These are my older sisters 3 kids she left behind. She pasted away on Dec.11th, 2010, she was 33 years old.

Recap of 2010:
Jan - hubby left for 2 months
March - hubby came back, our 4 year anniversary
April - hubby left for Afghan for 4 months, son's 2nd anniversary after Autism diagnosis, Autism Awareness Month
August - turned 31....SCARRY!!!!
September - hubby returned from Afghan, wanted a divorce, son turned 4 years old, lost 15 pounds
October - moved back to the US from England, lost job, car, family, house, a little sanity, many great friends
November - cooked Thanksgiving for my family for the first time since 2002
December - sister passed away on the 11th, went to court to sign divorce papers on the 20th, celebrated Christmas with my family as a single mom.

Seriously...............I am DONE!

2011 I am going to kick your ass!

Well I survived Christmas and about to make it to 2011. My house hold stuff is not here yet....figures. Jared, my now ex husband, bought us a computer so he can see Azland, our son, on the web cam. I was really suprised by that. HOWEVER, he DID NOT call Azland for Christmas. GGGGRRRRRRR BUT as usual I am here to make Azland happy and he was and is. He had a great Christmas and this new year will be great too. Keep moving forward RIGHT!

My sons last day of school, for Christmas break, is today. He is out till Jan. 4th. HOLLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the hell am I going to do? Alone with him for that long could cause some serious metal stress on me. (and maybe him) Guess we will have to run laps up and down the road till we can not run any more. That will help get his wiggles out. :) I better make a list of day to day activities so I don't age 10 years. LOL

My sister, Heather, passed away on Saturday, December 11th.....life long drug addict. Funny thing is...last year on this same day my great uncle, who was murdered by his lover, was buried on this day. I think this year has been a pretty hard year for me.....hubby gone for the first 9 months, getting a divorce, sis passes away, move to another country, loose my family, car, job, house...BUT all in all I am happy I am healthy, alive, and smiling. Not to mention the same goes for my son, AND we have each other. I guess that makes this year OK after all!!! Keep on smiling Yall!

I know when I am back in the south when I here rednecks laughing and saying "some-bitch", enjoying the smell of a bon fire and watch the ambers get lost in the star lite sky, hear a shot gun go off in the distance, and the sound of mud tires hum on the black top. I look up, smell the air, and smile. It's so good to be home!

I went to the lawyers office yesterday and signed my divorce papers. On the 20th of December I have to show up in court at 9AM so the judge can sign them. Hard to belive this shit is over only after not even 5 years. I would have never quite but he did. (Its amazing what another girl can do.) On the other hand my son and I are fine. He is loving life and I am trying too. Still no job yet but the sun is shinning in our face.

Well the weather is crappy today so I guess I will just scrap....with the little amount of stuff I have here. Well....only for the few hours while my little man is at school. The temp. here has been GREAT...around 70 but somethimes it gets around 58 at night. None the less better that England snow right now. No word on a job but the time will come I guess....I hope. I am getting very worries though. On the other hand though....Everyday is a closer day to all of my house hold stuff arriving. No date yet but I am hopefull about that too. Be crafty yall!!!!!!!!!

Well Yall things are super slow at getting back together but they are going. My house hold stuff was FINALLY packed up in England on Friday. MAN I miss all my craft stuff. It is going to be like Christmas when it all gets here. Not sure when it will arrive but maybe some time around Feburary....I hope. Well, I am going to try to post more on here now. Not sure about posting pictures but that time will come. Miss you craft world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like I might be back in the states with in the next 2 weeks. SUPER excited and soooooooo ready to go to some craft store. WHOOT WHOOT I have not been in the states for 3 years. SOOOOO much new products to catch up on. MAN OH MAN I see some serious projects in my future. Stay tunes for them all.

I am a little upset. I went to write in my journal and my pages are STUCK!. I can not get them apart with out messing them up. I put Modge Podge on 2 pages and they seem to do OK...still a little sticky. I can not get any Gesso till I get to the states so I guess I will try it then. GGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
BUT...on a happier not, yesterday I bought 2 more white pens...so away I go on the black paper...WHOOT WHOOT!!!!

Welp I have all my craft stuff packed up and ready for the movers. I wanted to make sure everything was tied together or put in boxes so it would not get messed up.

I made this one for an inspiration for myself. I am going to carry it with me everyday till I get on my feet. I know I can make it I just need to be around all kinds of positive stuff. SO...I thought why not make something positive for myself. I like the way it turned out and it says it all.

I got this idea from Sasha's page. She had post a video that I fell in love with. I want to try the same things to see how I could do it. I like how it came out. I am working on a different one now so we will see.

Well everyone I have recently discovered the all time best adhesive removes EVER. Believe it or not WD40...YES that'z right WD40. I have 4 pair of scissors with seriously bad adhesive all over them to the point they would not open. I know...I know I need scissor help BUT....I sprayed WD40 on them and waited about 2 minutes and it wiped off clean. My really bad ones I had to repeat the process twice but it worked like a champ. After...I rinsed them with water and let dry and they look brand new. Can you beleive that. Super cool!

Welp I decided to up date my profile. It was sad but hell one step toward my new life right. Some times things are hard it do but it is for your own good. :)

Hello everyone. I have been working on my journal and it is helping me big time. I have noticed once the journal is closed and two pages touch they rub off a little on each other (a few marks here and there)...long after they are dry. SO...I am covering them with mod podge and seeing how that works. I have done 3 pages and so far it looks good. (only brush 1-2 times or the pen ink will smear) Some of the pages I will have to keep private...well you know how that goes....but I will still share some of them too. :)

Since this all happened I have lost almost 10lbs, 2 pants size and 1 shirt size...AND...well we will not have talk about my bra size :(...very sad. All the weight fell off with in 3-4 days. I still can not eat, sleep, not feel sick, wanting to pass out from time to time or cry on command. I have always been a very strong person so I know I will come out a stronger one. All in due time I guess.

I have been waiting on my date to leave my current location over seas and return home to the US. Once I am there I think things will be easier for me. Out of sight out of minds ya know. One thing is for sure though....my son will be safe and happy as long as I am living...AND...I guess that is all that matters right now.

Thank yall for letting me vent and share it all with yall.

Well everyone I have found a little tiny (not much) amount of my art side again. Only because of a pretty cool person that I had the pleasure of meeting....I follow her blog and we are stationed at the same place....check her out yall http://sassysasha.typepad.com/mygoodies/
She and I had lunch yesterday and of course ended up in a really cool paper/journal/art store. I found this book with black paper and my mind started going. I though how cool would a white pen look on this paper. The she said to wrote down all my thoughts about my divorce in it that way I can get it out. WOW what a great idea. SO...this is what I have done thus far. (there are many nasty words so FYI) I was not going to blog about it all but she also gave me that idea. I guess after all this blog is about me personally so why not right. That way all of you can be my healers. Thank you for helping me along this rough road ahead.

Well Yall.....my hubby just came back from Afghan and wanted a divorce. Guess that place really messes people up huh. SO...me and me little man are moving to the states. (we are in the UK right now) I wanted to let yall know that I am just tickled I have 7 followers....yall made my year. Please don't give up on me cause I will be back. I just have to be gone for a little while till I get on my feet again. So everyone take care and let your creative juices flow!!!

Here is one more spooky layout. I had a lot of fun making this one cause I got to use some new product I bought. Any thing to use new stuff is exciting to me. Hope yall like it too.

I made "how to" video about the "punch art" Frankenstein I posted earlier. Hop on over to my YouTube page and check it out. Also, don't forget to check out my other videos while your there. Thanks a million yall and have a fantabulous day!!!

I made yet another cute little punch creation. Don't worry my spooky mood has not went yet. I have a little something brewing in the background. I just though I would share it. Check out my youtube channel for a "How To" video.
http://www.youtube.com/steph851

This is a cute little treat box that was super easy to make. It is called a 2 4 6 8 box from Chick'n Scratch http://www.mychicnscratch.com./ This is my take on her Halloween box. This box also matches my card I previously posted. :)

Here is the layout I said I was working on. This is also the first layout I sewed on. Not that I really know how to do that but I love to do new things. :) The mummy and the ghost are both tags that fit behind the purple mat. I am not sure why it picture is sideways! oppssss There are many elements on this page that are raised up for added dimension. And many that are textured. I had so much for making this page.

Well yall....here is yet another Halloween creation. I am making a layout and wanted a tag to fit behind something. WELL....this gave me an idea for a cute little mummy tag. I used the "Stampin Up" word window punch for the rags and inked the edges. I think it is too cute. BUT The layout I will have to keep yall waiting a little longer for. SO....like all the good shows when I was growing up....to be continued! ( as a kid those words are hard to handle when it came to GI Joe, The Smurfs, or Fragle Rock )

I just think this little Frankenstein came out toooo stick'n cute. This year I am in the "SPOOKY" mood for some reason. Maybe cause my little man is getting the age were we can really have some fun. HHHMMMMMM This might be an enjoyable year for mommy and daddy. :)

One of my son's care givers is having her first baby...girl. I wanted to make her something that she could hang up in her little girls room. She wants her colors to be pink and brown so this is what I came up with. (first one I've made) I left the squares blank for pictures. Under each photo mat (mats are popped up) there is a name tag, ie.. "mother, father, baby girl, and our new family." I left the back side of each blank so she can journal on it about the photos...or what ever she wants too.

I have been in the Halloween mood lately ALREADY! I wanted to start off by make a cute little card and this fits the bill. I made the bats go off the edge of the card. The little monster is popped for added dimension. I left the card blank for now but there will soon but a scary message inside.

I made goodie bags to go with the boxes I made for my son's teachers. I put the cards and the boxes filled with candy in a cellophane bag with their name on it. Here is the bag I decorated to carry them all in. My son handed it to his teacher this morning. I was too cute.

This is a cute treat holder made from a scallop circle. I think this would be really cute for a party favor, baby shower, or even for a place mat.

I love this little critter. I made her out of different punches I have. TOOOOO cute!!!

My son is going to be moving to an older class at his daycare in 2 weeks. He has been with the same teachers for 2 1/2 years. I wanted to make a little something to give to each of them. I am going to put a picture of him and a peanut butter cup in the inside.

I have been a little ill this week but I did have fun opening this new toy.

I am making a 2011 calendar for a Christmas gift. I wanted to show a few random pages I did for it. Nothing too fancy cause I have to make so many of them. But I am sure they will like it anyway...I hope so. :)

I made this card out of the "From My Kitchen" cartridge. It is 5 1/2 x 4 1/4. The apron and the word hot are popped up for added dimension.

This is my very first mini album. I wanted to make one about my son. I had too much fun making it too. I think this year I will give these out as Christmas gifts....WAIT...then again that sounds like crazy talk. hahahahahhahaha huh, we will see I guess.

I have been really sick this past week...too sick to scrap (never though that could be possible) but now I am back in the swing of things. I have a few projects that I am working on right now. Here is a cute post-it purse. I think this can also be made in to invitations of some kind...or a card. This is also a great way to use scraps.

I ordered some paper from "PapertrerInk.com" and this is what I made out of one of the pages. I used a 1 inches circle punch and glue dots. I think they came out pretty cute.

I made this paper bow long time ago and I thought I would share it. Let me know if you have any questions or if it is confusing.

Starting with a 6 x 12 piece of paper/cardstock (use a scrap piece first as a test)

1. cut 8 - 1x6 strips
2. turn paper and cut 1 - 1x1 strip (this is for your center)
3. turn paper and cut 4 - 1x1 strips

1. take your group of 8 and make 2 - 4 strip groups....(if it is double sided paper) flip one stack so you will have a contrast in color. Take a 1/16 hole punch and punch a hole (for a brad later on) at one end of all strips. Hold the bottom of one strip with one hand...take the other hand, grab the top of that strip and bring it down making the point (or loop) of the bow. Using a small piece of tape to hold it in place....do this to all 8 pieces. Once all are done secure with a small brad.

2. Do the same thing with the 4 - 1x1 groups and secure with a brad.

3. Once all groups are done, using a glue dot make your layers. Off step them to add dimension. Take your 1x1 strip, bring it together like a circle and tape it. Then fasten it in the center with a glue dot.

4. Put a glue dot on the bottom but leave the plastic pieces on it for storage reasons...that way when you want to use it later you already have an adhesive on the bottom.

I sure hope this makes since. Try it a few time and see what you come up with. AND This is a great "make ahead" items too.

I made a few of these "Thank You" cards from the "Latte" paper pack. This is another paper pack that was an on line purchase that I really do not like. hahahahah I know, I know...why do I have it. Crazy me! SO....I wanted to use it since I have it and I though about a pack of cards. "Thank You" cards are always good to have so why not!