I passed a kidney stone....

So, in addition to conquering a massive sinus infection, I was struck by this intense pain in the lower left quadrant of my abdomen.  I have never had this type of pain before.  I must say that I am one who never goes to the Emergency Room and the pain was so severe, I considered it.  A call to my RN aunt with the symptoms and she quickly surmised the possibility of a kidney stone.  I have had a ton of stones before, but they always made themselves known by a sharp pain in my back.  Again, this pain was very different.  Well, I made it through the night with a heating pad and the pain suddenly stopped at about 4AM.  At about 4:30 PM, my RN aunt's theory was confirmed with the sudden and glorious appearance of a small stone....hello relief!

I won! I won!

I won a Halloween stamp set over at mypinkstamper.com.  I am over the moon!. 

So, I am going to do something I would never do...post a picture of myself.  I have only just begun to scrap pictures of myself.  So here it is...

A day at Museum Village in Monroe, New York.  It was a beautiful afternoon in July and I spent the day with my mom and cousin.



Where have I been?

It has been too long friends!  My goal is to post on a regulary basis.

Many things are going on.  I teach at a new High School and it has been quite an adjustment.  It is a much larger school with a very different educational philosophy.  The kids are terrific and I am truly blessed and honored to be their teacher.  I have also been fighting a massive sinus infection.  I have decided to forego the antibiotics and treat it naturally, but the process has been exceedingly tough, uncomfortable and painful.  I am very lucky to have a four (4) day weekend.

On a lighter note, I have found a terrific crop group.  I attended my first crop in September and I am looking forward to each and every one.  The food was great and the company was amazing.  At the last crop I was able to complete a baseball paper bag mini, and a couple of layouts.  I hope to get those pictures up at some point today.  I also won a Making Memories tool kit! 

The cooler seasons have quickly approached.  Summer flew by at the wink of an eye.  I am excited to begin using all of my Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas paper.  This is such a great time of the year for crafters.   

Thanks for sticking with me,

Ivy

6x6 layout and bloghop

Stampin' Up! has a great special this month - buy three (3) DSPs (Designer Series Papers) and get the fourth free. I have an obscene collection of DSP and I need to use it up before I purchase any more.

My Pink Stamper has an awesome bloghop with her very talented design team members. In addition, she has posted a CHALLENGE: To design a project that represents my style. What a great opportunity to use my retired DSP.

I would describe my style as minimal and symmetrical. Using my retired Stampin' Up! DSP, punches, Big Shot dies and Stampin' Up! embellishments, I created three quick 6x6 layouts. They really took me almost no time to create.

Huge giveaway!

Check out Melissa's Blogaversary giveaway at http://www.keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com.

4th of July and Daily Scrapbook Layout

I thought I would share a couple of photographs of my 4th of July weekend. It was shared with some of my family and I had a very peaceful time. I viewed fireworks at the High School and spent some time at a BBQ over at my aunt's home.

I am a self-proclaimed paper hoarder. I buy up all of the DSP from Stampin' Up! and hardly touch it because I fear running out of the paper. I have a ton of retired cardstock and I have to use it up before I allow myself to purchase more paper. So, I have committed myself to creating at least (1) scrapbook layout a day for an entire week.

Here is a layout I created of my dearest Grandfather, who raised me. He loved to build. We purchased a birdhouse and he immediately went to work at putting it all together. It was such a delight to see how focused he was, as well as how proud he was when he finished the project. We miss him very much and wish he were here with us.

Finally got my new camera

Well, I have finally replaced my broken Camera. I did upgrade to the Canon EOS Rebel T3i and have found some of the settings challenging, but I am having a ton of fun playing around with it. My photos are not exactly what I want them to look like, but in time...I expect they will. So, I have posted some of the first photos...