A Grand Old Flag

I finally decided to take a break from designing my own stuff and actually try to get some layouts done, because that's the whole point isn't it?This layout was made using my Stars & Stripes Forever papers, a template by Yin Designs, and a font called Attic. I'm still playing catch up with pictures from when my daughter was a baby.

Patriotic layouts

UFC 86 Results:
Well, Griffin won the victory by decision, and it was a close fight. I think it should have gone to Jackson though, because I thought he won three out of five rounds, but the judges scored it differently, and I might change my mind when I see the entire thing again. I do like Forest Griffin, I just didn't think he would match up well with Rampage, but I was wrong. I did well overall in my fantasy picks though. I ranked 60th out of more than 17,000 people who picked the winners, method, round, and minute of each fight.
I decided to scrap some pictures from a couple of weekends ago when we all drove out to Celebrate Freedom. We were in the car for half of the day, but it was really fun. Click on the images to view them larger. I used a sketch by Becky Higgins to create the double page layout, and I used the papers from my Stars & Stripes Forever kit.
I've had several people send me layouts they created with my kit, and I'm sharing them with you here.

This one is by Julie:And another one by Sharon aka Scrapcat4914
Here is a layout Mandy sent me. Her husband is currently serving in Iraq and I gave her special permission to use my kit for fundraising products for his Troop's welcome home activities. If you'd like to check out her cafepress store, it's here.

Memorial Day Fun

First of all, I want to say thanks to Julie for picking me up for the second time in a week so that I could be part of the festivities. It is driving me nuts having to rely on other people for everything, but maybe the Lord is trying to teach me patience and humility.

Julie came by my house early Monday morning and helped me round up the kids and load them in the car. We camped out at her house in the morning while she prepared food for her BBQ later that day. The food turned out great and I had a wonderful time hanging out with old friends and meeting some new people. My daughter ran around with Shannon and Kelly and the other kids and managed to get completely soaked by a water gun, but it was so hot outside that I bet she was more comfortable than the rest of us. BittyBit and Shannon after a serious water gun fight.LittleMan chilled out most of the day, in spite of being tired.

In the evening we all went over to another friend's house for Jenny G.'s going away party. The gals who put the party together did a wonderful job and we all had a great time. It was nice to be able to get together for one last hurrah before Jenny & her family move far, far away. My only regret was that neither of my kids got much of a nap, and they both pitched fits for a good portion of the party. Especially my eldest child, who realized how slow I am on crutches and decided to take advantage. It is always humbling to have the worst behaved child at a party. Check out Missy's blog for some great pictures of the event (I mean the party, not the tantrums).

Last, but not least, I finished another layout. I've been trying to complete this one for weeks, but I couldn't find papers I liked that didn't clash with the page that will go next to this one in the album. The two pages are of different events, so I didn't want to use the same papers. I finally found a kit that has a similar feel to the other page I did, but isn't too much the same. As always, click on the layout to view it larger.

Credits: Template by Andrea Gold, Papers from Danielle Corbitt's Don't Be Shy kit. Font:CK Stenography. Atomic Cupcake action used on title.

Haircuts and Treadmills

I got my hair cut again today. I love going to Erik to get my hair done. It always looks much better after he styles it than I can ever get it to look on my own. Tyson's mom was talking to him the other day about how male hairdressers usually make more money than females. If a woman cuts another woman's hair and tells her it looks good, the patron might believe her, or she might think that the hairdresser is just trying to get some repeat business. If a guy cuts a woman's hair, when he tells her that her new 'do looks great, she is more likely to believe him.

I don't know if there is any truth to that, or if it is one of those made up statistics, but I can see how it could be true. Assuming that the guy cutting my hair does a great job, I'll keep going back because I will take a little flattery wherever I can get it (I said flattery, not flirting). Tyson has always been good about noticing when I change my hair, and sometimes a few weeks later, he will notice if I buy new clothing. I think (especially after the relationship is no longer new) that sometimes guys forget that women need compliments. Once you get married, friendships with people of the opposite sex are mostly off limits. You are pretty much limited to your spouse's friends, and if you do remain friends with people you knew before you got married, the dynamics of the friendship definitely have to change.

I walked over five miles on the treadmill today. Tyson's comment that I looked pregnant in the sweater I wore to the wedding finally motivated me to either kill myself or start working out, and since everything else in my life is going ok right now, I guess I'd better start exercising. I watched a Cold Case episode and part of Northanger Abbey (thank goodness for DVR) to keep me busy while I walked. Now I am going to be hooked on all of these Jane Austen movies. I have already recorded over 30 hours of them from PBS's Masterpiece Theater. I wish real life were as romantic as the books. I think after reading enough of Jane Austen, no man will ever be able to measure up!

Here's another scrapbook page I finished yesterday. This page was the last of the June '05 pictures, now I am ready to tackle July.
Credits: Template by Andrea Gold, Spring Garden kit add on by
Mira Designs of The Digichick, Font - CK Stenography

No boots in the house

Last night BittyBit wanted to wear her cowboy boots in the house. We usually take our shoes off while in the house, and it was almost bedtime, so I told her that she could wear them to school tomorrow instead. She looked at me and said, "I don't want to go to school tomorrow". Most of the time she loves school, so I asked her why she didn't want to go. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow because I'm mad at you mom", was her reply. I had to fake a cough to cover my smile. I am glad that she can tell me when she is upset, and even gladder that she can be civil when she tells me. It just surprised me and the expression on her face when she said it struck me as funny.

I started the layouts below about a month ago, but I have not been able to get the second page to look right. I think I'm done messing with it for now though, so I will post it. I can't wait to start scrapping 2006, when I lost the rest of the baby weight. Those pictures are always easier to look at.

Credits: Sketches by Becky Higgins. The papers and elements are from Buzy Bee Scrapper Designs

Tuesday layouts

The weather has been so nice lately. I love to take the kids for walks in the stroller, but I have been reluctant to do so recently because BittyBit is still in the potty training phase. If I'm going to get out and exercise (and sweat, yuck!) then I might as well get my time in. I used to take 3+ hour walks with BittyBit before LittleMan was born, but I don't know where to stop for a bathroom break along my route. I finally decided that I'd walk to a park about a mile and a half from my house, then after BittyBit had played for a little while, I would go to the nearby strip mall and try to find a restroom we could use. Instead I ended up making a mad dash for the nearest elementary school when I saw the look on BittyBit's face that told me I had about a minute to find a potty or it would be too late. It was almost 6pm, but thankfully the building was still open, so our mission was a success. Then we were able to play for a few more minutes on the playground and I was able to take my time the walk home. LittleMan even fell asleep on the return trip, which was nice.

I completed two more scrapbook pages today. My goal is to scrap the rest of my pictures for 2005 by the end of the summer. Then I am hoping to finish 2006 by the end of this year. We will see if that actually happens. Here are my layouts.
Credits: Template by Mrs. Wresh, font - Georgia, papers from Miriam Lima’s LDD Celebration kit, bear sticker from Nancy Kubo’s Hullabaloo kit.
Credits: Template by Andrea Gold, Papers from Mints & Taro kit by
Fei-Fei’s Stuff.

My mom's birthday bash

I have stayed pretty busy since we got back into town at the beginning of the week. I can't think of anything specific that I did, except that I helped a little in putting together my mom's birthday party. I was going to post pictures of my mom's birthday party and how my sister's neighbor's house caught fire, but she beat me to the punch. You can check it out on Jenni's blog.

Jenni and I started thinking and we realized that we couldn't ever remember anyone having a birthday party for my mom. We usually had a little something as a family, but we couldn't remember a party with guests. When we were growing up we didn't have any money for parties, and as adults it was some of the same, plus several of us girls have moved out of state at some time or another, so it just didn't come together. Jenni planned the entire thing, she just delegated a few things to me. I created a slideshow with pictures beginning when my mom was a child, and concluding with pictures from this year. I also made the punch, which Tyson told me it didn't taste very good, but I don't really care because it was pretty. I thought it tasted alright. We met at Jenni's house for cake and punch, then we went out to eat with most of the party guests to a restaurant. After dinner my mom said that this party was the second birthday party she had had in her entire life. The first one was when she was eight. I'm glad that we were able to have this one for her and that so many of her friends and family were able to make it special.

I also have a few more scrapbook layouts to share. I didn't do these a while back, but I'll share them here anyway. Credits: Sketch by Becky Higgins, font-Eras Medium ITC, polka dot paper by DCorbitt, Dreadfully Happy collaboration kit by Digital Crea used for the remainder of layout. Atomic Cupcake action used.

Stupid Computer

I fully intended to post yesterday, after Jenny G. and I had another fun scrapbooking session, but my computer is acting up. The power in our neighborhood has been intermittent since the last big storm. It usually works, but it will surge a few times a day and then my computer turns off and I lose whatever project I was working on. Tyson had a spare battery backup and offered to plug my computer into it so that it wouldn't die if there was another power surge. He also gave me some new RAM for my computer a few days ago. After he plugged my computer into the battery backup, my computer wouldn't boot up. I started stressing out because I knew that Jenny would be coming over soon to learn more digital scrapbooking and my computer wasn't working. He messed around with it for half an hour and finally got it working. He thinks the new RAM might be incompatible with my computer, which would be a shame, because it my computer was running twice as fast as before with the new RAM.

I was so glad when Jenny showed up with her two boys, because the kids entertained each other for the most part. Before she showed up I was seriously considering locking BittyBit in her room and not letting her come out until she was ready to be married off. She kept trying to play with LittleMan, but she was being way too rough and I kept having to pull her off of him. At one point I stepped out of the room to start a load of laundry (my next house will have a laundry room in the house, not in the garage). Tyson was home, so I thought I could step away for a minute, but through the walls of the garage I heard LittleMan crying, so I charged back into the house. When I got to the living room, I found him lying on his back fussing. BittyBit was leaning over him, repeatedly slamming her forehead into the softest part of his stomach. I think I set a land record running across the room to pull her off of him. I was so mad, because I had already chastised her three times for hitting, pushing, and "tapping" him with her foot. She looked at me with this blank look and said, "But mommy, I'm not hitting him, see? I'm just bumping him with my head." Right...I guess I'll have to sit down and consider every possible physical assault so that I can forbid each one individually.

The computer worked the entire time Jenny was here, but almost as soon as she left, my monitor went out. It started blinking, then repeatedly turning itself on and off every few seconds. I finally had to unplug the darn thing. I have a feeling the motherboard is going to go out on my computer soon. So many things are going wrong with this computer. I really wish this would happen at a better time, not when we just got hit with a huge tax bill. That is another story entirely, but one that I don't want to talk about right now.

Well, Jenny told me that I should post more of my layouts, so here are some pages I finished today. The first one I completed several months ago, but I tweaked it today and created the second page. The templates and papers are by Andrea Gold. The rusty brads are from Jennilyn's RustIron kit. The overlay around the edges is from Shabby Princess's Two Soon collection. I used CK's Corral font for the title and journaling.


I am thinking about creating a freebie mini kit of digital papers, and maybe a couple of elements. I have never done this before, so I don't know how long it will take me or how good they will turn out, but if anyone has a specific theme or color request, leave your suggestions in the comments and I will consider them.

New Scrapbook layouts

I thought with all the time that I am spending teaching others to scrap, I really ought to do more digital scrapbooking myself. I am way behind and trying to catch up. Here is a double page spread I did today of a friend's birthday party in June of 2005, when BittyBit was 5 months old. (You can click on the images to view them full size.)


I based my layout on a sketch by Becky Higgins. The papers and embellishements are from Sweet Moon Graphic's Summer Sea kit.

I'm an aunt (again)!

Tayton and Breanne had their baby boy last night at 10:36 pm. His name is Liam and he weighs 6lbs, 8 oz. and is 19 inches long. They live out of state now, so I haven't gotten to see the baby in person, but I saw some pictures and he is super cute.

I completed a blog header for my mom a few days ago, which I think turned out nicely. I made my own header too, by the way. I'm still learning how to mess around in Photoshop Elements, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it. I decided to take part in a contest at one of my favorite digital scrapbooking forums. All of the competitors get a free digital kit to work with and have to create an original layout using only the kit. Some of the other folks have been scrapbooking a lot longer than I have, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. If my layout is chosen to advance to the next round then I'll get another free kit and will complete another layout. I'm not getting my hopes up, but it is worth a shot. Here is my layout for the first round. Credits can be found here.

New Site

Hello everyone! I discovered the world of digital scrapbooking a few months ago and I am hooked! I eventually plan to design products, but for now I am still learning how to use Photoshop Elements. When I become more comfortable using the program I will probably kick out some word art and maybe try to design some papers and kits from there. In the meantime this will be a place for me to post completed scrapbook layouts for my family and friends to view. Here are some layouts I've completed recently:

Credits can be found here

Credits here