I Am Becoming Me!

Welcome to my blog on this Monday where you are getting two posts in one!! 

 Today I have a a combination post including 

 my Hippity Hop 

and my

 my Growing in Unity post!

I invite you back every day this week where I will be sharing some Unity (and even Ippity) creations all week long!  I hope you will come back and leave a sweet comment because there will be 

BLOG CANDY 

drawn on Saturday from people who leave comments each day!

I will show you as soon as I get it all together what the BLOG CANDY is, 

but trust me you won't be disappointed!!

So Eryn is our fabulous hostess for our Hippity Hop this week and she has challenged us for this week's HH Challenge (IHHC25) to make something Faux!  How fun is that!!  We hope that you will play along with us for this week's challenge and upload your creation using Ippity stamps and something faux to the SCS Gallery.  You can win a prize randomly just for entering. More details are on the Ippity Blog.  

For the complete list of Hippity Hop Blogs to hop on today, please visit the Ippity blog HERE!!

FAIR WARNING!

From here on down things are going to get personal, so if you prefer not to get into that than just scroll down and glance at my project and hop over to the next blog.  But if you care to learn more about what I have been hinting at lately that has been going on in my life, then read on for some insight into my life these days!

About five weeks ago I had to ask my husband of only one and a half years to move out of my home.  We have been separated since that time and will be getting a divorce in the very near future.  Without getting into the gory details of our break up, suffice it to say that my husband was making some choices that could jeopardize everything that I have worked for and it could have put us in a very bad situation financially and certainly emotionally.  I know that many of you don't believe in divorce and I like to think that I went into this marriage not expecting to get one either, but my husband changed.  He is not the same man that I met five years ago.  And ever since he lost his job he has chosen the wrong way to cope with it.  I saw warning signs shortly after we were married, and I have given him multiple chances to get himself straightened out, but for whatever reasons, he just didn't do it.

I felt that my hands were tied and that all I had left to do was to protect me and my children from the consequences of his actions.  So here I am, single again and wondering how and why these things keep happening to me!  I feel like I am a nice person and that I deserve to have a loving and giving relationship but for some reason Mr. Right keeps alluding me!  I am a fighter and I won't give up, but I do feel that a little introspection into why I keep choosing men that don't work out for me is in order!  So I plan on taking things slowly and working on myself.  

I have learned that if people in a relationship don't make each other better people, then they probably aren't right for each other.  Well, neither Tom nor I were the best we could be in our marriage. I had gotten lazy with my own body, with household things and even with my kids.  I learned that my paper crafting was an escape for me because it always brought me happiness.  Now I know that I need to work on balance and moderation.  Those are the things my obsessive compulsive behavior always struggles with!  

I have decided to step down from the Whimsie Doodles DT a little early and my term with the SCS Clean and Simple DT is almost over too.  So all I will be left with will be my Ippity DT responsibilities.  And I am super excited about being able to give all my crafting energies to Ippity and to trying to get published more.  I have had to take on more of the household responsibilities with Tom's absence, so having a little extra time to do these things is going to be much easier.  

My apologies for the past five weeks or so as you may have noticed my distance. I used to try to make comments in the Galleries, and I was much better at visiting and commenting on all the blogs for our blog hops too.  I plan to be doing that again!  It is something that I enjoy doing and don't look at as a chore or a DT responsibility, but a way to stay connected to my Ippity and Unity buddies!  I really appreciate all of you and I wouldn't have shared all of this with you if I thought you wouldn't have a supportive comment or a shoulder for me to cry on.  I am always amazed at the loving friendships you can have with people that you may never meet in person.  I truly value each and every one of you and thank you for listening to my story.  I would so appreciate your prayers and concern as me and my family push through this and find our happy ending!!  

As part of my healing process I decided to make a layout about my current circumstances...  I used both Ippity and Unity stamps to complete the page!

Supplies Used:

Ippity Stamps:  Flourish and Butterfly (Now and Always); Polka dot tab (to created dots on "button" and butterfly) (A Moment in Time); Picture Mat (A Bit of Burlap)

Unity Stamps: Sentiments and Title (Brave Girls Melody Ross collection); Large flourish (Where You Are Donna Downey collection)

Ink: Stampin' Up: Really Rust, Bordering Blue, Creamy Caramel

DP: Bo Bunny (Mama-Razzi collection)

Flowers: Bo Bunny (Mama-Razzi) 

Brads: Basic Grey

Markers: Copics

Can you guess what item on my layout is for this week's Faux challenge??  If you guessed the button that is in the center of larger flower cluster then you are right!!  I used chipboard and covered it with paper that I stamped with the polka dots and then pierced two holes in it and then covered the top of the "button" except for the holes with Glossy Accents by Ranger!

Here is a closeup of the butterfly colored with copics and the flower that I placed over one of the stamped Ippity flourishes.

The journaling reads...

At 46 and after 3 failed marriages I AM FINDING that my life has Not turned out exactly as I had expected when I was younger.  As far as motherhood, I have NO DISAPPOINTMENTS. I always dreamed of being a mother even more than I dreamed of being a wife, and I LOVE it!  I am also happy by my choice of career.  My job fulfills me and has always been a means for me to support me and my children whether I was married or not.  For these things I am so thankful. But with the recent demise of my present marriage, I am forced to address why the poor track record. What needs fixing?

I AM LEARNING  as I get older that there are small things and BIG things Things you can compromise on and things that you can't!  With each relationship my list of things I won't tolerate, and my list of things that I definitely expect, keeps getting longer and longer.  So now, I AM SEEKING to learn more about WHO I am and WHAT I need and want in a relationship to ensure success and happiness (should I ever try marriage again!)

There you have it!  Just the beginning of a lot of healing and questioning I have to do!  It will be interesting to see how everything works out and what my future holds for me!  :-)

So sorry for the lengthy post!! Don't be afraid to come back tomorrow... I promise it will be shorter!!  Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win blog candy later this week.  You can leave a new comment every day for a better chance at winning!!

Have a wonderful day and may your bucket overflow with the joy of knowing you have friends that will love and support you through all the trials and troubles of life! My bucket sure overflows with that! :-)