ADSR

So, as promised, here are my LOs for ADSR so far.

Challenge One was to create a LO using a particular template,include our favourite colour & favourite embellishment (which we had to use 3 times). I even went so far as to write a wee song for this LO.

The journaling reads (feel free to hum along as you read...lol):
babies and outings and opportune moments
florals and vintage and lyric atonements
dark moody backgrounds with sprinklings of bling
these are a few of my favourite {scrapping} things



Credits: template by Christy Haig; Paper by Michelle Coleman (recoloured); overlays by Michelle Coleman and Christina Renee (altered); frames by Christina Renee and Jofia Devoe; flowers by Vanilla Hush; ribbon by Grazieli Niclass; alpha by Flergs; text paths by Jen Caputo (altered); fonts: ribbon happy, pea gretchie print, starry night, and the king and queen font.



Challenge Two was to work with your partner to create a single LO. Tinkerbel73 did the top half, I did the bottom:



Credits: Papers by JillDZ and Christina Renee; Embellishments by JillDZ, Christina Renee and Jofia Devoe; Paper fold template by Vera Lim; Fonts: Pristina and Pea Sue's Print



Challenge Three was probably my favourite so far. We had to do an "all about me" LO...but at least half of the page had to be journaling about ourselves.

Journaling reads:
1. I’m an ex-pat Kiwi living in Aussie.
2. I used to work in marketing.
3. I’m currently a SAHM.
4. I like chocolate.
5. I suffer from PCOS.
6. I’m currently trying to get pregnant again.
7. I have a cat and three chickens.
8. Did I mention I like chocolate?
9. I’m currently listening to David Bowie.
10. I don’t eat pork - I don’t like how it tastes.
11. My hubby won’t eat red meat (tastes yucky, apparently)...which means I don’t eat red meat by default.
12. My favourite chocolate would probably have to be dark, bittersweet choccie (kid-proof choccie!).
13. I wanted to be an embalmer when I was a kid.
14. I also wanted to learn taxidermy.
15. No, I’m not weird!
16. I also quite like white chocolate but it gives me headaches if I eat too much.
17. My favourite colour is purple.
18. Now I’m listening to Rammstein.
19. I don’t speak German.
20. My favourite fruits are feijoas, peaches and tamarillos.
21. When I was younger, I went through a stage where I couldn’t eat chocolate at all because it gave me migraines. It was a tough time.
22. The first album I ever bought was by the Pet Shop Boys.
23. I hate ironing, almonds and whingy people.
24. The only chocolate I won’t eat is Dairy Milk (plain) or one with nuts in it.
25. No, I am not fixated with food!
26. I designed one of my tattoos.
27. I miss the chocolate made from home...Aussie chocolate just isn’t the same.
28. I sing in the car.
29. I don’t like beetles.
30. I almost always order the salmon.
31. My weirdest chocolate experience was when I was halfway through a box of chocolates and I unwrapped one - it had a big bite out of it! The chocolate had been bitten into, wrapped back up and the box was sealed! Ick!
32. I wish I’d learnt to play the flute.
33. My favourite subject at school was art history.
34. I graduated with a hospitality management and marketing degree (double major).
35. My hubby never buys me chocolate
36. I like to turn the music up loud when no one else is around.
37. I organised my wedding in 4 days.
38. I wasn’t pregnant when I got married.
39. I have to hide my chocolate because otherwise my hubby eats it all.
40. My favourite number is 4.
41. And 12.
42. I’d like to go to Easter Island one day.
43. People say I have a good sense of humour.
44. I think I get it from my Dad.
45. I currently have no chocolate in the house.



Credits: Papers by Jofia Devoe, Vera Lim and Penny Springmann (altered); Paper fold templates by Vera Lim; Embellishments by Jofia Devoe; Alpha by Andrea L. Burns; Fonts: a little pot, arial, caligula dodgy and unnamed melody



Challenge Four was similar but this time had to be about something significant (good, bad or ugly). LOs were supposed to have one major image, some blending, minimal embellishments (although this requirement was later removed) & at least 1/4 of the page as journaling.

Journaling reads:

For over 10 years, I thought this moment was going to elude me: the birth of my second child. My own personal victory over secondary infertility.

I suffer from secondary infertility as a result of PCOS. Initially, it wasn’t an issue - there are some serious advantages to not being able to conceive naturally. But it was not so much the fact that I couldn’t have kids that used to upset me...it was more that my choice in the matter had been taken away.

I definitely wanted more children but had resigned myself to not having any more - although we weren’t actively trying to conceive, nothing had happened after 9 years.

It wasn’t until 2005 that we decided to seek help. There are several options for PCOS sufferers wanting to conceive, so our first step was seeking guidance from a wonderful OB/GYN in Melbourne.

What followed was months of tests, frustration and pill popping (ahhhh, those little white pills every month. How I don’t miss those!). Only someone who has been through fertility treatment of some sort can truly appreciate the frustration, anger, hope turning to despair...the gamut of emotions one experiences. Our Clomid cycles were up. This was the last month...the last pregnancy test...the last chance before reconsidering our options.

The test was negative.

I stood and wept. I was exhausted and emotionally drained. I felt as if the baby we so desperately wanted had been snatched from our grasp.

But then a thought occurred to me...in my haste, I had forgotten to leave the test for 10 minutes before checking it. I took it out of the rubbish. Sure enough, there was a thin second line. Faint, but I was sure it was there...but I needed confirmation (just in case my eyes were deceiving me).

I went rushing into the bathroom. I pulled my husband out of the shower. “Can you see a second line?” I demanded. Quickly followed by: “We’re pregnant! We’re pregnant! I’m sure we’re pregnant!”

“Maybe,” he answered, a bit bemusedly. I still remember that small smile on his face. I felt the same - happy but not quite wanting to believe it in case it wasn’t true. In case we jinxed it, somehow.

On 29 December, 2006 our beautiful son was born.

Prayers really do get answered.



Credits: Paper by Jeannie Papai; Overlay by Michelle Coleman; Alphas by Miss HuniBuni and Christina Renee; Fonts: Pea Kim and Arial