Day 227

This is in the living room. I swear I dusted the table just before I put this out. I love white pumpkins. Mailing label from OScraps and the rest is a kit from Mindy Terasawa.

Day 227

It's a beautiful, cool morning here in Missouri. I've finally turned the AC off and opened the windows. Right now, I could use some long sleeves...LOL

This is the only fall/halloween decoration that I have in my house. I have some pumpkins and mums outside but nothing else.
All stuff is by Digital Design Essentials except for the frame and its from Melanie Willman.

Day 226

I cheated and used the template #7 by Wendy from Oscraps again. I really like this template and I love the colors of this kit School Zone from Digital Design Essentials. I changed the color of the folded ribbon. Just made it a little darker.

I worked my tail off today and I finally got my basement all straightened up. I still need to run the sweeper and mop the floor but that will just have to wait. I would love to get the walls painted but I don't think I have that in me. I wonder if I could pay someone to do that for me.

I got a few of my Halloween decorations out today so I could take a picture. Had to use the flash and tripod to get it.

Day 226

Well, here is my practice photo on using the white reflector. It's not the best but better than I thought I was getting from the LCD on the back on my camera. On there, it looked way too dark. I used ISO 200, had a shutter speed of 1/400 and an aperture of 1.7. In my mind, I think I should have used the tripod and lowered my ISO to 100 and slowed down my shutter speed to let in more light but I was able to savage the photo with PS by adjusting my levels and adding some contrast and brightness. I thought I had a piece of white foam board but I didn't so I had to use a small piece of poster board and it wasn't bright enough or big enough to do away with all the shadow. Plus, I don't have any 'good' window light. I have too many trees around the house and couldn't convince Bill to go outside. LOL...he will kill me if he finds out I posted his picture to the blog.. Anyway, this is the best I got. I took this in front of an east sliding glass door around 2 in the afternoon. Had it been closer to noon, I might have had better light at that door.
I was happy to be able to 'see' the reflection on the dark side of his face, so I know if I'd had a bigger, brighter piece of foam board or a good reflector, it would have been better.

I've searched for over an hour and cannot find this kit again. I was thinking it was a free kit from Vinnie Pearce but can't find it in my files. I'm thinking my computer is starting to do some very strange things. I'll have to edit the post later if and when I find out the information.

Day 225

This is a shot of Jessi that I took while she was driving the tractor around the yard. I ran the glamour filter in Virtual Photographer on it. She had some sun burn after being at the pool and that took some of the red out. It wasn't a very good shot but I liked it.

The mailing label is from OScraps. Everything else is from Digital Design Essentials. The background is from Sept. Idea Book - stem is from Twiggy - buttons one from Twiggy - one from Cozy Comfy Fall - Glitter from Cozy Comfy Fall. The flower shape I did and cut it out of

a paper from Cozy Comfy Fall.

Day 225

My red mums are starting to fade. I love the red ones in the fall but they fade so fast. It won't be long and the flowers will all be gone.

This is another Scrappers Guide kit. It's called English Garden by Jenny Binder. The frames are by Something Blue Studios.

Day 224

This was a quick one. This is one of the practice shots that I did yesterday. Not perfect but not to dad. I ran it through Pioneer Woman's define & sharpen action and lowered the opacity to about 40%. Background paper from Catch a Star and ink stains from Book Bag both Gina's. Label from OScraps.

Day 223

I spent way to much time on this one. Worked on it yesterday some then finished it this morning. Now I'm a day behind and I don't have anything for today yet.
I used the Catch A Star Kit from Digital Design Essentials. The token (sticker???) or what ever you want to call it. The thing with the Z on it I made it by cutting a circle out of the kraft paper from her Twiggy Kit. The photo prongs I made the shape myself and cut out of her paper. The prongs in the Catch A Star Kit I did't like much.The machine stitching I used an action from Scrap Girls.
Are you sure it's ok for me to post this big???

Day 224

I finally fixed the carnival squash that I bought off the Amish on my way to Grandparents day. Bill and I really liked it. Can't put my finger on what it reminded me of but loved the sweet, pumpkin taste. Not sure pumpkin is it but its not sweet potato either. Hummm....
Another kit from Scrappers Guide called Autumn Flowers by Dana Zarling. I'm still a monthly member of Scrappers Guide but I'm way behind on unzipping the files. It's kind of neat to see what I have in that folder as I unzip them.

Day 223

I'm so proud of myself! I had this one done up last night, ready to post first thing this morning. This was a scraplift from a template I found. I don't know if this is the proper way to do this but I didn't want to give $3 for the template when I felt like I could do it myself. I don't mind giving $1 for a couple templates but $3 for one is a bit too much, in my opinion. The template is by Kellie Mize and you can find it on Designer Digitals. The kit is Fancy Free from Scrappers Guide but it doesn't have a designer listed in the files. And the photography is mine...LOL.

I edited the post to correct the image. Does this look better? I think so too! Thank you for drawing my attention to it. This is the main reason I've valued your friendship over the years. You are so good at making me look good! I didn't even see the text over the border...well, I did but it didn't jump out at me until you mentioned it. I'm glad you brought it up cause this does look 100% better.

Day 222

Took this of Zach at last weeks practice. I'm running out of photos to scrap. Or I should say ones I like anyway. Maybe I'll get some new goods one when we go to the beach next week. Just keep your fingers crossed that the weather is good.
This is the Wonderful kit from Shabby Princess except for the football on the badge. I took the star off of the one in the kit and added the football that I had. I did a little dodge and burn on the safety pin. I can never decided if that looks ok or not.

Day 222

I'm officially caught up! Yipppee....and this one went together pretty easy. I'm not sure why it did but I'm happy. All the kit is from Scrappers Guide and I followed her video tutorial to do the pin. I didn't make the pin, she did. I just made it look like it was stuck in the paper. I'm not real good at it yet but its a start. I did add the colored charm to the tag and think it turned out almost good. Not perfect, but good for me. Remember...I'm still in the beginner stage! Hummm....wonder how long I'll be there? LOL

Oh, the kit is from Julie Mead's Rusty Pumpkin Patch.

Day 221

I wish these would come easier for me...I work and work and they still don't excite me. I guess I just don't have enough creativity in me. But...I do love the flowers that I've got in my landscape, right now. I'm anxious for the leaves to start turning so I can get some photos. Not that I like what follows it but I sure like to see the beauty in the fall. I sat on the front porch this morning and read a magazine and drank my 'pretend' coffee...LOL...I put hot water in my coffee cup. I haven't had a cup of coffee or a diet pop for over a year and a half now. Once in a while, I miss them but not as much as when I first eliminated them from my diet. Off to work on another layout.

The background and the notepaper are from DDE in the Cozy, Comfy Fall kit. The green dotted paper is a new pack I just bought from Dianne Rigdon. The frames are from Old Overlay Frames by O.N. Designs. The heart, rickrack, buttons and Alpha is from Jessica Bolton in her Home Life kit. And the tape is from Melanie Willmann from her Notebook Kit.

Day 221

How I cheated on this is......Notice the date. It's an old one that was started and not finished.
I pretty sure everything is from SP & DDE.
Yes, I'm tired of typing out the names of the digital shops. We need to put a list up of the ones we use for a reference.

Day 220

This is not the best photo but all I had to work with. Jerri Ann's mother-in-law took it and I could not get my flash to fire. I had it set to fill flash and thought it should fire but it didn't so our faces were a bit dark and when I tried lightening them, they kind of washed out. Oh, well, its still a memory. All stuff from Shabby Princess except for the star and it came from the All Star Love kit.

Day 220

I did this watercolor of Jason to match the one of Jessi from yesterday. How I cheated on this

is....I have used the sketch before. It's the one of Zach with his hands in the water. I just rotated it to give it a different look. Everything is from DDE Parker kit except for the stamp shape and it's a PS shape that I filled with paper and the J from the kit.

I'm not sure about the sketch. I'll see if I can find out where I got it and post that information later.

Day 219

Another photo from their mom. I blurred the background to get rid of the truck and the basketball goal but I'm thinking I should have blurred it more. Then I ran it through VP and gave it the Fall Colors filter. Loved how it made them stand out. All the stuff is from Gina Cabrera except for the tag and its from Katie Pertiet. I think I'm still one day behind. Thought I'd get caught up today but my mind just can't get itself wrapped around a layout. I worked on this one for over 3 hours and I still don't like it but gave up and posted anyway.

Day 219

Took this shot of Jessi on Sunday when they came down for the day. The shot wasn't very sharp so I wasn't going to use it. Decided to try some filters on it and I really liked the watercolor filter. It saved the shot and made it useable for me. Yah!!!! The wire heart is by Bren Boone from Scrap Orchard. The circles are from Digital Design Essentials bookworm kit, it's the name stamp with the name and date erased out. I have a stamp The rest is from Shabby Princess Gabby kit. I cut the ends of the ribbon off and cut the tags out of one of her papers.

Day 218

Another shot that is not mine...one Bella's mommy took at the zoo. This is one of the best photos I've seen of Bella cause she is giving an all natural smile. She is going to be a beautiful girl and dad is going to be beating the boys off at the door step...(smile).
I've spent the afternoon just surfing scrapbook sites instead of organizing kits like I should be doing. Got my nails done today and actually had color put on for a change and then got my hair done. I'm trying to grow it out and I think my beautician forgot cause she cut off most of what I'd grown this month...oh, well...I'll be sure and give her a reminder before the next time!
All elements are from Daniela Peuss from her Jump Into Fall kit and the background is from Andrea Burns sample kit. The frame is from Gina Cabrera and I ran the photo through the Virtual Photographer.

Day 218

Told you I liked this effect. Jason will be mortified when he sees this shot on here. He wasn't to happy with posing for it.
The frame is from Designer Digital The rest from Digital Design Essentials
I did the xxx stitching myself. What do you think? I used my Wacom tablet that I've had for a year or more and haven't used. The Grands played with it. I hadn't been able to find the pen for it so I ordered another one. I thought sure the old one would turn up as so as I got the new one but not yet.

Day 217

Wow! What a busy weekend! I left early on Friday morning so I could go to the greenhouses in Jamesport and got there about 30 minutes before they opened so I drove around and got a few photos. I should have read the information on this log cabin but I didn't. Some day I'll be back over there and I'll read up on it. It seems like the weekend just flew by and this is the first time I've set back down here since Friday morning except to check the blog to see what you had posted. I hope to catch back up tomorrow. I've got some pretty good images to share.
This is Gina Cabrera's kit, Catch a star. The notepaper is from her Falling for you kit. I ran the photo through Virtual Photographer, converted to B/W and then added the Brownie effect. (I think!)

Day 217

I cheated some on this one. I used copycat challenge #7 from Oscraps for the template. It's just a quick shot of the wreath out front. I was trying to get something more interesting and had a photo shoot injury yesterday. I was out back with Zach trying to get a silhouette shot and was laying down shooting up to get him between me and the sky. He didn't understand what I wanted him to do so I started to get up to show him and I sort of fell. Not sure what I did but my thumb got the worst of it. It's swollen and hurts a little today but not broken. (I don't think) It does make it hard to type, didn't realize how much you need your thumb. Never did get the silhouette shot but I may try tomorrow when Vic and the Grands are here.

Day 216

This is what I made today. I need some new note pads. I wish I knew how to post a link for you to download but I don't yet. I will just send it to you.
Everything from Shabby Princess except the template and that's mine.

Day 216

10 years ago, you wouldn't have caught me dead in a top like this but I'm evolving into my own self. I picked this up at Sams Club (don't laugh!) and love it...I'm wearing it with crop blue jean pants and headed out to attend grandparents day. After taking numerous photos, I finally got one in focus. Took me 6 times to realize that I couldn't lock the focus without the cable release..LOL..
All stuff from DDE's falling for you kit.

Day 215

Found these out in the yard today so I had a little photo shoot.
Used the Harvest Spice and Olivia Kits from Shabby Princess. Changed the colors on the ric rac a little. Mailing label frame from OScrap and the X's are by Mindy Terasawa. I have her kits in 2 or 3 shop folders so I'm not sure where I got these. I need to put her in a folder by herself.
What do you think of the burn work on the piece of tape????

Day 215

I need to get out with the camera...I'm running out of new images. All products are from Gina Cabrera from her Cozy, Comfy Fall kit.

Day 214

Just some more tiny white wildflowers. I'm guessing these are in the daisy line. All elements and paper from Shabby Princess.

Day 214

We took Zach for his flag football practices Monday evening and it was at the school that I graduated from so I had to take the camera to snap a few shots. The small insert picture I got off the web just to show you how big it is. There was around 1000 in my graduating class and I'm sure I didn't know a ¼ of them.

Day 213

Brent was burning all the twigs he picked up after the strong wind we had on Sunday. It would have been nice if it had been a little cooler.
Everything is from Harvest Spice. One of the free kits at Shabby Princess except the frames and I did those. I also took the cardboard tear on the bottom right from the background to above the stripe to make it look like it was torn.

Day 213

Nothing fancy...just a photo I took of the fog on the Upper Lake. The kit is from Sweet Shoppe Designs called Paisley Please by Eva Kipler.

Day 212

The last of the wall murals. This isn't the best way to display them cause they are too small but I had so many that I needed to combine some or you would have got terribly bored with me...LOL
I was wrong about the credit for the last layout. The background paper on it and this layout are from the Lily Pad and they are designed by Amy Wolff. The photo cluster is from The Lily Pad and the rest is from Gina Cabrera from her Book Essentials kit.

Day 212

A few shots that I took yesterday. The wind was blowing pretty hard most of the day so I had to stand aroung waiting to snap when things stood still for a second. The wind got worse later in the evening but it's not bad today. A little rain now and then.
This is all from Digital Design Essentials.The green background is in the Twiggy Kit and the strings and clips are in the Sept. Idea Book . The stitching and paper scrap I don't remember but it's Gina's....LOL
Have to go see Mother and be back in time for Zach's bus.

Day 211

Just some more wall art. I have some more and will post them in the next day or two. Everything from the Book Bag Essentials by Gina Cabrera and the frames are from The Lily Pad.

Day 210

This is the first layout with these pictures. Working on another one now. This is the wall art in Chillicothe and its so beautiful. They have these drawings on about every empty wall around the square and it looks so real...like you could walk right in the stores. I really like going there and seeing it all. It seems like every time I go, I see another new one. All stuff is from the Book Bag Essentials by Gina Cabrera and the frames are from the Something Blue Studio.

Day 211

This is how we kept Zach happy today. He had chicken strips, green bean, applesauce and a biscuit for dinner but he would have preferred another grilled cheese like he had for lunch.
Everything from Catch a Star Kit from Digital Design Essentials except the paper tear and it's from Scrapbook Bytes by Steph. I made the star from the kit into a sticker.

Day 209

I finally learned how to do an extraction but its still not as good as you do. I'll keep practicing on it! The swirl is by Rhonna Penner, the frame is from Something Blue Studio, as well as the tape element and the background is from Feistuff, thanks for the link to it. I have some of her stuff but hadn't been to her website for quite a while.

Day 210

I took these several months ago and they didn't turn out the way I wanted but decided to use them this way.

Isn't this word art the cutest. Used a freebie from http://feifeistuff.blogspot.com/ but I didn't use the frames that came with it because I needed 3. These are from OScraps and I added the grid work myself.

Day 208

I've always loved this photo of Gavin and Amanda...it was taken in Nov. of 2006 and I can't believe how much they've changed in just two years. This was a layout by Anne Langpap in the first Digital Scrapbooking magazine I bought. I had to make the circles and they aren't as good as hers were but it helped teach me a bit more about using PS for images. The green background is by Shabby Princess, not sure where the red dotted paper came from. The arrow is from the Island Chic kit by Shabby Princess. I did all the rest!

Day 209

Zach was out back one day this week passing football with his dad and I was trying to snap some shots and stay out of the way at the same time. This turned out pretty good even with the gum in his mouth.
I have been wanted to play around with some angles. I find them a little harder than squares & circles but I like how it turned out. I also followed K. Pertiet's tutorial for custom drop shadows. Not sure how I feel about them.
Digital Design Essentials Parker kit.

Day 208

It is starting to look a lot like fall. I would have taken this on the front porch but I still have my summer wreath up and that would looked a little tacky. Zach got me these for Grandparents Day.
Brushes - Rhonna Farrer everthing else -Shabby Princess.

Day 207

I had a long day...didn't get home till almost 8. Finished this up real quick and now I'm heading for bed. Will comment tomorrow on your great post.

Day 207

This is Jessi in her fearless battle with Darth Vader while she was at Disney. You can tell by her smile that she won! I used this layout once before and always liked it so I changed a few things and used it again. Stitching from Shabby Princess all the rest from Heather Ann Designs except the charm and I did it.

Day 206

This is the other tutorial I got from Designer Digital. On the Edge and in Distress. I did all the distress on the edge myself (with the brushes that came with the tutorial of course) I also did
a custom drop shadow. I have learned several useful things from these tuts. I never thought
I needed to know the short cut key strokes but they are quick if I can remember them. I would like to get some more of these tuts. They are very good.
After posting this I see that the distressing doesn't show up to good around the edge because of the white border on all of our posts.

Day 206

Some photos I took of Amanda when they were here in July. I sure miss them! Everything is from the Cozy/comfy kit by Gina Cabrera except for the brown background.

Day 205

A few shots of the fireworks at the Sternwheel Festival. They are the best fireworks I have ever seen but we are so close to them it is hard to get a shot and at the end when they do the finally it's almost scary. Just to much going on right in my face. I don't really like it much.

Day 205

This is the hardest thing I find to do....journal on the layout. I just couldn't figure out a good place to do it. What would you do here?
I was coming home from the Chautauqua in the Park and noticed a pickup stopped along the road looking up at the sky. Couldn't figure it out till I was almost hit by the airplane...LOL...he wasn't that close but close enough to make me jump...he was crop dusting a field that laid close to the highway. I pulled over to get a few shots and noticed the sunflowers. Took some shots of them too. I wish I'd had my zoom lens on so I could have got closeups of the plane but this is as good as it gets.
All the paper is from Summer Breeze from NitWit Collections. Frames are from the Lily Pad . The bow is from Zen Garden from Oscaps. The ribbon is from Shabby Princess/Country Charm.
The clear divider tabs are from Daniele Young. The green swirl is from Sunshine Smiles by KittyChen of Oscaps.

Day 204

This is such awesome RootBeer. I love it almost as much as I love the bottle it comes in. You get to pick the bottle and then you can go back during the day and have it refilled. I liked the blue ones and was torn between this one and another she had but I think I like this selection. I love the smell of the Kettle Corn and I do eat a little of it but mostly I buy it for Bill...he always asked if I got any when I get home. Heaven forbid if I'd forget him! LOL..

All from Emma's Sundress by Michelle Coleman except for the tag and the envelope. The tag is from the Lily Pad and the envelope is from the Cozy, Comfy Fall kit by Gina Cabrera.

Day 204

I purchased a tutorial from Designer Digital - Laying it all out No. 7 - Coloring inside the lines by Cassie Jones. It's a very good tutorial and it has everything to do this page with it for $7.99 and I did learn a bunch but I'm going to need to do it several more times before I remember it all.
This is Jason looking out of the dug-out at one of his games. Makes it look like his in jail.....LOL

Day 203

As you can see, I got those muffins made and have already sampled one. And they are yummy! I might have to hide them from Bill...LOL...thanks for the recipe.
Everyone from the Cottage Arts kit called Sweet Posies except for the Alpha and its from Digital Design Essentials.

Dau 203

This is all I can come up with today. Went to see Mother earlier today and then the grocery store and that just about did me in. I just don't feel up to par today. Going to go watch the rest
of the football game and then I may go up to the Steernwheel Festival later.