Yep, 2 post in one day!

I finished my nieces 1st birthday layout that goes with the 1st year layout I gave her for her birthday. I use the same kit for both layouts, "Birthday Girl' by Carolyn Rose Kite from Scrap'NTag.com. I bought 2 8x8 canvasses and painted the sides pink. Then I printed the layouts and adhered them to the canvasses. I am SUPER happy with the way they turned out. But, most importantly, so is my sister :) Take a look:



I'm no longer here alone... Charles and Zach came back earlier than I expected, but that's ok. Charles took Zach out to Izzy's to redeem a certificate he earned in school, just the 2 of them. Then Zach got to go spend his $4, that's been burning a hole in his pocket, at the fireworks tent. Don't worry, he just got party poppers. No fire! ;) The rest of the kids are all out a Jones Creek living it up on this beautiful, hot summer day. Oh, to be so young again! Freedom and the world at your fingertips. Ahhh, such is life. Then we grow up. LMBO! Tyler's work just called me because they can't get a hold of Tyler. He is suppose to work tonight, 5-close, and where is he? In a dead-zone! No cell service out in the woods! AUGH! What do ya do??

I'm going to go now. My wonderful hubby is making tacos for dinner and I can smell it wafting up the stairs. Mmmmmm! I'll be back when I have something new to share. Until then... c'ya!

Check this out...

There's another new kit in the store over at SunshineStudioScraps.com! It's called "Catch The Rainbow" and it's by JACQUEscrapper Designs. It's full of beautiful colors, every color of the rainbow! And such cute elements! You've got to see it for yourself. The image is linked to the store.

I also competed another challenge over at the SUN. This month's "Outside the Box" challenge was to make a monotone layout. I've been wanting to use this photo for a while now and am really happy with the outcome. I hope you like it too.
Hehe, the photo is of my niece Toni, from my older sister, and Jenna, mentioned in the title, is my niece from my younger sister. You've seen several layouts of both of them because they are so stinkin' cute and both are so photogenic. I love snappin' pics of both of them. Don't forget, that images are always clickable to view the layouts larger ;)

Well, for the first time all summer I am alone in the house! WHOOHOO! And what am I going to do with this free time? Why, scrap, of course! So, I'll be back when I've got something to show you. Until then...c'ya!

New layouts...

Well, it has been a busy month, but I have found time here and there to scrap some great memories. That one thing that I LOVE about digital scrapbooking. When I paper scrapped I could never walk away from a project half done and come back later to find it just as I left it. But with digital, it's a completely different story. And I love it!
This first page is one of a great day. On Memorial Day we went hiking with our good friends, The Cookman's. We went out on some trails around Hagg Lake. I didn't even realize those trails were there and I've lived here my whole life! lol. It was a beautiful day and we were happy we had made the decision to get out there and start early, because it heated up pretty quickly just as we were just finishing up. Here is "Hiking Hagg Lake '09":
Everything I used for this lo is from the new kit by Chris Greiser called "Lazy Days". You can find it here.
My last one for this month is called "Reading in the Shade". I took these great pictures of Zach out reading a book from his favorite book series, "Magic Tree House", under the shade of a tree that borders our yard and our neighbors. It's a special tree to all of us, as it memorializes the passing of our neighbors little girl CC, so we call it CC's tree. Anyway, I'm not real impressed by this layout, as I was running out of time and had to get one more done to fulfill my CT requirement. I also need to choose a designer I had never chosen before, and I also tried a new photo technique, which I'm not sure I like on these photos. The whole thing turned out too dark for my taste, so I'm sure I'm going to have to have another go at it sooner or later. But here is my first run with it:
Everything I used in this layout is from "Elder Library" by Moon Scraps, also found here.

And now I'm ready to close out another month and start all over again, lol. I'm looking forward to the 4th of July. We will be doing the CAT walk again this year and we're hoping to go to the St. Paul Rodeo as well. I'm very excited!
So, good night for now, until next... c'ya!

Wrapping up another month...

Just a couple more days of June and it will be gone... already. This was a very busy month for us. We had 3 birthdays, a graduation, my Grandparents anniversary, and Father's day. That's a lot to scrap about! LOL! Unforunately, we also had Papa in the hopsital, then out, but with daily trips back for chemo and blood and platelet infusions. It's been a L O N G month. This one didn't slip by as quickly as they have been. Today Charles and I got the oppportunity to take Gramma and Papa out for brunch at Shari's. It was really nice. I watch them across the table holding each others hands and Gramma using her fingers to take in every memory of Papa that she can(she's completely blind). Papa helps her cut her Crepe and continues to turn her plate so she knows where to find her food. He helps her with her napkin and dabs a little bit of strawberry off the corner of her mouth. They seem so desperate to make every second last forever, knowing what is the inevitable. I can't even imagine not having Papa here. He's the best thing that ever happened to Gramma, and to our family. He cares for Gramma so completely, and she for him. She tells me daily, "My goal right now is to make sure he lives as long as I do." I don't think she can imagine life without him. I don't know how to make this adjustment. I never know what to say. I just kiss his head everytime we leave him and tell him "I love you Papa. I'll see you tomorrow." Life is so unfair. I have to keep reminding myself that God is in control and He has a plan. And when the time comes, Papa will be in a better place. He will never be stuck with another needle, no more being tired and light-headed. He will walk as long as he wants and never tire. And he will see the precious face of our Saviour. Amen.

Finally!

Just a short little post tonight. I just wanted to share my latest...
I know June is almost over already, but I did get my desktop calendar done and I thought it turned out so cute I wanted to share it with you! To get the full effect I hide all my desktop icons. lol. My boys even said that this was their favorite one so far! I'm thinking I might just keep the corkboard idea and just swap out the kit each month...change the layout a little... We'll see.
Don't forget, all my images here are linked. So if you click on them it will show you a larger version of the image. So feel free to look around and click away. Also, the blinkies down the right hand side will take you to some of my favorite digital scrapbooking sites. Just click on those as well. :)
I'm in the process of working on another layout for Sunshinestudioscraps.com and when I get it finished, I will be back to share! Until then...c'ya!

Happy Birthday to 2 of my neices!

I have been busy, busy, busy the last few days! Last night I was up until 4am trying to finish up the toughest layout I've ever done! But I am very happy with it, so it was worth it. I'll show you that one in a minute, but first I want to show you what I made for my Oldest niece, Tisha. She is turning 16 on the 23. As I am always saying, I can't believe how fast they grow up! Anyway, her little sister got a birthday t-shirt and she wanted one too. So I decided that was what I can do for her. Using my digital scrapbooking supplies I designed some cute art to apply onto a t-shirt. I made this for the front:
And this is going on the back: I'm putting it on a white t-shirt. I hope she likes it!
Everything I used is from a collab from the fabulous SUN designers called 'My CT Rocks' in honor of CT appreciation week!

Ok, now the LO. I've been working on this one all year! I had to make sure I had a photo of Toni for each month, which was sometimes a collaborative effort between myself and Tisha. :) So, here is Toni thru the last year: There will be a second page to this, but that one needs a picture of her at her birthday party, so that will be coming soon. The kit I'm using on both of these pages is from "Birthday Girl" by Carolyn Rose Kite. The template for this page is Dunia_2008InReview. Both from Scrap-n-Tag.

Well, I must sign out now. I still have to print out and apply Tisha's t-shirt transfers, and also framing Toni's page. Like I said...Busy, busy, busy! The party is tomorrow! ACK! I will be back to share when I get something else accomplished, so until then...c'ya!

Aren't they beautiful?

Just a quick post tonight, as it's already after 1am here, and I'm exhausted. But I finished another layout and had to share it with you!

I got to use "My Secret Garden" by Creations By Rachael this month for my first LO at SunshineStudioScraps.com. I chose this photo of my older sister and 2 of her beautiful girls.

I love this kit! I think it complimented this photo beautifully. The kit is full of flowers and lots of butterflies, even a wrought iron fence! The colors are absolutely gorgeous. You need to go check it out for yourself. You'll find it here, in the store. While you're there, look around a bit. You're sure to find lots of stuff you've just gotta have! ;)

I've got so many things I want to get done, and so little time! I still haven't made my Desktop for June yet, and the month is halfway over! My grandparents Anniversary is Thursday, as well as my Secret Sister's. I have 2 birthdays this coming up weekend. As well as Father's day! And, I hate that I haven't been keeping up very well with the challenges around digi scrap world. I love to do them because I always learn something new. UGH! I thought with school out I'd get more scrappin' time, but hubby's been running me all over the place! lol!

Speaking of hubby! He finally has his carpet cleaning business, A-Vac Carpet Cleaning, up and running! YAY! It's taken some time to get here but we have finally arrived and we are ready for customers! I'm so excited for him. He's been working toward this day for SO long! We knew it would come, in God's time. Now I pray that He blesses the business and makes it productive.

Well, that's it for tonight. I will be back with yet another of my creations. lol Until then...c'ya!

Stephanie's Graduation...

Well, I finished Steph's gift today. YAY! I think it turned out pretty nice! What do you think? Take a look:

Her school colors were Orange and Black. I searched all over for the right quote. When I cam upon this one I just KNEW it was the one! Stephanie is such a high achiever, and very determined. She knows what she wants and she works hard to make it happen. I am so proud of her (if I haven't already said that before :). Way to go, Steph! You'll be a teacher before you know it, and a great one at that! Keep up the amazing job!

Just a short post tonight. I already have such a hard time getting up in the mornings, and I have to be up and at church by 9 tomorrow morning! But, have no fear, I will be back! lol. Until then...c'ya!

A layout and a sneak peek...

Well, I finished Cody's Bday gift, so I thought I'd share that with you. It took me a long time to get this one the way I like it. I hate when 1 photo is darker than all the rest. SO hard to try and match them up more naturally. But I'm pretty happy with it. Here it is:

He sure has grown up to be a good looking young man. Even if I do say so myself! :)

I mostly used "A Year In The Life" by Lyndsay Riches from DigiScrapAddict's SYTYCD Contest. I also used random pieces from the SUN Designer's Collab kit called "Dear Daddy". Both AWESOME kits!

SUN has another new kit in the store. It's by the very talented Boutique Cute Dolls Designs and it's called "Open Season". It is filled with lots of adorable little animals and LOTS of elements. It also has 15 papers! That's a full kit! I can just see this kit being used to scrap those trips to the zoo this summer, can't you? The preview is clickable. It'll take you straight to the store. Check it out. Isn't it cute?

Well, that's all for tonight. I'll be back to share some more. Unitl then... c'ya!

Yay! I've done it!

I finally figured out how to make my own Blog background and header! I read a tutorial from DigiDesignsbyNicole at Stuff To Scrap as well as from Allie Brown. I played around alot with the sizing since it seemed it was never quite long enough or tall enough to fit my screen, which is a 22 in., so I just kept tweaking until it looked good to me. I hope it looks equally good on your screen. :) Let me know... leave me a comment if you like! I'd love to hear what you think.

I'm sorry I haven't updated in quite a while. I actually did sit down and write a long update one night, but something happened and it didn't save, and it was so late already that I was not going to sit and write it all over again. Sorry!

So, anyway, Papa's been home for the hospital since Friday, May 29th (to my best recollection). His levels have steadily climbed back up, not to where they should be, but enough to spring him from the joint. ;) hehe. This whole week he's had to go into the Dr. first thing in the morning to get his chemo treatments. He's having a lot of difficulty swallowing for some reason and chokes on a lot of stuff. They've already taken x-rays of his throat and determined they need to stick a camera down his throat to get a better look, but his oncologist says, no, not while he's on his chemo treatments. He's doing pretty well, considering. We were over at their house all day today working on their yard and he was up doing stuff everytime we turned around. Gramma was lauging because he says he wants a bowling ball for thier anniversary. I love that, cause it shows that he haas NO plans of leaving here anytime soon. He's still planning for the future, for when he's got his strength back to go bowling again. He is SO AMAZING. He has fought for so long and VERY rarely do you see him letting it get to him. He's so strong. Such an amazing example. I love him so much!

So we are now officially parents of a High School Graduate! Stephanie graduated last Sunday, June 7th. I am so incredibly proud of her! And excited to see where she goes from here. Steph, you ROCK, girl! I love you so much!

Also on the 7th, Cody turned 13 years old! OMGoodness! It's hard to believe the years have just flown by like they have. He was born a very sick little guy, and too see him now and the amount of energy that he puts into every minute of the day... You'd never believe how fragile his was. Happy Birthday, Cody! You're Amazing and I love you!!! xoxo (oops! are you too old for that now? Oh, well, get used to it! lol)

Summer vacation is finally here! YAY! No more early mornings for a while. Of course, that also means all the kids are home ALL DAY! Ack! Lord, please help me!? As I wrote this I looked up and saw one of my favorite verses on my wall. Psalm 39:7 "And so Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you." We'll make it (preferably with my sanity still intact) and hopefully with some great memories and photos from everything we'll get to do. I don't know what that'll be, but we usually find some sort of adventure each summer. I'm excited just thinking about all the prospects!

I'm in the process of finishing up a LO I'm doing for Cody for his birthday (hey! greatness takes time! LMBO!) And next I'm doing one for Steph for her Graduation. But I have recently done one of my Mom from a recent trip we took to the beach. She hadn't been there in years and the boys had a BLAST spending the day with her. I think memories were made that day that won't be soon forgotten. Thank you, Mom, for sharing that time with us. Here's the LO:

Eevn Mom liked these photos, and that says A LOT!!! :D What a great day that was. I'll treasure it always.

Well, I'm going to go now and finish up Cody's LO and start the next. I'll share when I'm done! Until then... c'ya!

New at SunshineStudioScraps.com...

This kit is perfect for all those summer photos you know you'll be taking! It has 15 papers and approximately 93 elements! I don't think there's a summer memory that can't be scrapped with this kit. Whether you're playing in the backyard or on the beach. Let your imagination soar! You can find it in the store HERE.