Micki's Bits and Pieces

A few layouts and a freebie

2010-03-07T21:22:00.001-06:00

I found this cool template challenge at Scrapbook Elements so decided to give it a whirl. You have to use one of their kits in order to receive the posting bonus so I found a patriotic kit (never can have enough of those LOL). I used Americana by Christina Bartholomew and scrapped some of my son’s pictures from Iraq. The pictures are from his first tour back in 2005. He is there now on his 2nd tour but he hasn’t sent any pictures yet so far. (Hint, hint Travis)

I go to a Bible Study class on Tuesday at the home of my Pastor & his wife. They have a painting on their wall that I just love. The background is just a swirl of black and red and a part of 1Corinthians 13:13 is written out in gold lettering. So of course I had to try to recreate it as a scrapbook page, and I think it came out pretty good. This is my youngest granddaughter Randy and our dog Sam. She will tell you in no uncertain terms that Sammy loves her.

I liked it so much I decided to make a QP for you and here it is.

You can download here. I hope you enjoy it and have a God-filled day.

Freebie Template #1

2010-02-28T16:16:00.001-06:00

I have been rather silent here lately as I have been working on my shutterfly tribute to my sister and brother. I lost my brother in Jan 2008 and my sister in Sep 2009 and I wanted to do something special for them. Last month was the second anniversary of my brother’s passing and his 53rd birthday and this week was my sister’s 58th birthday. I gave my brother’s book to my SIL and my sister’s book to my niece. Here are a few layouts from the books.

These were the front title pages for each of their books and were quickpages by Victorian Rose at Heritage Scrap found here and here.

This is my brother’s birth page. I used Double Template #52 from Midnight Scrapping (you can find that template here). She has the most wonderful templates and I used several in making these books. The kit is Baby Love by Jean Daugherty at Heritage Scrap (found here).

For my sister’s birth pages, I used Lynn Griffin’s Baby Robin Pagekit found here at Heritage Scrap.

I designed the layout and then made a template. I was so inspired by Midnight Scrapping’s templates, that I decided to have a go at it. Here is the preview.

You can download it here (MediaFire) or here (4Shared). Hope you enjoy it and have a God-filled day.

Valentine’s Day Freebie

2010-02-07T19:54:00.001-06:00

Valentine’s Day is not really my favorite holiday. But I have four young granddaughters so I bought them little stuffed animals and a box of chocolates. So my two daughters and I took three of them (one had to go out of town), along with my sister’s only granddaughter to lunch and then the mall. We had an all-girls day. Except that my 10-year old great-nephew decided to go too. He liked the idea of the lunch, but then got stuck with the mall.

So one of the stores we went into was Bath & Body Works, an absolutely fantastic store. And they had all kinds of coupons and sales, so we loaded up. One of the items we bought was a marvelous room air freshener you plugged in. Before throwing the instructions away, I glanced at them and was amazed at what they said.

“If you are using the unit for the first time, remove from box.” SAY WHAT? I can’t plug it in while it is still in the box? I am glad they told me that, because I would have never been able to get it to work. Makes you wonder if they had to put that in their instructions because someone didn’t know to take it out of the box first.

My youngest granddaughter had to go to the eye doctor because her teacher said you couldn’t see the blackboard. So now she has to wear glasses. When she came home with the glasses the first day, she tried to get a complete list of where she didn’t have to wear them. After a long discussion with her mother, she was left with not having to wear them to bed. It is tough being a six-year old.

Here is Randy with her new glasses.

I made the frame to show off her picture and this is your freebie, along with a stripped paper and two Valentine overlays.

You can download here. Hope you enjoy it and have a God-filled day.

Moon and stars inspiration & Freebie

2010-01-24T21:08:00.001-06:00

Inspiration can come to you in many different ways. For example, my post from yesterday received a comment from Kathi at All Things Digital Scrapbooking that she was posting my freebie at her site. Now this was a new one for me so I had to go look of course and was very pleasantly surprised. She only posts about 45-50 freebies that she personally finds on various different blogs without using a computer-generated list. (You can find her HERE.)

So I had a few minutes this morning while I was waiting for the kids to get ready for church and I found a lovely paper with the moon and stars on it so went to that blog and downloaded it. Then I went to church and one of the songs our worship team sang was Cannons by Phil Wickham. I was singing along and really enjoying myself when it dawned on me that the lyrics said “the moon and the stars declare who you are.” That’s when I got distracted (shame on me!) and starting thinking about putting the lyrics on the moon and stars paper I had just downloaded. Here’s what it looks like.

I can’t give you the paper but you can download it from Pixel Scrapbooking HERE. I can, however, give you the lyrics that I put together. Here’s the preview for that.

I am giving you the psd file so you can change the verse color as well as the extra words. You can download HERE. Hope you enjoy it and have a God-filled day.

Wintr’y Wonder Add-On Freebie

2010-01-23T16:15:00.001-06:00

We have a dog Sam who is mostly Lab and does not realize that he is a big dog. He thinks he is Randy’s playmate. He also thinks my recliner is his and does not appreciate it when I make him move. When the kids go outside, he has to be with them or he stands at the door and barks. When they are jumping on the trampoline, we put him on his lead so he can be outside, but all he does is bark because he can’t actually be next to the kids. And when Randy sleeps on the couch, this is where Sam sleeps.

What caused us to get the camera was that Sam had his head laying on Randy’s head and his left paw on her face. But by the time we got back with the camera he had moved. He likes being where she is.

I decided it was time to take down my Christmas blog layout and replace it with a different one. I like the color palette of the Wintr’y Wonder Kit I did earlier this month so decided to use that. We are still having lots of cold weather here, so the colors suit. When I got to the header, I needed more elements, so I created more to add to the kit. So then I decided to let you have the additional elements as an Add-on to the kit.

You can download here. Enjoy and have a God-filled day.

Wintr’y Wonder Freebie

2010-01-08T21:37:00.001-06:00

I do not have a creative bone in my body. But God, in his infinite wisdom (or should I say humor), gave me the talent to do creative things. So consequently, I can do, I just can’t think of things to do. When I was a teenager, I started oil painting and was fairly decent. There are still family members who have some of those paintings hanging on their walls still. But I had to have a teacher or a picture to do it from. Then years later, when I had teenagers of my own, I got into painting ceramics. But again, I had to have a picture or a teacher to tell me what colors to paint it. I couldn’t “see” it in color. My daughter Brandi could do that. She would look at a piece of white bisque and see it in color so would know what it would look like if she painted it those colors. I would look at it and see just a white piece of bisque. Very frustrating.

Well, now my creative side is into digital scrapbooking. And again, I have that creative problem. I love creating new things and would love to design new kits, but for the life of me, have no idea what to put into them other than papers, frames and bows. Every time I look at a kit, I think “Wow, that’s cool. Wish I had thought of that.” But I didn’t and I can’t.

Over at Hummie’s World, I am part of a Designing Class, which has been quite fun. She has started the class of with teaching about blogs and how to start one, creating Terms of Use, kit previews and zipping, etc, etc. You learn something new with every class she teaches. Anyway, occasionally she also does a color challenge and this month I decided to participate in that. So here is my kit of….papers, frames and bows. And I added a Quick Page too. There are 10 papers, 3 frames, 5 bows, 3 ribbons, one tag and one scripture.

Here is the free Quick Page included in the zip file

Download the papers

Download the elements

Hope you enjoy the kit and have a God-filled day.

Pattern Tutorial & a Freebie

2009-12-27T19:11:00.001-06:00

Wow! I sure hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had our family Christmas on Saturday at my older daughter’s house and it was fun watching all the grownups play Mario Cart on the Wii. They sure are competitive! Too bad the grandkids kept demanding to play with their game.

Today, I want to talk about patterns. As I was visiting the digital stores with all their Christmas sales, I saw lots of papers with designs like Santas, candy canes, bears, etc. So I want to show you an easy way to make those patterns. I am using Photoshop CS3, but you should be able to adapt to other programs.

Open a new document 12 x 12 with a white background. Create a new layer above the white background and make it your active layer. Set your Grid preferences by going to Edit > Preferences > Grid and make sure the Grid is set to Gridline every 1 inch and Subdivisions: 2. Go to View > Show > Grid to turn your Grid on.

Zoom in on your Grid area so you have a good clear place to work. Using your custom shape tool, create the shape you want. I am using the heart shape. Draw the shape out in the center of your 1-inch square. You will see the darker lines that create the 1-inch and the lighter lines that intersect are at 1/2-inch. Draw the shape and center it exactly in the middle of the square. Rasterize the shape (Layer > Rasterize). Make it any size you want but not too big as you need to add more to the square. Now duplicate that layer (Ctrl-J) and move it to the top left of the square. Duplicate again and move to the top right, then again to the two bottom squares as shown on the picture below.

Once you have them all centered, click on all the 5 shape layers and merge them into one (Layers > Merge Layers) or Ctrl-E. Now click off the eye on the white background layer so the background is transparent. Go to View > Snap To > Grid then use the Rectangular Marquee Tool and select the 1-inch square. The selection will snap to the grids.

Now all you have to do is define the pattern (Edit > Define Pattern) and give it a name. I named mine Hearts.

Now there are two ways to fill your pattern. You can close all that out and open a new document, 12 x 12. Fill your background with your chosen color. Create a new layer and to to Edit > Fill and chose this newly-created pattern and you have your heart paper. By putting them on a new layer above your solid color, you can Ctrl-Click on the thumbnail of the hearts and fill them with a different color.

The second way to fill the pattern is if you want the pattern to be a different size. This time create a new layer above your solid background and click on the “Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer” icon.

The instant you click on pattern, your background will be filled with your pattern. Click on the little arrow key and then use the slider back and forth to fill the pattern larger or smaller.

To change the color of the pattern needs to be done a different way this time. Create a new layer above this and fill with your color of choice for the pattern. With the color layer active, go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask or Alt+Ctrl+G. You now have the pattern in a new color.

You can experiment with where and how you place the shapes on the 1-inch square to get different patterns. Just see what you like.

Now after sitting through this long tutorial, I do have a freebie for you. I am giving you a pattern file with eight patterns for you. But try the tutorial and see how easy it is for you to make your own patterns for overlays.

DOWNLOAD

The pattern file has two polka dots, shamrock, hearts, spiral, crown, witch and snowman. Hope you enjoy them and have a God-filled day.

Christmas Joy Freebie

2009-12-19T19:24:00.001-06:00

I think I said on my last post that I was going to make some Christmas cards to match my Christmas tags. Well, that didn’t happen. I don’t even have my Christmas cards mailed yet, and I couldn’t get the matching cards to look right, so I gave up.

Instead I decided to make a little Christmas mini kit. It has 3 papers and 10 elements. When my kids were young, I used to love decorating for Christmas. The day after Thanksgiving my son and husband put the outside lights on and then that evening we would decorate the tree. My kids always looked forward to that; my husband not so much.

Here’s the preview for the kit.

DOWNLOAD

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas filled with the love and peace of our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christmas Tags Freebie

2009-12-06T18:21:00.001-06:00

It has been over a month since I last posted something. There has been so much going on in my life. As some of you may know, I lost my step-father in July and then quite suddenly & unexpectedly, I lost my sister the end of September. We had already lost my brother last year, and all of a sudden, in the space of two months, my mother was left with only me. This has necessitated her move to Texas from California, where she has lived for the past 60 years. It has not been easy on her to lose so much and then leave her home too.

And in the middle of all this, my son Travis has been preparing to deploy to Iraq for his second tour. We all were together for a fabulous, wonderful Thanksgiving and then he left the country Friday on his Dad’s birthday. I hope that everyone in this country takes a few moments during this upcoming holiday season to remember all our troops overseas.

I have had so many ideas rolling around in my head to create, but have just not had the time. So today, I finally was able to spend some time on my computer. These are Christmas tags that can be used in your layouts, but can also be printed out and used on presents for those special people in your life. The download includes eight different tags in png format as well as a png sheet of all tags that can be printed on a 8-1/2 x 11 cardstock for cutting.

After you cut them out, you can use a hole punch to punch a hole for attaching a ribbon or string, or just tape the tags to the present. Now I want to work on a matching set of Christmas cards. Hope you all have a God-filled day.

More Styles Freebies

2009-10-24T15:21:00.001-05:00

All of my files are posted on MediaFire but sometimes there are problems with downloading. I don’t quite know what the problem is but sometimes it seems like MediaFire just hangs there and the file never downloads. I had an email from someone trying to download my Calendar Template and it wouldn’t work. So I have decided to start offering two download options, one on MediaFire and one on 4shared. Hopefully that should help if one of them has a problem. I have added the 4shared link to the Calendar Template for anyone who might have had issues with it. If there are any previous files that can’t be downloaded, just let me know and I will add them to 4shared also.

Here are my other two styles that I created. One is Leather and the other is Wood. Remember to follow the tips I mentioned on my earlier post on the styles tutorial. Due to the size of the files, I have had to break them into 3 files each. My source file for the styles are large and I prefer to keep them that way so the image can be moved around to give the best possible choices of the style. If you wish to put them all back into one file, just load each of the styles (make sure that the 3 files are the only styles showing on the style palette) then save as a new file.

Leather Styles 1 Download MediaFire or 4shared

Leather Styles 2 Download MediaFire or 4shared

Leather Styles 3 Download MediaFire or 4shared

Wood Styles 1 Download MediaFire or 4shared

Wood Styles 2 Download MediaFire or 4shared

Wood Styles 3 Download MediaFire or 4shared

Hope you enjoy the new styles and have a God-filled day.

Styles Tutorial & Freebie

2009-10-18T19:35:00.001-05:00

I want to talk about styles. There are tons of free styles that you can download off the net, as well as lots of styles you can buy. Just Google Photoshop styles or visit any digital site and you’ll know what I mean. And I have tons and tons of styles, but I always had a problem with most of the styles. Most of them just didn’t seem to make my elements look the way I wanted. And I couldn’t figure out how to make styles from texture photos. It took me awhile to figure it out, and I only stumbled upon it by accident. Some things are just not quite so obvious to me. So I thought I would write a tutorial to help others with styles.

One of the first things you should do is create your Blank Style Set. Photoshop comes with a default set of styles and there is no way to delete all the styles except one by one. The default set of styles includes a white circle with a red line through it.

Put your cursor over the first style after that white box. Hold down your ALT key and you will see the cursor change to scissors. Keep holding the ALT key while you left click your mouse and the style will be deleted. Keep deleting until all styles are deleted and you are left with only the white box with the arrow on it. (By the way, this is also the way to delete shapes from your loaded shapes palette.)

Now click on the little drop-down arrow as shown on the image and this will bring up your Styles choices.

Click on Save Styles and name it “A Master Style Set”.

I use this name because it keeps it on the top of the list of all my styles. Now each time you wish to create a new set of styles, you will not have to delete all the styles in your styles palette. Just Load Styles (from the same Styles Choice Box) and load the Master Style Sheet.

Open any texture photo you might have. One of my favorite sites is CG Textures. Or you can take pictures of various different textures. I am using a metal texture. Open the texture picture, and choose Image > Duplicate. Name your duplicate image and close the original.

Go to Filter > Other > Offset

Choose the settings as shown below and click OK.

Go to Edit > Define Pattern and name your pattern. Click OK and close your duplicated texture photo. You do not have to save the duplicate.

Now create a new document (any size you wish). I usually start with a 5 x 5 inch, 300 pixels document. Choose your rectangle tool (bottom arrow) and make sure the shape layers selection is selected (top arrow).

Draw out a rectangle; it doesn’t matter what color you use. Then go to Layer > Rasterize > Shape. You now have an element to create your style with.

See the little FX on your layers palette?

Click on that to bring up your Layer Style and click on Blending Options.

You can now choose all the elements of your new style.

Double Click on Pattern Overlay and you will now see the Pattern Box (top arrow). Click on the little drop down arrow and all your patterns can now be seen. Go to the bottom of the list and the last pattern will be the one you just created. Double click on that but DO NOT click OK yet.

You will see that your pattern has now filled your rectangle. But here comes the most important part.

Underneath the Pattern box is a scale with a slider and a %.

If you slide that slider back and forth, you will see the texture photo change. It increases or decreases the image. Just keep sliding until you get the desired effect you want on your rectangle. If you want a bevel to your style, click on the Bevel and Emboss and change the Depth and Size as you desire. Again DO NOT click OK.

Under your blending options, you can add any other effects you wish: Drop & Inner Shadow, Outer and Inner Glow, Stroke, etc. When you have your desired style on the rectangle, then it is time to save your new style.

Click on New Style and then name your style whatever you wish.

You will see your new style appear in the Styles Palette. You can continue making several different styles in this style set. For example, if you are making metal styles, like I am, then you might want to make several different types of metal styles using different metal texture pictures. Or wood styles, or cardstock styles, etc, etc.

Once you have all the styles finished in this set, then Save Styles like you did earlier when you saved your Master Style Set. You now have your new Style set.

The important thing to remember is that anytime you use a style, whether it is one you made, purchased, or downloaded as a freebie, always bring up the Blending Options and make any changes you wish. After you have applied the style of your choice to your element, you can then double click on the style effects (see the red arrow below) and make any changes to that style you wish to make your element or paper look how you want it to look. Just as you used the slider to change the image when you created the style, you can also use the slider again on ANY style after you have applied it.

Sometimes a style will look good on a large tag but that same style will not look good on an alpha or some other element. You have to go into the blending options and make adjustments. This is the key that I never understood. I would use the purchased style (or one I had downloaded as a freebie) and it would just not look right. It never occurred to me that I could change the settings of any style because I did not truly understand how to create one.

So I hope that this helps in understanding layer styles and how to use them. And as my freebie, here is my set of metal styles I made for this tutorial.

Hope you enjoy it and may you have a God-filled day.

Calendar Template Freebie

2009-10-16T17:58:00.001-05:00

This is a calendar template I have been working on. I want to do a family calendar this Christmas, so I had to devise a template to do each month. It is in a psd format and has all the months already set up for the upcoming 2010. The psd is an 11x17 size which you can have one of the online companies like Shutterfly print for you. Or you can separate it and print the top and bottom as separate 8 1/2 x 11 pieces and spiral-bind it at the center.

I have done an example for January and February to show you how you can utilize the template. January uses the date area as one mat that you can clip another paper or color to and have one solid area. Here is my example:

I’ve set six separate weeks up on their own layer that you can hide and use only the monthly background like I did for January. Or you can use the separate weeks like I did for February below:

I used a background and clipped it to the individual gray squares and left the white ones alone. This way you can also clip a picture on an individual day like I did of my son for his birthday. This is what the template looks like.

It is a multi-layered psd file that you can download here on MediaFire or here on 4shared. If you have any questions or problems, please do not hesitate to let me know by leaving a comment.

I am working on some styles that I will post this weekend, as well as a tutorial on how to use and create your own styles. Have a God-filled day.

Weekly Scripture Freebie

2009-10-11T16:34:00.002-05:00

I have to apologize for the length of my absence for anyone following my weekly scriptures. But on September 22, my sister died very suddenly and unexpectedly. She was only 57 years old, and to some of you that may sound old, but for many of us, that is still young. How do you prepare for the death of a loved one? With a sudden death, you have to deal not only with the grief and loss, but the shock as well. Last January, I lost my brother to pancreatic cancer. We had a year to prepare for that, but no amount of time could really prepare you for the pain of losing someone you love.

It just so happened that today was my first day back to church after losing my sister, and the sermon was on Heaven. Our pastor talked about the certainty life after death and knowing that Heaven exists. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, there is no fear of death. I know for my sister and brother, they are in Heaven. They were both saved and believers of Christ. There is joy knowing that they are in a better place and that they are now without pain. But the grief and pain I now suffer is in the loss of my siblings and my shared heritage. They were my only siblings; I am the last one left. That is a hard thing to come to terms with. I remember when my grandmother lost her last sister and how it devastated her. But she was 84 years old when her sister died and my grandmother had been the youngest of all the children. I am the oldest and never thought to lose both my siblings so young. The sad part is that my mother also lost her husband, my step-father, in July. In less than two years, she lost a husband and two children.

In honor of my brother and sister, I have scrapped a page for each of them. I used kits by Cari Lopez for these pages and made them 8x10 so they could be framed.

My brother Mike Mason. He was only 51 years old and left a wife, three children, three grandchildren plus one more on the way.

My sister Terri Simpson. She was 57 years old and left four children and eight grandchildren.

The following page is one I did for my mother and me.

The scripture for the week is simply done, I hope you enjoy it. Have a God-filled day.

You can download here. Be sure to check back again soon. I am working on a calendar template for 2010.

Autumn Frame Freebie

2009-09-21T23:33:00.001-05:00

Today is the Summer Equinox, which comes from the Latin words meaning “equal night”. It is believed to be a time of balance when “day and night are equal”. And in the Northern hemisphere, it is the beginning of Autumn. That means summer is officially over. Unfortunately, Houston doesn’t seem to understand that. We still have hot muggy weather and afternoon showers which only make it more muggy. But more importantly, it is my granddaughter Cheyenne’s birthday. She turned eleven today, even though she says she still feels ten. But then Randy says she feels ten too. She is so anxious to be big like her sister.

So in honor of Autumn, Cheyenne and this hot muggy weather, I have created this little autumn frame for you. You can use it for personal use only and can download here. Enjoy and have a God-filled day.

Hebrews 11:1 Freebie

2009-09-16T20:59:00.001-05:00

Someone sent me this story through email today and I thought it was appropriate for today’s scripture. It also goes along with what I have been saying about kids and what goes through their minds.

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, 'God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!'

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, 'That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!'

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, 'Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?'

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, 'I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.'

'Really?' my son asked.

'Cross my heart,' the man replied.

Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), 'Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.'

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, 'Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.'

Don’t you just love kids? They have the faith and the love of the innocent. And that is what faith is. You can’t always put it into words but as one of my dear friends says, “I know what I know what I know”. I don’t have all the answers and I can’t explain everything in the Bible, but God can, and one of these days, He will explain it all to me.

So anyway, here is my Scripture for the week. Enjoy and have a God-filled day.

You can download here.

Fall is in the Air Blog Train Departs NOW

2009-09-13T16:51:00.004-05:00

Well, it is finally time for this train to depart. Our group, Scrap Stuff With PSP and PS, have a new Blog Train, called Fall is in the Air, departing Monday, Sept 14. Now some of us have probably posted a little early and some maybe even a little late as I am not sure where everyone in the group lives in this world. But I am posting mine now so it will be ready in time. Here is the preview for my part.

It has 15 papers and 23 elements, all created full size at 300dpi. You can download here.

Below are the participants on this train. Be sure to check their blogs out to get their share of the train. Enjoy and have a God-filled day.

1. Robin: http://digiscrapsdezines.blogspot.com
2. Tyger: http://tygerstidbits.blogspot.com
3. Kelly: http://kellyskreation.blogspot.com/
4. Miguy: http://miguydesign.blogspot.com/
5. Sassy: http://sassysimagination.blogspot.com/
6. Lena: http://a-design-lena.blogspot.com
7. Kaz: http://scrapbookingautism.blogspot.com/
8. Tara: http://tcssweets.blogspot.com
9. Xelaxel: http://xelaxscrapfree.blogspot.com/
10. Lalla: http://littlecornerofscrapbooking.blogspot.com/
11. Spencer: http://humbuggraphicsgalore.blogspot.com/
12. Catmom: http://the-cats-meow-too.blogspot.com/
13. Jenny: http://jennysdesignz.blogspot.com/
14. Teri: http://terisscrappinplaytime.blogspot.com/
15. Diz: http://Dizzinz.blogspot.com
16. Tron: http://princess-dakita.blogspot.com/
17. Micki: <<YOU ARE HERE>>
18. Myst Designs: http://oceanmystdesigns.blogspot.com/
19. Scrapersville: http://scrappersville.blogspot.com/

Best reason to scrap

2009-09-10T23:17:00.001-05:00

Bill Cosby used to have a TV show called “Kids Say the Darndest Things” that I always thought was hilarious. Sometimes you have to wonder what goes through kids’ minds when they say or do things. And every once in awhile they come up with a doozy. Now my granddaughter Randy watches TV in her parent’s bedroom until she falls asleep (which is usually not too long after she lays down). This is to allow her and Cheyenne to actually go to sleep since they share a bedroom. Well anyway, this is what we found when it was time to move her.

Now what exactly was going through her mind as she put the laundry basket on the bed, crawled into it and covered herself up to watch TV. And can it even be comfortable? At least I have the pictures to show her tomorrow and this is the best reason to scrap so she will always be able to look back and say “I did WHAT?”

Have a God-filled day.

Pre-Blog Train Freebie

2009-09-08T19:53:00.001-05:00

I was going to wait until later in the week to post my next pre-blog freebie, but I have the blues now and thought this would help. My son is leaving tomorrow to go to Ft. Hood, then on to Ft. Bliss before deploying in mid-December. We thought he was going to have a week home between Ft. Hood & Bliss, but he just found out today that won’t happen. There is a slight possibility he may get a Thanksgiving pass to come home, but we won’t know til later. This will be his second trip to Iraq. His oldest daughter started high school this year and I think it is harder on teenagers because they have a better understanding of what it means. I remember when my Dad went to Vietnam when I was a senior in high school and he missed my high school graduation. That was hard on both of us.

So here is my pre-blog freebie. It matches the color scheme and can be used along with my part of the blog train. Don’t forget to check back on Monday, Sep 14th to catch a ride on the train. Download here and have a God-filled day.

Weekly Scripture – Psalm 46:10 Freebie

2009-09-05T12:03:00.001-05:00

This may come as a surprise to those that know me, but I am a fixer. (I can hear all my kids going DUH!). I have this perpetual need to “fix” everybody’s problems. Now that can be good when they come to me for my opinion and assistance, but not so good when they don’t want that assistance. My sister says I just like to be in control. That probably goes back to when we were kids and I, being the oldest, was always being admonished by my father with sayings like - “You’re the oldest, why’d you let them do this?” or “You’re the oldest, take care of your sister and brother.” So naturally, I grew up thinking I had to fix everything and everybody. I was in control.

Well, then along came God into my life, and He says He is in control. WHAT? I am supposed to sit back and let God be in charge? In His timing? Me, the most impatient person in the world? Hello, do you know me?

So, the monumental struggle in my life began. God, in his infinite wisdom and love, just patiently waits for me to flop around on my own as I foolishly try to “be in control” of my life. HA! I have learned that it goes so much easier when I let Him be in charge. Uses up a whole lot less energy too if I don’t worry and just let Him handle it all. So this brings me to the Scripture for the week, Psalm 46:10. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Simple words, but such a powerful statement. We live in a broken world, but God is still in charge.

So my freebie for today is this scripture with a cross. I am also giving you the cross by itself. Enjoy and have a God-filled day.

You can download here.

Blog Train Coming & A Freebie Now

2009-09-02T21:26:00.001-05:00

I am so jazzed, twice! I started this blog to sorta keep in touch with my family and show them my layouts as I did them. Then as I tried my hand at designing a few things, I gave some freebies away, not really expecting any one to see my little obscure blog. And lo and behold, today I was found by DigiFree. How exciting is that? For those who don’t know (like my family), DigiFree is a Digital Scrapbooking Freebie Search Engine and you can find them here. There are tons of blogs listed that give away scrapping freebies. AND I AM ONE OF THEM!! (Just let me enjoy my 10 seconds of fame).

The second reason I am so jazzed is that I signed up for my very first blog train. I lurk at several different forums trying to learn as much as I can, and one of them is the Scrap Stuff with PSP and PS Google Group. They were starting a new blog train and I decided to take the plunge. It departs the 14th of September and here is the color palette.

That is still 12 days away, but I wanted to get the word out early. You can get the full scoop here. And here is a little freebie to get you started.

The download gives you the frame and the Fall Welcome clip art separately so it is more versatile. You can grab it here. Check back again for another freebie before the blog train departs and have a God-filled day.

Back to School Freebie

2009-08-25T21:35:00.001-05:00

Well, today was the first day of school for the kids. Randy was so excited that she was going to be in first grade because that means she is a BIG girl and not a baby anymore. Last night I threatened them, I mean cautioned them, not to wake me up in the morning when they get up. They get up an hour before I have to get up and usually make enough noise to wake the dead. Well first off, Ryan’s alarm woke me up, twice. The kids did pretty good until Randy ran down the hallway yelling to her mother that Cheyenne was trying to kick her. Then Brandi was yelling because Sam had gotten out when Randy went out the door. Now Sam can’t stand it when the kids go to school and he usually sits on the end of his lead barking until he can’t see the kids anymore. Bear in mind we have no fence in the back yard and that is connected to the open field that leads to the school, so you can watch the kids until they walk into the front door. Well, this morning he got out and proceeded to run all over the field barking excitedly as he “accompanied” Randy to school. Brandi chased that stupid dog for almost an hour until one of the school office workers took pity on her and helped her trap him between two cars. So much for Sam’s first day at school.

So then after the kids went to school, Bob took Brandi and Ryan shopping for a new couch. Here is what happens when two dogs decide to attack a couch.

That poor couch is so old and has been falling apart for so long that I guess the dogs decided to “help” get rid of it. A new couch was bought and now we have wall-to-wall furniture. I cannot understand what would possess them to think we had enough room for such a big couch. It is definitely pretty though.

So in honor of the first day back to school, here is the freebie for today. It is a Back To School frame and tag, using Clipart by Tina. Hope you enjoy it and have a God-filled day.

Download here.

Scripture for the week

2009-08-23T00:27:00.001-05:00

Here it is Sunday again. The weekend always seems to go by pretty fast. But boy, did the summer really fly. Friday Brandi and I had to go to the school to sign the residency form out for the kids since they all live with me. And Tuesday they start school. Cheyenne is pretty excited about going to middle school as she will be in the 5th grade. When I was a kid, we had elementary for grades K-5th and then junior high for 6th, 7th and 8th. But now I guess there are just too many kids because they have middle school for 5th and 6th then junior high for 7th & 8th. Randy on the other hand will be in first grade and, according to her, means she is now a BIG girl. She is no longer a baby like she was when she was only five. Bob took them to see G-Force at the movies today and they really had a ball.

I am trying to post more often and put up more freebies, so today I am starting something new. Each Sunday I will offer a Scripture WordArt, along with something to go with it, like a frame or paper. This first one is with a frame from Granny Art. It is from Deuteronomy and is the greatest commandment. Sometimes we have a tendency to get so involved in day-to-day living that we forget our real purpose on earth.

You can download here. Have a God-filled day.

Dogs can be smarter than people

2009-08-19T21:21:00.003-05:00

I have to tell you about our dog Sam. He is a one-year old yellow Lab who is the friendliest dog you can find. He loves chewing on things and over the course of the nine months we have had him, he has chewed up a lot of stuff. He loves my granddaughter Randy and sleeps next to her whenever possible. The other morning when I left for work, Randy was sleeping in the recliner chair, side to side, and Sam was sleeping on top of her. All I saw was her head and feet sticking out from under Sam. Most of his body was scrunched in between Randy and the back of the chair, but a lot of it spilled over onto Randy.

Sam has a habit of letting my son-in-law Ryan know when he wants something. He will go up to Ryan and bark at him. The other night, Ryan was sitting in the recliner when Sam came up and starting barking at him. Ryan, figuring that Sam needed to go outside, got up and started walking towards the back door to let him out. As soon as Ryan was clear of the chair, Sam jumped up into it and settled down for his nap. Sam wanted the chair and Ryan was in his way. And it worked too, because Ryan just moved over to the rocking chair and continued to watch TV. No wonder Sam is king of the household.

The kids start back to school next week. During the summer time they stay up quite late and usually make enough noise to keep me up. They go to bed much earlier during school, but they make way too much noise in the mornings before I have to get up. There are lots of Back To School kits available (check out the Back To School Blog here for an enormous free collab kit by over 100 designers.) So I made this cute little sunflower pot for you.

(Link has been fixed. Sorry about that)

You can download it here. Have a God-filled day!

Windows Live

2009-08-16T21:38:00.001-05:00

I have just discovered Windows Live, which has all kinds of components, including Windows Messenger, Mail, Photo and Writer. I could care less about the Messenger or Mail, but I am definitely interested in Writer and maybe Photo.

Windows Writer is supposedly a WYSIWYG editor for writing to your blogs. So I am writing this post in Windows Live. I had all kinds of problems getting the settings done correctly, but once I got it right, it was a breeze.

We were watching TV yesterday and Ryan decided he wanted some of his beef jerky as a snack. He was sitting in the recliner, but had to move to the desk because he had an audience. These pictures will show you what I mean.

In case you can’t tell, that is Squeekers the Cat and the two dogs, Dixie and Sam, that are determined to have a share of Ryan’s snack. Squeekers had the advantage because he could almost get his face into the bag, but Sam and Dixie had to wait their turn. It is tough eating anything around our house.

You might also notice the couch behind Ryan. The dogs have made this couch their own. And when Ryan accidently tore a small piece off the edge of it, the dogs completed the act by tearing it to shreds one day when we were gone. Sometimes when we leave them alone, they retaliate by tearing things up. It is usually just paper or plastic hangers we give them, but sometimes it is more destructive, like the couch, shoes, or the latest victim: the remote control for my big TV.

And they say dogs are FUN.

My Biggest Challenge

2009-08-02T20:15:00.006-05:00

I am really getting into doing color challenges. This month it is one at Hummie's World. Because I am just now starting to design, the color challenges present a great way to get inspiration. And that is my biggest challenge. I have always said that I have the talent to do, but I just don't have the talent to create. In order to create, you have to have a really great imagination, of which I have none. When I used to paint ceramics, I could not "see in color". That white piece of bisque I was getting ready to paint was just that....a white piece of bisque. My daughter Brandi can look at it and "see" it in color, so she knew what she was going to paint. I knew how to paint it but I just didn't know what colors to use.

Now I am faced with the same thing in learning to design for digiscrapping. God gave me the desire to create all kinds of things, but in his infinite humor, He left out the ability to create. That I have to struggle with. So color challenges are one way to help give me that push I need. So over at Hummie's World, I decided to participate in her August color challenge. And this is what I came up with.

This kit is for personal use only and is created at 300 ppi. There are 6 papers, 4 frames, 3 ribbon wraps and one flower corner for the frames. You can download here.

July Color Challenge

2009-07-19T18:51:00.006-05:00

This month the colors for the Color Challenge at Plain Digital Wrapper were a whole lot better than last month's very vivid colors. I must say though that I love primary bright colors alot. July's colors were more muted and very pretty. I dove right in and made up a few papers to scrap the first layout of Brandi and Cheyenne's baptism. I have been wanting to do a word art for one of the songs we sing at church and thought this would fit right in.

Here is the layout for Cheyenne and Brandi. This page will also be used for Cheyenne's scrapbook I am doing for her birthday.

And since Ella's 80th birthday is this Saturday, I am still working on her Life Book. This layout is for her book and is of Travis' family. Since Travis won't be able to be in New Braunfels this weekend, it is okay for him to see the page. Actually, he probably won't see it as he is in Kansas for another school. This one only lasts a week and he will actually be back to San Antonio Friday, but he has to stay for Drill. The closer he gets to deployment, the more important the drills are.

Anyway, here is one of his pages for his grandmother's birthday present.

And since Brandi never looks at my blog, here is one of her pages.

The first two layouts were done with the kit I designed for the July Color Challenge. I am having a lot of fun learning how to design, although they are no way as good as so many other kits out there. Anyway, here is the preview for it.

And you can download it here.

Clip Art

2009-06-17T22:37:00.009-05:00

I really like clip art. I like the bright and colorful ones and I especially love the patriotic ones. When you walk into a scrapbooking store, it's the same as all those wonderful stickers. They all look so cute and I want to buy them all. I buy what I can, take them home and put them in these nice little piles in my room. And there they still sit. You see, I don't paper scrap. My older daughter Dana has done that for several years, and every once in awhile I go to her house and we make cards or a page. She and her husband have this big two-story, four-bedroom house and no kids. So she has her own room where she can put all her scrapping supplies and she loves it.

So I keep collecting all these cute little stickers and they have no place on my digital pages. That is until I discovered digital clip art stickers. So, true to my nature, I bought some and then set about incorporating them into my layouts. They don't really have a place in my heritage pages, but they fit right in on the pages I am doing for my youngest granddaughter Randy's scrapbook for her upcoming birthday.

So here's the newest page I did for her Kindergarten graduation picture. Can you believe the school took cap and gown pictures for graduation from Kindergarten? When she brought the pictures home from school, she was quick to point out to her mother that "those aren't real books in the picture", just in case her mother didn't know that.

This is a page I created using clip art from Country Clip Art by Tina, which is the the bus, books, blackboard and pencil frame. I created the Kindergarten word art. The little hanging buttons are from Diva's Creation - GrazyJelly Beans.

I liked it so much I decided to offer it as a freebie. Randy is in Kindergarten, but I went ahead and did the other grades in word art. In this little mini kit, you get all the grades word art, two frames (one with the bus and one without) and the background paper. Here is the preview and you can download it here. If you like it, please leave a comment.

June Color Challenge

2009-06-13T18:25:00.007-05:00

I get lots of emails from various different digiscrapping sites that I visit. Some I buy from and some I just browse their forums and galleries. Yesterday I received an email from Plain Digital Wrapper about their June Color Challenge. I guess I had never noticed this particular challenge, or else the colors just intrigued me, or maybe it is because I have finished Ashlyn's book and now need to do Randy's. Whatever the reason, I decided to participate in this challenge.

So here is the color chart they gave us to work with.

Now it just so happened that I had a pretty good picture of Randy that was taken at Ashlyn's birthday party that would work good with these colors. But starting from scratch with my own elements and paper, etc, is a little bit harder than pulling in items from kits. So it took me awhile longer on this. With a little imput from Brandi, here is what I came up with for the layout.

The challenge said we could make a layout or a mini-kit, or both. So since I created everything to make the layout, I decided to put it all together into a mini-kit too. And I also converted my layout to a quick page. I added a few more papers to round it out. The pink flower is a template from Atomic Cupcake and the sun is a CU freebie from JosDZigns. It is not included in the kit but you can visit her blog at http://www.ccountry.net/~gmimlost/JosDZigns.html. The clip art is from Country Clip Art Graphics by Tina. Here is the preview for the kit.

This kit is for personal use only and you can get it here.

You can find the quick page here.

Military Ancestors

2009-04-29T21:42:00.007-05:00

It has been awhile since I have uploaded a scrapbooking page. I have been busy doing tutorials, trying to learn all I can about designing. I would like to slowly get into designing my own stuff.

Anyway, here is a page I have been planning for awhile. It is a heritage page for my genealogy, listing all the direct ancestors who fought in an American war. I started with Travis and moved to his father and then my father and up the ancestor line. The list is pretty impressive, so I hope the page does them all justice.

I used a combination of three kits from Heritage Scrap; Revolutionary War and Civil War Kits by Jean Daugherty and Army Life by DigiZines by Teri. Go on over to Heritage Scrap and check out all the wonderful kits and layouts.

Wouldn't You Know It

2009-04-21T22:22:00.011-05:00

Okay, so they delivered the new stove and table today at pretty much the same time. Which meant DD was trying to sweep the floor where the old stove was before they put the new stove in at the same time she was trying to direct the furniture people on where to put the new table. Then having to sign both sets of delivery papers at the same time. That's a lot for her. So she calls me to tell me that they have been delivered, and is she excited about either of the new items? Noooo, she is excited about the new little dog she found by the mailbox.

First, here is the picture of our new stove.

It's a pretty cool stove. But the top looks like a BBQ grill. I do like how the whole top is one smooth layer so you can just slide a pan over without having to pick it up. And that big burner in the middle is supposed to be great with a griddle. We ordered a griddle for it and that should be in Friday. The burner on the right is what is called a power burner. Supposed to heat real fast, real quick so you can boil water in half the time. Bet you didn't think I knew this much about stoves, did you?

And here is the new table Bob bought for the kids.

Bear in mind that the kids have been sitting at this little picnic table that I bought 1-1/2 years ago at Ikea. Poor Cheyenne was really getting uncomfortable at it because her knees kept hitting the bottom of the table and she had no where to put her legs. This table has both sides that are drop-down as you can see, so we can slide it completely up to the wall for the kids or move it out so four people can sit there, which doesn't really happen much. There are four chairs that go with the table, but we really don't have room for all four chairs. Not sure what we will do about that. It amazes me that whoever designed this house must have had something against eating at a table because there is absolutely no place for one here.

Now here is the new little dog that got everyone so excited.

Now this little dog looks like a small black version of Chelsea that the kids had when they were young. But this one is a toy version. She has taken to Brandi like I have never seen. Doesn't like to be more than a step away from her and gets real excited if Brandi puts her down. She is most content just sitting on Brandi's lap. You should have seen her dance around on my bed while I was trying to take her picture. She was trying so hard to get back into Brandi's arms, but she couldn't reach her. It was so comical, I should have gotten my camcorder out instead of the camera. Brandi doesn't want anyone to claim this dog, but she has agreed to put FOUND signs up in the neighborhood and make a concerted effort to locate any owners. Just what we need - another dog.

Bad Stove, Bad Bad Stove

2009-04-19T18:04:00.011-05:00

Now this is a first. How often do you open the oven door while cooking dinner and have the door fall off in your hands? Well that happened to Ryan Friday night. He tried to put the door back on but that was impossible. He finished cooking dinner while all the heat escaped into the kitchen. One of the burners had not been working when we moved in and another had gone out since. Now this. And our landlord stated in our lease that he would not repair or replace the stove or refrigerator. Our landlord does not want to spend any money on this house; he only wants to collect the rent.

So we went to Sears and bought a new stove today. We took Bob's credit card with us as it felt lonely because it never gets used. We bought the stove on a 12 month, no payment, no interest special, and on sale too. This will give me a year to pay it off and not incur any interest charges. I like buying that way. I get it now and still don't have to pay interest. I bought my washer and dryer from Home Depot that way and managed to pay it off in plenty of time.

Here's a picture of our broken stove and you can click here to see the new stove that will be delivered Tuesday. The new dining room table and chairs will also be delivered Tuesday too. There are some advantages to DD being at home all day and not working.

This has been a very hard weekend. I spent all day Friday and Saturday re-formatting my computer because of the virus I had. Then I had to re-install all my programs, which was very time consuming. Then the bad thunderstorm we had on both those days. Our back yard fronts on a big grassy area and then the school, and this was nothing but a huge lake. I tried to put the dog out Saturday night because he kept barking that he wanted to go out, but each time I took him to the back door, he took one look outside and backed up. I tried to grab his collar and he actually dug his feet in and we had a tug-of-war. He was smart enough not to want out.

So the upstart is that I have not had time to do any scrapping this week. I met Travis and his gang Wednesday night at Joe's Crab Shack for dinner to celebrate Kelsee's 14th birthday. Fourteen years old!! She will be entering high school this fall. Oh, and BTW, she made the cheerleading squad. Way to go Kelsee!

Here are pictures of our night out at Joe's.

This is Kelsee with her scrapbook I made her. She really seemed to like it. And I had fun doing it. Now I can start on Ashlyn's as her birthday is next.

This is Kelsee being a very good sport. Dana told the waitress that it was Kelsee's birthday, so this is what she had to do for the entertainment.

And this is my sweet granddaughter and me. Isn't she gorgeous?

Military Layouts

2009-04-07T00:05:00.007-05:00

Just a quick note today. Wanted to post these new layouts using the American Soldier and Army Life kits of DigiZines by Teri. They are so great to scrap all my family members who have served in the military, which is everybody but Brandi. Dana's made a comment or two about wanting her own scrapbook, so I guess this would be her first page of a future book.

Here are the layouts.

This is my Dad, who served in the Marines for 30 years, seeing action in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

This one is of Bob, who was also in the Marines and served a tour in Vietnam. The black and white photo was taken in Vietnam. Talk about young and skinny.

This next one is of Travis, who was in the Army and then the National Guard. He went to Iraq and is due to go back in August.

And the last one is Dana, who was also in the Army. Thank heavens she didn't have to go to war. I know that may be sexist, but I would just as soon my daughter stay closer to home.

More Layout Challenges

2009-04-05T17:26:00.005-05:00

Got back last night from Trinity Pines where we had our Ladies Retreat. It was absolutely beautiful weather the whole weekend. And the place was really gorgeous, although I wasn't really enthused about their food. When you are a picky eater like I am, it doesn't help to have someone decide what I am going to eat. They had one meal only which they handed you on a plate when you walked into the dining hall. The first night there they gave me a plate with chicken and a bunch of green stuff. Yuck! I do not like vegetables. The food was good, I just wish I could have had a better selection for my finicky palate.

We had a really good time. It was great meeting some new people and being able to put faces to the names. The videos were Beth Moore and these were pretty good. I like Beth Moore, but I do have my issues with some of her videos. We crammed a lot into the 24 hour period, which left this old body very tired when I got home. And bad me, I didn't even get up and go to church this morning. I just slept in.

So here are two new layouts I did for some new challenges at Heritage Scrap. The first one is with the kit Fabulous Fifties by Roberta T. Designs. This was a fun kit to use. I was only a kid during the 50's but I figured this picture of me in front of the car would work. It shows the 50's style car of my parents.

You can find this wonderful kit here.

The next layout is one I did for the Easter challenge using one of Victoria's Easter kits. I used both of them: Old Fashioned Easter and Elsie's Easter Violets, both at Heritage Scrap. This is a picture that was taken quite a few years ago up in Giddings. Of course the three older kids are mine; Dana, Travis and Brandi, along with their young cousins Laura and David. This is the only picture that I know of that was taken of all five kids, the only grandchildren of Jack and Ella. Laura and David live in Michigan and this was the only trip to Texas they both took. This page will also go into Ella's Life Book that I am making for her birthday.

You can find these kits here and here.

Getting ready for the Ladies Retreat

2009-04-03T00:00:00.004-05:00

I am getting excited about leaving tomorrow for our Ladies Retreat. I haven't been in on all the planning, but I know how excited Janet has been while she gets ready for it. I definitely need to get away from all the stress in my life.

One of the great things about going away for a retreat is the abibility to leave behind all that stress and worldly things. Sometimes I get so bogged down in day-to-day life that I forget exactly why we are really here. And that's why I love working at my church. It helps keep me a little more focused on God.

I remember when I was a young married, my mother-in-law Ella used to try to get me to go to church with her. She also worked at her church as a secretary and sometimes when they had functions there, I would go with her. I didn't mind those kind of church goings, but the idea of getting up early on Sunday (my one day to sleep in) was just out of the question. I remember telling her many times that just because one didn't go to church did not mean you weren't a Christian. You didn't neet church to believe in God and live your life according to the Bible. Oh, the folly of youth!

It took me living the majority of that youth and making so many mistakes to make me realize the folly of my words. When you don't live the life of a Christian and seek the fellowship with other Christians, it is too easy for the enemy to lead you astray. Oh how my life would have been so different if I had heeded the Lord's call much earlier.

My mother-in-law, though, did just that. She told me not too long ago that she prayed for 60 years for her husband Jack to be saved. Talk about persistance in prayer! Jesus teaches us to be persistant in our prayers. That is hard sometimes. God answers prayer in His own timing, for His own purpose and in His own way. We may not understand how this works, but perseverance can bring unexpected blessings.

1 John 5: 14-15 tells us that God does hear our prayers. “And we can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will. And if we know He is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that He will give us what we ask for.” Did you notice that part of “in line with His will”? Therein lies the problem. People often pray for things that they want instead of what God wants for us. After all, God wants the best for us, but we just want material things.

Getting back to my mother-in-law. Wanting Jack to be saved had to definitely be in God's will. After all, that is his will for all of us. But He has this bothersome rule about not interferring with man's will. He doesn't want robots. He wants to lead us gently, not push us. I think there are some people who need a push once in awhile, while there are some who need a giant shove (and I am thinking of one person in my life in particular).

Well anyway, Ella quietly prayed and persevered and God granted her the desire of her heart and Jack was saved and went on to be quite active in their local church for several years before his death. I have a desire of my heart, but I don't think I have 60 years left to wait. I keep praying that God's timing for me might be just a little bit quicker than Ella's.

So, here is my layout that I scrapped for Ella. It was also for a challenge at Heritage Scrap using Vicki's new kit called Faith, and I think it turned out pretty good. I will also include it in Ella's Life Book I am doing for her 80th birthday this summer.

Blue Willow

2009-04-01T23:00:00.016-05:00

Over at Heritage Scrap, all the designers got together and each designed a kit they call Blue Willow. Put all seven kits together and you have one whopping big kit. It is absolutely gorgeous. Well, of course, then they had to have a challenge to design a layout using one or more of these kits. There were so many things to choose from I had a hard time coming up with this one. I had to re-do it three different times. But I finally was happy with it.

This is my sweet youngest granddaughter Randy. These are her school pictures for Kindergarten. I will also use this page for her Life Book when I do it this summer for her birthday.

I liked these kits so much and the LO I created that I just had to do a quick page also. So here is the freebie.

Download here

Week's end

2009-03-28T22:13:00.005-05:00

Here it is Saturday night and the week is over. Can't for the life of me figure out what I accomplised this week. We worked on budgets at work, or rather everyone else did and I just supplied them with costs. Went to breakfast Wednesday with my Girlfriends Unlimited from church. That was fun. Forgot to go to my breakfast at Laurie's house this morning. That was not fun. I got too busy on the phone this morning solving family issues that I forgot all about it until it was too late. I seem to do that alot lately.

I had a wonderful online chat Monday night with the wonderful ladies at Heritage Scrap for our Life Book Challenge we are working on. They are definitely a hoot. I need to get busy on the life book I am doing on my mother-in-law Ella for her birthday. I have several pages done, but need to get more. This week is the Memories page. I think I will do one on their stay in England.

There is another challenge going on at Heritage Scrap called the Easter Hat Challenge. We are supposed to do a LO on some of the hats our ancestors wore. But I looked through all my pictures and not a one of them were wearing hats. Does that mean my ancestors had no class or style? So anyway, I decided to do a LO on the one who does have class and style (and it's the only hat picture I had). So here it is is.

Don't you just love those clothes? And see, we even found hats to wear, just like our ancestors should have worn. Not sure where we got those clothes, but I bet we were the best-dressed kids on the block. That's my cousin Linda on the right, and she definitely has class and style now. She is married to a retired Navy Captain and drives a Lexus. That is definitely class for this little ole redneck.

Did you know that you might be a redneck if you've been married three times and you still have the same in-laws?

Another Page & A Freebie

2009-03-22T21:12:00.006-05:00

I redid the pink page I called Hugs & Kisses. I just wasn't completely happy with it. So I did this page in place of it, using the same photos. I like this one much better. Oh, and Dana, Brandi asked the same question - wanted to know when I would start her book. I hadn't planned on doing pages for my kids, just the grandkids, but maybe I will. If only to irritate Travis. I don't think he appreciates my new hobby.

As a freebie for anyone who wants it, I have done a Quick Page from this LO for you.

You can click here to download.

I think I am done

2009-03-21T18:11:00.019-05:00

Today I did 4 more pages for Kelsee's book, plus one for Ashlyn and two for Cheyenne & Randy. Easter Fun and Sisterhood will be in both Kelsee's and Ashlyn's book as they pertain to both of them. And while I had these pages up, I completed the same thing for Cheyenne & Randy. This creative process can be very taxing on the brain.

So far that gives me 18 pages for Kelsee's book (this includes a Dedication Page which I am not uploading). Of these 18 pages, 4 of them will also be in Ashlyn's book exactly the same as Kelsee's. The Fairy page will also be in Ashlyn's book but with her picture in place of Kelsee's.

I have run out of pictures I want to put in Kelsee's book, so I will probably stop at these 18. I am not entirely happy with the pink Hugs & Kisses page, so will probably redo that one tomorrow. I already have 6 pages for Ashlyn's book, so now I just have to start on more pages with just her.

The idea is to add new pages each year as the girls grow and we have more pictures. So Mom and Dad need to take lots of pictures so I can keep adding.

Here are the new pages.

Americana Page
This is two kits: Americana by Linda Cumberland at Digital Scrapbook Boutique (frame, BG paper, & staple) and America The Beautiful by Amanda Thorderson at Digitals (paper curl at side and bottom).

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Easter Fun
This is a kit called Easter Fun by Stacey Stehley at Digital Scrapbooking Place.

Gifts Galore
This is a kit called Christmas Red Collection by Meryl Bartho at Digital Scrapbooking Place. The ribbon comes from the kit Only You at Ditabs blog.

Sisterhood
This LO is a combination of several kits. The frilly frames are by Rene Bross at DSP; the Sister Word Art is by Suzanne Walker at DSP; the string doodle from Loving You by Kenna's Designs at The Daily Scrapper; the paper and the April & May doodle from Breath of Spring by Monika Digital Designs at The Daily scrapper and the oval layered frame comes from Old Time Christmas Combo Kit by Lynn Griffin.

These are the two pages for Ashlyn.

Just A Dream
This is a QP done by Lynn Griffin from her Just A Dream.

Fairy Page
The kit used for this LO is Fairy Kisses in Blue at Blushbutters.

And these are the two pages for Cheyenne and Randy that correspond to Kelsee's & Ashlyn's.

Easter Fun - Cheyenne & Randy

Sisterhood - Cheyenne & Randy

Kelsee's Scrap Book

2009-03-20T19:36:00.022-05:00

I had a pleasant visit with my niece today. She brought her 3 kids with her and they had fun playing with Cheyenne and Randy. I think the dog Sam had more fun though. He loves kids and now he had 5 to chase. Rebecca's littlest, Jonathan, is a hoot. He is 21 months old and was not afraid of Sam at all, even though Sam is bigger than he is. Samantha had two missing front teeth and she got $5 from the tooth fairy, which she was proud of. Rebecca's new baby boy is due July 3rd and they are planning to call him Christian. Samantha was pretty upset that this was another boy - she wanted a sister. She cried for 4 hours, so Rebecca and Jason got her two cats and she was happy again. I tried to tell her that being the only girl was a perk, but I guess she doesn't understand the full scope of that yet. Rebecca told her that there will not be a budget for things like the prom and her wedding, but she wasn't too interested in that.

Well, it's Friday and I have been busy making more pages for Kelsee's book. I have 7 new pages to upload today. If you have any comments or suggestions, now is the time to tell me before I print them off for Kelsee's birthday.

Adorable
This was a QP done by Lynn Griffin from her kit Adorable at Digital Scrapbook Boutique.

The Beach
There was no kit involved here. Just blending of photos.

Cheerleading
There was no kit involved here either. Just blending of photos.

Family
This LO was done with the Yesterday Kit by Tib Bits at DigiScrap Station
I Am My Father's Daughter
This LO is done with several kits from Ditab blog. The overlay and butterfly are from Happy Colors Kit; the grass, frames & paper from Playing Kit; the cloud and fence from New Kit. These are all freebies from her blog.

Porcelain Doll
This is a kit called Delightful Sampler by Amanda Thorderson at Digitals here.

Christmas Snowflake
This is a freebie kit from Lynette's Photo Art blog found here. She has a wonderful blog with all kinds of goodies and wonderful Christian lessons. Be sure to check her out.

Fairie Page & a Freebie

2009-03-18T14:29:00.011-05:00

I have finished another page for Kelsee's book. When she was younger, her parents had these wonderful pictures taken of her and her sister Ashlyn dressed in fairy costumes. They are so adorable. When I saw the Fairie Kisses in Blue Kit at Blushbutters, I knew that was a perfect kit for this layout. And since I will be doing Ashlyn's book next, this page can do double duty for both their books just by inserting each of their pictures in the left frame.

Be sure and check out this great kit here

Now for the freebie for anyone who wants it. I created a Quick Page from the layout I did of the Fairy Page.

You can download the Quick Page here.

Rodeo

2009-03-15T19:45:00.004-05:00

Here in Houston it is rodeo time. Everybody gets duded up in their boots and cowboy hats to go spend a ton of money. Some people go for the carnival, the exhibits, the actual rodeo, the performances, or any combination thereof. I love all, but mostly the performances.

Yesterday, I got to go with a group of my very best friends from church. They love the exhibits and the cinnamon rolls. It was cold and rainy, but we had a really good time. And it was Lynn's birthday, so that made it even more special. So of course, I had to make a layout for that too. Here it is.

This LO was made with the kits Rodeo Days by Cathie Sipes at Scrap Acres and Wild Wild West by Jennifer at http://girlfrienddesignz.yuku.com.

My Son

2009-03-15T19:30:00.009-05:00

I was raised a Marine Corps brat. For those who were not raised in the military, this means that my father was in the Marine Corps, which meant so was my mother, my sister, my brother and me. When that is your father's occupation, then all things are military. When I was very young, we lived in base housing, and when I was older, we lived off base but in military neighborhoods in towns near the base. All our friends were military. It wasn't until I entered high school that we moved to a town far enough from Camp Pendleton that military wasn't the primary occupation.

The military shaped our opinions, our world views, and our thoughts. While everybody else was out protesting the Vietnam War, my father was over there fighting it. And when I left home and got married, it was to another Marine who had just come home from Vietnam and gotten out of the service. And he also was a military brat who's father was career Air Force.

So anyway, it was no surprise that my son wanted to join the military, even if it was the Army. It was a bit of a surprise when my daughter also joined the Army, but I was all for that. She went on to study at the Language Institute in Monterrey and then worked for the NSA at Ft. Meade, Maryland. My son, Travis, was 82nd Airborne and jumped out of airplanes. After he got out of the Army, he later went into the National Guard and served a tour in Iraq. All this I was able to accept. That's what being military meant. But when Travis said he was going to sniper school for a month, that took me back. Sniper School?

Yes, I know that there are snipers in the military and in S.W.A.T. But my son? That same baby boy I held and rocked when he was little? That same boy who clung to my hand the first time he rode the Texas Cyclone at Six Flags? Yes, that same little boy who is now a man.

It is easy for women to look at their fathers or husbands and be accepting of them having dangerous or heroic jobs. We knew them only as adults. But for mothers to accept that their little boys are very capable of this same thing; well, that's another matter entirely.

So to honor my son and all that he does to protect this country, I made this page for him.

I used components from several kits to make this page. The background was blending done by me. The military tags came from a kit called Honor & Courage by Jolene Shaffer at Digitals here. The ribbon came from Dad's War Time Page Kit by Roberta T. Designs at Heritage Scrap here. The poem was written by Ronna L. Nicholas, which I found on the internet. The photo mask was done by Ramona at Magical Dream Designs and the flag I found on the internet. The overlay was made with the little stars I found in the kit Rodeo Days by Cathie Sipes at ScrapAcres.

Travis and Kelsee

2009-03-08T17:46:00.004-05:00

This page is all about Travis and Kelsee. Travis was so young when she was born and she was the apple of his eye.

I didn't really use a kit for this LO. I blended a background page, then blended the photos into that. The frame comes from Golden Age by DigiZines by Terri. You can find it here. This is a fabulous biggie kit that has all kinds of marvelous things besides this frame.

Third Page in Kelsee's Book

2009-03-08T17:41:00.004-05:00

Five generation pictures are not all that common, and we were fortunate to have two pictures with Kelsee. The first picture is with me and my family. That is my mother and grandmother with us. This picture was taken about two years before my grandmother died. The second picture is of my husband's family, with his Dad and grandmother. This was also taken about 1-1/2 years before his grandmother died, and we also lost his father last year.

The kit I used for this LO is Mother's Photo Album Page Kit by Victorian Rose. You can find it here.

Second Page in Kelsee's Book

2009-03-08T17:40:00.005-05:00

The next page is about the grandma's in Kelsee's life. These are only three of them. My mother lives on the west coast, and for some reason, we did not have a picture of her with Kelsee.

The kit I used for this LO is Victoriana by Lynn Griffin. You can find it here.

Kelsee's Scrap Book

2009-03-08T01:47:00.028-06:00

One of the things I have started is a digital scrapbook for my granddaughters this year. Kelsee is the oldest and her birthday comes first this year. So I have started her scrapbook. I have had more fun learning this new hobby that fits right into my love of genealogy. I am also planning on doing scrapbooks for the military men in my family, as well as genealogy scrapbooks on several of my lines. I am blessed with many old family photos that I wish to showcase.

Anyway, the first is Kelsee's book. So far I have finished three pages which I will post here. I am almost finished with a fourth page, which I will post when I finish it. Excuse the black on the text, but for privacy reasons, I need to blot out personal info.

The kit I used for this LO is Baby Robin Page Kit by Lynn Griffin. You can find it here.

Obama tells the Muslim world "U.S. is not your enemy"

2009-01-27T09:23:00.001-06:00

There was an article today by Paul Schemm, Associated Press, about President Obama addressing the Muslim world. Below is a copy of that article.

CAIRO, Egypt – President Barack Obama chose an Arabic-language satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, delivering a message Tuesday to the Muslim world that "Americans are not your enemy."
The interview taped Monday underscored Obama's commitment to repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered under the previous administration.
The president expressed an intention to engage the Middle East immediately and his new envoy to the region, former Sen. George J. Mitchell, was expected to arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a visit that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel, which is privately owned by a Saudi businessman.
Obama said the U.S. had made mistakes in the past but "that the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that."
During his presidency, former President George W. Bush gave several interviews to Al-Arabiya but the wars he launched in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted a massive backlash against the U.S. in the Muslim world.
Al-Arabiya has scored interviews with top U.S. officials in the past, including Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The channel is seen by some in Washington as more balanced in its coverage than its Qatar-funded rival Al-Jazeera, which the previous White House administration complained had an anti-American bias.
Obama called for a new partnership with the Muslim world "based on mutual respect and mutual interest." He talked about growing up in Indonesia, the Muslim world's most populous nation, and noted that he has Muslim relatives.
The new president said he felt it was important to "get engaged right away" in the Middle East and had directed Mitchell to talk to "all the major parties involved." His administration would craft an approach after that, he said in the interview.
"What I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating," Obama told the interviewer.
The president reiterated the U.S. commitment to Israel as an ally and to its right to defend itself. But he suggested that both Israel and the Palestinians have hard choices to make.
"I do believe that the moment is ripe for both sides to realize that the path that they are on is one that is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people," he said, calling for a Palestinian state that is contiguous with internal freedom of movement and can trade with neighboring countries.
On Tuesday, Gaza's fragile truce was threatened when a bomb detonated by Palestinian militants exploded next to an Israeli army patrol along the border with Gaza, killing one soldier and wounding three.
Obama also said that recent statements and messages issued by the al-Qaida terror network suggest they do not know how to deal with his new approach.
"They seem nervous," he told the interviewer. "What that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt."
In his latest message on Jan. 14, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden said Obama had been left with a "heavy inheritance" of Bush's wars.
Shortly after the election, the network's number two, Ayman al-Zawahri used a demeaning racial term for a black American who does the bidding of whites to describe Obama.
The message suggested the terror network was worried Obama could undermine its rallying cry that the U.S. is an enemy oppressor.

Now, I have some thoughts on this article. First, I have no problem with the message that he delivered. In order to have peace in the Middle East, it is important that all parties are able to communicate with each other. But I have a major problem with the statement about former President Bush: "but the wars he launched in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted a massive backlash against the U.S. in the Muslim world."

Excuse me, but I believe that 9/11 launched those wars. It was Muslim terrorists that attacked us to begin with. It was Muslim countries that harbored those terrorists. If the other Muslim countries didn't want us launching any wars to find these terrorists, then why didn't they do it themselves? And the war in Iraq? Maybe it was started for the wrong reason (WMD's anyone?), but it culminated in the deposing of a sadistic tyrannical despot who murdered thousands of his own Muslim people. So why exactly is there a backlash against the U.S.? It seems to me that after 9/11, there was a backlash against the Muslim world that could have been turned around easily if the Muslim world had been quick to police themselves first.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not advocating hate or racial prejudice against the Muslim people. God says to love your neighbors and I believe that means everybody; Muslim, Jewish and Christian alike. I won't get into the religious aspect of this, just suffice it to say that all this hatred is not what God wants. But I take offense at the liberal slant of the news that wants to throw all the country's ills back on President Bush. Yes, he made mistakes, just as President Obama will too. But stop kicking President Bush for doing what he had to do in a difficult time. Would the liberals have been happy if we had all sat around debating the thing to death after 9/11? The last time we were attacked at Pearl Harbor, we didn't debate that either. We went straight to war. That was a different type of war, so it was more clear cut than guerrilla terrorist tactics.

I hope that President Obama can disfuse the hard feelings and bring some kind of peace to the Middle East without jeopardizing our relationship with Israel. But remember, these hard feelings were brought about by the Muslim terrorists attacking us, NOT by President Bush invading Iraq or Afghanistan.

Genealogy Break Throughs

2009-01-06T10:32:00.000-06:00

Genealogy has been a hobby of mine for about 35 years. It has given me the opportunity to incorporate a love of history with a love of family. My favorite movies and TV series were always westerns and I felt like I should have been born during that time. But of course, it was a good thing I wasn't because I like my creature comforts and technology way too much. (See, God was definitely looking out for me).

Anyway, as I was saying, genealogy gave me the ability to see my ancestors during a period of time that I would have at least wanted to visit. Over the years I have researched both my family and my husband's. His was actually easier to do as most of his family had resided here in Texas for many, many years. Texas is a big state but we could still make short trips to the various different counties a whole lot easier than to Nebraska or New York or England.

The internet has really opened up the research avenues for me. Family Search has uploaded images of the Texas Death Certificates for 1900-1976 and I decided to take advantage of that. I ran a report from my genealogy program to show everyone who died in Texas during that time period and I have been locating the death certificates and copying them to my hard drive. Death certificates can give you so much information, particularly names of parents. Which brings me to my breakthrough.

Dr. Charles Edward Hall and his wife Mabel Ora Stuart, my husband's great-grandparents, are buried in Lindale, Texas. Her parents, William Stuart and Laura Hill (Fatherree) Stuart are buried next to them. The headstones show birth and death dates for both William and Laura and the family Bible showed William as being born in Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee. That had been the extent of the knowledge I have been able to gather on William Stuart.

While tracing down death certificates for a son of a son of a collateral line, I was taken to Rains County in Texas, where the death occurred. As I have found the death certificates, I have also checked each county to see if the cemeteries have been transcribed online (some have, some haven't yet). So while looking through one of the Rains County Genealogy web pages, I came across a 1913 transcribed newspaper article that said "Herbert Stuart from Lindale was here visiting his uncle S.J. Stuart earlier this week."

That stopped me in my tracks. Herbert Stuart was Mable Ora's brother, a son of William Stuart, and living in Lindale. This uncle S.J. Stuart was obviously a brother to William. A little more research in Rains County disclosed this to be Stephen James Stuart, a prominent settler to Rains County from Tennessee. Now with two children's names as a point of reference, I was able to find the right Stuart household in the 1850 census of Sumner County, Tennesse, which showed their mother Clarissa as a widow. Checking the online marriage transcriptions for Sumner County, I found a Clarissa Mitchenor married to a James Stuart. I also found the Texas death certificate for Stephen James Stuart that listed his parents as James and Clarissa. A death certificate for William (who died in 1902) has never been found.

So by following the death certificates on more current family way down through a collateral line, it took my direct line another generation back. That's what I love about genealogy. You never know when or where you will find that piece of elusive information that fits your puzzle.