Welcome back, friends!  If you are looking for my blog hop post, CLICK HERE.  If you are looking for my rainbow color challenge, then you are in the right place!

Winnie & Walter has a whole day of festivities going on - and Shay has created a page that gives you the links to everything you need for the day!  Check it out HERE, and guess what...if you take a "craftie" {a selfie of your crafting area} and link it up in that post, you will be eligible to win a $25 credit to the W&W Shop!

I am hosting the 3pm Rainbow Color Challenge!!  I've created a fun little shaker card using some amazing W&W dies.  I seriously LOVE how this card turned out!  I knew I wanted to figure out a way to use all of the sentiment cutaways included in the In A Word: Birthday Tiles die set.  I love the graphic font, and it paired perfectly with the In A Word: Happy cutaway!!  Check it out!

Well friends, the time has come.  I'm making my official comeback to this amazing little creative world that I love so much.  I can't thank you enough for giving me the time & space I've needed as I figure out how I grieve & long for my babies while still continuing to do the things that I love.  Thank you for checking back when my blog was completely silent.  And thank you for supporting me as I make my way back to a semblance of who I once was creatively.

First, some blog hop details!  You should have arrived here from Emily Leiphart's blog!  If you've lost your place, or happened upon my blog and want to check out the entire hop, then start at the Winnie & Walter blog!  Winnie & Walter is giving away five (5) $25 gift certificates to the w&w shop! Just leave a comment on every destination along the Hop to be in with a chance to win!

I will post your next stop on the hop at the end of my post!

It took me a little bit to figure out how creating works with grief.  I've decided I am choosing to honor Ellie & Layton by creating for them.  My creative process and style is intrinsically woven with thoughts of them and inspired by them.  Mostly, I want them to be able to look down and be proud of the person I'm becoming after them.  Broken, wounded & forever changed...but stronger, more passionate & driven.

Today marks the start of a month long event that I've planned!  It's my Crafty Comeback, and I am SO excited that it's here!  This event wouldn't be possible without all the amazing companies that enthusiastically jumped in and chose to sponsor it!  I hope that you will check back through November 4th (there is something going on EVERY day, except for weekends - excluding this weekend, of course.)  There is going to be tons of inspiration & GIVEAWAYS, challenges & more!

It just felt fitting that the event would start with Winnie & Walter!  Shay has continued to send me her product, her support and her love even though I was mostly silent.  I didn't expect such generosity, and I look forward to creating with everything that I wasn't able to when it released.

Today is World Cardmaking Day, and I am sharing the first card I've created since losing my son.  I thought of him every moment as I created it.  It's light & airy & whimsical...just like I imagine life must feel like in Heaven.  It's the colors I expected to decorate his nursery in, and dress him in.  And while it was far too short, the sentiment conveys my gratefulness for being able to spend almost every waking moment with Layton for the 5 months he graced us with his presence.

And I'm grateful for this community, who checked on me, prayed for us, and who are rallying around me as I make my way home.  I appreciate it all more than I can say.

Well, here we go... The card that starts it all again.  :)

{If you had forgotten, or didn't know me before today....I take A LOT of photos of each card.  It's the wedding photographer in me....I LOVE details.  Lol!}

One thing I've found about the way I create cards is that it is hard to put step by step instructions to.  I pull things out...I push & move them around until they find their perfect place...I add layers until I feel like it's done.  So, I won't be including step by step instructions any longer.  I will likely do videos in the future, but I'm still figuring that out!!  If you have any questions about something, please let me know in the comments and I will absolutely answer!!  And products that are still available will be linked at the end of the post so you can shop your little hearts out!

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and check out my card today!  Have an amazing time along the blog hop...it is packed FULL of amazing designers!  I know that inspiration will abound, and I can't wait to grab a cup of blueberry coffee (my favorite!) and hop along myself.

Once you've left a comment, your next stop in the blog hop is to Nichol Spohr's blog!  I will be back this afternoon at 3pm CST with a fun WCMD Winnie & Walter challenge!  Check back then and join in on the fun!! 

 

Hey friends!  I am SO excited to share something that I have been dreaming up and working on the past couple months!!



Thank you SO MUCH to all of the sponsors for your generosity!  You are helping me have one amazing comeback, and helping me giveback to this creative community I love so much!!


Saturday, October 7th - World Cardmaking Day {seems fitting, right?!} - will be the kick-off to one MONTH of paper crafting inspiration, GIVEAWAYS, challenges, & more!!  You will want to drop by every single day through November 4th to see all the new projects I've been creating, enter to WIN, and play along with me as well!

 It all starts at 9am CST this coming SATURDAY!  I hope you will join in, follow along and just have a month long blast with me!

Hello, crafty friends.  It's been a long time.  All I can say is that there is a very good reason why I took a hiatus from my creative little corner in the paper crafting world.  Very soon, I will be coming back to it.  But first, I want to share someone with you.

This is Layton Caleb.  He is the little guy that I announced being pregnant with in this post on Valentine's Day in 2016.

Not long after that announcement, we found out that Layton had some health issues.  That he would need considerable medical care.  So we transferred care to Minneapolis, MN.  I went into labor with Layton the evening after our first full day of appointments in Minneapolis, and he made his arrival via c-section on June 9th, 2016 at 1:32am.

Layton was 11 weeks early.  So, along with 2 major health issues...we also added prematurity & chronic lung disease to the mix.

For 5 months, I spent most of my time in his nursery, by his bedside.  Holding him if he was stable enough, advocating for him as best I could, and trying to soak up every moment with him that I could.

We knew that he would be a lifelong heart patient.  We knew that he would have a very rocky start.  And although we knew that nothing was guaranteed, we didn't expect to lose him.

Layton passed away on November 17th, 2016 due to a complication from a medical procedure.  The boy who was starting to thrive, and not just survive, was taken from us.

Needless to say, we were devastated.  Truthfully, we still are.  But each day, we find a way to live with the devastation.  We find a way to be sad and joyful at the same time.  In all honesty - we've been doing this since losing Arabella Grace in 2015.

If you would like to read more about Layton's short life here on earth, my husband kept a beautiful Caring Bridge Journal for him.  You have to create a sign-on to access anything on Caring Bridge, but I believe they make it pretty easy - I just used my Facebook profile to create one.  I would suggest reading from the beginning, so when you click into the journal, be sure to change the sort option to "oldest to newest".  There are more photos in each post, as well in the gallery.

Life hasn't been fair to us when it comes to starting a family.  Our hearts have been shattered...twice.  And we've been left to pick up the pieces.  It hasn't been easy.  Especially for me.

After Layton died, I didn't know if I would ever do anything creative again.  I didn't want to be a photographer any longer.  I couldn't look at my crafting supplies.  So, I signed out of my email and closed up my Scrapbox.  And I grieved.

I will grieve forever.  But at the same time, I am healing.  And as I've continued to heal little by little...the side of me that craves creativity is coming back.

Recently I've worked on re-branding my photography business.  If you would like to check that out, here is the link:


And just a week ago, I was able to unpack my crafting supplies.  While I didn't want to look at them anyways, I really haven't had access to my supplies since Layton was born.  We lived in limbo between Fargo & Minneapolis until closing on our home at the end of May.  It is much smaller than our home in Fargo, so finding places for everything to go has been a {welcomed} challenge.  It is a cute little house that is slowly but surely becoming "home".

I look forward to spending some time in my craft area in the very near future.  I need to get updated on what's been going on in my little industry since I've been gone.  So, feel free to share with me in the comments!  Are there any new stamp companies or shops that I need to be aware of?  How about blog challenges?  Any new amazing stampers that I need to check out?  Please share!


And last, but not least...if you find yourself going through something hard like this, please feel free to reach out.  I understand pretty much every aspect of infertility, pregnancy loss, stillbirth, in utero medical diagnoses, prematurity, NICU stays, and infant loss.  And I will stand with you in whatever place you happen to be in.  I won't have words to make it better, because there are none.  But I will listen to you, cry with you and just be present.

Honestly - I have no idea if anyone ever checks on this blog any longer or not.  But if you do, I just wanted to let you know a little bit about our story from the past 15 months.

And I will be back creating very soon.