Morning Cozy

This is a photo my oldest daughter took of my middle two children playing my son's Leapster in bed together. I thought it looked SO warm and cozy of the two of them.

Journaling reads:
I know I should really be unhappy with you both for dawdling in bed in the morning when you know you have chores to do. But,when I look at a photo like this that captures such a precious moment between the two of you cuddled up in bed together playing, my heart just melts and I am SO happy for this bond you have as brother and sister. March 3, 2006

I used Doris Castle's Mirabella kit for this. I thought the warm, soft colors suited this photo well. I used a lot of blending modes and brush work to get this effect. The alpha is Doris' Mad Stamper Alpha. Their names were done in my handwriting with a Wacom pen and tablet.

Elizabeth @12

Yes, I have been in scrappin' mode. I got the bug to complete another page this morning.

This is just a candid shot of my daughter taken on her 12th birthday. It is a photo of herself that she actaully likes. It is good because for once she is not trying to hide from the camera!

Everything here is from Doris Castle's On the Day You were Born kit. I love the little birthstone charms in it. My daughter loved the colors as they are the exact colors she chose to decorate her room with.

Pie!

You Are Mud Pie

You're the perfect combo of flavor and depth Those who like you give into their impulses

What Kind of Pie Are You?

This has been a week of pie. Last Saturday, our church's women's group presented a Spring breakfast called Pie and Piety. I volunteered to contribute pies for the affair, but then realized. I rarely ever make pies; therefore, I don't have a decent pie recipe, especially one that MANY others are going to eat AND bid one. Yes, I had to bring one to serve and one for the silent auction. The pressure! So, off to www.allrecipes.com I went and was fortunate enough to discover a wonderful recipe with over 500 five star ratings. So I practiced my pie. We had friends over and I made lots of pie. The recipe was great! Believe it or not, my pie brought in the highest $ amount at auction ($20) and was the all talk among the women at church. How funny!

So, when I came across this little poll to determine what kind of pie I am, I had to take it. How accurate could it be? I am a MUD PIE! How cool is that! What kind of pie are you?

Even more scraps

Here are a couple of pages I did several weeks ago, but had held off posting them because the kits I had used had not yet been released for sale. They are using Doris Castle's Beautiful Moments set available (now!) at www.scrapbook-elements.com This top one was done using the page set. I absolutely LOVE these handpainted looking flowers! It is just a picture of my youngest in her Pjs at bedtime.


















This second one is a coordinating quickpage available separately from the kit above. All I had to do is plop in this adorable photo of my youngest fresh out of the tub wearing her hooded towel. Then I just added the title.

It feels SO good to get some of these pages done!

More Scraps

I am trying to catch up scrapping some pictures I have had around for a while. That top one is from last summer at a friend's lake cottage. I was worried that my 3 year old son would be afraid of the jet ski, especially since he was going with someone else. But look at that smile - he had a blast!

This was done with Doris Castle's (Scrapbook-Elements) Fun and Fresh quickpage. It was designed for a 12" x 12" page, but I cropped it so it work work in my 8.5" x 11" book.

The second layout is of my daughter this past winter. Even though she is crying, I think the photo adorable.
The journaling on this reads:
"Why the tears my sweet Abi? Because you were forced to come back inside out of the bitter cold. You would rather be out in the snow playing even though your cheeks are pink and your hands and feet feel like ice cubes. You are our little snow baby!"

I did this page using Doris Castle's Powder Pink page set. I thought the colors were a perfect match to the photo. The only extra embellishment is the "a" which is from Doris' Paper Flowers set.

Scrappin' Fool

My oldest daughter, Elizabeth, has discovered a whole new method of tattle-taling. I must say I admire her creativity!

The journaling really tells the story:
FRIDAY, January 10, 2006
I was minding my own business when Elizabeth suddenly appeared with camera in hand determined to show me this evidence. A Christmas ornament had been discovered broken by she and her sister, Anna. She had documented the crime scene well and was looking for me to hand out some justice. I do believe that the advent of the digital camera had taken the concept of tattle-taling to a WHOLE new level!!!

I used Katie Mann's Under the Scope CSI inspired kit (from Scrap Outside the Box) which is really fun! I thought it as perfect to tell this story.

I think I have lost my scrappin' mojo and I don't know where to find it. (sigh) The creative juice just are not flowing. It probably has to do with the fact that I have been WAY tired and nauseous. I even get tired just sitting at the computer! All my body wants to do lately is lay in bed and it just doesn't get to do it near enough. This week seems a little better and I am hoping that I am turning a corner as that magical second trimester approaches. I have so many things I want to get done. Now, I just need the energy to do them!

This scrapbook kit preview is a good example. I have had this kit done for weeks, but have been struggling with the previews. I am still not happy with it. I never realized how hard a simple little kit preview could be! This should be available at Scrap Outside the Box next week. Both the papers and the stitches will be available separately, too. These are the stitches that I used to create my blog header here. The kit itself is based around the verse,

"See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me."
Song of Solomon 2:11-13

I don't know about you all, but I am ready for winter to be past and it to be SPRING. I love this verse and wanted to do a springy kit like this. Now, I just pray I have the energy to finalize it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I told my son,Patrick, that it was St. Patrick's Day today and , of course, what HE heard was, "It's Patrick's day!" It took a bit of explaining that it was not actually his day, but a day in honor of Saint Patrick who lived a long time ago in Ireland. Besides, I hate to break it to the kid, but he's NO saint!

So, in honor of the day, here is my son, Patrick, in his lucky shirt. Do you know why the 3 leaf shamrock is such an important symbol associated with this day? It is because the Patrick that this day is named after used the 3 leaf shamrock to explain God to the people of Ireland. God is a Triune God which means he is three in one. There is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are all distinct, but yet all ONE God just as the leaves of the shamrock are all distinct, but yet all part of the one shamrock. Cool, huh!

For those ofyou interested in the Alaskan Iditarod race, here is a webcam of the finish line. The mushers are beginning to enter into the last leg of the race. The leaders are currently traveling between Galena and Nulato which is a distance of 52 miles. Once they reach Nulato, they will be a mere 393 miles to the finish line in Nome. Not bad when you consider that they have already covered 719 miles since leaving Anchorage just one week ago today!

Upward Video

Well, I posted a whole explanation of the Upward video that I posted yesterday, but Blogger was having some serious issues and it got lost somewhere in cyberspace apparently.

So, the video below was a created by my hubby and I for our church's Upward basketball and cheerleading awards night. It is a compilation of photos and videos from this past season. I did the graphics and tweaked the photos and hubby did most of the video editing. Since this was a new experience for us and we were learning as we went, we were pretty pleased with the results. Hopefully, it expresses the fun attitude that the kids had towards the program.

Upward Basketball & Cheerleading

Lessons for Men

I discovered thison Sara Carling's blog and loved it, so I had to copy and post it here. With the way I have been feeling lately, my dear husband should really take note of this:

DANGEROUS: What's for dinner?
SAFER: Can I help you with dinner?
SAFEST: Where would you like to go for dinner?
ULTRASAFE: Here, have some chocolate.

DANGEROUS: Are you wearing that?
SAFER: Gee, you look good in brown.
SAFEST: WOW! Look at you!
ULTRASAFE: Here, have some chocolate.

DANGEROUS: What are you so worked up about?
SAFER: What did I do wrong?
SAFEST: Here's fifty dollars.
ULTRASAFE: Here, have some chocolate.

DANGEROUS: Should you be eating that?
SAFER: You know, there are a lot of apples left.
SAFEST: Can I get you a glass of wine with that?
ULTRA SAFE: Here, have some chocolate.

DANGEROUS: What did you do all day?
SAFER: I hope you didn't overdo it today.
SAFEST: I've always loved you in that robe!
ULTRASAFE: Here, have some more chocolate.

Iditarod 2006!

The Alaskan Iditarod began on Saturday. In case you don't know what this is, it is a sled dog race beginning in Anchorage and ending in Nome, Alaska. That is 1050 miles!!! The kids and I have been learning about the history of the Iditarod and are following musher, Dee Dee Jonrowe during the race as a school project. Dee Dee began 30th and is now in 13th place. At her last check point (Swentna), she had completed 149 miles.

Unfortunately the race is not televised around here, so we haven't gotten to actually SEE too much of the race, but we did see some of the mushers at the start line on a web cam.

So, say a prayer and give a cheer for Dee Dee and all the brave and dedicated Iditarod mushers this week! The winner will probably finish in about a week. If you want to try to catch the finish, this website has a webcam situated on Front Street in Nome where they finish.