Summer Soiree Blog Hop and Giveaway at Scrappin Mojo

So much has happened since Ellie's home going to Heaven that it will be hard for me to re-cap. Each day I struggle to make sense out of my life without her in it and each day it seems to become even more difficult. The pain that lives in my heart is so heavy; it can cloud even the sunniest of summer days. I do have many things to be thankful for and one such thing is my ability to get my thoughts put down on my layouts and crafty projects. I have been on two scrapbook retreats since I last posted and also was named one of the June guest designers for Scrappin Mojo. Excitng for me, as this is the very first online forum I ever visited and I continue to post my work there because I love the Mojo girls. I feel like we are a little family! I have lots of layouts to show you that I have been working on, but I will save that post for later in the week - promise! This weekend over at Scrappin Mojo we are hosting a Blog Hop with lots of prizes and one grand prize. All you have to do to participate is leave comments on the participating blogs and complete the challenge they have posted. Head on over to Mojo to register and play along with us and don't forget to check out the awesome grand prize from Bo Bunny!

So if you are playing along, my challenge to you is to create a layout using red, white and blue as your color scheme. I had fun working with an older kit that I had from Jenni Bowlin - love her kits! Leave a comment here so I know you stopped by and I will enter your name into a drawing for a RAK from me! And don't forget to post your completed layout in the gallery back at Scrappin Mojo for a chance to win the grand prize.

And if you wanna keep hopping along, please visit Diana's blog for your next challenge. Have fun and don't forgot to leave comments for my RAK. On Monday I will put all the names in a bucket and let Desi pick out a winner. Enjoy your weekend everyone and don't forget to check out Mojo for the official Blog Hop rules! Enjoy and Happy Scrappin!

Miss You, Ellie Belle

I do not have a lot of words today as Ellie's passing is still very fresh and almost seems unreal to me. However, I felt moved to make a small post to the scrapbooking community. I am in total disbelief at the goodness of so many who do not know me personally, but only through my pages. I cannot describe how touched I am by your kindness and generosity - Thank You. Ellie loved to create and often would sit by me when I would upload layouts and projects. I know that she will be watching over me, Jesus at her side, continuing to be my inspiration for all the pages to come.

Forever free, Ellie. I miss you and know you are near. My arms ache to hold you and kiss your sweet little face. If one day in Heaven is like 1000 here on earth, wait for me for about 15 minutes and I will be there with you. Love you, baby girl ~ Mama

Walking By Faith

I am not even sure where to start since I have not done a blog entry since April. So, I guess I'll just jump in. As many of you know, on April 29th, my oldest daughter Ellie was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor in her brainstem. You can imagine the devastation Pat and I felt after receiving this news about our precious girl, our fist baby. Both of us literally fell to our knees weeping and clutching one another. Never, ever, did we think we would be facing cancer; especially with one of children. Since that day, much has happened to me mentally, physically and certainly spiritually. I have discovered things about myself that I never knew, made friends that I know will last a lifetime and been witness to the amazing works of God through His people. I have never been this close to God; even though I wish this was not happening with Ellie, I feel an overwhelming sense of peace because I know how much He loves me. He'll never let me go.


Ellie is doing wonderful right now. Her determination and spunkiness brings joy to my heart and I am so proud of how she has handled everything she has to go through.She started kindergarten and loves it. I would write more about everything we have been doing with her treatments, but I would like to keep this blog as my creative place. Most of you who know me also know that you can follow Ellie at her own website. I have also added her link on the sidebar. I've added a couple pictures of Ellie from the first day of school.


My middle child, Desirae, started preschool this year. She still seems so little to be going to a "class", but she absolutely loves it and really likes the idea that she gets to go to school like her big sister. That's her in the red dress on the first day of preschool.


Since my last post in April, Pat and I also had a baby boy. Colson Patrick was born on May 27th via C-section and has provided us with hope, laughter and sweetness. He is a gentle reminder of just how precious life truly is.




With all that has been happening, my papercrafting time has been pretty limited. But I did get the chance to go away on a scrappy weekend in August and managed to create a few layouts. Cole provides a fun new avenue for me since I have never scrapped little boy pages before! The two layouts that I have uploaded are of his sweetness as he was brought into this world. The third layout is a picture that my good friend Dawn took of Ellie in 2006 when she was 3 years old. I finally got around to scrapping it! And the final layout is of Desi in all her cuteness. This one was actually done as part of my design team work for Making Memories For You. Unfortunately, I had to leave the design team due to what was happening with Ellie. I am excited to get back into doing some design work for the Scrapdragons challenge blog. Gabi and Laura have some great challenges planned for the remainder of the year so be sure to stop over to Scrapdragons and check it out! As I sign off for tonight, I want to take a moment to thanks all of you for your incredible kindness, words of encouragement, gifts and prayer. The scrapbooking community has reached out to me in a way I never even imagined and I am so fortunate to be part of such a caring group of crafters. Please continue to pray for Ellie and my family - God grants miracles every day; why not one for Ellie? Blessings to you all ~ Niki

April Showers bring May Flowers

I don't know about you all, but I am so ready for the snow to be gone and to see my flowers start popping up. It thas been a long winter! Nothing like doing a few scrapbooking challenges to get me in the spring mood. Below are a few layouts and projects that were all done for Making Memories For You. Some are newer challenges and some a little older, but all very inspiring! As for my blogging, I am way behind! With only 9 weeks until Baby Boy Willaert arrives, I have been quite busy getting ready for him and trying to accomplish all of life's other duties. I so hope to be back and post this week and also get caught up with you all. Have a great week!

Heather at MMFY had a great idea for one of her March challenges. We had to use 10 or more flowers on a layout; now that is for sure a great way to think spring!

Dee's March challenge was to do a layout about a spring activity. My girls love their raincoats and umbrellas! This challenge finally got me to scrap this wonderful photo taken by my good friend Dawn of Dawn Roach Photography. Dawn is also responsible for the lovely photo in the layout above; check out her site - she rocks! I am lucky to have found such a good friend and her pictures are the ultimate bonus!

Another challenge from Dee! We had to use the work "luck" or "lucky" on our layout. All of the supplies used on this layout came from a kit I purchased from Kelly at Keep In Touch. Check out her shoppe - amazing kits and Kelly is wonderful to work with!

This lovely card was inspired by a member at MMFY, Fe-Fe. She is a fabulous card maker and challenged us to use a stamped image on our card, not a word. A total stretch for me since I do not make cards very often!

Caitlin, another member at Making Memories For You, had posted this altered CD challenge early in the year. I loved doing this so much that I had to share! How cool to take some scratched up CDs that the kids ruined and make a fun little wall hanging for their room!