my life my memories by Tracy Lynn

It has been such a long time since I wrote on my blog or did a video. Why, you might ask, was I gone so long. I have had a lot of trials and tribulations come up. It started late last year. My nephew found out he had testicular cancer and they had to do surgery to remove the tumor. Then he did a series of chemo treatments. In the middle of this we had a major house fire. In fact we lost everything. It happened Jan 23rd. I received a call from my son saying something was wrong at the house and I needed to leave work and go check on it. It took my son a few minutes to convince me to leave work and go home. Upon arriving at him there were 9 different fire departments at my townhouse. Since I live in a row of 6 town houses there was a need for that many firemen. My house and the neighbor to the left of me were hit the hardest. It started in between our two places in an outlet we never used until after Christmas 2011. I can handle losing my clothes, and various personal items, even all of my scrappy supplies. What I could not handle is losing my 2 boston terriers. My dogs were in the house and unfortunately they did not survive. Blue and riley were found a little too late. it has been almost 6 months and I still cry over them. I am happy to say that I have started to replenish my scrappy supplies. Not nearly what I had before. Maybe just maybe what I had before was too much. We are still not back in our house. I am hoping by fall the house will be ready for us. We are not sure though. There is a lot of red tape and several insurance companies involved since the fire affected all 6 houses of varying degrees. Of course that is not the end a month or two after the house fire I ended up with a major case of bronchitis which lasted bout a month. I am happy to say that my health is good and I am back to scrapping. Thank you everyone for reading my post and sharing your videos. With those videos I am not sure if I would have ever come back to scrapbooking. Hugs and happy scrappy wishes

I am popping in to say hi. It has been a long week at work and now I am off. I am going to be working on some cards tomorrow. I cannot wait to get in a the last few copies I need to color my images for my cards. They should be here in a few days. I can color my images and post some cards for you gals to see. It is cold outside. Definitely a midwest winter. I am planning on selling my cards this summer to help[ feed my habit and reduce some of my stash. It is a double win. I am hoping they sell. I want someone else to enjoy my hard work. I am also hoping to work on making my blog a little more enjoyable to look at. Thank you all for stopping by. I hope to have some photos real soon for you. Hugs and best scrappy wishes

AAAAAAHHHHHHhhhh. That was a huge sigh. I am not a huge fan of good-byes. Good-byes always make me cry. But then so does a good movie,usually involving animals or children. But today is a good-bye for a different reason. It is the last day of summer. I love summer. The warm sunshine. I love sitting outside typing on my laptop and watching videos. I love summer. Fall is bittersweet for me. It is beautiful with the leaves changing, the crisp air. But it also reminds me that winter is on its way. I am not a big fan of the cold weather. I do love watching the snow fall. I love seeing the fresh powder on the ground. But driving in it and being cold is not for me. So for now I say good-bye to summer 2011. It has been a lot of fun.

Hello everyone. I am not sure if I have stated this before but this is sort of a disclaimer. I am in no way, shape or form a computer or techie person. I get by but barely. I have been working hard at updating this blog and make it more show worthy and appealing. I am also trying to get the hang of youtube videos. Both are a slow but steady process. The end result will be better videos and a blog site that I am happy and proud to share with others. I chose the name amber-rose because it has a lot of meaning. The main reason I chose this name is for my grandfather. His middle name was ambrose. I took the name apart and made it my own while keeping his name in it. I loved my grandfather very much and this is sort of my way of keeping him around me. The other reason why I chose this name is because to me an amber colored rose is a vintage rose. I think of it as the aged and tattered rose that may be a little weathered. The rose that once was bright yellow, orange, or red but is now faded a bit and it amber in color. It is a rose that has stood the test of time and could tell you many stories if only it could talk. LIke all of us in scrapbooking the amber rose has many stories to tell. Well I am here to tell those stories of my life. I have stood the test of time like my ancestors before me and I am not only telling my story but theirs as well, for they are no longer here to tell the stories themselves. So this blog is not just for me but for the many men and women in my family who can no longer be heard in their own voice but trust me to tell their stories and pass them on to other generations. I am the amber rose's voice. I do hope you come back and visit to look at my layouts and read the stories of my family, present and past. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Hello everyone
How are you all today? Me, I am just fine. However, I am wondering who took my spring. I am looking outside my window at work and the sun is shinning there is still a little snow on the ground from last night. I am wondering who took my spring and when are they planning on giving it back. I know it is still February but it is late February. In fact it is practically March. With March should come warmer weather and my spring. At least that is my hope. I am glad you all stopped by today and I hope you continue to stop by. I am just about done organizing my scrappy craft room and I will be doing a few videos on it. So please keep checking back. See ya soon Tracy

Hello everyone. It is another cold and frigid day in Northwest Indiana. I am sitting at work praying for spring and summer so I can thaw out. it is February and very very cold. At least the sun is shinning. You could almost see that spring is on its way. That is until you step outside and are smacked in the face by old man winter. But hey it just makes you appreciate summer all the more.
I survived the Blizzard of 2011 last week and this week it is very cold. I am talking about 10 degrees before the windchill is factored in. This is one winter that will stay in my mind for a very long time. Hope everyone finds a little piece of sunshine in their day today. Hugs Tracy

Hello everyone. How are you today. Me I am doing better. I am getting my blog designed. I have not done much with the background or header images so I thought it is about time to design this blog and make it look nice for anyone stopping by for a short visit. It is not perfect but it is much better than it was. I hope you are enjoying the changes. I promise to have it finished soon. I hope you are all having a great day. Thank you so much for stopping by.

This is a video showing you how I made these cards using The Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline Papers. I really love the shabby chic look of these papers. They are so fun and versatile. really great collection. I hope you enjoy the video Thank you so much for watching

This is a video showing you how I made these cards using The Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline Papers. I really love the shabby chic look of these papers. They are so fun and versatile. really great collection. I hope you enjoy the video Thank you so much for watching

This is a video showing you how I made these cards using The Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline Papers. I really love the shabby chic look of these papers. They are so fun and versatile. really great collection. I hope you enjoy the video Thank you so much for watching

This is a video showing you how I made these cards using The Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline Papers. I really love the shabby chic look of these papers. They are so fun and versatile. really great collection. I hope you enjoy the video Thank you so much for watching

Hello and welcome to Tuesdays with Tracy. This is a new series of Youtube videos I will be doing this year. Every Tuesday I will post a youtube video show a card, layout or album I have made. Included in Tuesdays with Tracy is a a give me. I will be giving away something each week pertaining to the video you watched. I will be giving away a paper pack, die cut, stamps, inks something that I loved using that week to make the project that I had shown in my video. I hope you enjoy the videos. in order to get your chance to win the give me you must subscribe to my youtube channel and leave a comment or ask a question. Thanks you so much for watching and participating. Hugs Tracy

Hello everyone
I hope you are all enjoying the first few days of the new year. I decided to write this while my hubby-to-be Chris is fixing dinner.
I have started on my new year's resolutions. Resolution #1 organize. I bout a couple more jetmax cubes at Michael's and put the together yesterday. I took out a couple of cubes that were old and worn out. My scrap room is a disaster area. I am dealing with it because I know soon enough there will be organization. I cannot wait. I would love to come into my room and see it all clean and tidy. I also want to post photos when it is clean.
Resolution #2 lose weight. Yeah yeah that is on everyone's list every year. I am not fat just not comfortable with the weight I am at. I have never weighed this much and I just want to lose 20 pounds or so. I am trying the weight watchers points system. Although I do not belong to weight watchers I am googling the foods I am eating and calculating the points. I am doing good so far. almost 48 hours and not one coke. I am getting headaches though. It is just from the lack of caffeine. My body will adjust. I am not giving up coke completely just not having as much. I need to find out how many points a can of coke is. Maybe I can schedule one in tomorrow. I am very thankful that most fruits and veggies are either no points or one point. I love fruits and veggies. So salds are really helping me keep my points down and making this work so far. The real test is a week or two from now. OR even tomorrow when I go back to work. I am always munching at work. I hope to lose at least a couple pounds this week.
I also recorded a youtube video today. It is part of resolution #3. Giving back. So I hope you all watch and enjoy it.
Thanks for stopping by
Tracy S.

This year is going to be great. I am really into the whole organizational thing and giving back. So this year my scraproom will get a much needed make over. I want to get completely organized and soon.
For the other part of my new Year I want to give back. I have never done blog candy or youtube candy. Well that is going to change and starting sooner than you think.
I was so inspired by Kathryn's 12 months of Christmas that I decided to do something very similar. You can find her at lifeonthescrapbeach.blogspot.com I have decided to to a year long video series Tuesdays with Tracy. I am so super excited. There will be lots of cards. Maybe an occasional layout. On top of that I will be doing a giveaway. YEAH free stuff all year long. I will be giving away a pad of paper or maybe a stamp I have fallen in love with or even a diecut. Something will be given away every Tuesday and it will have to do with that days video. So something from the video will be given away. All you have to do is subscribe to my youtube channel and then write a comment or ask a question on that video. Easy peasy.
Now for an even better surprise. Occasionally I will be doing blog candy. Again become a subscriber and post a comment or ask a question for the giveaway and you have a chance to win. I will say these giveaways will be based on several of my favorite things at that time. If I have used a stamp set over and over again. Maybe a paper collection and cardstock. it could be a hole page kit. But I promise you will not want to miss out on these giveaways. I hope each and every one of you have a great new year and I look forward to seeing some familiar faces and some new ones.
Hugs and best wishes Tracy

Christmas is next week. I have been diligently taking photos all month long to do a December to remember album. Not sure what next year holds for my family. My older son is talking about joining the military and if he does he may not be home for Christmas. I want this year to be documented so my boys can look back and see how life was during an average December. I may do this in the summer as well. My younger son is a Junior in high school and he only has one more year left and he is off to college. I am not sure if he is planning on staying home his first year or living on campus. Either way life as I know it will be changing in the next few years. So I want this Christmas to be a memorable one.
I am also gearing up for the next year. I have some goals and projects in mind. So if you are a follower of my youtube channel than you are in luck. If not you should really think about following me. I promise it will be worth it. Also here at my blog I do not have any followers but I know that will change once the new year hits. I will reveal more later. But until then live for today because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Hello
So lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about the upcoming year. This year has seen a few big changes in my life. My father in law has passed away, my eldest son graduated from high school and I am now a grandmother.
My father in law to be Mike Mccarty has passed away. He was a wonderful man whom I care for deeply. I miss him a lot. He lived a street over from us and every time I walked the dogs I went by or saw his house. It is hard walking the dogs now and seeing the empty house. As hard as it is for me I realize my fiancee, Chris, is having a much harder time. He has now lost both of his parents. His mom passed away several years ago. This is the first holiday season without Mike and it is so hard for us.
The next big change, my son, Matthew, graduated from high school. I am very proud of him. It is so hard for me to think he is no longer in school. I feel like life has flown by and I should have stepped on the brakes. This change is leading to another huge change for next year. Mathew is thinking about joining the Marines. I am again proud of this. My only concern is he wants to join the Marine recon division. If this happens he will be put in harms way for most of his military career.
Finally my baby, L.B., who is not exactly a baby i now a Junior in high school.
Chris's older son, Andrew, has a son now. My grandson is Liam and he is so super cute.
All of these changes and a few of the ones to come are why I am making a few changes or goals of my own.
1) I am going to blog more. No more excuses. I am going to sit down and write on this blog more.
2) I am starting a weekly video program...Tuesdays with Tracy. This is where I will create a scrapbook page or a card or maybe both. I will be featuring some new products or some of my current favorites.
3) I will be doing give-a-ways. These give-a-ways will include my current favorite product and/or a product that was featured in my video for that week. This is my way of giving back to a hobby that has given me so much.
I have fallen in love with card making. Which is great because I am determined to use up a lot of my old stash before diving wallet first into the new goodies that are coming out at CHA in January or Feburary. I am so excited to see some of the new goodies but I must make room for them.
So these are my thoughts as of late.
Thanks so much for popping in and reading my little blog.

Hello everyone
I hope you are having a great evening. We had trick or treating this evening. I love seeing all the kids dressed up. They are so so cute.
Today was a great day. One of my layouts got picked by the design team to showcase it today. It was so great to be showcased. I loved it.
So all in all today was great. What did you guys do today? I hope it was great for you as well.
Even better I have tomorrow off. Yeah it is going to be a scrappy good day. Hugs Tracy

Another layout from New York. These photos are of the Metrazur. It is a restaurant located in Grand Central Station. Audi hosted the dinner for the first night in New York.

This is another layout I did of my recent trip to New York. I am in the process of making a mini album of this trip and I will be doing a video soon of the whole album.