Snow Delay

When Greg's flight home was cancelled because of snow, he took a train.  When Michelle's friend Allyson couldn't drive her to Morgantown, Michelle rented a car.  They were delighted to be reunited and our Christmas was complete having all our kids home.  2012

The ribbon idea was inspired from a card published in Scrapbook Trends.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!
 

Frosty Fort

There was just enough snow on Sunday to make for pretty scenic pictures.  Bob took the last of his "Days of Choice" and took this day off.  We drove to nearby Fairmont, West Virginia to the Pricketts Fort State Park.

Prickett's Fort was constructed in 1774 and the Job Prickett House in 1859.  Colonel Jackquill Morgan, the first West Virginia settler and Morgantown founder, is buried here.

Christmas Eve

This design is based on Jill Cornell's "Twas the Night Before Christmas" published in the December issue of Creating Keepsakes.  I made the background layout yesterday before I went to work!

Every Christmas Eve, we string and hang our cards from our great room ceiling.  The strung cards on my layout are scans of some of the cards.  We also go to the Post (where Bob works) and pick up the Christmas edition of the paper.  They have an early press run on Christmas Eve so that the staff can go home to their families.  As you can see by these photos......even we can take bad ones!

I hope everyone is enjoying the gift of family.  Thank you for the gifts of creativity and friendship.

Wish

I was by the Shepherd Chapel when the clock struck 4.  The light and the Christmas decorations added to the festive mood in historic Shepherdstown.  December, 2012

I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Going Home

Starting our drive to Maryland, Dad's 91 year old cousin Bernice said "I'm going home!".  My 90 year old Dad, with macro-degeneration, and my 87 year old Mom, with severe arthritis, made a great breakfast, enjoying the gifts of family.

For the background, I added a digital texture (from the Basic Grey "Dasher" collection) to a piece of off white cardstock.  I added my pictures, strips and scraps of papers, alphas, the picture "hangers" and journaling tags to complete the layout. I love hybrid scrapping!

I hope everyone is relaxing a little on this weekend before Christmas Eve.  It was windy and snowy yesterday (the first day of winter) here in West Virginia, and a great day to feed the birds.

Welcome Santa

The Olde Tyme Christmas in Harper's Ferry is so much fun.  This year's Santa did not have as good a beard as Bob's!

To make my banner, I typed "Welcome Santa" using a block font, then printed and cut around the words.  I ran those through my Xyron sticker maker and attached to the canvas trim.  I "hung" it like the actual banner which was strung across the street in Harper's Ferry.

I purchased 3 cards of the black poinsettia buttons for $2.00 at an antique shop last summer.  

Hope everyone has time to relax in this holiday season!
 
 

Weathered

The weathered ruins are all that remain of St. John's Episcopal Church--one of Harpers Ferry's 5 earliest churches.  Built in 1852, St. John's served as a hospital and barracks during the Civil War and suffered considerable damage.  December, 2012

I used several techniques on this layout to add texture:  I sprayed the circle chipboard with glimmermist, then added sea salt.  (After drying I removed the large chunks of salt).  I colored the texture paste with acrylic paint prior to icing it across the tree and fence masks.  Finally, I added a piece of adhesive dry wall mesh to the bottom of the layout.

Can you believe the blue sky we had Saturday?  Here's wishing you the same! 

1939

My Mother received this certificate when she was 13 1/2 for completing the advanced course in the Palmer Method of Business Writing.  The Palmer Method of penmanship, popular in the early 20th century, involved muscle motion, speed and plainness.  As you can see, there was nothing plain about Mom!  February 23, 1939.

The handwriting at the top of the page is from the Palmer Instruction material which I found on the internet.  The practice sentences said:  "It is not so much the amount of practice, as the kind of practice that counts.  It is the constant effort to acquire precision that leads to success in writing."

 The certificate is an actual photograph of the one Mom received.  The original is big and has pretty pink and blue ribbon attached to the seal.

Digital Tutorial: Color Enhancing Photos

It didn't have to be Christmas for our younger son, Chris, to have fun with his friends. When this picture was taken at the start of the holiday season 2010, he called it "festive." The photo was taken with a cell phone camera and was not very sharp. The kids both wore red shirts. To enhance it, I edited it in Photoshop by duplicating a layer in black and white, then erasing the shirts to reveal the reds.  I will demonstrate using a recent photo of my Mom (donning a Christmas sweatshirt!):

Open the photo, then duplicate it in a second layer. 

Convert the second layer to grayscale. To do this click on "Image," "Mode," then "Grayscale."

Select the eraser tool.

Make the brush diameter bigger at first to erase the center of the shirt, then smaller for the edges of the shirt.

Erase the shirts to reveal the red color:

This is the final image:

This "Digital corner" is published in the December issue of Scrapbooking.com. 
 

The Light Shone

The day was beautiful and the enclosed Nativity scene the same as Bob and I photographed different characters from different angles.  I was looking for the right title and quote for my layout when my blogging friend Amy posted this quote on her site:

"Rise, happy morn, rise, holy morn,

Draw forth the cheerful day from night:

O Father, touch the East and light the light

That shone when Hope was born."

~Alfred Lord Tennyson

Photo from Oglebay Park 2012.  I used the back of a beautiful die cut paper as a mask for my background.  (I can still use the paper on another layout.....)