My very first...

...post is up at Scraps of Color HERE.   This is one of the pages highlighted in my post.

Make sure to read the post to find out the story behind my cross dressing son and to see my other page.  You can read HERE   to find out how YOUR kreations can grace the pages of the Scraps of Color ezine and if you haven't already...sign up HERE for your free subscription!!!

I'm SOO excited...

...to say I'm a Creative Team Designer for

..a celebration of creative women of color and the many shades of brown which reflect our rainbow. 

The other awesome ladies include:

Creative Team Designers:
Tiare Smith
Wendy Morris
Karen Jiles
Thomisia Francois
Rani Shah
Qadirah Gomez
Keandra Willis
Lorie Moses
Sherry Goodloe
Kenyatta Thomas
Samara Joseph
Lisa Sanford

Publication Staff:
Tiare Smith, Editorial Director, Vendor Relations
Cheryl Hepburn, Editor
Lisa Renee Young, Vendor Relations Assistant 

In honor of this special day, you can save on a 1 year subscription to Scraps of Color E:spire!  Don't miss a single moment of ideas, inspiration and information from this wonderfully, creative team!  Hurry, offer good this week only, November 15-21, 2010.

Congrats to everyone!  I can't WAIT to get started!!!  I'll be back soon with pix from the littlest's boy's 3rd birthday celebration!!!

God and Google Saved My Marriage.

Anyone familiar with me knows that I don't listen to messages on the home phone daily.  My sister talks about me SOO badly that I've really tried to do better....so I've been listening to them every OTHER day.  A couple of days ago I was listening to the voicemail, pen in hand, when I got a huge shock.  A special investigator called and said there had been a complaint filed against my husband.  This man recited the complaint number and a phone number that John needed to call in order to respond to the complaint within 48 hours.  And by the way, the message went on to say, there's a restraining order against you associated with the claim.  I won't lie...my initial response was to flip OUT.  That lasted for about three minutes.  I took a deep breath and started thinking.  My husband is just NOT THE TYPE.  We've NEVER had this kind of drama (just BABY MAMA drama!!!;P)  He really doesn't go anywhere without me and/or the kids...when would he have had TIME to harass anyone?  ANOTHER deep breath.  I called John (who was at a play with Ahmad) and HE flipped out.  I tried to calm him down and told him that I would listen to the message again and write down the information.  Before I did that, I knelt by the sofa and told God that I knew He would make it turn out right.  God in return told me to research the number that the "investigator" left online.  This is what I found:

This individual isn't real.  This call...which could have brought on HUGE problems in my marriage if I hadn't had the foresight to investigate is a scam.  I'm SOO angry right now that these people, these GREEDY B@$!@&*$ caused us even TWO MINUTES of anguish.  I'm trying to convince my husband to call the police or at least the local news team...see how THEY like being investigated!

About a month ago, I was talking to Princess. She asked if I knew that there's a Fleur de Lis Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Princess knows that I'm a New Orleans girl and I BLEED Fleur de Lis!  I told her that I don't own a Cuttlebug and that was the end of it...I THOUGHT!  Yesterday I got this in the mail

 

The stickers on the left are metal...GORGEOUS!  I couldn't ( AND DIDN'T!) wait to use them

That's not the end of her generosity, though.  I also received this

I didn't fan the entire stack out for the picture but it's ENORMOUS!  I PROMISE YOU there must be about THIRTY sheets of this yumminess

Can you IMAGINE how long it took her to emboss all those sheets???   I'll be using these lovelies for a LOOONG time!  I'm SOO appreciative for people who do things like this JUST to be nice!  Thanx, Princess!  I love you, Mama!!!  OH!  And check out the CA-UTE card I got with my package

Hawt Mama in the red and white...SOOO me in 20 years!!!  Have a great weekend!

I feel like...

'cause KREATORVILLE KITS ARE FEATURED ON THE SASSAFRAS BLOG TODAY!!!  OH MY MERRRRCY!!!  I KNEW Sass was one of my faves for a REASON!!! WHY are you still HERE??? GO SEE!!!!

SOOO excited...

...that Anam asked me to be a part of this!

Sign up to follow on the blog and on Facebook to check out the awesomeness from all the artists as soon as the app is available!
And Nitasha and Jaime...since it was just the two of you who commented on this post...I'll send you EACH one!  Just send me your addresses! 

We FINALLY did it...

...together!! When I was in my early 20's, my Daddy would take me all the time. I really didn't appreciate the value of it then. Now that I'm nearing 40, I've learned to appreciate the value of vintage...of getting BETTER WITH TIME, BAYBEE!!! Saturday, my husband and I let the littlest boys sleep in while we went walking. We decided to treat ourselves to a Smoothie and saw an estate sale sign. I thought the hubbs would roll his eyes at me...'cause sometimes he just doesn't see the vision...but he was ALL IN!!! I'm SOO glad we didn't miss it because we SCORED! Anyone who knows how much I stitch on my layouts will understand how I felt when I saw this

I was trying to be all COOL so they didn't jack the price up because I was DROOLIN'!!! The tiny skeins are an arm and a leg in the store...can you IMAGINE how much these THIRTEEN rolls would have been??? I'm SURE I would have had to part with a child or a lung! And I love the wrappers with the original prices on them

I already have a special page in mind for some of them! I don't think I'll have to buy much floss for the next FEW years...unless I run across more at another estate sale!!! I do plan on hoarding these...but I CAN be convinced to part with one! If you want one of your own to hoard, just leave a comment on this post (and make sure you're a follower!) I'll pick a random krafter to send one to!)

My Mom turns 60 tomorrow and the hubbs and I are having a small get together for her this weekend. We're cooking the majority of the food...including the Man's awesome Spinach Dip! Spinach makes my head spin around like Linda Blair in the Exorcist but I LUUUUV the Man's dip! We planned to use a large chafing dish to keep it warm until we saw this

at the estate sale!! Isn't he CUTE???

I was like, "WE.HAVE.TO.HAVE.IT! Now that I've seen it, nothing else will DO!" It really IS the perfect size AND the perfect price

But WAIT! The Man talked the peeps into taking $10 for the fondue pot AND the floss...AWWWWESOME!!!! That's DEFINITELY in the budget! At first, I researched ways to polish copper. But, I like the vintage look better so I just cleaned it up. Can't WAIT to put it to use!!!!

*The October kit has been revealed HERE and I love THIS page that
I was able to kreate with all the Sassafras goodies!

*I have a new page up that I kreated for the Examiner.com that
you can check out HERE

* I have 32 items on my TO DO list this week and all I wanna do is SLEEEEEEP!!!!

When does life...

...start to get really busy for you?  I know the holidays are crazy for most people but the insanity comes EXTRA early over here!!!  My Mommy turns 60 on the 20th and I'm scrambling to finish party plans for her.

The baby will be christened the next day and we're having a small dinner for his godparents.  



We don't celebrate Halloween but my husband decided to do a "Hallowed Be Thy Name" celebration for his Sunday school class...and WHOO did he put in charge of decorations and games I wonder!!!  Plus, my niece will turn 10 on November 7th and she's having a party (I'm ALL UP IN THURE!!!) and Kea's party will be the NEXT WEEK!!!!  My husband asked what I want for MY birthday (which is the 21st)...has anyone bottled SLEEP yet???  


I'm still finding time to make memories with  him

in the mornings, him 

in the evenings and HIM

in the middle of the night!  (Insert evil laugh and wiggling eyebrows).  I'm still doing assignments like THIS, THIS and THIS.  I even found time to do something SOO awesome with my husband today!!!  Minds outta the gutter...I said toDAY!!!!  Tell you about it soon!  And if anyone wants to donate some sleep, send it to keandra@feelinlikeacrackhead.com.  And thank YOU for your participation!!!

My truck...

...goes into the shop this morning for an at LEAST $500 repair.

My son made a D on a quiz I BEGGED him to get help with.

My old friend insomnia has been visiting me QUITE a bit this week.

Does anyone have an extra umbrella because OBVIOUSLY the storm

HAS ARRIVED. I'm off to pray!

Did you know...

...that Michael's is offering a 40% off ANY regular priced Martha Stewart craft item through Sunday?  I've NEVAH seen a coupon specifically for an MS product...as a matter of fact, most coupons  normally EXCLUDE them!  THIS is the link to the coupon.  In case you've had too many beers tonight and can't get it to work, just go to the Creating Keepsakes website and you should see the link in the left column.  I'm gettin' one of those around the page border punches with mine...what are YOU gettin'?

By the way, the link to Eb's Etsy shop is
http://www.etsy.com/people/dezigner07

My girl...

...Eboness, who I've known since high school has dipped her toes into the etsy pool!

           

If you have girls or you'll a girly girl yourself, you might wanna check out her shop, SHEER BLISS DESIGNS...I bet you'll fall in love!

I am...

...the September guest designer over at

 YEAY!!!!

But, you'll have to wait a few more days to see my first project...

AWWWW!!!!

Have you ever been in love..

...with a company?  A love that's not obvious at first but develops gradually?  I mean, I have a crush on American Crafts...mostly fueled by my Thickers addiction.  But, there are some companies where you see a piece of patterned paper that blows your mind.  You check out the manufacturer and say to yourself, "HMMM...niiiiice!"  Then those alphabet stickers catch your eye.

Again, you look for the maker, "HMMM, ANOTHER great product from _________!"  Pretty soon, whenever you see great supplies you come to anticipate that ________ has made them.  You begin to excitedly look forward to new release time because you KNOW this company is coming WITH IT!!! 

SEI is one of those companies. I know that I hoard use a lot of their newer supplies but when I really began delving into the DEPTHS of my crush, I realized that this obsession has been present for a WHILE!!!

  I've scrapped travel pictures of my little guys

AND a picture of my family

on Mother's Day.   I've made a page for my teenager to tell his Daddy

just how much he appreciates him...as well as a page to show that
same teenager

just how much we appreciate him coming home safely at summer's end.  My addiction also extends to

books I make for others.  I guess you understand now why there's SOO much SEI in Kreatorville's  kits, too!!!  SOO, can you figure out the THIRD company I HOARD???

I was talking to...

...this girl about the current challenge over at "These are a Few of My Favorite Things".   Until September 13th (which IRONICALLY is Char's birthday!), they're asking scrappers to share their favorite manufacturers.  And, although we differ on some of the companies (she IS more of a girly girl, after all!!!) there are a couple of manufacturers that we're both drawn to. We love them because they aren't frilly nor are they completely boyish...they manage to strike a balance.  Sassafras is one of those companies.  I can scrap pictures of Mardi Gras

or make a page for Kea's  "@ Two" book.

I can use it to kreate pages of my cutie pie niece

As well as a picture of my cutie pie kid!

(I just LOVE pictures of Mahd when he had the chubby cheeks...just the EPITOME of cuteness!!)

I love that I can use Sassafras to kreate elegant pages (like this one of my brother and me at the Zulu ball almost ten years ago!)

as well as fun party pages

(like the page of the Husband's cream cheese birthday cake that I made to document how GOOOD it was...I had just baked a disastrous cake for Mahd about a week before and THIS was my redemption!)

I use Sassafras to kreate fun pages for our family book

as well as awesome holiday pages!

NOW you all know WHY you all see SOO much Sass in Kreatorville kits...

It's because I'm OBSESSED!!!

Like a few of the design team members at Favorite Things have said, I don't know too many scrap manufacturers that I don't like!  But, there are two more companies that I have an extra affinity for like Sassafras.  There's something VERY ironic about those other two companies...something they have in common with Sassafras.  If you guess what they have in common, you'll know what the other two companies are!

Don't you just LOVE...

...learning new techniques??  I get SOO excited when it's Charity
or Jenneke's turn to showcase a favorite kreative technique on the blog because I know I'm gonna add something visually stunning to my repertoire!     When Jenneke introduced the September technique to us, I couldn't help rubbing my hands together in glee (think evil scientist!)  I've wanted to try this on my projects for a long time and just never realized how easy it is!  I've used it on the first two pages I completed with the September Kreatorville kit:

Can't you see it?  It's....NAH!  You gotta GUESS!!!
By the way, date night was a ROARING success!  It felt WEIRD, though because I got to go to the salad bar WITH my husband.  One of us normally stays with the kids.  We got to SIT together, too! These are things you REALLY take for granted when you don't have kids!!!  And the dessert?  WELLLL, when was the last time YOU had a BAD DESSERT??? ;P

Anyone need...

...some VIRUS complete with explosive diarrhea???  Are you SURE...'cause we have PLENTY enough over here to share!

Do you ever awaken...

...with God speaking in your ear?  This morning, my first thought was a message from God: how can I bless you with more when you're not properly caring for what I've already given you?"  So, I've been catapulted into action.  I've been praying for a long time for Him to help me with my procrastinatin' ways...and that ONE QUESTION did it!  I don't know if it's permanent but it was enough for me to dub this week "Hump Week"...we're GETTIN' IT DONE up in hure this week!  From my husband to my littlest, we're getting as much done as possible from this day to next Sunday...but, with a break tomorrow.  School has started and the majority of our energy has been dedicated to the big boy.  Driving him to and from school, tryouts for a school play, getting the 750 supplies that WEREN'T on the initial lists...it's been about him.  My husband has been really great about taking a backseat but I have a surprise for him tomorrow.  I've asked my parents to keep the two littlest boys for a few hours.  I'm gonna take the Husband to dinner and then have him for dessert (did I say that aloud???)  He deserves it...and he's overdo!  When you have as many kids as we do...time for two is almost nonexistent!  For obvious reasons, there won't be pix!  Be back soon!

The big boy...

...is home!

(Don't you SEE how excited his brother is????)

The end of his summer visit with his B.F. (biological father) always signals the end of my leisure (HAAAAA!!!)time...it means it's time to get back to the bump and grind!  I'm up for the challenge AND excitement!  Because isn't THAT what high school's all about...working hard and playing harder???  I love high school football and pep rallies and DANCES...oh, I can't WAIT to see Mahd dressed up for his first dance and asking for a gazillion dollars to pay for five packs of pictures (because he HAS TO take a set by himself, one with his date, two with...you know, he HAS TO HAVE a MILLION wallets to trade with his friends!)  I'm STOKED!!!!

The August Kreatorville Kraft kit has been revealed!  I had SOO much fun getting messy this month...I LOVE splattered, creased and torn pages...they make me feel like I need to smoke a CIGARETTE after all that work!  I didn't wanna stop playing!  I kreated a couple of pages starring my baby brother.  This one

is called "Growning Skills" because I took these shots (PAT ON THE BACK!!!)  I try soo hard to improve my photographic skills that I get excited when I do well!  Everything on this page is included in the August kit!

I kreated another page this month to celebrate my husband.  Do you remember THIS day?  Well, I made this 

page to document it...and hopefully to soften my husband up enough where he won't be TOO ticked that I abandoned ship! ;P

Check the Kreatorville blog to see a few other projects Nat, Chary and I kreated this month!

THIS is what...

...life is all about!  All the times we struggle to do our best, to be a blessing to others with no recognition...I've had a week where I KNOW God is pleased with me because I've received SEVERAL blessings!  I mean, in ADDITION to waking each day under my OWN roof with food and running water...SPECIAL blessings!  


I was asked this week to participate in TWO awesome scrappy projects...which I can't share yet!  I'll tell you about one in about a month but the other will be in the works for a LEETLE longer!  The first made me squeal like a school girl...they like me...they REALLY like me!  But, the second is SUCH a unique opportunity...something I've NEVER seen explored before...MIND BLOWING!  I can't wait to share!


A scrappy pal of mine made two pages for me...just because.  I didn't ask her to and I didn't BRIBE her.  She saw some pictures that inspired her and decided to kreate this:

I love them SOO much but I mentioned them for another reason.  You NEVER know when your SEEMINGLY small act of kindness is gonna have a HUGE impact on a person.  Pam didn't know how these pages would lighten my SOUL when she made them.  There's a lesson here: be nice to people.  You can't imagine what it may mean.  I have a DAUNTING week ahead of me...something I've been constantly praying for God to successfully see me through.  But today...I remember that I'm an inspiration to someone.








And I'm glad.

Just because....

...I need to get rid of some of the supplies I've been hoarding:

(AND honestly...it just FEELS GOOD to kreate!!!)

This conversation...

...just took place:

KEA: A baby's coming!
ME: WHAT????
KEA: A BABY'S coming!!!
ME: From WHERE???
KEA: Right THERE! (pointing to the front door). A baby brother!

God if you have ANY love for me...

(By the way, if anyone has any questions about investment options, let me know and I'll ask the two year old!

He seems to know it all!!!)

Have you met...

...Kreatorville's Kontributing Kreator???  NO???  Whatcha waiting for...go on over and leave her some love!

I am SOOOO freakin'...

...EXHAUSTED!  I awakened the other morning and both of my eyes were bloodshot in the inner corners like this

(You KNOW I must be tired...I don't even have my shiny lips on in this picture!)  I just need about two days to veg out and SLEEP!  But, I have to twist my nephew's hair in the morning, check out Old Navy's sale with my sister, clean, cook...do you HEAR THAT???  That...that...WHIP CRACKING!!!  That was a nice fantasy for a moment...two days with nothing to do...back to work!