Waiting for God

I have been asking God what He wants me to do with my life for over 3 years now - and when I say daily, I really mean DAILY. All the time. Begging. Pleading. Wondering. Questioning. Sometimes He tells me to "Do This Now" or "Do That Now," but until recently, I had to keep questioning and wondering the BIG "What Do YOU Want Me to Do with My Life?" Now I am starting to wonder if He is beginning to reveal His answer to me.

I am a Pediatrician. All my life, God has called me to work with children - with His Babies. In high school and college, I skipped the whole waiting tables/fast food/serving thing most of my peers excelled at. Instead? I babysat. I worked at the Birmingham YMCA after-school day care and summer day camps. I lived and worked with kids. I loved it. I loved them. I loved showing them that someone loved them and wanted them around. And so when it came time to choose a Life Calling, I became a Pediatrician - but not just any Pediatrician- and Emergency Room Pediatrician. Because not only did I love children, I also love(d) Instant Gratification. I'm an adrenaline junkie. I am a multitasker. I can't sit still and only do 1 thing at a time. Watching TV at night? I will also be reading blogs or a book, talking to my husband, folding laundry, and anything else my hands and body NEED to be doing at that same time. I'm a wee bit nuts. It drives my husband nuts, but in his own (very recent) words, "I'm HIS Crazy." He loves me anyway.

So what does this have to do with anything? Three years ago I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In an instant, I had to relearn how to live. Being a Pediatric ER Doc? Gone. Multitasking 10 things at once? Gone. Staying up and working nights and weekends? Gone. Saving lives one earache at a time? All gone. Instead, I lost 2-3 months of my life. I existed. I relearned how to walk without a walker. I learned how to concentrate with a near-constant FOG in my brain. I relearned how to use the microwave (yes, there are times when I forget how to turn on our basic appliances). I learned what it meant to be The Patient, and not The Doctor. And through all this, I questioned. I asked. I begged. Why God? Why Me? Why push me and let me go through all that (often-miserable) training to have my dreams taken away from me? Why teach me how to save babies and then not let me save them? WHY?!!!

And through all this, He's been teaching me. Teaching me patience (I HATE patience). Teaching me to rely on others. Teaching me to (gasp, gasp, gasp) not only accept help, but to (gasp, choke, gag) ASK for help. Teaching me that I can't DO everything. Teaching me to be still. Teaching me to accept limitations. Teaching me to Trust Him and HIS Plan. But I still just want to know. I want to know WHY? I want to know WHAT NOW? I want to know WHAT NEXT?

The last few weeks have been rough. I've had another MS Flare and have been back on massive, high-dose steroids. I have had another three weeks of just existing and sitting on the couch. I have not been able to take care of my family. I have barely been able to take care of myself. Showering daily has become a GOAL, not an ASSUMED part of my day. I have read a lot. I have slept a lot. I have watched a lot of TV. And I have created a lot of art.

I am a scrapbooker. I am a photographer. I take pictures of everyday life and document my family's stories for us to remember later - and to help me remember. Another side effect of my MS is poor short term memory and difficulty forming new memories. I, literally, forget entire conversations and days. It's as though they never happened. Scrapbooking helps me with this. By looking at my pictures and reading what I have written, I can remember. By looking at them with my children, I can hear what THEY remember. I can hear their perspectives on our family's life. I can hear how they perceive this marvelous life of ours. I can process and question Why God has given me this disease.

During this Flare, I haven't been able to scrapbook as much. My mind and hands have not been able to coordinate well enough to play with pictures, words, and pretty papers. But I have felt this NEED to create - a need to express on paper how I'm feeling and the thoughts that keep swirling through my mind. God has reminded me of hymns and verses I learned as a small child. He has put them in my heart and in my mind to remind me of His Love. He has 'lead me beside the still waters for His Name's sake.' He has prompted a need in my heart to create. To create art with the words He has been whispering in my heart. To make a visual reminder of this season of my life. To document His Love for Me.

I don't know what comes next. I don't know what He wants me to do with my life. I don't know what He wants me to do with my love of children and Pediatrics. But I do know that He has a plan. I know that He is in control. I know that He wants me to play with pictures and pretty papers. I know that He wanted me to write this blog post and many many more about this journey He is leading me on. So bear with me, World. There's no telling what's coming next.

Wood Veneers - What Do I Do With Them?

Happy New Year, World!

I hope you all had a very safe and fun New Year's holiday this year, and that you had time to spend on our beloved Crafty Hobby! This month I decided to talk to you about wood veneers. Have you seen them online or in the store? Do you wonder what you're supposed to do with them? I mean, they're cheap. They're cute. They come in many imaginable shapes. And they're little (usually). So what is their purpose? Why are so many manufacturers making them? Why are they so popular? Well, lucky for you, I have an answer: They're FUN. They're CUSTOMIZABLE. They MAKE A BIG IMPACT on your project. Want to see a few examples?

First up: Use them straight out of the package, just as they are. No altering. No fussing. Just adhere and go (a little tip: glue dots and liquid glues like Glossy Accents work best). 

2. Emboss: Cover the surface of your wood veneer with versamark or other embossing ink, sprinkle on the embossing powder of your choice, heat with a heat gun, and watch the magic occur!

 3. Colorize with your favorite ink or cover with glitter. In this next layout, I altered the veneers with Tim Holtz Distress Stain, let them dry, then covered them with a thin layer of Rock Candy Distress Stickles.

4. Stamp on them.
5. Paint them.
6. And most importantly, come into Scraphappy and find the inks and paints, glitter, and embossing powders you want to play with, pick up some wood veneers, go home, use your imagination, and HAVE FUN!!!

Supplies:
Patterned paper - Basic Grey, Simple Stories, KI Memories, Heidi Swapp

Cardstock
Spray ink - Studio Calico, Heidi Swapp
Mask - Studio Calico
Rhinestone stars - Jenni Bowlin Studios
Wood veneers - Studio Calico
Letter stickers - Heidi Swapp
Stamps - Studio Calico, Technique Tuesday
Embossing powder
Stickles
Distress Stain
Stamping ink - red, green, Versamark
Washi tape

Happy December Daily!

                                       
How many of you have heard of December Daily? If you haven't, it's an album concept created by Ali Edwards (www.aliedwards.com) to document your Christmas season. Over the last few years, her idea has spread, and people all over the world are now recording their memories in December. The best part of December Daily? It can be WHATEVER you want it to be. You can make it a journal. You can make a layout (or several layouts). You can make a minibook. You can make a special Christmas album. You can just take a picture. Or write a blog post. Whatever YOU want. It's all up to you.

I decided this year to use a Simple Stories Sn@p album as my base. This is a 6x8 album with various sized page protectors. Some pages fit 2 4x6 photos. Some fit 4x4 (PERFECT for We Instagram Lovers out there!). Some are 2x8. And some are 3x4. The album also includes some chipboard pages, as well as some patterned cardstock pages, to add variety to your project. Refill pages are available in all the different configurations, so you can customize your album however you like. There are some left in the store, but if they're out by the time you get there, it's still ok. Pick an album you like. 6x6 albums are great for taking a 6x6 paperpad and just slipping the papers into the page protectors. Or cut a 12x12 paper into 4 squares and slip them in. Embellish as desired, and you've got your album prepped pretty quickly! Or choose one of the awesome acrylic albums ScrapHappy has in stock! Play with inks. Play with paint. Learn a new technique. Or keep it simple. Whatever YOU want!

Over Thanksgiving, I prepped my album. I used an 8x8 patterned paper pad from October Afternoon and cut all the papers apart to set up my base pages. I also precut and inked some white cardstock cards in the various pocket sizes to use for my journalling. Now all I have to do during December is to take pictures, print them, stick them in my album, and write some quick journalling (if I feel like it). I can embellish each day if I want to, but if I don't, then it's still All Good. My Christmas is being recorded.

I know it's already December 4, but it's not too late to start a December Daily project of your own. Drop by the store. Pick out an album and some special Christmas paper (And YES! The Christmas paper has arrived at ScrapHappy! Echo Park! Fancy Pants! And More!) . Turn on 25 Days of Christmas, and cut and prep your way to making your holiday even more special. And if you want to see the rest of my December Daily pages as the month progresses, follow me on Instagram: cdpeck. I'll be uploading my pages on an almost-daily basis (I'm aiming for daily, but Life does get in the way sometimes...).

And now, without further ado, my December Daily: First up, my completed pages for December 1-3:

And here's a sample of the pages still to come, with my prep work complete:

Supplies:

Album - Simple Stories

Patterned Paper and Washi Tape - October Afternoon

Thickers - American Crafts

Stamps - Technique Tuesday, Stampin' Up!, Kelly Purkey

Ink - Stampin' Up!

Wood Veneers - Studio Calico

Embossing Powder

Using the B Side

Hello, World!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and I hope you all had some time to play with your scrappy supplies and toys! Christy asked me to use these Graphic45 papers this month, and sadly (for me), they were a little too 'busy' for the pictures I had printed to scrap.

So what do you do when your patterned paper isn't exactly what you had in mind? Flip them over. Many manufacturers these days are printing their papers double-sided: a bold, larger focal point on the front, and a smaller, more subtle, coordinating pattern on the back. These 'B-sides' often make perfect backgrounds and embellishments when used as bits and pieces.

And now, without further ado... this month's layouts, using these papers as both backgrounds and as embellishments. Enjoy!

 Supplies:
- patterned paper - Graphic45, Scenic Route

- cardstock - Bazzill
- washi tape
- die cutter - Silhouette
- punches - EK Success
- decorative brads
- letter stickers - Prima, American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type
- metal embellishments - Making Memories (old - from my stash)
- spray ink

Using Up Your Leftovers

When you scrapbook, what do you do with your leftovers? Do you put them away? Do you slide them to the side of your desk to think about later? Do you add them to a pile? Or even better, do you actually use those little bits and pieces? If you were to see my desk, you would know that I am an infrequent scrap cleaner. I tend to push my leftovers into a pile and stack them up until I can't stand it anymore and decide to do something with them. Often, this means that I will compile these pieces into layouts and combinations I never would have planned for if I had thought ahead. So what do I do? I go to Scraphappy, pick up 2 or 3 pieces of patterned paper, some letter stickers (especially Thickers...I am on a serious Thickers kick lately), and combine that with what's on my desk to make some layouts. And the Bonus? My desk gets cleaned off without any effort!

For my first layout, I used Studio Calico and Lilly Bee papers that I already had, combined with the teal thickers and butterflies that I got at Scraphappy. The leftovers? The Amy Tangerine stickers and teal woodgrain washi tape.

This next layout uses some new Shoreline papers as a background, combined with leftover Amy Tangerine stickers, an Amy Tangerine pocket, Shoreline sunburst scraps, and Heidi Swapp banner pieces cut off from a previous project. The hexagons are from a Studio Calico stamp set and are attached with some brads I found in my drawer.

The only new item on this final layout is the background paper and the teal letter 'P.' Everything else on this page was leftover. The light blue strip of Shoreline with the hot pink splatters? Leftover from the Baby Turtles layout. The My Mind's Eye transparency? Scavenged from my Valentine's Day memo board. The Heidi Swapp disco heart? The last of a package from this past spring.

So what have we learned today? Use your stash! Use those bits and pieces of scraps. Use pieces from different manufacturers and product lines to make your own combos. Need some patterned papers, letters, or cardstock to pull it all together? Head on in to Scraphappy and buy what you need! It's all there!

End of Summer with Shoreline

Hello World!

How was your summer? Any days at the beach? Any fun travel? Any good family time? Any time to play? And now the important question...Any time to scrap? The last time I was in the store, Christy gave me some of American Crafts' Shoreline papers to play with, and WOW, they are perfect for bright, happy summer events (or anything else bright and happy you may want to use them for). The colors are uber-saturated reds, blues, and yellows with some dark hot pinks and pool blues to accent. I have had the most fun scrapping with these papers, hoarding every little bit and piece to tuck here and there as color bursts on other projects.

I was blessed this summer with the opportunity to go with my father on a medical mission trip to Peru. At the end of the trip, we spent a day touring Machu Picchu. The Shoreline bright yellow sunburst pattern screamed 'Incas' to me, so I used it as the background for this layout about how much we climbed that day. I used some old kokopelli stamps I had in my stash to stamp on some canvas in teal, then stamped the words in black over the person kokopelli. I added some Mini Market letters from October Afternoon and some brads to finish off the page.

This next layout is about a shopping excursion I took with my daughter last month. We were separately scavenging a clothing store for clothes to try on. When we met up in the dressing room, we had both picked the same dress! Obviously, as a scrapbooking mom, this had to be documented on my cell phone so a layout could be made. If you look at the layout, and think about my typical style, you'll notice that I am a B-side scrapper. I prefer the backsides to most patterned papers. They tend to be more subtle, less busy patterns that recede into the background more than their typical trendier, bolder A-sides. This shopping layout uses almost all B-sides.

And then we come to my last layout for today. I made the background of this layout by spraying various colors of yellow and green spray mist onto shiny white cardstock then blending them with a paper towel. The sunshine embellishments were cut out from a separate sheet of Shoreline paper, as was the strip at the bottom and the 'sunshine' label.

I hope you've been inspired to pull out your summer pictures and spend some time creating. If you want any of the Shoreline papers, go see ScrapHappy and stock up! I think I might be needing some more for my own stash...Maybe I'll see you there?

Supplies:
- American Crafts - patterned paper, Thickers
- letter stickers - October Afternoon, Lily Bee Studios
- spray mists - Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Tattered Angels
- disco starts - Heidi Swapp
- wood veneer stars and camera - Studio Calico
- chipboard stars, brads, teal stamping ink, canvas fabric

Heidi Swapp Memory Files and Color Magic

Hello World!
How many of you have seen Heidi Swapp's file folders and thought, "What am I supposed to do with that?" I know I did, so this past spring when Heidi taught a 12 week online Memory File class, I signed up to learn straight from the master. Depending on your mood, you can choose from her patterned paper files that coordinate with her paper lines or her DIY Color Magic Files. For today's project, I used Color Magic. I love that I can make these papers whatever color I want. Each Color Magic item has a trendy resist pattern on a white background. I wanted a bright, happy, yellow and green background to coordinate with the Vacation Bible School (VBS) embellishments and some American Crafts Shoreline papers, so I gathered my yellow, green, and teal spray inks and happily sprayed my blank file (You can use any ink or paint you want. The choice is completely yours). After spraying, I used paper towels to wipe off the excess ink and reveal the chevron resist pattern. Being the ink snob that I am, and given my refusal to waste any of my precious spray ink, I used the excess ink on my paper towel (baby wipes work well for this, too), and rubbed the ink onto the inside of the file to colorize the inside.

Memory Files are designed for those moments and times where you want to scrapbook 20-30 (or more pictures), but you really don't want to make 3 or 4 (or more) layouts all on the same topic.With a Memory File, all those pictures and embellishments can all fit in one 'layout.' If you read Heidi's blog or get to take a class with her, she teaches various methods of incorporating more photos into your file. For this file, I used a baseball card page protector and some orange washi tape to add an extra 'page' to my Memory File. I then added my patterned papers and phots, and then embellished as usual. I plan to add more photos to the page protector, but I have to collect the photos from my friends first ;)

This year's VBS theme was Amazing Wonder's Aviation and focused on flight and the Wonders of the World. I used Studio Calico wood veneers to highlight the travel focus and to tie my layout into the VBS ephemera I want to incorporate into my Memory File.

I hope I've helped you learn how to get more photos into one project. There are sooo many ways to use a Memory File in your scrapbooking life. If you want to learn more, please leave a comment, or tell Christy that you want us to teach a special Memory File class in the store.

- Cori

Supplies:

- Heidi Swapp - Color Magic Memory File

- Studio Calico - Mister Huey's spray inks, wood veneers

- American Crafts - patterned paper, rub-ons

- brads, washi tape, baseball card page protector

- VBS ephemera