MIRACLES DO HAPPEN

LIFE OUTSIDE of SCRAPBOOKING

I recently had someone point out to me

that most of my posts were just a lot

of Tim Holtz's Tags.

AND....you know what they were right.

I try mainly to keep my blog 

ALL ABOUT SCRAPBOOKING!

EXCEPT...It has been a lot of simple projects.

When I first started my blog, I did put my

projects on here....but life happens...

and I am not getting younger...and when you realize

that you can't correct things that need to change...

it wears on you!!!!

Scrapbooking is MY OUTLET....I can go 

in my scraproom and forget about everything

that bothers me and have FUN!!!!!

SPECIAL STORY INSERTION 

 

We recently had a MIRACLE that was 

granted to our oldest son!

YES...A TRUE MIRACLE...they really do occur!

 

Our oldest son was very sick at 7 months.

I won't go into all the details, but he almost died!

We are very blessed that he is still with us,

but that illness left him with some major 

health issues.  One of them is that he was

left with acquired hydrocephalus. He had to have

a shunt inserted to survive.  All throughout

his life (He is now 28), he has had surgery after

surgery on his shunt. 

(He has had so many surgeries that I have lost count).

  In February of this year, we 

entered the hospital on a Saturday... and then we

were told that his drain would need to be inserted into

his heart because it wasn't going to be able to work any 

more in the abdominal area due to all the scar tissue.

His neurosurgeon then referred us to another neurosurgeon

for this surgery.  This all happened rather quickly and this new

doctor presented us with another option.  We were going to run

some tests and if our son had this specific characteristic

within his brain, then he might be able to have another type 

of surgery and be SHUNT FREE!

All these years whenever our son has had surgery...

I have just prayed for God to watch over him and that 

he makes it through without any other complication.

For the longest time we have just been living day to day

waiting for the NEXT surgery or problem to arise.  

I will tell you that when his neurosurgeon told us in the 

beginning that we were going to have to make a 

change, I literally broke down and said to my GOD....

 I am done!   This is out of my mommy realm,

I can't handle this ANYMORE...I am handing the 

care of my son over to YOU....YOU DEAL WITH IT!

I was just angry and devastated... and then I realized 

that I was trying to shoulder all this....ALL BY MYSELF!!!!

I imagined all the things that were going to go wrong with

the new placement of his shunt (none of the options were good in

my opinion) and I had had ENOUGH! 

His doctor  said she would NOT be doing the surgery...

she was going to refer us to a colleague. My son just looked

at his doctor and put all his faith in what she said!  He trusted her.

So in the middle of the night we were taken by ambulance to  

the next hospital...met with the new neursurgeon .....had tests

after tests....thanked God for providing us with another option....

and that our son fit the requirements for this other surgery....

and he made the decision to try it...(This was a very scary 

thing for all of us...because the surgery itself was scary and 

there was one factor that if it didn't work...

 ....then he would NOT be shunt free!

He had surgery on Wednesday and by Sunday...the

doctor met with us and told us the surgery was 

SUCCESSFUL!

PRAISE GOD....our son got his MIRACLE...

WE ARE BLESSED!

HE IS NOW BEEN SHUNT FREE SINCE FEBURARY!

He has one more doctors appointment before we are

completely let go!

But this is the main reason why I haven't really posted a lot

of other stuff...my life has not really been mine...As my son 

says....he has had a "SHUNT DRIVEN LIFE!"

BUT NO MORE!!!!!

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!!!!

THANKFUL EVERY DAY!!!!!

SIZZIX GIVEAWAY

SIZZIX GIVEAWAY

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https://gleam.io/crlHz/sizzix-2500-5-winner-ultimate-giveaway

TIM HOLTZ 2016 MARCH TAG

Tim Holtz 2016 March Tag

Here it is...Tim's new tag!

It is just BEAUTIFUL!

If you want to make this tag, then follow the link

to Tim's Blog and he will give you all the directions

you need to make this BEAUTIFUL tag!!!!!

http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2016-march/

What I particularly LOVE about Tim's tag

are the colors and the design that just

blast out at you from inside the butterfly shapes.

 I can add the color because I have his 

FABULOUS new Color Distress Crayons.

 They are sooo creamy and smooth. Like 

lipstick only you can take your finger and just

swirl the colors together to blend them....

LOVE!!!!!

But the new Mixed Media #2 Thinlit Die  I do not have.

Read on to find out what I used instead.

Here is my March 2016 Tag:

I  tried so many dies trying to find something with

a negative image that would give me that gorgeous 

design peeking through the butterflies but to my dismay.....

I couldn't find anything that I thought was as pretty
as that design. 

So I decided to go at it in a different direction.

You can't see anything around the edge of the tag right???

So I decide to cut out my pretty design and

glue it onto the middle of the tag....

HOORAY....

I now have a pretty design...not as pretty as Tim's design...

but it suited my purpose.

I am not going to tell you how long it took me to 

finally come up with that idea!  LOL!

 This is just a few of the designs I tried.
Yes!!! Tim's new WILDFLOWERS DIE #661190
are  there....LOVE this new die!!!!

I really am liking these designs.

Especially the top two (which are the same).

The details are intricate and small in design so

I thought they might show up better in the small

space.  

They are from this Spellbinders die

 I glued some Tim Holtz Idea-ology Tissue Wrap -

 Postale to the base of the tag with Ranger Glue n' Seal. 

Then I glued on the two designs and applied White Gesso.

Decision made...I can finally move forward.
I made my corrugate tag layer.
 I began applying my color.
For the corrugate tag I applied white Gesso
and Mermaid Lagoon Distress paint.

I used Sizzix Framelit Die- Simply Lovely #659527 and
Teresa Collins / Craftwell Memory Collection DS-MEM-TC002
for the butterfly cut outs.
I picked some distress crayon colors for the base tag.
I ended up choosing some softer colors because I wanted
my tag to be different.

You see my little butterfly...well everything I did
(beginning with gluing down the design to the base tag),
I did the same thing to that little butterfly.
I couldn't forget that cutie! 

Before gluing it down, I separated the corrugated

layers to give it more dimension.  

 I then went through the steps for adding some foil
bits to the outer corrugate tag and some foil bits to my
base tag from this tutorial:
http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2014-november/
I absolutely LOVE this LOOK!
Then it was time to glue the two tags together
using Rangers Glue n' Seal.

I then distressed my tag with some Picket Fence,
Faded Jeans and some Walnut Distress Spray Stain.
I didn't spray it on the tag...I unscrewed the sprayer
and tapped it on my hand over my tag....for
just a "little bit of splatter."


You can see the shiny bits of foil
inside the butterfly cut outs and along the
outer edges of the tag. 

I inked all my edges ...even inside my cut
outs with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.
It's interesting to me when you STARE at the above photo,
that it looks as if the butterfly could be on top
of the corrugated layer too when it is actually underneath.
Sooo COOL!

The FINAL STEPS
.....making the quote and adding the ribbon.
I used some Bo Bunny Double Dot
Dark Denim Vintage card stock Item # 12DDV876
(which I had in my scrap pile)
to make my letters: F. L. Y.
using Tim Holtz's Sizzlelits Alphabet Typeset Die, I
cut them out with my Vagabond.
I glued my letters to some scrap white card stock and
then cut out a pennant ...freehand.
I then found the adorable Autumn Leaves epoxy stickers by
Sarah Bond in my stash.  They are so tiny and so perfect for
the base of my tag.  I put them on white card stock and
cut out pennants freehand here also.
I then inked and splattered some paint onto
all the pennants and stapled them to my tag
using Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher.
The final touch was adding some burlap wired
ribbon at the top.  I, of course, distressed it a little
using Distress Walnut Stain Ink..and a little dab of Mermaid
Lagoon  and Pewter Distress  Paint.

 This month's tag took a lot more effort
to create.  I knew what I wanted...it just
seemed to take forever to get there.  That is
O. K.  I kept at it because I really wanted to
get my design out of my head....and for
me to be able to actually figure out how to recreate
what I visualized and not give up is
SOOO EXCITING! 
I give that credit to TIM...he provides the inspiration and
MOST of the tools I use to create!!!!!

Thanks for visiting....Feel free to leave some LOVE!

Mylissa

Ken Oliver Crafts/Impression Obsession Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Ken Oliver Crafts/Impression Obsession Blog Hop!

We have some beautiful projects to share AND PRIZES to give away! The hop will run for 2 days (3/4/16 - 3/5/16) with a list of participants on the Ken Oliver Crafts and Impression Obsession Blogs each day at 8am EST. Visit the fabulous designers from both team’s blogs (only one comment per blog please) for a chance to win 4 great prizes during the hop!

The more blogs you visit … the better chance you will have to win!!!

Ken Oliver Crafts will be giving away a set of Color Burst to two lucky winners!

Impression Obsession will be giving away a $25 Gift Certificates to two lucky winners!

Four chances to win a great prize through the hop!

Comment entries will be open until 9pm EST on Sunday March 6th and all winners will be announced Monday March 7^th on the Ken Oliver Crafts and Impression Obsession Blogs.  Good luck!

Here's the link:

 http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2016/03/04/ken-oliver-crafts-impression-obsession-hop/

Have you tried "Color Burst?"

Tell me what you think about it....I really want to know. 

It looks like fun too!

Thanks for visiting and it's O. K. to leave some

scrapbook LOVE! 

Mylissa

   

 

2016 TIM HOLTZ FEBRUARY TAG

2016 Tim Hotz February Tag

February brings forth such wonderful memories to

my mind of making fun cards and projects for 

Valentine's Day. A month full of love and sharing

and giving to those that we love.

 As usual Tim captivates us with another 

tag filled with lots of good stuff.

To check out how Tim created this lovely

tag, just follow the link to his blog.

http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2016-february/

This month I got really carried away

on my tag and only followed the directions 

for making my base.

Ohhh but I had such fun going off on my own!

Here is my February Tag:

Now here are some photos of all the supplies

I used..the only thing missing is some 

cotton that I used for the eggs and some 

Tumbled Glass Distress Ink that I used to

color the eggs and I just typed the word 

"together" on a typewriter.

LOL....at least I think those are the ONLY

few items I left out!

After making the base for my tag,
I took the stamp of the single rose
and stamped it toward the bottom of
my tag using some Frayed Burlap
Distress Ink. Oopsies...I left out this
supply...but it doesn't really matter
because after I put EVERYTHING
else on the tag...you can't even see it.
(It was really pretty before I covered
it up).  You can see some of the leaves
peeking out at the bottom because I
stamped it more that once.

I then decided to use my Teresa Collins 

embossing folder:  So In Love.

It made these lovely little hearts

all over my tag...Yes...I am a heart

lover!  I just gotta have a heart somewhere 

in my project.

 Then I randomly painted some of them with

the Distress Tarnished Brass Crackle Paint.

I then started laying out my embellishments

so I could figure out my placement for 

EVERYTHING.  So since my photo was 

going near the top, I wanted to have the word

"love" by it.  So I made a little stencil from

Teresa Collin's "love" punch.  I "LOVE"

that it is in cursive....I applied Finnabair

Gold Crackle Texture Paste and then added

some of the Distress Tarnished Brass

Crackle Paint to it too, because I didn't

apply enough of the Gold Texture Paste.

 No mistakes right..I just tried to get 

enough on there so you could read the word. 

I then cut out part of a rose design from

some Valentine paper and put it behind

the heart frame.  I then applied Glossy Accent to 

the center. I stamped the birds using brown ink onto

a soft blue paper, cut them out and put them on 

chipboard and cut that out also and glued the 

birds to the top of the frame.  Oh they are really

"tweet" on it....Ha Ha!

I distressed the photo and added some

 Distress Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Ink.
 I cut out the word "US"  using the Typeset die.
I cut out two hearts to use

as photo corners on my photo and added the Distress

Crackle paint just around the edges at the top.

I used Tim's Heartfelt die...I really love how they 

look...especially with the touch

 of crackle paint on the edge.

I took some twine and wrapped it until I had

the shape of a bird's nest and applied some glue

and some smaller pieces of twine to look like 

twigs, and added my bird eggs.  They are made out

of small bits of cotton and I added just a touch of

Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to give 

it a touch of blue color. This was going to be nestled
below the frame with the flowers.

Next I got busy making some flowers and leaves from

scratch paper. I used the Tattered Flower Garland

and the Festive Greenery dies.

 I inked everything...made my banner,
(I just typed "together" onto some paper
and cut it out).  

One thing that I have found helpful when I get ready
to glue things down is to take a photo of
my project.  This helps me put EVERYTHING
right back where I want it to go.

Then I got busy gluing EVERYTHING onto the tag.

I took some white ribbon and applied some Tarnished 

Brass Spray Stain and some Antique Linen Stain 

to it before I tied it to the top of the tag.  

I hope you like my "LOVE" tag!

GIFT FOR GIRLFRIEND

My GIRLFRIEND is MOVING

Out of the blue...My girlfriend said:

"WE'RE MOVING!"

We have both been very busy lately

and haven't been able to scrap together much.

But still we talk at least several times if not more

a week.  This is part of life.  Moving forward,

changing, growing...learning.

This doesn't mean we won't ever see each other

again.  This just means CHANGE, and hopefully

some TRAVEL...as we hope to still GET

 TOGETHER!  

GIRLFRIENDS FOREVER ..RIGHT!!!! 

I decided I wanted to make her a little 

something.

So I went online to find her home that was

already up for sale and copied it.

I thought a little something to remember

her home by would be "PERFECT!"

It didn't take long to make this little project.

I thought this can be made into an ornament

or she can leave it out on a side table.

I will tell you this...when I gave it to her,

She got all choked up and tears appeared

in her eyes....so yes...it was 

appreciated and I felt sooo good that I was able 

to give her something that she would CHERISH!

So here is what I made:

The first step was to print the photo.

I then started with my base.  

I used some art mat board 

(I cut it on a large trimmer)

and covered it with some wood paper.

For my measurement I left about 1/4th inch

on the sides of the bottom base. 

Then I picked out some brick paper, because that

was an element in the photo.

I mounted that paper onto chipboard...leaving

more of a boarder at the bottom for my 

title.  I also mounted my photo onto to chipboard.

I glued all three bases together. 

I used a Studio Calico wood embellishment tab and

added Tim Holtz's Label Letters for the date on the tab.

I found some Scrabble letters in my stash and glued the tab

and the letter on with hot glue.  

I was amazed out at how quickly 

this cute project came together. 

So a little gift from my heart to hers...

Oh...speaking of hearts...I added one more embellishment

that isn't in the photo which really was special...

I put a tiny blue heart on the window on the right.

It really popped out because it matched the sky  ...

(and my heart was feeling blue because I was

going to miss her).

Lots of Love ....It's what we need ...

I hope you liked my little project.

TIM HOLTZ 2016 JANUARY TAG

Tim's 2016 January Tag

Here is is ...

Another year to make

TIM's TAGS!

This makes me excited!

Yes... A NEW YEAR...

A NEW START

and

A NEW BEGINNING.

Right now things are happening in

my life for my oldest son

that will be LIFE CHANGING!

So taking a little bit of time

to be creative gave me some

much needed down time.

For my tag I kept the same base

with the foil tape at the top and

luckily I had the same 

texture fade, which I LOVE!!!
I also added some walnut stain
distress ink.

But after that I started making 

changes.

Here is My JANUARY 2016 Tag:

I have always wanted to use the 

cracked pistachio distress paint on a frame

 when I saw Tim use it last year in January.

It is such a beautiful color.

I used his Ornate Frame die and cut it out

using chipboard and black cardstock.

I glued them together and then

dabbed the cracked pistachio onto the 

black cardstock.  I thought it was 

going to be really smooth, but it gave

me a mottled effect which I just 

loved.  It looked like marble.

After that dried I applied 

glossy accents.

I then rummaged through my 

scrap bin and found some paper

that appealed to me to put behind 

the frame.  This was going to be my 

clock base.  I ran the paper through

my Vagabond using the Ornate Frame

die. I used the inside oval part to glue

behind the frame.  I then used the game 

spinners...a large and medium...in the 

center of the oval and attached them with 

a paper studio pearl brad to turn this frame

into a clock. 

I just want to say that I was really liking

this outcome.  

I then found 4 very small pearl bling,

and glued one at 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and

9:00 on the clock.

I then picked out a word band.

I chose:  THE JOURNEY AWAKENS

THE SOUL.

I chose this one because of the Life

Changing Event that we are praying

takes place for our son.

It really just seemed to FIT.

I attached the word band with some

black seam binding.

I don't know where my black twine was

hiding ...but I couldn't find it anywhere.

I found a silver/pearl heart charm in my

stash and some ribbon.

Then I used the Tabs and Tags die,

and along with the mini numbers made

a mini date tag.

I opened the heart charms jump ring and put

the date tag through it and then 

put the ribbon through the jump ring

and tied the ribbon at the top of 

the tag.

All done!

OH I JUST LOVE THIS TAG!

 My craft time is over way too soon for me.

I hope that the next time I am able to visit my

blog that I can share some really happy news

about my son.

I am really pleased with the outcome.

I hope you like it too!