No Purchase Necessary

Chris mans the store, Arrow Gifts, on Sundays for Jenny's Mom, Barb. It's my chance to visit with my busy son, the college freshman. The store has WV memorabilia, unique gifts and cards, and two cats to keep him company. January 2012

Here's a layout I made in 2008 when Chris landed his very first job:

To Find Your Way

My husband is not only a talented photographer, but he's a talented orator. I first noticed when he was a teaching assistant in a class I took in 1973. For more than a decade he was a college instructor (a favorite of the students). He's the person everyone turns to for celebrations and eulogies. And his words aren't lost on prepared speeches. His prose to family would be poetry to many.

In a tearful farewell before Greg's move to Minnesota in 2010, Bob gave him a knife and a flashlight. The flashlight, he said, was to "find his way home." Here they are, together at home, in 2011.

And quoting the words from the song by Sugarland: "I will hold you in my arms until everying's alright. I will shine the light."

Last Rose of Summer

Michelle's Mother sent me lovely pictures of her as a child. I can understand these photos are very dear to her heart and there's much more story to them then I'll ever know. In this layout, the picture on the left is young Michelle with her string instrument. I am guessing the picture was taken in the early 1990s. The picture on the right was one I took in 2003 at her senior recital. I remember at the recital how fun is was for me to hear Greg officially introduced as "Michelle's boyfriend".

Journaling: "The Last Rose of Summer" was one of the numbers Michelle performed at her senior recital in 2003. She still enjoys this, playing the cello in community events."

I always journal on my layouts, though do not use my own handwriting. This beautiful piece of patterned paper from the Simple Stories collection had a perfect journaling spot. To get my type exactly on this spot, I first scanned the paper.

In Photoshop, I added my layers of type.

Then I deleted the layer of scanned patterned paper, loaded the actual piece of paper into the printer and printed it with the journaling.

You do have to take care to load your paper into the printer the way it prints it out (mine is top first, right side up).

I hope you stay warm this cold winter weekend!

Michelle Ma Belle

When I was thinking of a title for this layout of young Michelle, the first thing that came to mind was the Beetles song. I bet her parents sang that to her many a time! "Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble" translates to "these are words that go together well". So here it is "Michelle ma belle"!

30 Years 1000 Words

Creating scrapbook pages helps me to keep my mind off of other things. Today I took our son Greg to the airport and I am sad, so I create and don't fret as much! This page features my nephew Brian at his 30th birthday party last summer. The digital elements, "Snap out of it" (2 Peas in a Bucket) were perfect elements. "A picture is worth 1000 words", and I added a few!

This is a layout I created 3 years ago when I left Greg at the airport. . . "pretty soon I'll be the one that's flying to see you". That will happen our next trip. . . for his marriage to Michelle in May!
I created the background to this one digitally.

Share Warmth

It was great for us to not only see both Greg and his fiance Michelle over the holidays, but it was great for us to see how close they really are. The slogan "Share Warmth" from Panera's restaurant fit the couple and the season.

The couple trivia was gathered from one of the bridal shower games we played Sunday. "1st Date: Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets" "Been a Couple: 9 Years" "The Proposal: New Year's Eve 2010" "Favorite Restaurant: Melting Pot" "Favorite TV Show: Doctor Who"

To make the background, I used a digital template by Betsy Tuma called "Weavers".
I scanned Greg's shirt to get the colors I wanted.

The template had separate layers:

I colored each layer to match his shirt by using the eye dropper tool and the blending mode "color overlay".

I printed this woven background on a light grey cardstock.

January 2012

Shower for Michelle

Michelle was home for 4 days over the holidays so we honored her with a bridal shower on January 1, 2012. Her friends Laura & Allyson attended along with her Godmother Sandra, my Mom, Sister Terry and niece Brittany. Bob took Greg, Chris & nephew Brian to the Mountaineer Brew Pub while we played games, had great food and fun. The boys joined us for cake.

The room was decorated with layouts I have made of Michelle & Greg. I was able to use my scrapping goodies for favors:

The tulip bulb color was "Christmas Dream".

Studio G Stamp on the embossed napkins.

I had game folders from Target in her colors of green and blue each with a die cut featuring their names.

I also made the invitations with digital elements.

This is Allyson's gift to Michelle. She treated her to a pedicure on New Year's Eve. Her toenails were a sparkly teal. The best friends has a delightful time.