"Reflections of a Housewife"

I was inspired to create this layout after taking a pic of my reflection in a stainless steel pot to submit to a photo challenge on http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ ("Faces in Strange Places"). The On Assignment challenge for the Dec. 2011 issue of Scrapbooks Etc. magazine (http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/) is "Creative use of photos" so I submitted this layout for that challenge because of how I used the small phots as reflections of me in the hand-made mirror embellishments. Each "reflection" comes with a quote dealing with my reflections of my life right now. The quotes are: 1. I love being Mrs. William Henderson & that's the only title I need. 2. People don't respect me because I don't have a job. 3. Our grandmothers & great grandmothers didn't have jobs & people respected them. 4. People think housewives don't do anything but sit at  home all day. 5. A lot of people say they would get bored if they didn't have a job but I don't.
The glitter glue & the charms I used underneath the title were part of the pkg. I got from Cherrie at http://thescrappycottage.blogspot.com/ when she had her giveaway. The pkg. had a lot of nice things in it and I am excited about using more of them on future layouts! Thanks again, Cherrie!

"LOVEly Pizza"

This is a layout I created for http://www.sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/

Journaling: This is a heart-shaped pizza I made for Bill.

"Sweet Dreams"

This is a layout I created for http://www.twistedsketches.com/. This week's twist is pins. I used 2 pins, criss-crossed, in the upper right corner of the picture.
The story behind the picture: Bill and I went to his storage building to clean some stuff out of it.  Part of what we got while we were there were some bedsheets and pillowcases. I took one of the pillowcases and painted "sweet dreams" on it surrounded by clouds. That's what the picture is of.

"Every Day With You"

This is the first layout I created using some of the patterned papers in my package that I won in the "Create a Layout About the People or Things You Love" challenge on Club CK (http://www.clubck.com/)! I love these papers so much, I was so excited to use them! The poem on the layout, which I wrote for my  husband, reads: Every day with you is a special day to me. Every day spent with you is a special occasion, can't you see? I don't need Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's or a birthday, because every day with you is a reason to celebrate.

Stylish Blogger Award!

I would like to thank my friend Andrea for awarding my blog a Stylish Blogger Award! Wow! So unexpected and such an honor! You may visit Andrea's stylish blog at http://www.scrapality.com/
In order to accept the award, I must pass this on to 8 other stylish blogs (which it will be my privelige to do) and list 8 things about myself.
Here are 8 things about myself:
1. I am a Christian.
2. I am the mother of a 20 year old son named Corey.
3. I am married to a wonderful man named William whom I love with all my heart and who loves me more than I've ever been loved before!
4. I am a hopeless romantic!
5. Over the past 3 years, I have become obsessed with scrapbooking!
6. I tend to get my feelings hurt easily.
7. I enjoy cooking.
8. I love hot weather and hate cold weather!

Now for the blogs I am passing the award to...the hard part about this is that there are so many I like, it's difficult to choose only 8. But here are the 8 that I am passing it to:

1. http://alisashandmadecards.blogspot.com/
2. http://marticadesigns.blogspot.com/
3. http://naniwale.blogspot.com/
4. http://lybeauartyscrappy.blogspot.com/
5. http://intothecrazyblue.blogspot.com/
6. http://thetuckerwolekclan.blogspot.com/
7. http://thespottedleopard.blogspot.com/
8. http://mylifemostordinary.blogspot.com/

Please take the time to visit these blogs. I'm sure you will enjoy them as much as I do!

"Soft & Gentle"

I created this layout to submit to www.twistedsketches.com. The twist this week was "soft". Bill said the first thing that came to his mind when I told him the twist was "soft" was this wedding photo of me laying my head on his chest. In addition to the title describing Bill's demeanor toward me (soft and gentle) I also added a soft dimension to the layout by using fabric in place of patterned paper (the heart-patterned circle).

"You've Got Mail"

Journaling: For Valentine's Day 2011 I bought a mailbox shaped cardboard box at Hobby Lobby, decorated it and filled it with handmade Valentine's cards that I made for Bill.
I created this layout to submit to http://www.sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/

"Valentine's 2011" Layout

Journaling: The day before Valentine's Day we went to eat at Ala Thai. We both ate the Thai Spaghetti, which was delicious as usual!

"He Fits Me To a "T" "

 I created this layout to submit to a challenge at http://www.clubck.com/. It features a shirt I decorated to wear on Valentine's Day.

Thank You, Cherrie!

I would like to send out a big THANK YOU to my friend Cherrie at http://thescrappycottage.blogspot.com/ for hosting a giveaway in which she randomly chose my name as the winner! Thank you very much, Cherrie! I am looking forward to receiving my prize in the mail! And thank you for following my blog!

"Valentine's 2011"

Bill and I actually celebrated Valentine's Day the day before. We went to eat at Ala Thai because I had been having a taste for Thai Spaghetti. Funny story: We went to eat at another Thai restaurant once and I looked for Thai Spaghetti on the menu because I had had it at Ala Thai before and love it. Since I didn't see it on the menu, I askede the waitress about it. The waitress informed me, in a very rude tone, "There is no such dish as Thai Spaghetti. I have lived in Thailand and know all about Thai food." Well, when we went to Ala Thai yesterday, I looked at the menu to be sure it was actully on there and I didn't imagine it. Sure enough, there it was, so I ordered it and it was delicious as always! For something that doesn't exist, Thai Spaghetti sure does taste good!
Also, I bought a mailbox shaped cardboard box at Hobby Lobby, decorated it and filled it with handmade Valentine cards I had made for Bill. His Valentine's gift to me: He let me buy 2 scrapbook albums since Hobby Lobby had them marked down half price!
I also bought a solid white t-shirt at Hobby Lobby which I decorated to wear today.

"Stand By Your Man"

Stand By Your Man" This layout was inspired by the article in the Feb. 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine titled "Scrapbook Life's Love Songs". The journaling is the chorus of the Tammy Wynette song "Stand By Your Man" (Written by Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill).

Meredith's Blog

Hey, everybody! Check out my friend Meredith's blog at http://www.memoriesbymeredith.blogspot.com
This is a wonderful blog that I love visiting! Also, she is having a giveaway, so you might wanna check that out!

"Fly"

I created this layout to submit to http://www.sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/
I replaced the large pic in the sketch with a poem I wrote for my husband. Here is the poem: "You Make Me Fly High" You make me fly high. You fly me to the moon. I'm somewhere over the rainbow, And I'm not coming down soon. It's true that you keep me grounded, But at the same time you put me on cloud nine. You make me jump for joy, And you make me fly high.

"In Aunt Nora's Arms" and "Comforter"

I created this layout to submit to http://www.twistedsketches.com/ The twist this week was "comfort" and I thought this pic of my godson, Preston Hancock, with his head laying on my shoulder would be perfect fot this challenge. Journaling: Just woken up from his nap, Preston is content in Aunt Nora's loving arms.

This week I created 2 layouts based on the sketch from Twisted Sketches. This one is titled "Comforter" and the journaling is a Bible verse: And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever."  -John 14:16

"10 Things I Love You More Than"

This is a sketch I created to submit to http://www.sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/

The title is "10 Things I Love You More Than" and on each of the pendants of the banner, I've listed things that I love, but I love Bill more than:
1. Scrapbooking
2. Alabama football
3. Spaghetti
4. Food Network
5. HGTV
6. Cooking
7. Kittens
8. Snow
9. Sunsets
10. Poetry

"Momma's birthday"

Today is Momma's birthday. Even after 4 years, I'm still not sure how to handle Momma's birthday now that she's not here anymore. No "happy birthday", no cake, no presents...I try to just ignore it until it passes (I mean, after all....Feb. 8 only lasts for 24 hours), but everywhere I turn, there is a reminder that today's date is Feb. 8. For so many years, a festive date in our family, now a sorrowful one. It's funny the power that death has

.

"Seasons"

I created this layout to submit to http://www.sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/
The journaling for this layout is actually a poem my husband wrote for me. His handwriting is really sloppy and he scratches through words a lot and things like that so it's hard to read his poetry and love letters that he writes me, but when I do read them, they are so beautiful and heartfelt that it is so worth the effort!
Here is what this poem says: With there being so many endings in the world: Spring into summer, fall into winter; our first kiss, our first date...But with the ending of one thing there is something else beginning: Summer, winter, our second kiss, our hearts joining as one, our life together.

"My Hometown: Montgomery, Alabama"

I created this sketch to submit to http://www.twistedsketches.com/ This week's twist is "map". I wish I could figure out how to rotate these pics that I take vertically and show up as sideways but I have not figured out how to do that so I apologize but for now this is the only way I can post them.
I used a portion of an actual map of Montgomery to act as the patterned paper on this layout.
Journaling: I'm not supposed to like Montgomery. Nobody likes this city. But I do. Montgomery, AL is my hometown and I love it!

"I'm Your Biggest Fan" Layout

The journaling is actually a poem I wrote for my husband:
"I'm Your Biggest Fan": I'm your biggest fan. I'm here to cheer you on. I take pride in who you are, And I take pride in things you've done. You are so strong and you are so smart. You've been so kind and gentle with me and with my heart. I will always support you. I'm proud that you're my man. You're my one and only love, And I'm your biggest fan.

I created this layout for a challenge on http://www.clubck.com/

"Birthday Dinner with Corey and Quetta" layout

 Journaling: The night after my birthday Corey and Quetta took me out to dinner at Varsity Barbecue.

"Birthday Dinner with Corey and Quetta"

The night after my birthday Corey and Quetta took me out to dinner at Varsity Barbecue.