

more so the book than the play...

Here is silly lil me back in 2009

with my Wicked tickets in hand.

You can check out the post,

but long story short I wanted to wear my wedding dress

 just one more time

so my hubby and I pretended to have just gotten married.

It was a blast, I highly recommend it!!

I also once had a small role in our schools musical 

of Wizard of Oz. I wish I could recall just how many people

were part of the production, but it was nearly half the town it seemed!

I think one of these days when I have the right set of kids

we will have to do a family movie night and after we watch the flix,

we will have the family act out the most memorable scenes. 

Although I really should start by readying them the book first. 

I just finished reading Oddfellow's Orphanage by Emily Winfield,

but you might know her as the Black Apple

Danielle Thompson founder and originator of Kitschy Digitals

did such a wonderful job photographing everyone's masks.

I was so tickled with how they turned out and how much fun the kids appear to be having. 

Isn't that the best part, that something as simple as paper and a stick can 

entertain and spark the imagination of us all! 

Wizard of Oz Masks available exclusively 

at Kitschy Digitals!

Tiny Blessing

Life has been pretty exciting for us this past week,

last Monday we welcomed a new foster child into our home.

A tiny little 5lb. 5 day old baby boy

And just a few hours after picking him up 

we found out that I'm PREGNANT!

It's still very early (5 weeks this Thursday)

but I feel so lucky and blessed and of coarse

beyond thrilled that I couldn't possibly keep quite!

Hopefully all will continue to go well, 

and 9 months from now we will finally 

be on our way to starting a family. 

So as you might be able to imagine I'm tired!

Thankfully I can take things easy during the day now,

but by the end of this month it looks like we will

be back to our usual 4 foster kiddos in the home.

The two new kiddos coming are from another foster home,

and I'm so excited to have them transition into our life.

It's so much easier to take in kids you know and have some relationship with,

so I'm not too worried about the extra work and inevitable chaos. 

Speaking of work, I just added a sweet little freebie to my Kitschy Digitals shop.

The Little Stinker digital kit includes 6 1.5" squares featuring some really adorable vintage skunks.

You can easily create an adorable banner, cupcakes picks, 

gift tags, or incorporate in your scrapbook layouts and art journals.

How cute would it be to go all out with this theme for a baby shower!?

I also wanted to share that

in celebration of our exciting news I'm offering my 

Tie A Bow digi kit for $1 through the month of October!

Thanks again for all the love and support you have all been sending our way!

I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family of blog friends

who have been there for us through out these last 4 emotional years.

Embry & O

So last week Jenny and Aaron challenged us to work with a specific theme in mind.

For the last few weeks I've let my emotions dictate my journal entries,

and I was sick and tired of them going all dark and gloomy on me,

So having one subject in mind really helped me to stay focused on how I wanted my 

page to look rather than just feel.

We will find out Monday if any MAGIC happened!!!!

We were told we would most likely not have any embryos left for freezing

which was hard to swallow because that meant that all our hopes and dreams were

wrapped up in this one transfer. But luckily the other two smaller guys

(in the picture below)

survived to the freezing process!

I can't even begin to tell you what a relief that news was,

 but I'm still terribly anxious,

I just want this SO bad that I can't imagine 

finding the courage and positive spirit to keep trying. 

But of coarse I will have to...

We have the best neighbors in the whole wide world,

and earlier this week the gal told me how she dedicated her prays each

morning to my little Henry and Annalea.

I was so touched that she had latched onto the names

my husband and I have always wanted for our future children.

Henry came to us maybe two years ago,

but Annalea has been our chosen girl name for almost 9 years.

These two names may seem like just dreams,

but to me they are little souls just waiting to come into our lives. 

They are real to me, and I ache that they can't be with us

and that their coming into this world has been so difficult.

I hope we will not have to wait long,

Don't forget to check out Jenny and Aaron's weekly journaling class.

I've learned so much, and I've certainly gained a new passion

 that without their encouragement and amazing how-to's  

I may have never pursued on my own!

Live the Questions

I came across a quote today by Rainer Maria Rilke

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart 

and try to love the questions themselves, 

like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue.

 Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you 

because you would not be able to live them. 

And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. 

Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, 

live along some distant day into the answer.” 

Arn't they such comforting words?!

Tomorrow is the BIG day

and my emotions are EVERYWHERE.

I need to allow myself to experience all my emotions

but not get stuck on any one conclusion.

I believe there has to a happy ending for us

I just don't know when or how it will all work out. 

I'm not looking forward to the next 3 days stuck in bed

(yes my husband is insisting I stay put for 3 whole days)

but I am excited about the online drawing workshop

I signed up for that starts this Saturday, September 15th

I just can't wait to see what I can take away from Tascha.

Maybe I'll see some of you there? :) 

Thanks again for all your continual love, support, and prayers. 

Sulky Sue

Well it's Thursday afternoon and my poor tummy is and has been

grumpy for the last 3 days straight. 

The nurse thought I may have caught the flu bug

but I didn't feel like that was it,

and after todays ultrasound

I feel confident that my little body is just having growing pains.

In just one weeks time my body has changed so much

that not one pair of pants fit.

And on an even more ridiculous note, 

I purchased 10 new pretty bloomers last week 

and not even one pair fits! And of-coarse I threw out my tags and recite! 

It's not that I mind gaining weight, but come on - 1 week!

Of coarse if all this leads to a baby bump a few extra pounds now isn't 

going to make a bit of difference in the long run.

But when your hormones are raging 

feeling "fat" doesn't really bring out the best in you.

But the good news is I'm ahead of schedule for my 

"harvest" so if all my levels stay the same we will be 

in this weekend for retrieval, which means next weekend

I'll be a couch potato taking it easy and praying for a little miracle.

I'm SO glad I decided to make the time for Art Journaling

with Aaron and Jenny of Everyday is a Holiday.

I've truly found this little project to be extremely therapeutic! 

I had a few self pitying "Sulky Sue" days this week

but each time I grabbed my journal 

and let my emotions spill out onto the pages.

Jenny and Aaron will be catching up with this weeks class

this Sunday due to a power outage they experienced this week.

Can't wait to see what the emotions of that experience

 contributed to their own journals. 

If your a digi scrapper please give some love to these gals!

It's aways thrilling to see my digi elements and papers incorporated into 

scrapbook pages and crafters projects by the Kitschy Digitals Creative team. 

1. Karli Plant of Retro Plant /Qtea Party Digi Kit

2. Randi O'dell /Once Upon A Gypsy Digi Kit

3. Anna Bäckström of Allt Och Ingenting (Everything and Nothing)

/Circus Party Digi Kit

And here are some lovely hybrid projects that I just can't get enough of!

1. Marie Lottermoser of Stitch in Time 

2. & 3. Maybemej Sporrong of Maybemej Photography

Using papers and elements from my digi kit

Tie a Bow

Still trying to figure out what theme to run with this month -

feel free share if you have a fun idea you'd like to come to life.

Was thinking of maybe making another halloween kit,

as I had so much fun with my Sweet and Sinister Affair kit I released last month. 

Well I need to go find a comfy place to rest,

this belly ache of mine is not being friendly at the moment :(

So SO So glad (and anxious) to be approaching the finish line with all the IVF stuff! 

Acceptance

Today was hard,

Acceptance, is a hard state to reach,

and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say

that it can very much be a day to day endeavor 

of both the inner spirit and the physical body.

This winter my husband and I will have been

trying to conceive a child for 4 long years.

We've dealt with many emotional, and physical 

trials, and hopefully we are on the very last leg of our journey,

but I often wonder what our path to acceptance would be like

if for instance we were born of an early generation.

Today science plays such a big role in our lives,

and I am immensely grateful for its part in my own life -

from the anxiety medications that get me smoothly through each day,

to my operation earlier this year

that may have given me a fighting chance to motherhood.

Today was hard,

I can't express truly what it's like to hand over your hopes and dreams

to a handful of "nerdy" doctors. 

You are emotional on so many levels

and to top it off your on meds that make you weepy and 

uncontrollably sensitive. 

Each day I fight to find the strength to keep positive

and excited about the upcoming events.

Most importantly I try to find the courage to 

accept that "what will be, will be".

I've not been a spiritual person in my young adult years

but I'm certainly searching now for meaning and comfort

from someplace outside of myself.

I hope you will all continue to pray for us,

your words of encouragement these last few weeks have truly lifted my spirits.

Today I may feel scared and frustrated, but tomorrow can be better.

It's a day to day struggle as I said before,

but that's what is so beautiful about the human spirit

we strive for JOY among all things.

Wallowing can only last so long, for

 ACCETANCE 

alone is the key to happiness. 

So Speaking of baby joy, look what heaven just delivered to the word.

Her name is Emily and she was very eager indeed to meet her family 

surprising mom and dad by arriving 5 weeks early.

But she's perfect and I am so very thrilled for my dear friend.

It's always such a very special treat when I get to see one of my creations

being worn by such a sweet darling angel.

This was my very first Newborn cap, and I adore it.

If I get blessed with a baby bump and it's a girl 

I will be making these none stop without question. 

Link back to Everyday is A Holiday for this weeks Art Journal lesson 

and to visit the other lovely bloggers who are most certainly on journeys of their own. 

Circus Party time!

Today has been the longest of days,

I'm juggling projects these days like a crazy person.

Just two and a half short weeks until 

implantation day... I really hate that word 

"implantation" BLAH!!! 

I need to come up with something fun to call it like

Bun in The Oven Day or My Eggciting Day 

LOL am I pathetic or what?

Anywho, painting the house is still project numero uno

around here. I'm thankful to have a painting deadline

because otherwise I could easily drag this project on for months.

I HATE PAINTING!

& oh joy of joys tomorrow I start the stair walls.

We are talking high high high.

In the land of arts and crafts I've been busy too,

my little mind especially.

I had to start writing daily list just to keep focused and on task

but while I would like to ditch one project or idea for another some days

it's very important to me and my silly anxiety 

to not leave project incomplete. 

I find it very difficult to pick up an old project and finish 

it with the same enthusiasm that I started with

and that was SO true with my Circus Party kit.

This little kit was my very first ever kit, 

and believe it or not my very first go with Illustrator.

That being said, my files were a MESS,

I can't believe how much I've learned sense then

but still this kit had something special

and I knew it deserved a second go.

I added new friendly characters, among them you'll find

a jump roping lion and a peanut loving elephant.

The new kit includes 5 fun new papers and ready to print files

for making a circus themes flag banner for parties.

These are so great because they whip up so quickly!

I made mine in probably about a half hours time last night.

It will be great for the foster kiddo's

 birthdays and/or going home celebrations.

I also wanted to share with you some party invites 

I made using some of the elements from the kit.

(sorry the Ring Leader girl isn't included in the kit)

These were a bit labor intensive because of all the mounting

but they are supper adorable

and I can't hardly wait for an opportunity to come along 

to send them off to friends and family.

My Circus Party digi kit is available 

exclusively at Kitschy Digitals!

See you Thursday for another Art Journaling post