2 Nitegowns

When they were young, Dad would buy my Mom two nightgowns for every holiday or celebration.  When my sister Terry was old enough to drive, Dad would give her money and she and I would go to the Style Shop in Piedmont to buy the gifts.  Life has changed but the love and care remains.  Mom will be 87 on Friday.  Next Tuesday is their 66th wedding anniversary.  I hope Dad is able to accompany Mom to Peebles this week to buy something she likes.  

Photo taken August 26, 2012. 

The dress form is an old needle card I had stored in my sewing machine drawer.

The journaling block is a digital image from Basic Grey.  I printed it with the journaling on blue vellum.

Fond Abetter

As loving partners, Bob and I plan fun things to do whenever we're together.

These photos were taken 2 weeks ago on the Monongalia "Upper" River Trail about 5 miles from home. The weather was rather fall-like for August.

The eyelet like borders on the sides of the cardstock are digital images.  I first added my journaling to the page, then added the border strips and printed.

I shaded the border with colored pencils before adhering my photos, fancy cuts and alphas--finishing with some splatters of paint.

Have a great day!

Stand up and smile

This week at work I gave the pep talk to my staff. It's the day before the student onslaught and summer as we know it is over.  My talk was about taking care of oneself, staying positive, and being prepared.  I do a pretty good job at that.

What's tough is negativity and people that make fun.  How do I overcome that?  During the day I work, work, work.  At home, I create, create, create.  

Bob's my ultimate support.  He provides the romantic escapes which keep me going. . . another layout in the making!

 I loved the effect I got when I added the "Cutout" filter in Photoshop to me photo:

So tonight I will try to get 7 hours of sleep and tomorrow stand up a little taller!

Flowers by the Sea

This layout features pictures from Greg and Michelle's honeymoon in Istanbul on Day 3.

Greg titled the picture of the flowers on the banks of the Bosphorus, "Flowers by the sea".  During the reign of Sultan Abudulhamid II, the Yildiz Park was walled and only for the palace dwellers.  Now the beautiful garden complex is public with flowers, plants and trees gathered from every part of the world dating from the Ottoman era.  That's Michelle looking at the  panoramic view of the Bosphorus.  May 2012

 

I printed my journaling directly onto the 12 X 12 transparency in the same shade of blue.  (I practiced first on a plain sheet of 12 X 12 paper to get the journaling line up where I wanted it.)  To get the journaling to show on the black patterned background paper, I added white acrylic paint to the back of the transparency.  Because the edges of the layout were covered, I was able to staple the transparency to the background paper without seeing the staples.  I love all the elements combined with Greg's lovely photos.

Rings

 

Their wedding rings are unique to Greg and Michelle.  The moving gear rings that turn in unison when the outer rims are spun, are perfect for two engineers.  May 2012

Here's an ad featuring the unique rings:

Beartown State Park

Beartown State Park is an area of massive fragmented boulders, nearly vertical cliffs and deep crevasses. Hidden with the rocks is the beginning of a story that really has no ending. . . the formation of rocks and their gradual destruction by the forces of nature; only to be incorporated into new rocks later.

Chris suggested we visit this state park in southeastern West Virginia after he and friends did when staying at the Josephs' cabin near Greenbank. The board walk circled through the rocks and trees. The weather was rainy but we carried a big umbrella we could share and enjoy the adventure. 

 I modeled this layout after Jenni Bowlin's "Magpie" paper. I took a chance and printed my script on a textured specialty sand colored paper which absorbed the ink well and did not jam in the printer! The embellishments were scanned from Jenni's paper, then sized, printed on cardstock and soaked in a walnut ink before adhering to my layout. A little color wash spray and acrylic paint splatters and voila! 

 Another little trick I like: Before printing my photos, I fill the background of my paper with a dark color (on these I used a dark brown), then added a white "stroke" to my photos.

Backroads

We had so much fun on our overnight trip to Beartown State Park and historic Lewisburg. 400 miles on West Virginia back roads, stopping wherever we saw a sign or pretty scenery. These are the moments to remember. August, 2012