April 2021 Highlights

Here's what we were up to in April 2021!

I ordered a bunch of floral art prints to go in the dining room and got around to hanging them. My inspiration was Claude Monet's home in Giverny. When we visited in October 2016, I fell in love with all the colors and patterns and wanted to move there :)

Easter means I post my favorite picture of the Osterbaum!

Fox's eggs were hidden upstairs. He quickly found them all. I love his enthusiasm for the hunt!

Mmmmm candy!

Checking out their loot. Jane's eggs were hidden in the basement.

We've been playing a new game together called Here to Slay. It's super fun and also super frustrating lol.

Hangin' with my girl!

Fox building Lego Vidiyo minifigs.

We resumed in-person Activity Days! We picked up right where we left off with a night of learning how to braid and do hair styles. Cute girls!

We also resumed weekly in-person church.

One night we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Always so good. Those cinnamon butter rolls though!

It's been a stressful month, food is a comfort, lots of Crumbl, Tuk Tuk Thai, and Papa John's pizza.

Eating breakfast at the new island.

Eating dinner at the new island.

We didn't see a single movie together in the theater in April! Nothing new that we wanted to see came out! Can't wait for A Quiet Place 2 later in May though!

I needed colorful flowery pics for a layout I was working on so Jane gladly obliged and let me snap some pics of her with flowers.

Soaking up some sunshine with Fox, reading outside. I'm starting the Poldark series.

Fox went to a fun race car birthday party and got 2nd place.

They're getting so good at riding bikes!

Weather wise, April has been SO WACKY. One day it's 80 degrees.

The very next it's snowing.

Back and forth, hot and cold.

Some flowers have survived the elements and bring joy to my life!

Speaking of flowers, Costco got their annual supply! They always sell out so even though lots of snow was in the forecast, we picked some up and kept them in the garage.

Still loving our walks around the neighborhood and these beautiful views.

Every time it's a different scene.

There was a baby cow next to this mama and we stood there for a good 6 minutes waiting for it to be done with its meal but it never stopped drinking lol. Thirsty baby!

Home improvement projects continue!

I submitted 3 forms for approval to our HOA to paint the house Thermal green, change the garage doors to a dark wood, and replace the shutters with natural wood ones. Still waiting to hear back, I hope they approve.

We had an electrician over to install a medallion and small chandelier in the dining room. Waiting for the round table from RH and then this once empty room will be complete!

He also replaced our broken ceiling fan with a more art deco style one. It's so fun being able to pick and choose our own things to add character and life to our first home.

I ordered this pink glass chandelier from Italy back in January and it finally arrived! In pieces! No instructions! Whaaat! Hahaha. Luckily they emailed the instructions over the next business day but it's still all gibberish to me. Might have to wait for when my parents come visit in October and my dad can help assemble it :)

A pair of hawks is building a nest in our next door neighbor's tree! While fun to watch and see, it also makes me very weary. I can't let Phoebe run around in her pen without covering it with a blanket and I hesitate to let Rachel roam outside with me. Hawks are birds of prey and we've been finding dead bunnies in our backyard lately which I really hate to see. Circle of life I guess.

April was hard on the personal front. Mostly because of Rachel and pets.

On Easter Sunday, Richard suddenly passed away. We don't know why. It was heartbreaking. We buried him in the backyard and topped his grave with daffodils. Miss you Richard!

And then Rachel. My sweet kitty. I want her to live forever. She'll be 14 this August. She started having seizures and tremors so I took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism so we started her on a medication. But her seizures didn't stop so one night I took her to the ER vet. They recommended she see a kitty neurologist so the next day I took her to one. They recommended an MRI so the next day I took her in for that procedure. It was a very very very stressful and anxiety filled week. With no answers. There is nothing in her brain that is causing all these issues. So we give her 8 pills a day now, 4 in the morning, 4 at night to help with all her issues. Nothing in her ears. Nothing in her brain. Nothing in her bloodwork. It's a mystery and makes me so anxious and sad ALL.DAY.EVERY.DAY. 

She has a follow up at the neurologist this week, I hope we can get her on the right balance of medication. She's just not the same while on them. I want my happy-go-lucky non shaky kitty back. So hard. It's just so hard.

This is Joey before he got a good grooming. He's a sweet doggie.

Rachel looking a little worse for wear the moment I brought her home from the MRI. Love you sweet kitty!

And one more piece of sad news is we found out my Grandma Cathie has pancreatic cancer and doesn't have much longer to live. We'll be going to Utah to see her and say goodbye. I'm just so bad with words, I don't really know what else to say except gosh life is hard.

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Onto lighter parts because life is all about balance, here's what I was up to on the crafty & scrappy front in April!
I need to work on adding mini albums made with Wonders to this tiered basket where I keep them all for safekeeping! The Floral Transparency will make such a pretty cover :)

Things I made and shared throughout April:

So Much Love For You Layout // Spring in Flowers Layout //  iNSD Stitching Layout
Celebrate Layout // Wonders Coptic Book // Love the Zoo Layout
Hello There Layout // Love Grows Here Layout //   SCT Sampler Cards

I'm a Patreon of Shara Crane so every month I get handmade happy mail! It's the best!

I also purchased some original art from EttaVee - more happy mail!

I made some Wonders coptic bookbinding kits and documented the process:

I sold out within 2 days so I have more supplies on the way and will relist them soon!

I've got TWO new exclusive cut file bundles! Every day beginning TODAY, May 1st through May 20th 2021, a new and exclusive family/friends & spring-themed cut file will be emailed to you! The family/friends cut files will be in English and include words, phrases, sentiments, and icons - perfect for documenting your daily family life! For the Spring cut files - think flowers, birds, butterflies - all things spring! These cut files will only be available as a bundle and not sold individually anywhere else. Every day you will receive two emails with a link to a Dropbox folder to download a .zip folder which when opened will contain the .studio3, .SVG, .PNG, .DXF, and .PDF files - so even if you don't have a cutting machine you can still print and cut out the designs for using on your crafty projects!

A sneak of perhaps my favorite cut file in the Family/Friends bundle:

I cut out all 40 designs for photographing:

Purchase the bundles HERE! Thank you soooo much!

My patterned 4x4 Mini Albums with We R Memory Keepers are here!!

They should be available any day now at your favorite local and online scrapbook stores. I'll be teaching a virtual class with them in late May/early June so stay tuned for pre-ordering information!

A lot of Wonders is in JoAnn Stores, yippee!!

For International Scrapbook Day my challenge is hand stitching. First step is picking a paper to embroider.

Next step is poking all the holes. That's a lotta holes! Yes, there is an empty one, that's where the photo goes :)

Stitching on the go!

Layout in progress.

I taught 3 virtual classes in April!

I love how teaching virtually brings people from all over the world together to share in this common love of scrapbooking and documenting! You can still get access to all of my virtual classes and upcoming ones HERE.

I made my first Reel on instagram. It didn't go so well lol, why was it so blurry, I created it directly in Instagram?!

I designed and gave away 15 cut files in April including 9 shown here that will be shared today over in my Happy Scrappy Place Facebook Group for International Scrapbook Day!

TODAY is International Scrapbook Day!!

Beginning at 8:00am Eastern Time and then every 15 minutes, new content will be posted in my Happy Scrappy Place Facebook Group! 25 challenges with prizes, 9 free cut files, a LIVE with me showing how to create a layout with my Wonders collection, and finishing with a giveaway at 5:30pm! It's going to be tons of fun! No need to register or pay, everything is FREE, just show up online and click refresh in my Facebook Group every 15 minutes to join in all of the festivities celebrating scrapbooking!

TODAY, join me LIVE in my Happy Scrappy Place Facebook Group at 1:30pm Pacific / 4:30pm Eastern time to celebrate International Scrapbook Day and create a layout along with me! I'll be using these products from Wonders: Paper 8, Paper 24, Thickers, Epoxy Phrase Stickerss, 6x12 Cardstock Stickers, Chipboard Stickers, Puffy Stickers, 8-Page Sticker Book, Banner Stickers, Floral Die Cuts, Ephemera Die Cuts, Washi Tape, Acrylic Stamps. Additional supplies: (4) 2 1/2" square photos, paper cutter, ruler, pencil, adhesives (foam squares, liquid glue, double-sided tape), blue journaling pen, rubber eraser, acrylic stamping block, Altenew inks in Lavender Fields, Lagoon, and Moss.

All of my regular, single cut files are on sale for 70% off in my Etsy shop through Monday to celebrate iNSD!

April was very sad and stressful on the personal front with Rachel and Richard and my Grandma, but with the bad comes the good of being surrounded by my loving family and still enjoying scrapbooking and everything that involves. Have to look for silver linings! Onto May! My favorite month with the trifecta of our anniversary, Mother's Day, and my 36th birthday!