Will it ever end???

I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired. lol. One bug or another has been making it's rounds through our house for the last 2 weeks! First it was the cough, congestion, headache, body aches, fever. All 3 of the boys got it one after another. Charles got a touch of it, but not too bad. And I managed to not get it at all. Yay! :) Once that seemed to be gone we seemed to have started a new round of the stomach stuff, throwing up, diarrhea, major stomach cramps. Again, one after the other, but this time they were all nice enough to share with me. Yay! :( I'm so over it all! I just want us all to be well again. Is that too much to ask? ;)

ANYway... I have a re-do to show you. I did a layout of Zach "Reading in the Shade" back in June that I just wasn't real thrilled with. The kit I used was too dark for the photos of Zach chillin' in the shade of a tree with a good book. I recently found a kit in the SUN shop that I just love! It's called "Shabby Boy" by Valarie Ostrom Designs and My Creative Pixels. It's actually the same kit I used to make the Royal Ranger pages in my last post. Well I used this kit as well as bits and pieces from a couple other kits to re-do that page and this is what I've come up with. I really like this one SO much better than the first one.

Along with 'Shabby Boy', the tree is from 'Fall's Whisper' Collab by the SUN Designers. The hearts are by Teri Merkins from 'Comfort' Collab, also from the SUN Designers. The template is a freebie from Digiland Designs. And the fonts are Cafe Rojo (title), and Cena.

The other page I've finished is called "October Leaves". I actually found the photo on my iPod. A stock photo, I guess. But I really liked it, and it goes really well with this kit I wanted to use, which is 'Fall's Whisper' Collab by the SUN designers. The template is by CaroB71 for the 10/22 Template Challenge at Sunshine Studio Scraps. And the font is Bosshole.

We went to a Silent Auction tonight up at our church to benefit Westside Christian School. I had my sights set on one thing and I was bound and determined to get it. I kept getting outbid, but... I got it! I got a gift certificate worth $150 for a Portrait Session for only $50. Tyler has to get his Senior pictures done here real soon and I've been stressing myself out over it. Those things can get really expensive! But now it's all taken care of! Yay! The girl that's doing them goes to our church and she does an amazing job! Her name is TaBetha Groshong and you can find her website here: http://groshongphotography.webs.com/ Check it out for yourself.

That's it for tonight. I'll be back soon with some more Show'N Tell :) Until then... C'ya!

Woo Hoo!!

Remember I said I had set a goal for myself to make 100 layouts this year? Well... It's only October 24th and I have achieved and surpassed my goal! I have now finished 105 pages! I surprised myself! I didn't think I could do that many. I came NO where near that last year. Must mean I've had a great year full of memories, huh? ;) Anyway, let's see what I've gotten done this past week, shall we? Warning:

I have been BUSY!

First up are my kitties. Well, the newest 2 anyway, lol. They are Gracie and Bella (respectively) and I am forever finding them up in the bathroom window sill. They love the fresh air and the sun shining in on them while they nap. Here is "Cat Nap":

Click here for credits.

Next, I did another installment of the Cat Walk pages. This one is from 2008. Remember, we do this walk every year with my Grandpa to raise money and Awareness for Cancer Treatments. Here is "CAT Walk '08":

Click here for credits.

This next one was done for the 10/20 Lyrics Challenge at Sunshine Studio Scraps. I actually hosted this challenge and knew what song I was going to choose, specifically for this page. It's a song called "Butterfly Fly Away" by Miley Cyrus. I used just a small part of the song, which reminded me of where Steph is at in her life right now and how proud we are of her. Here is "Butterfly Fly Away":

Click here for credits.

The next one is also for Steph ;). I am just so incredibly proud of her! I wish I had been more like her when I was her age. She sets her goals and doesn't let anything get in her way of achieving them. Again, another one of her Senior pictures. Aren't they awesome? Here is "Believe In Your Dreams":

Click here for credits.

I finally got around to scrapping last winters crazy snow pictures, lol. I still can't believe we got so much snow! It was the most snow I have ever seen here in Forest Grove, and I've been here my whole life! But it was also very early in the season. We don't usually see the most of our snow until January or February, and we got it in the middle of December! I'm curious what we're in for this year. Here is "One Crazy Winter":

Click here for credits.

Then I jumped back into Fall again. :) On Sunday, Charles and I went for a drive out on the backroads around town. We are blessed to live surrounded by farm land and nurseries, so the fall colors were everywhere, and it was just beautiful! I had my camera, so I went a little snap happy! Here is "Colors Of Autumn":

Click here for credits.

I finally did a page of Zachary when he was just a tiny little guy. He was only 2 months old in this picture. I love how this one turned out. Oh! And it's already been chosen as a Gallery Standout in the SUN. This is "Beautiful Baby Boy":

Click here for credits.

OMGoodness! I love this next one! One day last week while babysitting Toni I had my camera out trying to take some everyday pictures of her, but as soon as she saw the camera she was mesmerized. lol. She stopped playing and just wanted to climb up in my lap to "help". I kept hiding from her behind the camera and I got this adorable shot of her playing "Peek-a-Boo":

Click here for credits.

I made another Oct. Desktop, because I found a desktop challenge that is giving away an adorable posting bonus that I want. lol. So here is my new desktop:

Click here for credits.

Stephanie and my Mom's birthdays are only 3 days apart, so we usually celebrate them together. This photo is from their party in 2005. Mom turned 54 and Steph, 14. Here is "Celebrate This Moment":

Click here for credits.

Ok, we're down to the last one, but it is a 2 pager. LOL! These pictures are from 2004. This was the first year Charles and the boys went to a Royal Rangers Pow Wow. Royal Rangers was the Wednesday night boys club at our church. And they had Pow Wows, or campouts, twice a year, once in the summer and again in the winter, where they would learn survival skills tied into bible lessons. They loved going to camp! Here is "Royal Rangers Pow Wow '04":

Click here for credits.

Yay! That's it! I hope you weren't too bored! :P I did warn you, tho. Hehe. I'm really glad I've got some of my older photos scrapped, too. It's crazy to see how much my kids have grown in the last few years. Like I always say, They grow up too fast!

Anyway, it's bedtime now. I have church in the morning. But I'll be back very soon with something more to share. I'll try not to go so long between posts so that I don't have so many to show all at once. But until then... C'ya!

Some more pretties :)

Hey! I finally got my October desktop done! LMBO! I know... it's already the middle of the month, but at least I can look at it for another 2 and a half weeks. :) And it's really cute! I used a kit called "Wicked" by Flutterbye Faery. It's the October daily download over at Brownie Scraps. It's a super cute kit FULL of glitter. I LOVE glitter! ;) And the template is a freebie from the Desktop Challenge over at Digi Scrap Obsession. Take a look:

I also did a page for Sephanie. :) I've had this pic of her since last fall when we went to the Tillamook Forestry Center. We also did a little hiking around out by the creek, and I caught this photo of her standing on the bridge. I absolutely love the way the sun shines on her beautiful hair. Very pretty. :) The kit is 'Fall's Whisper' by Sun's Wonder Girls. The template is by Scorpiosue in Sun's 'BahamaMama' Collab. And the font is 'Turtle Club'.

I have one more pretty to show you. It's another new kit in the SUN shop. It's called 'Me, Myself' and it's by Janice's Scrap. It's a very pretty kit full of pinks and purples. It has 20 papers and over 40 elements! The butterfly is so pretty! Take a look for yourself:

Have you checked out kevinandamanda.com yet? You may also know them as "Fonts For Peas". They have the coolest free fonts and doodles. I love all their scrapbooking fonts. Their page is so easy to navigate and a fun place to be. I just started helping her out by making up some font charts for her. It's an easy task, just monotonous and time consuming. But in return, I get to add my blog button to the bottom of each chart! Get my page a little extra attention and maybe I'll get picked for another CT.

Speaking of which... Creations By Rachael is having a CT call right now, and I applied! I LOVE her designs! Today I got an email response from her saying this: "I'm just taking a quick peek at the galleries right now, but I actually stopped for several minutes to check yours out :) You have some great ones in there. Thanks so much for applying and I will be back in touch when the call is over. ~ Rachael" I am SO excited to get that email! Keep you fingers crossed for me, please! It's starting off as a guest CT position, but it might turn into permanent if a spot opens up. That's the same way I got on at SunshineStudioScraps. :)

I also shot an email off to Joanne Bain Designs to let her know I love her stuff as well. I inquired about her CT and she sent me this: "Thank you for your interest in my designs. Your galleries are truly beautiful. Unfortunately I currently have no positions available on my team, but I have filed your email for future reference." I'll be patient. ;)

ok, I better get off here and get some scrappin' done before I go to bed for the night. I'll be back... C'ya!

"Autumn Breeze"

I just had to share a fun, new kit in the SUN. It's called "Autumn Breeze" and it's by Shanmomto4. This kit is perfect for all those beautiful fall layouts. It's packed full with a variety of elements including both felt and realistic elements to create many different looks. You'll be able to use this kit over and over again. The image is linked, so click on it to go to the shop. Check it out, isn't it pretty?

Catch up time...

Sorry I've not been keeping up this week. I've been doing a LOT of Scrap Therapy. BUT! My honey is finally on his way home! YAY! I have missed him terribly this whole week! But I am happy now, because I will see him very soon. Of course, Tyler to. It's been strangely quiet around here with him gone, lol. I'm very much looking forward to them both being back.

So, let's get ya caught up on what I've been doing...

First, I found my most favorite kit yet! It's called "Country Princess" by mimi's digiscraps. It's full of pinks and browns, which is FAV color combo, AND it's country. I've always wanted a horse! The alpha is from "Neapolitan Taffy" by Dani's Delusions. And the template is from Trixie Scraps out of the "Essence Collab". All found in the SUN! The photo is of my niece, Akaila, on my brother-in-laws horse and another niece, Kayla, leading it. Here is "Horsin' Around":

I love this next one! I have an old picture of my Mom when she was about 3 years old. It's the cutest photo! I scanned it a long time ago, but have never anything with it, until now. I'd like to think I was jst waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it, and this was definitely it! I did this page for a Speed Scrap over at Elemental Scraps. The kit is "Back To Basics" Collab from Elemental Scraps. The alpha is from the Nov. Mega DDD by CAZ. And the template is by Laurie's Scraps from Ahhh Scrap Blog Train. Here is "Precious Girl":

I did my next page in a Speed Scrap at DesignsInDigital. The template was provided for the challenge by Tiger Lily's Digis. The kit is 'Boys Rule' by Scrap Berry Designs at Scrapable. I liked that I was able to use several of my photos of Cody in this one, but I plan to do pages highlighting each of them better. Here is "One Awesome Kid!":

My next page was done for a Scraplift Challenge at the SUN. You can find the page by Theresa that we were lifting here. But I also drew inspirations from this page by Caro here. I absolutely LOVE this photo of Charles and Zach, so I am thrilled that I was able to showcase it this way. The kit is 'Beachy Treasures' by Joanne Bain Designs found at PickleBerryPop. It is a gorgeous kit! Here is "Seaside Moments":

Here is a second page I just did for this one in a Speed Scrap in the SUN, using the same kit as above.

Here's one I did for an "All About Me" Challenge over at ElementalScraps. We had to scrap something that we can't go a day with out, LOL. Me? I can't go a day without my computer!

The kit is 'Cherish Friends' by Ramona the Pest Designs. The template was a freebie by ChrissyW. (I LOVE her templates!) Here is "My Daily Obsession":

And this last one is one I've been wanting to do for quite a while. I found a condensed version of President Obama's Speech To America's Schoolchildren on someone's blog (I can't remember where) and was actually really impressed by his words. I'm not a huge fan of his, so I wasn't to excited at the idea of him speaking directly to all of our kids, but like I said, I was impressed. Since finding this condensed version I have now read the entire speech and was even more impressed. He did a good job! (or at least his speech writers did, lol) Anyway, Searching through my digi stash I found this kit that I did not even know I had (which isn't really surprising :P) called "Inauguration" by DigitalFingers at eidou (which has since shut down, sorry). I got the white bow from 'Boom Boom Pow" by Penny's Creative Team at SweetShoppeDesigns. Here is "Obama's Speech To Students '09":

Whew! That is it! I told you I have been scrappin' like crazy this week. I really needed someething to pass the time waiting for my hubby to return. But in the time since I started this post, he has returned! YAY!!! So, I'm off now, to spend a little quality time with him. ;) I will be back when I have something new to share with you! Until then... C'ya!

Ahhh, A fresh new face

Well, as you can see, I finally got my new background done. I have tried working with several different kits, but always hit a wall for whatever reason. Then I found this kit from LittleDreamerDesigns. It's called "Autumn Sky" by Lisa Sisneros, and I LOVE it! It's fall, but not overloaded with bright pumpkin orange. I hate orange. This kit feels like our fall here in the Pacific Northwest lately. Yes, the leaves are changing, but we still see the blue overcast sky. It's getting chilly, so don't forget your sweater. ;)

Anyway, that isn't the only thing I've been busy doing. Not by a long shot!

First of all, my hubby went away this year for the first time hunting with the guys from church. I was really excited about him getting to go, maybe even more excited than he was. But, what I didn't expect was how much I was going to miss him! By the night of the first day he had left I was a mess! I had to sit down and scrap him a page letting him know how much he means to me. So this first page is called "My Everything":

I made this using "Simply Fresh" by Karen Wallace at DigitalScrapGarden. Making this helped, but I didn't really feel any better until he called me later that same night! That was unexpected because there was no cell service where they went. But I was sure glad to hear from him.

My next one was from my very first Speed Scrap Challenge! Ellandriel hosted the challenge at SunshineStudioScraps, gave us all our directions and here's what I came up with, "My New 'Do":

The kit I used is called "Neopolitan Taffy" by Dani's Delusions at SUN. I used the same picture I showed you a few weeks ago went I had it done. I had to scrap it, nobody believed I would do it, and I like it, so it's something I want to remember.

Next is my first CT page requirement for this month and my page for the Template Challenge for Oct. 1. I used a beautiful kit called "Seriously" by Craft-tastrophic. The template was made by Jeneva4u, all at the SUN. The photos were taken back in July at my nephew, Noah's, birthday party. Here is "Canada Goose":

And my last one was made for another challenge at SUN. This one is the Monthly Layout Contest. Each week you get a 1/4 of that months kit, and then you have to make a LO with only the pieces you get as you go along. The kit is called "Fall's Whisper" by The Wonder Girls. And the template is from Pam Marotz. The photo I used is from last Halloween. It is my beautiful niece, Akaila. Here is "Fall Fairy":
I hope you enjoyed my scrappin' mania as much as I did, lmbo. BTW, at the beginning of the year I put a little ticker on the right side of myblog, keeping track of how many pages I get done in 2009. My goal was to get 100 done. Check it out, I'm at 83! And I still have 3 months left! I may exceed my goal! That would be awesome! I've got lots of challenges I want to get done this month, so I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back again to share some more. Until then...C'ya!

On a roll...

Last night I actually sat here and got 2 layouts done, back to back! And I am so happy with both of them. I think they turned out really well. One thing that really helped me was to have found 2 awesome templates! I love surfing all my digiscrappin' friends blogs and finding all the treasures they create for us.

My first layout has been in the plans for a while now. I got an adorable kit from Kristin Aagard called "Grade School" over at ShabbyPickleDesigns.com that I knew I was going to use to scrap Zach's first day back to school. But the page just wasn't falling into place very easily. Then last night I went to a site I haven't been to in a while, called PepppermintCreative.com. I forgot how much I loved their "Pimp My Page Challenge". They have some AMAZING templates, for FREE! So I downloaded that and put it together with my kit and, voila', Zach's 1st Day '09:

Man, he's growing up so fast! Literally! We just bought their school clothes the week before school started and his pants are already high-waters on him! How can we keep up with that!? lol

My second page was another one that's always been in the back of my mind. The pictures anyway. One day luring the summer when I was babysitting my sisters girls we spent the afternoon playing out on the porch with the sidewalk chalk. That was something new to Toni. I think she got as much chalk on herself as she did on the ground!

Well, I found a new site to play on last night. The owner is a designer selling her stuff in the SUN. So I decided to mozy on over and check out her site. Well, she actually has a forum where she hosts her own challenges and such. FUN! I found a great template there as well! If you go to her site at http://www.shanmomto4designs.com/ and sign up for her newsletter you'll even get one of her kits for free! You can not beat free! I LOVE it! Anyway, here's my page "Playing with the Chalk":

I actually used a combination of 2 kits, both by Michelle Coleman. They are "Wild Sorbet" and "Bohemian Summer". I got them from LittleDreamerDesigns.com, but they are no longer there. :( But she has a LOT of beautiful kits in her shop. Go take a look!

I actually got some cute pics of Kaila on the same day I took these 2 that maybe I'll scrap as a 2nd page to this one. I'll just have to find that elusive perfect template! LMBO!

I hope you liked my pages. With the start of a new month (Where on earth did September go???) I'll be busy, busy, busy over in the SUN. This month I have added to my duties. I'll be hosting a Template Challenge, a Scraplift Challenge, and a Lyric Challenge, as well as posting to their blog several times. I'm so excited!

Oh! I also replied to a CT call for PolkaDotPlum.com. And inquired about a position at GETDesigns.com. I will definitely be keeping you posted on those! But for now, I must go to bed. I get my little cutie Toni again tomorrow morning. Then it's the weekend! Yeah Baby! So, until I have something new... C'ya!