Scrap Happy

Welcome to the next stop on the blog hop.  If you are participating in the hop, you should have arrived from Pie for Breakfast.  If not, you may want to participate in order to win a prize from Scrapworthy Lives. 
To enter the giveaway from Scrapworthy Lives, be sure to comment below! You can earn one entry per blog. So that means if you visit everyone’s blog and comment on each of their blogs, you can get 13 entries! All entries must be posted by Friday, June 3 at midnight Central Standard Time (Chicago, IL, USA). Stephanie will ship anywhere in the world. The winner will be announced on Sunday, June 5 on Scrapworthy Lives.

This blog hop is all about happiness.  For me, being the self-appointed memory keeper is a happy thing.  Also, scrapping, as a hobby, is happy-making and I can lose myself in a sensory overload of colored papers, funky ephmera and elements and photos.  There are times that it is just a simple way to relax and focus on good memories. 

Do you ever have one of those days (or weeks/months) where you just need to find quiet time to sit and *not* think about all that is going on in the real world?  Like you can just block it out and be happy for a few minutes?

Last week, we had a medical crisis with our cherished little mister.  He had an ear infection coming on that we weren't aware of.  He was kind of cranky on Thursday, but was otherwise normal.  To make a long story short, he ended up having two febrile (fever-related) seizures several hours apart.  It was terrifying.  The first seizure was completely scary.  The paramedics arrived and once they were sure he was stabilized, they sent us to the pediatrician (who diagnosed the impending ear infection).  The doc gave him an injection of antibiotics and told us to come back for a follow-up on Friday.  I took little mister home, and he seemed okay.  He ate a small dinner, played around a bit and went to bed.  But then around 11:30, I went to lay down with him, and his fever spiked again causing the second seizure.  Since the paramedics had already been there before and the fever wasn't being controlled with tylenol or ibuprofen, they thought it would be best to go to the hospital.  I totally agreed.  We ended up in the emergency room around midnight after our first-ever ambulance ride.  Luckily, he was okay and the doctor released us after a cup of apple juice, a big dose of motrin and less than an hour of time.  His very relieved mom arrived from work right as they were going to discharge us (she had to have a co-worker drive her the 40 miles since she was a mess).  Even though the entire day's events was completely stressful and overwhelming (after the first seizure, I would just start crying without notice), the outcome was a happy one.  He was okay.  He is a healthy kid (aside from the occasional earache), and he has bounced back remarkably. 

While I was lying in the hospital bed, holding my sweet boy in my lap, he grinned at me, and all was right with the world.  I know I can't capture those exact feelings in a scrapbook layout, but I still found myself fondling his tiny hospital bracelet and thinking about how I should keep it for memory's sake. 

Once the crisis was over and we were all rested, I just wanted to sit at the computer and veg out on scrap-craft-related websites and not think about all of the fear that had been coursing through me the past couple of days.  Creativity has a strange way of calming me down.  Imagining all of the projects I could create, looking at inspiring works of art from other people, and giving myself colorful escapes somehow feels very therapeutic.  I didn't accomplish any amazing layouts or document the experiences we had in any meaningful way (yet), I did end up feeling calmer and happier.

Here are a few sites that just make me happy in a colorful, frilly, paper love way. 
Pink Paislee
Crate Paper
October Afternoon
Sweet Shoppe Designs (digital scrapbooking)
... and of course... Pinterest.  Where you can really lose track of time and find tons of things that are visually appealing and pin them to your own boards for times when you need a little inspiration or happy-making.  :)  I have color palettes, sketch ideas, gorgeous layouts, quotes/sayings, and photo ideas saved for future reference. 

If you have any other drool-worthy sites worth sharing, please do so. 

Your next stop on the Blog Hop will be... Abstracts Mixed with Extracts

If you've lost your place or haven't visited all of the blogs, here is the full list for your reference.

Scrapworthy Lives
1200 Some Miles
Take a Picture and Remember This
Scrap Your Life
My Life in Photos & Words
This Kalil Life
Fun Mama
Scrapping Mojo
XNomad’s Blog
Nuggets
The Constant Scrapper
Pie for Breakfast
Scraps & Sass
Abstracts Mixed with Extracts


I'd love to hear about how scrapping or other forms of creativity make *you* happy either in or out of adversity.  Thanks so much for stopping by!