You're a Great Friend

I asked Chris if I could borrow 2 of his framed photographs from the TSA State Convention to make scans for me to scrap. One photo is of Chris and the officers dressed in uniforms of their future professions. The other photo was one of them after a whipped cream fight.

Journaling:
"You're a great friend. Here you are with the other State Officers of the Technology Student Association, with whom you became very special friends. You have many friends because you are charming, giving, sincere and there when one needs you. Reminds me of someone else I used to know."

April 2010

Digital Element (Carina Gardner Photo Frames #5)

Scrapping on the Road

I went out of town for 2 1/2 days this week and even though I had long days at a state meeting, I still managed to produce 1 layout. I printed the pictures at home, gathered an assortment of papers that matched the colors and mood of the pictures, and packed those and a few basic supplies in a plastic carry case. I also gathered title alphas in small craft bags and packed those.

Of course I visited the nearest LSS (which was 30 miles past the Charleston location in Barboursville, WV) before checking into my hotel and got a few embellishments for the page. West Virginia has only a few surviving paper stores, and I try to visit the Scrapbook Page at least once a year.

Here's my layout in progress on my motel table. When I got home, I had only the journaling to print out and ribbon & rick rack to add.

Digital Troubadour

Bob writes slugs for his newspaper photographs each time he puts one in the system, and is very good at it. So I asked him for a title to this last layout of Greg in Beijing. I liked the poetic title.

Journaling:
"He doesn't speak Chinese, but was asked to 'speak' at Tsinghua University. This was good practice for Greg presenting information similar to his thesis defense." Beijing, March 2010

Digital Element (Paislee Press "Vintage Tags") (Michelle Coleman "Grungy Overlay")

Could have been a Biologist

My Mom and sister Terry were tickled (like I was) when our youngest sister Amy sent pictures of her latest nature adventure with her boys. In one photo Amy was holding 2 large salamanders. Her fingernails were painted pink yet her hands were muddy and holding 2 rather large amphibians.

Journaling: "Amy always loved frogs, lizards & butterflies. Mom helped her protect reptile eggs & search for cocoons. Now Amy does that with her boys. Terry says she could just picture Amy working in water with her fishing boots on."

Pictures of Amy show her at age 40 and at age 10.

Setting Sun

I did not have these photos of Greg in China until after I had completed his Beijing album. I liked the pictures because it shows the friends he made there and he looks very happy. So I made myself a layout for my own album with these photos.

Journaling: "On his last weekend in Beijing, Greg went on a picnic to Summer Palace with a bunch of students from the lab. It was a lot of fun." March 2010

Digital Element (Basic Grey Motifica Flourishes)

Setting Sun details

The title of the layout was actually the name of the background paper from Zsiage.com ("Confucius Say What? Setting Sun"). Since it was the last weekend of Greg's Beijing study, I guess you could say the sun was setting on that segment of his life!

I loved the angle of the green park bench in the photo of Greg and the photo of his friend. These were posted as such on his Flickr Site. I colored the chipboard borders with the same color of green in the upper left corner to balance the green in the photos at the bottom.

While I did invest in a small circle cutter, I did not have one large enough for the overlay I wanted to create. So I took a dinner plate, inverted it and cut around it with my x-acto knife. It was actually as easy as using a circle cutter!

Teach Your Children Detail

I found the background embossed chipboard on a clearance table in Butler's Scrapbook Super Station and thought I could do something with it. After trying a lot of different techniques, I wasn't satisfied, so turned it over and ended up using the debossed side. I painted it with gesso, rubbed it with rose colored pigment ink and sprayed it with "Make it Stone". Loved the picture and the new Basic Grey digital elements.

Teach Your Children

I made this layout for a lyrics challenge on scrapbook.com (60s song). While I loved the song from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, I never really understood the lyrics. Bob says the group was on some serious drugs (it was the late 60s!) so they weren't meant to understand. So I thought of a few things I learned from my parents and took a few statements from Grandma Marie's scrapbook for my journaling:

"Grandma taught her children respect for others. She encouraged, sometimes pushed them toward goals. She was always there. Mom taught me family history, creativity & the value of a good meal. Dad taught me work ethic. They are always there."

Photo taken on March 8, 2010 (my birthday!) in my parents garage showing our reflections in a dresser mirror.

Digital Elements (Frames: Basic Grey) (Flourish: Basic Grey "Motifica")

Ginny

Uncle Duke's wife Ginny visited him everyday when he resided in the nursing home. Their dog "Chris", a miniature collie, visited too. Duke & Ginny were married for 35 years. She is an amazing woman!

Uncle Duke

My Uncle Duke passed away this weekend. He was the youngest of Mom's siblings. Here are some recollections of his childhood written by Mom and Duke:

"James Elton 'Duke' Mullan was born on May 13, 1931, the youngest of Vista and Marie Mullan's four children. As a child, there was never a dull moment with this guy. Once he climbed to the top of a bridge and had to be rescued. He flagged down a train from the middle of the track. At age 3 he started a car at Grandma Mullan's house and backed it right into a telephone pole. At age 4, he rode the bumper of a pickup truck from the store to Grandmother Mullan's. Duke remembers at age 5 boxing with John in the kitchen and hitting a stack of dishes when his brother ducked the 'round-house blow'. He recalls his stepbrother 'Young Harry' teaching him to drive by putting his foot on top of Duke's foot which was on the gas pedal."

Recollections from Grandma Marie's 90th birthday scrapbook.

Almost Heaven

The campus was empty, the coliseum closed, but the townsfolk in Morgantown during WVU's spring break celebrated the Elite 8 win with an impromptu parade and cheers on High Street. At times in Bob's career the celebrations almost turned into riots. . . but this time it was great to be a part of the aftermath. March 27, 2010

Pretty Baby

My Mother always said that Chris was such a pretty baby and she was right. He is pictured here barely a year old in his Peter Rabbit jacket. Missy--the other white dog--stands guard.
(Our yard) 1994

Digital Frame (Creating Keepsakes "Dreamy Effects")
Digital Tag (Sande Krieger "Fine China" 2 Peas in a Bucket)

Pretty Baby details

Many years ago I purchased an aqua blue camisole with satin ribbon and beige lace. Before I had the chance to wear it, the dog ate it. Seems Rudy, our 85 pound bundle of fur who wouldn't bite his food hard, managed to make a snack our of my pretty garment. I never was able to wear it but kept it because it had so many pretty ornaments. The lace on the right side of the frame shown here is a piece of it. Now that's recycling!

Fellow

I'd already scanned the photos of Greg from 1992 when I got the news of his award. . . thus the title of this page. The National Sciences Foundation awarded Greg a 3 year fellowship to pursue his doctorate in Computer Sciences. Today he passed his thesis defense. Bet he's still got that big smile on his face! April 7, 2010

Digital Elements (Basic Grey Textures "Vagabond" and "Black Tie")

Winter Recovery

Bob has Fridays off and since we are closed on Good Friday for a "cleaning day" I took the day off too. We planned an overnight trip to Butler Pa. We got a great deal on a motel "suite". The weather was hot. We shopped, drove some country roads, ate at the Valley Dairy Restaurant and watched Turner Classics on television. What a fun time! April 2010

Winter Recovery Details

My problem with crafting is that some things I try I won't repeat for a long time......and I forget how to do it! I made the primitive compass needles by stamping polymer clay, cutting around it with a craft knife, baking and varnishing. The scalloped doodling was made with a template by The Crafter's Workshop. I frequently use "fantastix" coloring tool brushes rubbed against ink stamps for coloring and inking small spaces like the outline of chipboard letters and doodling templates.