Winter Reflections

This layout was inspired by Scarthur's "Train Ride".

"We did not have a lot of snow this year which made me happy as I have to get to work no matter what. These photos were taken at work as I look for shots to post with my menu."

2011

Pay it Forward: "Unique"

This is a layout I made for my friend Cherrie as part of the Pay it Forward Challenge. Cherrie has many talents besides scrapbooking as you can see in the photo the jumper she made for her darling grand daughter.

Digital Elements (Little Dreamer Designs Heidi Larsen "Hootfest December") (2 Peas in a Bucket Stacy Marks "August") (Carina Gardner "Photo Frames 5")

1,2,3

Our son Greg will be 24 this week. Here he is with cake on his 1st, 2nd and 3rd birthday.

Journaling:
"At 1 (in 1988) Mom holds you up.
At 2 (in 1989) you wait to be served.
At 3 (in 1990) you eat your cake like a little man."

"1,2,3 oh that's how elementary it's so easy to love you." from the Len Bary song.

February 23

Pay it Forward

This is the digital layout I made for Mallika Kejriwal who was the second responder on my "Pay it Forward" post. I only received two responses. . . I still have one more to fill!

To participate, comment below. As part of this challenge, I make something for you, you reciprocate, post it on your blog, and make something for the first three responders on your blog post.

Digital Elements (Hero Arts "Vintage-LaDavina" and "Seventh Heaven") (Basic Grey "Black Tie Textures" and "Two Scoops") (Little Dreamer Designs Lori Barnhurst "Doodly Hallween") (Digi Chick Karen Lewis "2 Be Noteworthy")

Pay it Forward

What a nice surprise on Valentine's Day when I received a package from Belgium. It was from my new crafty friend Margo. I was one of the first people to respond to her "Pay it Forward" post and she sent me these handmade presents from clear across the world!

To reciprocate I asked Margo to email picture(s) I could scrapbook. I was delighted she sent photos of her adorable girls. Since St. Patrick's Day is soon, I made a digital page using papers and elements from Michelle Coleman's "Kiss Me I'm Irish" kit.

To continue with this "Pay it Forward" campaign, I will send a personalized digital page to the first three responders to this post. These three bloggers will accept the challenge to pass it forward!

The Girls

My Mom has 3 daughters and 1 son. My sisters and I have all sons. Terry has 3 sons, I have 2 sons and Amy has 2 sons. My brother Jim has the 1 daughter in that generation. He also has 1 son. Pictured here are 4 of the 5 Reeves girls.

Photos 2008 and 2010.

This layout is based on one in Scrapbooking and Beyond Fall 2010 magazine. The layout was designed by Lori Gentile and included a pattern for the heart shape. This involved cutting narrow strips from colorfully coordinated patterned papers and arranging them within the confines of a double row of straight-stitches.

Digital Photo Edges (2 Peas in a Bucket (Rhonna Farrer "2 piece Snap Shot")

Love Lines

To mark Chris' birthday, I gathered pictures of him from each year of his first 18. I was going to name this "Line Up", but knowing that Chris has made so many friends in his life and his birthday is close to Valentine's Day, I decided to name it "Love Lines".

Journaling:

"Each year of your life you've made friends who love you and the love lines surrounding you are many. No one will ever love you more than your Mom and Dad."

I started twice to make this as a digital layout but just didn't like it. So 80 square knots, 76 pop dots & 12 eyelets later, I finished this hybrid layout.

Digital elements (2 Peas in a Bucket "Chrissy W Cutter Masks" "Jen Allyson Study Hall")

C & C

Our youngest son Chris was 18 this week. The weather was cold and snowy and the school board called a snow day. We told him it was a holiday recognizing his milestone. Bob worked late, so Chris and I went to eat at Black Bear Burritos, then posed for a self portrait when we returned home.

Journaling:
"At 18 you are a lot like I was at this age:
You have lots of friends.
You have your own car.
You are social.
You get good grades but don't put a lot of effort into it.
You want to be successful (and will be) though you're not sure what you want to be.
You have caring parents who would never let you down."

2/8/2011

This is my last post as a design team member for Scrap Yourself. Please check the site for a new group of artists.

Digital Elements (2 Peas in a Bucket "French Laundry Fall Photo Edges, Sande Kreiger", "Apothecary Labels, Kerry Stewart")

A Two-ish Sort of Day

My friend Debbie told me that winter was the best time of year to take a vacation because you didn't have yard work and you had to relax. Each year when I'm 1 month into a new work menu we do that. We watch the weather forecast before making plans. Our second overnight trip this year was to Winchester, where we went to "Old Towne", (which could have been called "Cold Town"), shopped and staid in a nice motel. On our trip back to Morgantown, we met Mom and Terry in Keyser for lunch at Dennys. We had a good time.

February, 2011

Digital Element (Basic Grey "Two Scoops")

Modeled after a layout by Susan Stringfellow in Scrapbook Trends.

To my scrapbook friends who live near Winchester, Virginia: I found a very nice store, Studio Art Shop, that has a large selection of new papers and embellishments. Shoppers get a discount for buying 12 papers or more and that wasn't hard to do!

Scrap Yourself: "Full Color"

"In the midst of winter, blue skies and foliage are hard to find. So we look for things with color. Here we are visiting a small Ohio city, smiling through cutouts of a forgotten Christmas village."

January 2011

Digital Elements (Journaling Block: Creating Keepsakes) (Grungy Overlay: Michelle Coleman)

I purchased the fiber for this layout on our drive home in another small Ohio town called Beverly. When I called ahead to check on the hours of the store (Scraps of Time), the owner told me she'd be at the nursing home until 11 and would open the store shortly after. When I met Donna Coleman that morning as she toted her box of supplies into the store, I asked her what she did at the nursing home. She said that on the last Monday of every month she went to the home to scrap with the residents. Donna has a group of 5 regular attendees who bring their own pictures and scrap their memories. Isn't that a wonderful thing to do? Proof again that most people who scrap are caring human beings!

Liebster (Love) Blog Award

I was tagged by my friend Mary.
Mary is on the Design Team at Kitchen Keepsakes and displays her culinary skills in her layouts. This award is given to bring new blogs to light. This is a good way to share these blogs with others who normally wouldn't have seen them.

If you have been tagged and want to participate,create a post where you post the 'LOVE BLOG' image. Then choose 3 - 5 favorite blogs which you also link in your post.

Here are my 5 picks:

Trish

Gloria

Sharon

Shona

Janne

Visit their blogs. You won't be disappointed!

Look Beside You

Bob and I have a good marriage but neither it nor our lives are perfect. When we focus on the positive and romanticize, it makes us happier and our relationship even better. It's fun to imagine us as part of a love story, poem or song.

I'm unsure where I heard this quote, but it may have been part of a movie preview:

"Look beside you, the most beautiful love story ever told may be your own."

Photos from our latest overnight getaway in Cambridge, Ohio.

January 2011

"Look Beside You" details

I added the journaling block directly to the photo. The red wood-grain of the covered bride was the perfect background for a white digital frame and text.





To make the distressed paper layers I cut the paper to an 11" square. I sewed around the square about 3/8 inch inside the frame then sewed again about 3/4 inch inside the frame. I cut the frame in 2 pieces between the stitched layers and distressed all edges. These were then adhered to a patterned paper background.

Digital Elements (2 Peas in a Bucket Laina Lamb "Lace Borderlines" and Holly Brooke Jones "Romantic Love Frames")