Layout Catch-up!

Hello, and Happy Tuesday to you all! I hope you are enjoying you summer vacation so far. We've had several days of sun and warm weather and I have been loving it! Tried to get out as much as possible. Even today, it was 70* even though you couldn't see the sun through the clouds. By this evening it was sprinkling, but it was still very warm and left the air smelling fresh and clean.

Ok, well, it's been a while since I've shared any of my layouts with you, so let me just get caught up. Be forewarned, this may be a long post, lol. I hope you enjoy!

Last time I shared, I left you with a beautiful kit by Sherwood Studio called "Catharsis". I LOVED working with that kit! It is so unique. I just knew what I was going to do with it and it all just seemed to fall into place. (I love when that happens!) Here is my page, "Art Therapy":

Credits:

Kit - 'Catharsis' by Sherwood Studio.

Template by Mye DeLeon (GP May Cluster Your Heart Out Challenge).

Font - Special Elite.

Now, orange is definitely not one of my favorite colors, but I really love how this next page turned out. I had this super cute pic of my kitty, "Sophie", that I wanted to scrap and when I came upon the May Indulgence Challenge over at Brownie Scraps I knew it would be perfect for my photo. (The challenge is to use every piece of the mini kit that they provide. Go check it out sometime! It's a fun one.) I tried a new-to-me technique on this page: cutting out a shape. I cut the section out of the white paper so that you can read the word "moments" from the page behind it. I see this technique so much around digiworld and I love the look! I'll definitely be trying this one again. And here is my page, "Sophie":

Credits:

Kit - 'Moments of Sunshine' by Jacabean Designs (Brownie Scraps May Indulgence Challenge).

Template by Crisdam Designs (Gotta Pixel Temp Challenge 11-2010).

Font - DJB_SWEETROBIN.

I absolutely LOVE the photos in my next page! This is my niece, Natalie. She is so adorable!! I just love her to pieces! And boy does she know how to have fun! Just try not to smile when you look at her ;)

These photos were taken a couple weeks ago when we had a party for my oldest niece, Tisha, who graduated from High School! (SUPER proud of her!!) Here is "Backyard Swingin'":

You smiled, didn't you? ;)

Credits:

Kit - 'Think Spring' SHCO Collab.

Template - 'Building Blocks Singles No. 5' by Tracie Stroud.

Alpha - 'Kinda Sketchy {Black}' by Ellie Lash.

Font - Boring Showers and Problem Secretary.

Summer is upon us, in full swing, and there are so many things we would like to do. I doubt we'll be able to do as much as we'd like to, but the kids and I had fun writing up a list of some ideas. A coupe days later I came across a challenge over at Ginger Scraps asking you to scrap a Summer Bucket List! What perfect timing! So here is what I came up with, "Summer Bucket List 2011":

Kit - 'Summer Day' collab by Ellie Lash and Sunny Day Scraps.

Template by Ramona the pest for the SO June Member Spotlight Challenge.

Fonts - Boris Black Boxx and CK Buddies.

Last weekend Hubby and I refurbished my old desk and made it into the desk I've been wanting for so long. I never seem to have enough room on my desk to be able to use my computer and also be crafty. I knew what I wanted, but I've never been able to find it and never had the money to buy it anyway, lol. Well, I guess I'll let my layout tell the rest of the story. Here is "Desk Remodel":

I entered this page in several different challenges: The June Font Challenge at Brownie Scraps, using Pea Nicki; Scrap Orchard's "What the Font" challenge, using Sea Dreams; and the June Sugar Swap Challenge over at Ginger Scraps. This is the page, by Emma (Hobbes130), that I lifted:

Credits for my page:

Kit - MScraps iNSD 2011 Blog Train Freebie:

Deca Designs - flower, butterfly, ribbon, lace, lined paper, light green paper; Erica Zwart - green patterned paper; Designs by Heather T - frame; ListGirl Designs - flowered paper; Ruth Melody Designs - glitter; Tracy Ann Little - pink paper, string; Yoshiko Designs - heart brad; Designs by Sweet Mesquite - green stitches; Pink Reptile Designs - pink ricrac; MandyMade - brown stitching.

Alpha - 'Sisters' by Ramona the Pest.

Fonts - Pea Nicki & Sea Dreams.

This last one had funny timing also. As usual, Zach had me cracking up over something he had said, but this time I had actually taken the time to write it down. (I always wish I had done that more often as the kids have grown up so fast.) The next day I found the June 6th "Everyday Magic Challenge" over at Scrap Matters. The challenge was to scrap a conversation! Perfect!! Here is "No Beat":

He is my dancin' fool! And my comic relief <3

Credits:

Kit - 'Work It Out' by Ellie Lash.

Musical elements - 'Birds of a Feather' by Ellie Lash.

Template by Blue Scraps for Brownie Scraps June Semi-Homemade Challenge.

Font - Pea Noodle's Girlfriends.

Now, before I go I thought I'd share a quick update on my life with Grandma. We have along over-due appointment tomorrow with a Neurologist. I'm praying he will finally have some answers for us. Her Primary Physician hasn't been much help at all. He has no patience with Grandma. He asks her questions and then talks over her and doesn't listen to what she has to say. I get so frustrated! He has had several tests ran, but never has any answers for us. He has mentioned once that we may be seeing the beginning affects of Parkinson's, but he's not sure. We had a CT Scan ran on the 16th. They found no tumors or signs of a stroke, but there is a lot of atrophy. Her muscles are showing signs of atrophy as well. She is not able to stand straight up anymore, it's almost like she walks in a sitting position, knees and hips bent. She barely has the strength to walk to the bathroom or to her room. I can't walk her anymore as she pulls so hard on me, and our weights are to close to the same that I'm not able to hold her up. Charles walks her so she gets some excercise, but I have her sit in her walker and I push her around the house ;) You gotta do what you can, right? Get creative! Anyway, I'll elt you know how the appointment oges tomorrow. Please say a prayer for her! Things are getting quite over-whelming for all of us here.

One day at a time.....

Busy, Busy...

Well, did you get your kids back in school today? Mine all went, but not very happily. Cody asked me about 5 times if he could stay home. He was tired, he said. Lol! Oh! Ok. That's not going to happen! But he went and so did the other 2. And I can tell you, they were all ready for bed tonight without having to fight them. I LOVED that! Hehe ;)

Well, I have been a busy scrapper the last couple nights. I've been using my chart and getting things done just the way I wanted to! Imagine how much more I could've accomplished last year had I been just a tiny bit more organized, lol.

Oh! And I want you to know that I have taken my Photo-of-the-Day everyday so far! I'm trying to figure out if the first "week" of January ended Saturday, because that's when the week ends? Or if I should scrap the full 7 day week. Hmm... giving that one more thought.

Anyway, on to my first page for tonight.

I finally finished that layout of my boys last Christmas! Yay! And I love how it turned out. I used Brandy Designs "Santa's Shoppe" kit and a template by Chrissy W. from her "Gotcha Cornered", template 4. Here is "YES!":

Those photo's are priceless! I love the expressions on my boys' faces. They were SO excited!

And for my last page for tonight, I used "Winter's Garden' by Alexis-Designs. The template is by eranslow for the Dec. 27th Template Challenge @ Scrap Orchard. This kit is SO pretty! It's full of so many beautiful elements and Word Art. I loved working with it! The photo is of my niece, Jenna, on Christmas. Here is "Beautiful Memories":

Isn't she just beautiful in her Christmas dress? I squatted down to get to her level to take her picture and she plopped down on the floor! I couldn't get her to stand up for nothing, so I just started snapping. She's so funny.

I actually finished another one, but I just realized the kit isn't even out in the store yet, so you'll have to wait until then to see my pretty page! ;) Be watching!

I am so excited! I am trying something new this year. You've heard of the Amazing Race on TV? Well, we have our own version of it here in the digi world, the Amazing Digital Scrapbooking Race, and I really wanted to try it this year. It requires a partner, so I asked my best digi-friend, Caro, if she was interested and she said "Yes!" WooHoo! It doesn't start until February, so as it draws closer I'll fill you in on more details. I'm just so excited!

Also, I'm participating in the DigiScrapAddicts Scrap Off 2010! Caro actually suggested I try this one. This is the first week of it and I haven't made my page for it yet. I think that had probably better be the next one I get done. This week they provided 4 free mini-kits for us to use, and that's ALL we can use. Well, of course our photos, but nothing else. The kits are beautiful and they all coordinate! Brilliant idea! I love it! I just have to find the perfect photos now...

Well, that's it for tonight. I hope the day greets you with a little bit of sunshine on your face. God bless you and good night.

Goodbye 2009...

Hello 2010!

Where has the time gone? I cannot believe we have entered 2010! I remember as a little girl that seemed SO far away, like we would never see it in our lifetime, and now here it is! Two Thousand Ten! Hmmm.

Ok, let's see. Where have I left off and what do I need to fill you in on? Well, you might be in for a long winded post. Just warning you in advance, lol.

On the SUNny side of things... we've had a bumpy month over at Sunshine Studio Scraps. Things have been getting pretty slow around there and at one point they had decided it was time to close up shop. BUT! Dut-du-duh! Nicole (aka Sugarplum Paperie) and Michelle Batton, 2 of the oringinal Sunshine Girls are coming back to shake things up a bit! There are a few changes happening and I am SO excited to see the life come back into one of my favorite sites. In fact, the very first place I was accepted to CT for! We've got new challenges, a new points system, new designers! You have to come check it out for yourself!

Speaking of change... there are a lot of things happening with GET Designs as well! She has opened up a new store over at Scrappity-Doo-Dah, so go check it out! She's got a sale going on right now through the 10th, so hurry over to take advantage of that!
I can't wait to show you the page I am working on using her "Backyard Explorer" kit. I have a great photo that I have just been waiting for the perfect kit for, and I think this is it! I'm so excited to work with this kit! Just look for yourself at the great colors and adorable elements!

And something new that I haven't had the chance to announce until now! I have been accepted to be on the blog team for Brandy Designs! I get to work with all her amazing kits, just like her Creative Team does, but I have no required pages, I just have to help her and her other Blog Team members with the blog! How great is that!? I am SO thrilled, because I LOVE her designs and she is such a sweetheart! I'm loving being on her team already! I've already used her kit "Santa's Shoppe" for my blog background and I'm still trying to get around to that page of my boys opening their favorite gift from last Christmas, that I was telling you about last time. Now I've also got one of her new kits that's not even out yet, so keep your eyes open for that one! It's SO pretty! ;)

Okay... now I would LOVE to show you some of the pages I've gotten done lately. :)
I'll start with "Let It Snow". I used "Snowman Soup" by Tracey Howard Designs and "Christmas Joy" by The Ettes & Co.'s Annette Ward, both from Scrap Orchard. I did this page for a scraplift challenge over at Elemental Scraps. This is the page I lifted, and here is my page:
The photo was from last winter, one of the rare, treasured moments when Zach and Akaila got along so well!

Next is "Queen Of The Castle". I did this one for the Inspired By... Challenge, also over at Elemental Scraps. ChrissyW made the mini kit, 'Fly Away', just for the challenge and we had to use it for our layouts. Here is my page:

I love how this turned out, because the actual photos I took here didn't turn out so great. Zach was sitting on the bottom bunk of his VERY messy bed. I have a bad habit of not taking the whole view into consideration before clicking the button. But I got the idea to extract what I wanted out of the photo and I LOVE way it turned out! Zach does too, and that's good enough for me! ;)

Aww, here's one that Zach isn't so fond of... But I LOVE it! It's hard to believe that he was once so chubby, he's such a skinny little thing now. ;) Here he is in "Adorable Zachary" when he was about 8 months old. Check out those cheeks! Gotta love 'em! Hehe

I did this one for the Twisted Lift Challenge over at Polka Dot Plum. Here is the page I lifted. I used "Little Boy Blue" by Creations By Rachael. The alpha is from "Take Me Away", a blog freebie by Jennifer Fox Designs.

I did another Photo Swap challenge. This time it was at Inspiration Lane. I was paired with jrmminga09 to swap photos. Here is the page I made with her photo, "Fun In The Sun":

I used "Bahama Mama" Collab by the Sunshine Studio Designers. Contributing Designers used are: AmandaKay, TLC, Scrapidea-Timkoave, Scorpiosue, SBP, Michelle Batton, Juno and dliemert. And the template and a couple other things are from "Island Splash" Collab by the Sunshine Studio Scraps Wonder Girls. Template by WG Teri, and a paper by Lcarl.

The photo I sent her is another cheeky one of Zach. This is the page she made for me:

Cute, huh? I SO miss those cheeks! LOL!

Ok, I finished the month of December at SUN with a gorgeous kit by Ldrag Designs called "Bedazzled". Again, I had a great photo that I've just been waiting to use. This is my niece, Jenna, looking very pretty and oh so grown up! She had just had her bath before bed and her hair was down, which I hadn't seen before. She usually has it pulled back off her face. She just looked so beautiful to me. Love ya, Jenna!

I also used an alpha from another Ldrag Designs' kit, "La Innamorata!'. The mask is from 'Grungy Blending Masks' by Scorpiosue. All products found at Sunshine Studio Scraps.

Alright, last one. But, this one is one of my FAVES! Remember those new designers I told you about at SUN? Well, I got to play with them already! When I saw "La Tua Cantante" by litabells designs I knew immediately I was going to love working with it. The colors are just SO rich and warm. It is gorgeous! I also used a template pack by litabells designs called 'Block It Up'. Here is my page, "Growing Up So Fast":

I LOVE moments like this when Cody and Zach are getting along so well. But it's bitter-sweet to watch how fast they're growing up. But they are good boys, and I am so very proud of both of them. :) Yep... another year gone... Time continues to fly by.

My parting words are a prayer of blessing over the new year. I pray that you will all be blessed with good health, much love and everything you need to make this a prosperous year. God bless and love you all! Happy New Year!

Some of my kreations...

I haven't been scrappin' pages a whole lot lately, I've been so busy making all my Christmas cards! YES, That's right! I made all my cards this year! Every year I say I'm going to and I procrastinate until it's too late and end up having to send store bought ones. But not this year! I had them made up ahead of time, so it was easy to sit and print and get them all out in plenty of time for Christmas! Yay!
BUT I do have a few pages I'd like to share with you. I hope you like them...

First is "Believe". I made this one for a Word Art Challenge over at Sunshine Studio Scraps that I hosted. I made the Word Art myself, as well. This is my niece, Natalie, last Christmas.

The kits I used are "Snowman Soup" by Tracey Howard Designs, "Christmas Joy" by The Ettes and "Jolly Jingle Days" by Jady Day Studio, all at Scrap Orchard. WordArt by me, kjkreations. You can pick it up here if your interested. The template is by ~Lisa~ at Sunshine Studio Scraps for a Template Challenge.

Next is "Color Of Winter". I took this photo last year when we got more snow than I can remember ever getting here. It was SO beautiful! Everything was covered in white and took on a pale purple shade in all my photos. I thought it was just gorgeous and it went so perfectly with the kit "Cool Winter" by Janice's Scrap and LDrag Designs at Sunshine Studio Scraps.

This next one I made for my sister to give to her Secret Santa friend at work. I sure hope she liked it, I know I did! ;)Hehe
I used "Into The Night" by Stolen Moments. I love those colors together. The calendar stamps were a freebie from from Mushy. The ribbons were recolored from "Anxiously Awaiting" also by Stolen Moments.

And my last one... "No Mud!" I took these photo's on Toni's 1st birthday. Her Mommy told her NOT to play in the mud... LMBO! I think I actually heard Toni say, "Whatever, Mommy!" They get attitude so early these days, don't they? ;)Hehe For this page I used Whimpy Chompers Creations kit "Forever Sisters". I SO LOVE this kit! The colors, the elements, the papers, SO perfect.
This was actually done for a "Lift A Sugar Plum" Challenge over at Polka Dot Plum (long name for Scraplift Challenge, hehe). We had to create our own version of this adorable page by Amanda (aka Mandarin Oranges). Her image is linked as well, so go leave her some well deserved love. :)

Well, that's it for show and tell tonight. I'm in the middle of working on a page using Brandy's "Santa's Shoppe". That's the same kit I used to make my blog background, but I used so little of it here that I wanted to make a full page from it. It's of my 2 youngest boys opening their favorite gift from last year. Priceless photos! Wait and see... Until then... C'ya!

Winter is on it's way!

I don't know about where you live, but it has gotten very cold here in the last few days. They are already talking about maybe getting some snow this weekend! That is very early for for us. But I'm ready for it. LOL, as long as I don't have to go out in it for anything other than photo ops! :) It's absolutely beautiful, but I am not made to handle the cold very well at all. 'Not enough insulation', I'm told ;) hehe.

Ok, last time I promised a couple new pages and I've got them for you. I really like this first one. I thought it turned out realy well, and it also displays two of my crafts in one! See, the circle elements in the page are the front and back of a thanksgiving decoration I made for some of my friends. I used an old CD that was scratched up and didn't work anymore. Remember, I showed you another one of those here. Here is "Thankful For You":

I used a template from Leenie Lou Desings @ Brownie Scraps. The kit is "Let's Get Together" by Erica Zane and Denise Beatty Originals @ Scrap Matters. I LOVE the colors in this kit!

Now, this second one I did as a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) Challenge over at Scrap Orchard. See, you post one of you photos you would like to see someone else scrap for you and you take someone else's photo and scrap it for them. This is the first time I have ever done something like this, but as soon as I saw the photo that was posted I had to grab it. I love the coloring and lighting of the photo, and I knew I had to perfect kit for it. Here is "Let It Snow":

The kit is 'Christmas Joy' by The Ettes & Company; Designed By Annette Ward at Scrap Orchard. The template I used is by Ziggle Designs. I was so relieved when the girl I made it for said she loved it! I knew I liked it, but I really wanted her to like it as well. lol.

Well, now that Fall is passing us by I guess it's about time I started working on a new blog background, isn't it? I'm of course thinking either Christmas or Wintery. I haven't decided which one yet. I have so many awesome kits of both styles. Guess you'll have to wait and see what I come up with ;) Until then... C'ya!