Sketchy Challenge #1 - So Many Reasons

Hello ladies, it's time for another sketchy challenge over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum.  I had alot of fun working with the sketch that I created below and hope you guys have some fun working with it as well.

This is the layout that I created based on the sketch above. I used the The Sweetest Thing line from My Minds Eye to create this layout. One thing I really liked about this sketch is that balance that it had and that it wasn't too busy.

I did something a little new for myself and I stitched over a photo for the first time. I really liked the end result from doing this. One thing that was a pain was how thick my layer was that I had to stitch through because of all the paper I have layered on the background. But this was a very neat thing to do and I will do it again in the future.

I created a list on the side of my page instead of having the title go there. The list goes along with my title and is the journaling for my page as well.

I would love to see everyone's creations over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum. Make sure you upload your creations to the forum as well as the gallery.  Thanks for playing along.

Oh My Word!

Welcome to the Oh My Word! Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends! You should have arrived here from Jan's blog. If you didn’t, you might want to start at Two Scrapbook Friends, so you can read all about it and you won’t miss any of the great inspiration along the way!

My word for 2013 is independence. Independence has always been something I seemed to struggle with. I am a mommas girl for anyone who doesn't already know. My family is really important to me so being apart from them is really hard for me. This October I moved away from home and moved to Elora. For those of you who know me and my personality this was very hard for me.At first I was coming home alot when Matt would leave for work for the week and come back on the weekends when he would come home. But when this challenge was given to us to pick a word and I picked independence I started to think and I have now been staying at my home in Elora alone and coming home less.

This is what I created:

I love the colours of the paper that I used because I thought it reflected my personality.  The key on my layout was very important to the entire purpose of the layout. The key reflects how I started to become independent with moving out.

I added some pendents with some buttons to the side of my layout to add a little more colour.

I cut out a circle and created my title around the circle. I thought it turned out really well.

Last but not least I added some butterflies. I seem to have a slight obsession with them lately.

So remember, in order to be entered to win:
1. Leave a comment on all the blogs as you go and then go back to the Two Scrapbook Friends blog and leave a final comment there.
2. To have a second chance to win, send YOUR special word that inspires you in 2013 in an email to 2friends@execulink.com. Put "Blog Contest" in your subject line.
3. Create your own design based on your special word and upload it to our Gallery and Forum before February 28 at 11:58 pm, and receive 10 Forum Buttons towards gift certificates in the store!
 4. Check back at the Two Scrapbook Friends Blog on January 22nd to see if you are the prize winner. (Winners will not be contacted personally.)

Be sure to stop be each on the following blogs and leave a comment! Enjoy the Hop :)

Two Scrapbook Friends 

Carolyn 

Ann 

Christa 

Jan 

Amanda 

Lynn 

Laureen 

Jayne 

Shelby 

Joanne 

Two Scrapbook Friends

I love you..

Love..everyone has a different definition of it. Some people think love is the greatest thing in the world and others would rather do without it. Some people believe in love at first sight and others think its a load of crap. I am one of those girls who has always been on the fence with something like this. I have had "crushes" but I have never been in "love". At the time I thought it was "love" but looking back on my past I am embarrassed that I thought it was.

When I think of people in love I think of my parents. My parents couldn't be more perfect for each other. They treat each other with respect and value each others opinions. They work together as a team to get things accomplished, they never go behind each others back when doing something, and most of all they are honest with each other 100% of the time. My mom told me whenever I would have a breakup that a better guy will come along and everything will be fine. I would always just take her advice and walk away thinking "ya whatever there is no one better" 

I know i'm considered young being only twenty years old but there was a time about a year ago I thought I was going to just be single for the rest of my life. No guy was ever comparing to the standards that I had in set. They were either to self absorbed, cocky, a dork, not family oriented, and the list goes on and on. One day my best friend made me sign up for online dating..I know I had the same reaction. I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever heard of in my life. Who seriously needed to be online to meet someone.. well I was one of them. At first I thought it was just a huge joke. But after being on there for a while I met a bunch of really nice people that I would consider friends. But out of all the people I met there was one who stuck out over every other people who messaged me.

This guys name was Matt. Matt and I had talked a couple times but I started to lose interest (i'm not sure why) and stopped talking to him. A couple weeks later I signed back on and saw his picture again and started talking to him. We made plans to meet up.. and I was such a chicken. I contemplated on going to meet him and finally one night I got the guts up to go and meet this so called amazing guy. Well I surprised myself. He was more amazing then I thought.

Two months later I have to admit I am probably the luckiest girl ever! Who knew you could meet your dream guy on online dating?  Well I did and I cant believe it. Matt is the most loving, kind, caring individual I have ever met in my life. He is constantly looking out for what's best for me and makes sure I am taken care of all the time.  He is the best thing I could have ever asked for. He couldn't have walked into my life at a more perfect time and I thank him for that.

People always say that you need to be 100% comfortable around the person you are with and I thought in the past I was with the people I was with but with Matt I could not be more myself (sometimes a little too much). When I am around Matt it doesn't matter what I look like, how i'm dressed, what I say or who i'm with he respects me for who I am. 

Matt and I have experienced bumpy paths just like every other relationship on this planet. We are going to have times where we disagree with each other and want to hurt each other but in the end we love each other.  The main thing is that we realize that we work so well together and stick with it. I cant even explain how happy I am that I met Matt. He has changed my life so much in such an amazing way.

Matt is away with work for about 8-10 days and i'm at home in an empty house all alone with the cat with memories of him all over. This 8-10 days is going to feel like forever but I cant wait for him to come home. I miss him already and I saw him about 12 hours ago. I am constantly thinking about what he is 
doing and if I am crossing his mind. I am hoping hes going to call me later so I can a least hear his voice.

For anyone who is reading this and doesn't believe in love.. hang in there.. I didn't and look what happened to me.. I met my dream guy. Its worth it to stick it out. For those of you who think that love is stupid and that there isn't a guy out there for you.. just wait it out. Rushing things just makes the wait feel longer and then you just get frustrated. Everyone has a prince charming out there in the world.. believe it or not. If you want to find him.. figure yourself out first and he will come and find you. Mine did, and I couldn't be happier. 



Amanda.xo

Missing You

Two weeks ago tomorrow a very special man was taken away from alot of people. On Monday December 3rd my Grandpa passed away from kidney cancer. He had a very rough but quick battle against the horrible disease. It took everything in him to fight as hard as he could to try to beat the disease. God decided it was time to take him into his hands to take care of him from now on.

My Grandpa was such an amazing man while he was around and i'm sure while hes up in heaven looking down on all of us he is doing some serious goodness up there for everyone. I am constantly thinking about him, about what he is doing, how he is feeling, who he is meeting, and what he has said about us that haven't come to be with him yet.

I haven't had alot of time in the past week and a half to think much about how much I truly missed my Grandpa because of how busy our family was with planning the funeral and getting everything/everyone organized for that. We all went through the motions of saying our goodbyes and listening to everyone tell us their fondest memories about my Grandpa as they passed through the line at the visitation. While standing in line meeting everyone I couldn't believe how many people showed up to the visitation/funeral. I know my Grandpa touched alot of peoples lives but the line just seemed like it was never going to end.

Since things have started to get back to normal in everyone's lives things are starting to kick in with my family. We are starting to miss my Grandpa more and more every day. I have always missed my Grandpa but now the missing has gone to another level.

Its starting to feel real that he is no longer here to talk to or see. I am constantly having memories flash through my mind from when he was around and all of the good times that we spent together. I am constantly having flashbacks of the last time I saw my Grandpa at Freeport.  I am trying to remember the last thing I said to my Grandpa and the last thing that he said to me. I am constantly thinking about how Christmas is going to be without him there physically. My Grandpa was the main entertainment on Christmas day. Between his amazing Christmas dinner and the always interesting but boring conversations about money he always kept us on our toes.

This Christmas without him around is defiantly going to be different and feel weird but we all know that he is going to be watching us from above. He is constantly watching us from above and I think that is what makes it a little easier for me. My Grandpa physically isn't in my life anymore but spiritually he will always be here.

No one will ever take the place of my Gpa in my life. My Grandpa was a very special man and no one can compare to him. I want him to know that we all miss him very much and that Grandma is doing awesome. I want him to know that there isn't one day that passes that we don't think about him and talk about him.

Thank you to everyone for all of your love and support. It has meant so much to us.

Title Challenge

Hello Ladies!

Its time for another Crafty Challenge on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum. For this weeks Crafty Challenge I chose to go outside of the box. I am doing a title challenge. My challenge for you is to pick a line of paper and create your title around the name of the line you are using.

For example, I used For The Record 2 by Echo Park. So therefore my title had to include For The Record. Below is the layout I created based on my challenge.

I absolutely loved the colours of this line. They were awesome to work with any photos that you would have laying around. I added some stitching and added my title on that.

I added a little bit of journaling and a little ink around the edges and tada my layout was finished.

I would love to have everyone play along with this weeks Crafty Challenge on the Forum. Make sure you upload a photo of your layout to the forum and the layout gallery.

Sketchy Challenge

Hello Ladies!! It's time for another sketchy challenge over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum. Below is the sketch that I created.

And this is the layout that I created based on my sketch above.

I added some journaling with the Dymo Labler using the Kraft Core cardstock and sanded the top to have the core colour show through.

I used some stickers that I had in my stash and then created part of my title using the Silhouette.

Come stop over at the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum and try to create something based on my sketch. Thanks for stopping by.

Miracles..

A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is considered to be divine. Thats the definition of a miracle. Why cant they happen when you need them? Why do they show up when they really aren't "needed" when someone else could use one more that you? 

I'm sure most of you know that my Grandpa isn't doing well at all and has been in the hospital for what seems like forever.. with cancer. We have been moved from Grand River Hospital to Freeport and he is now in hospice care. My Grandpa has good and bad days just like everyone else in this world but he keeps his head held high and keeps trucking through his battle. My mom and I feel like we live at the hospital because we are there so often taking shifts so that my Grandpa has someone with him almost all the time. Hes not always alert when you are there so on those days you just sit back and relax and then there are the days where he has you running around like a chicken with its head chopped off. He has days were he will laugh with you until your stomach hurts and then other where you feel like you have lost him. Lately we are experiencing alot of the days where it feels like we are slowly losing him.  You can tell my Grandpa is slowly starting to lose his battle against cancer. You can tell hes ready to go as soon as everyone around him is ready to let him go. 

I try to tell myself that I'm ready for him to go and be comfortable where he belongs because the way he is right now isn't how he wants to live. But the more I think about my life without my Grandpa in it I start to realize that I might not be so alright with it. My Grandpa is one of a kind. I didn't really notice it until he started fighting cancer... I guess you take these things for granted when you don't have a time limit with the person. My Grandpa has touched alot of peoples lives and I don't think he even realizes it. I have to admit I am going to be lost without my Grandpa. It's going to get some getting used to without him around but I am thankful for every minute I spend with him right now. 

When I see my Grandpa now hes not even the same man he used to be. I was looking back at pictures the other night  and my Grandpa doesn't even look the same anymore. Cancer has completely taken over his body.  One thing that hasn't changed about my Grandpa is his part in my life. My Grandpa has always loved listening about all the latest and greatest that is going on in my life. While my Grandpa has been battling cancer a miracle happened to me. I met a boy.. not just any boy.. I met Matthew Harrison.

Matt is one of a kind..hes the most caring, loving guy I have ever met in my life. After getting to know Matt and starting to realize that I really like him it was important that my Grandpa met him. My Grandpa wants his princess (what he calls me) to be treated the right way and I finally found a guy who does that. I had told my Grandpa all about Matt and and he told me he wanted to meet him. My Grandpa started to slowly go down hill and I didn't know if they were going to get a chance to meet but my Grandpa pulled through and met Matt. 

The two of them get along great! My Grandpa told Matt to take care of his princess when he is gone because I deserve the best and it really meant alot to see him meet and get along so well. My Grandpa isn't going to get to know Matt that well but I know from where hes going hes going to be keeping an eye on him.

As far as my Grandpa goes I am thankful for every second I spend with him. My Grandpa is such an amazing man and I am going to miss him like crazy but its time for God to take over and make him comfortable. Please everyone keep us in your prayers.