Ghosts of Generations Past

I am in Michigan staying with my mom until my hubby and son arrive to whisk Bella and I up to the cottage. My mom's father passed away last fall so there are boxes of pictures around which, of course, thrill me. It's bittersweet though. I see pictures of my great grandma who was so much a part of my life until she died a month after I got married and I tear up. My mom met my mother in law, one of her best friends, through their dads so there are pictures of my husband's grandfather. My husband never met his grandpa but his family tells him over and over about how much he is like his grandfather which makes him really wish he could have known him. Then there are the pictures of my grandparents in their heyday...mid 1940's. My grandpa was what they would have called a swell or a dandy and my grandma was the picture of the perfect housewife yet an earlier picture I've seen of her has a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other- I was told that's how she lost a significant amount of weight for her senior year of high school. My niece looks a lot like my mom in the pictures of mom at age 6- the age Olivia will be in August.

I am praying that my husband remembered to bring his portable scanner so I can get these shots into my hard drive. NOW I have a lot of scrapbooking to do! (as if I didn't before!) The sad thing is taking them off the black paper with their beautiful corners. One book had ones I hadn't seen- they're little dots about 3/4 of an inch apart with a small line between them to hold the edges of the photos...they're great. I also found an old picture developing envelope from a set of pictures my grandma had developed before she was married that cost her 3 cents to have developed. I am going to scan that as well.

Also, while sitting waiting for laundry to finish in my mom's basement, I found another box of pictures, this time my own from college. It's strange to look at myself then and remember my resolve towards a future that looks nothing like what I have now.

I think that we have to take trips like this that are full of bittersweet memories. We remember where we've been and it helps us to appreciate what we have now. I wonder if I could do a Back to the Future type travel back in time to talk to my grandparents or even myself 15 years ago, what would I tell them? Would I give pointers about things that might make their lives better? I don't know. Life is different than any of us planned but different doesn't seem to be bad.

Made It!

Happy Monday! Bella and I made it to Michigan safe and sound (though I'm sure the gentleman sitting next to her on the plane was ready to throw her out the window for being such a squirm worm) and are at my sister's where I got the wireless router hooked up! I had to get an fm transmitter for my iPod- I just don't listen to the radio anymore and I certainly don't listen in Michigan so I have no idea what stations to listen to. Thankfully the Apple Store was across the hallway from Build a Bear workshop and I was getting gift cards for my nephews there anyway. I got a great picture of Bella settled in with an iMac that I'll put up when I download my pictures.

We've been enjoying time with the cousins and playing in the hot tub that is new since we were here last. (and it's very nice- they figured if they were going to do it, they'd get something they'd be happy with long term) The only real problem we have is that my kids go to bed at 8 and 8:30 at the latest and get up between 7 and 7:30 in the summer while my sisters kids (and her neighbor's kids) go to bed around 10 and get up between 8 and 8:30.


The picture I DO have is from Ryan & Sawyer's weekend. They went to a friend the lake house of Ryan's and apparently Sawyer caught so many fish that Ryan lost count. They sent me this picture of a large mouth bass he caught.


He starts Cub Scout camp this morning and he is so excited. This is the camp he's been looking forward to most. He will get to do his shooting and archery to earn those belt loops as well as a bunch of others. I'm excited to see him and hear all about it when they get here Saturday.


Just a quick reminder- I had such a great response to my Sarah Grimwood layouts made from her birthday gifts that I don't want anyone to miss out...the kit is only on sale through tonight at midnight so don't miss your chance to get the $2 kit that made Sawyer's travel journal and the Sweet Princess layout! And, anything else she's made is 30% off! Really, who's getting the birthday spoils now?!

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

This one is for Sarah who is leaving her 20's behind! The papers, picture frame, and buttons are from her birthday present to you!

And with that, I am packing it up...the computer that is. Off to Neverland where I never seem to grow up.

*Extra credit goes to Princess Lala for her Fairy Tale swirls, Lemonaid Lucy for the glitter heart, and Michelle Coleman for her lovely stitches found in her Boho Chic elements

I'm Finished!

Ronee Parsons gave me the link to information about submitting a book proposal to Memory Makers. They ask for 10-15 layouts in addition to information about the book. I am leaving for Michigan tomorrow morning and the kids are in Vacation Bible School this week, so I set my goal for today to have the proposal in. The book idea is Scrapbooking Illnesses and Disabilities. I have seen so many people ask if they should scrap about something that is not as happy as a birth, prom, graduation, etc. I say absolutely you should. Sawyer has high functioning autism and it's a challenge but because I think it runs in our family on my father in law's side, I also feel that I need to tell the story to my future daughter in law for so many reasons. After time, you forget the "little" details that were so important at the time but are part of the story and I believe that people should get those details on paper.

I *only* did 10 layouts mainly because they are all about Sawyer and I figured I'd give them a break- they know everything they need to know! I have friends who have said I could get pictures from them about their kids and I will do that if I get picked up- this was only a proposal. So, finally I can show you what I've been working on. And, instead of filling my page with my layouts, I put them together in a slide. I tried to do some very simple (Welcome to Holland is paper, an edited photo, and journaling) and then some very layered ones, Tiger Cub is very layered and I took my own advice and tried using custom drop shadows. (but, I have PS7 so I am limited- can't tilt corners, can't create a text path...bah!) For some reason, my No Pictures layout won't load into slide so there are *only* 9 layouts here, but to see them all, you can go to my Picasa album.

And, with that, I'm off to see my kids' VBS performance, redo my henna tattoo, and PACK! I'll be uploading pictures, but prolly no layouts...love me anyway!

My 30th Birthday Present!

Oh, to be 30! Okay, so I was 30 not so long ago. 4 years to be exact. But Sarah is turning 30, ironically, the day after my twin nephews...well, Brandan and Cameron will be 4 so Sarah's got some experience on them. And what great things does that experience bring??!!?!?!? MUCHO TALENT! Of course, you know that I'm one of Sarah's biggest fans, so this is reason to celebrate, but she's giving US the gifts. Seriously, as I was unwrapping them, I was anxious! Just like I was opening the best gift of my life! (which would really be my wedding ring after it got upgraded, but man....)

Just as a little sneakie peekie, I'll show you one of the things I did with my gift. I am going to print several of these out for our trip to Michigan for Sawyer so that he can work on his writing skills and then I'll put his journal with pictures in my scrapbook! How perfect is that?!?!?



I'm {pinching fingers together} this close to being done with my book proposal. I am ready to be done. Then I can scrap for pleasure again which is always more fun!

Killing Time

I'm trying to blur the heck out of a picture and it's making my computer think- REAL hard so I've got about a minute between blurs. I'm using it to check the DST forums. {you might have to register to see the forums...do it, it's soooo worth it!} It's also messing with iTunes so for some reason I have NO MUSIC to work to. ARGH!

I've been wondering what all the buzz is about drop shadows. Yeah, PS has 'em, just click blending options, drop shadow- you can even change the color and depth and what not, so what's the buzz when someone does "amazing" drop shadows? Well, now I've got it figured out...Misty Cato, bless her heart, has this amazing tutorial on how to customize drop shadows in PS.

I am having anticipatory depression. I'm going home Saturday and while I can take my laptop, I can't take my external file server since it has hubby's business files on it as well. If I can't take the file server, I can't take my files. {now you see it coming} And if I can't take my files- I CAN'T DIGI SCRAP! Holy scrap crap! What am I going to do with myself? I will be taking lots of pictures. There will be lots to take pictures of. My twin nephews will be 4 on Monday (which seems impossible) so their party is Sunday. There's the cottage which I hate to sell for the photo value alone. (it's a stone cottage on one acre- lovely but not in the budget anymore) If we talk to my in-laws (they don't seem to want to talk to me lately) we'll be out on their lake and pontoon boat. My sister in law will be coming up and we're having a family reunion of my favorite side of the family. My "baby", the nephew I got to help deliver, will be coming with SIL and he's just as cute as he can be. We'll be interring my grandpa's ashes July 16 (say a little prayer- it's final closure) in a miltary ceremony. And, best of all, Cherry Festival! I'll pop pics up so you can see what I'm up to, but, alas, no layouts to be done.

Maybe I'll have to read. Now taking good suggestions! I like Sidney Sheldon, the Bridget Jones Diaries were good, a friend tells me I have to read Sedaris, and I LOVED Kite Runner. Who could believe that is fiction?! The detail. Unreal. I have my July Memory Makers but I'm not allowing myself to crack it open until I get on the plane Saturday morning.

Can You Tell The Difference?

Oh my gosh! As soon as I hit post for my entry below, my email came bearing gifts- my Christina Renee paper chains. But, they were so worth the wait. They look so much better than I even pictured them in my head. Tell me you can see the difference.

Don't get me wrong, I know where my allegiance lies
{I LOVE YOU RONEE}
but this is a true mix of the grunge queens. Give it some love people, give it some love.

Peeking My Head Out

I'm in the thick of doing layouts for my proposal- well, that and killing ants. Really, when there's nothing on the counter, what are they looking for?! They're making me crazy.

I thought that it's not fair for me to stay away just because my nose is to the grindstone. So, as another sneak peek, here is what I worked on today.

Of course this has Ronee Parsons all over it! This is Starstruck. I also used some of Lemonaid Lucy's glitter. I tried to order Christina Renee's Paper Chains but there was a problem with the order {oops, I had to step away from my computer because life happened} so I have to wait. But, I am going to put it where I have the black sequins stretched out. I was hoping to make them cool super sequins, but it didn't happen. So, once I get the CR order figured out, I'll put those in there.

Aggggh, off to kill more ants.

Late Night Entry

I'll spill part of the beans. I'm working on a book proposal for Memory Makers. My self imposed deadline is this Friday. I need to have 10-15 layouts/pictures of art that would be used in the book. So, my lo's as of late have been for that. However, I decided I needed to take a little break and do something for fun. And this is what I came up with.

There is credit due all over the place on this one...Ronee Parsons Estella Kit, (paper, ribbon, pin) Christina Renee Piled high paper and tape, Ashley Oleson Grungy labels, (parts extracted)Kirsty Wiseman Spritz Overlay,Lemonaid Lucy glitter, (I'm loving glitter lately so I was glad to use this!) Michelle Coleman Emma's Sundress stitching, Fernlily heart charm.

Journaling:

Kahlua was supposed to be a lot of things
A chocolate labrador
A goldfish
A couple years more waiting.
BUT! We got a coupon for free goldfish from the fall festival. When we went to the pet store, there he was, this sweet chocolate and tan doxie. He played with me and I loved him from the start. So we went home and laid him on the bed in front of Ryan.
Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission

HURRAH! I can SAY it!

Have you seen Ronee's blog? If not, just go look. Go on, do it now.


Now comment!

I am beyond excited about this. I am so excited about learning from my mentor. Ronee is the person who got me back into scrapbooking and reenergized about digiscrapping. I am thrilled that she's taking me under her wing and I will be able to learn from her. We've been chatting behind the scenes as much as possible with her travel schedule and she's really a great person as well.

Because I just want to sit back and absorb the knowledge, I'm not applying for any more CT's. Not saying I'm going to neglect the ones I'm on, but I am definitely going to apply myself to Ronee's challenges and the other challenge she's given me (which I'll elaborate on at the end of next week- big things in the works) which I know will only make me a better CT member.

This is a good day.

Bella Being Bella

B was putting her shirt on today and making faces at me while the back was stuck to the top of her head. I had my camera with me so I decided to do this lo. It covered a lot of my bases. I have wanted to use Sarah Grimwood's glitter carnations but haven't done anything where they fit the mood. I've wanted to be funky which covered the bases of using both Princess Lala's funky swirls and Lala kit. And, I wanted to try to use my new Melanie Chenowyth Boys Will Be Boys kit in a girl lo. Howz that for funky?!?!?!?

I had to "babysit" while the kids cleaned their rooms. No judgement here but why is it that mom has to supervise a dad job that is soooooo far behind schedule that the chore is reduced to tears? No fun for the mommy.

*Extra credit goes to Michelle Coleman for her Boho Chic stitches, Jen Reed for her Cinnamon kit, and Acorn Designs for the great plaid paper and title plate AND! More Sarah GRIMWOOD! (sorry 'bout that Sarah!)- grab the template and join her Plain Digital Wrapper challenge.

Disappointing

I just got an email that the National Autism Conference is in Atlanta this year. I would be interested but the keynote speakers are a mom of 2 kids with autism who left her job as a crisis intervention counselor to be with her children and Don Imus' wife who founded a pediatric oncology foundation...I don't see much credibility worth paying $300 for the weekend to hear. And the breakout sessions are about things I'm already hearing, therapies, tax breaks, IEPs. Maybe if I was new to the ballgame, I'd be interested, but as of right now, I'm just not. Eh, maybe I'll volunteer. It's always nice to talk to people with kids on the spetrum, though it breaks my heart (and makes me equally thankful) to see kids who are affected so much more than Sawyer.

I almost got to eat fire Friday night! Ryan's friend is a fire breather and had a party where, of course, his fire eating friends were. They got to "playing with fire" (despite the burn ban, they were very careful) and I was supposed to join in but things got crazy and the moment slipped away. The girls who were telling us (my best friend and I) about it told us the technique which didn't seem very hard. The girls said it isn't and usually people are more afraid of the fire itself. (which, by the time it gets in your mouth, it's burned down and is very cool)





I've gone shopping and spent time sorting and organizing my new goodies. I spent about 2 hours on a layout and then decided to scrap the whole thing! In it's wake, I decided to do a simple lo of Bella since I found a picture of her snoofing.

*Extra credit goes to Ronee Parsons In Dreams papers and buttons, Designing with Renee cardboard frame, and a Grungy Label (turned into a design) from Ashley Oleson

Scrappers Muse (and no, not Ronee's blog)

I am at a scrapping nexus. It started yesterday with some news that I can't wait to share, but must bide my time, and then grew with a Digi Shop Talk thread asking to see early digi layouts and then recent ones to see your growth. Wow, my first one looked flat, but it was of my niece and daughter together, so how couldn't I be in love with it? People were talking about finding their style and how it really showed in their current work.

I've been watching my comments to my layouts lately. I noticed that I got a lot from the simple one I did of Bella in a filmstrip with simple journaling and a bold title block. But, I also got a lot from the one that is now my current favorite layout that is busy and has a lot going on. People talked about their preference for one or the other so I suppose what I need to do now is go see if the same people who commented on my simple layouts also commented on my busier layout. And, if I have extra time, (I know, right?!) I should compare galleries of each set of commenters. To me, the photo or photos I want to use set the tone for my layouts. Sometimes the photo dictates serene and other times they are crazy and deserve more "loud" bold design.

Ronee Parsons said when she decided to apply for Memory Makers Masters '07, she asked a few friends to critique her work and they told her they really couldn't. Her stuff is so different leaving them unable to give her any criticism. I love that. I want to be that. I want my stuff to be something unique. Something that no one has seen before. Then how do I begin to ask for critique? And am I able to take it personally when no one comments out of politeness which reminds me of my mom's saying- if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all? Not everything anyone does is stellar. I imagine even Ronee and Rhonna and Michelle (I'd mention Sarah but I don't see many of her lo's! hint, hint!) have layouts that they'd prefer to hide in the digital closet and not copy to disk when the time comes.

But not everything can push the envelope, right? And, sometimes return to the basics makes your out of boundaries work seem even edgier.

I am going to force myself to do more challenges and contests. In doing so, I will be forced to push my own boundaries, think outside my own boxes, and I get the added bonus of learning from those who had the same guidelines and seeing what they did with it.

And with that, I'm going to go find a challenge....

Hump Day!

I was going to lay low today because instead of having quiet work time while the kids were at camp this morning, I went to breakfast with the girls. But, I talked to a friend and she told me some exciting news, her wonderfuly enabling hubby set her up with a die cut machine and a web store so I wanted to add that to my site, of course. So, for those who scrap au naturel (i.e. paper scrappers, the precursor to digi) or even those who don't but need a physical page, check out Daisy Scrap Works.

If I'm posting, of course there's a lo. This one is from the hiking trip Ryan and Sawyer took with the youth group from our church. Sawyer LOVES to hike and I loved this picture of him just contemplating. I wanted to keep the mood light and contemplative.

*extra credit: Ronee Parsons Sand in the City paper, Michelle Coleman painted heart, Sarah Grimwood Bohemian Butterfly staples, Saskia Bokkers Wild! ribbon, Traci Turchin Garden evening stamps, Rhonna Farrer fleur de lis charm, Angie Briggs brad, Scrappy Pony index card, Jennifer Reed Cinnamon kit tag

New Washer and Dryer

Our old washer and dryer bit it. It was more than time. We bought them second hand and they lasted us about 10 years. So, we spent part of the weekend shopping around for replacements which came yesterday. I should have known something cute was going on when Ryan came in and asked me "have you seenyour children?" Yeah, they were out front playing in the box. (which is now in Sawyer's room being used as a new "room"...too bad the real estate market won't see that as an upgrade and add value to the house!)

This is my new current favorite layout and will be replacing the one on the side in a couple days.

Extra credit goes to Erica Hernandez for the Vibe paper, Princess Lala for the Funky Swirls and Lala ribbons, Leah Riordan for the Funky Floral brads, Scrappy Pony for the Black Polaroids, and Lindsay Jane for the negatives from her Stars n' Stripes kit

Monday, Monday

It's finally out. My article in Scrapbook.com.

It kind of cracks me up that they said you can find the products listed at your local retailer- um, they're all digital. Don't think the lss is going to have them on the shelves. Sorry!

I'm waiting on the delivery of my new washer and dryer. Kenmore Ht5E's. Is it wrong that I'm excited to do laundry?

Today I am going to let this layout speak for itself. As the email said, the digi community has lost one of its shining stars.

Carla Gibson was a designer at Oscraps. She had an aneurysm Tuesday and was declared brain dead yesterday morning.

This layout, one of two her loving husband made in her honor, is so beautiful and bittersweet.

Today, make sure everyone in your life knows how you feel about them not only through your words, but your actions. No doubt Carla made everyone she touched feel her love.

If you would like to leave a message for George and Taylor, follow me.

Back in the Day

Here's a cute shot of my son so long ago I almost forget he was this little. How can you not scrap it? It's another "help from my friends" piece, a little from my faves. I'm also doing a test. My more simple lo's seem to earn the most number of comments so I'm going to see how this does. I'll let you know.

We had a lovely anniversary. Movie and dinner in that order- saw the matinee, then went to dinner. I'm getting a new washer and dryer too. Wahoo. I mean, if I'm going to drop 2 grand on something, I'd rather it be jewelry but when the kids have to be clean, that takes priority.

Off to comparison shop.

*Extra Credit Sarah Grimwood, of course, Bohemian Butterfly, Jan Crowley Spring Chicken, Rhonna Farrer word art, and Paper Tears by Steph, I think I have the hang of it and will be buying a set of 'em in the near future.

Yes! A Day Off!

I'm laying low today...

I still have the stinkin' blister on my eye. My sister told me hers took 2-3 weeks to heal. Oh no!

12 years ago today my husband and I had slipped away with our best friends, a Methodist minister, and our wedding license at Chapel Falls in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We're going to see a movie and to dinner to celebrate.

Have a great weekend.