LOAD 220 - second attempt

I don't know why Blogger is blocking my photos. I even tried changing out the web versions for the original hi-res photos and it's still showing as a big empty square on my original post, despite the fact that the photos were there when I first posted. I seriously don't get technology sometimes!  So I'm trying again with a brand new post...

"Can you SEE me now?"

LOAD 220

My first attempt at participating in Layout A Day in many years was an epic fail.  In 29 days I managed only 4 layouts!

There was Jay's Birthday layout and my Christmas Cards spread which I shared HERE.

And these (both of which are self-explanatory):

Hopefully by May's round of LOAD, I'll be in more of a groove with my job search efforts and able to participate more fully in LOAD!  Have you ever tried a LOAD challenge?

Creative Team Share

Since I haven't been blogging much of late, I realize it has been seemingly forever since I've shared anything that I've done for a Creative Team.  Time to remedy that!  Most of these were created in March, so I'm not soooo far behind.  Although there are a couple from January (yikes!) and the last two layouts are actually from April!  Here we go...

Created with Manu Design Studio Remnants of The Past kit.  The photos are me and my sister Deanna in the mid 1960's.

Created with Tami Miller Designs Come The Spring Collection.  These photos are actually from last Spring.  We aren't quite that far along here yet.  But soon!

Created with Tami Miller Designs Create Happiness Collection and Photo Sketch service.

Created with Tami Miller Designs Words to Live By: Kindness Collection.   I pulled photos from my 2014 Year of Kindness blog entries for this one.

Created with Tami Miller Designs Words to Live By: Remember Collection.  As I create this post, my Mother is still with us, although not doing well at all right now, so when this kit came out, I preemptively made this layout.  I know that day will live in her heart forever, just as she will in mine.

The next two were created with Tami Miller Designs Romantic Blush Collection.  The first is Sarah getting ready for her Junior Prom... twelve years ago...

and Becca on board a ship headed for the Bahamas... even longer ago...

These last two are from Tami Miller Designs recently re-released kit Selfie.  The first is me holding my new grandpuppy Millie.  She's Rachel's dog, a rescue, about 3 or 4 months old. Retriever/Shepherd mix. I've never been too keen on dogs (I'm a cat person), but Millie is special.  So sweet and smart.  And she doesn't jump on you or bark unnecessarily - two very good traits in a dog!

And last but not least - a true selfie of me at the beginning of this year with my word "healthy" in mind.

My Creative Team digiscrapping has been about the extent of my creativity this year. I just don't seem to have it in me right now. I know my mojo will eventually return so for now I'm happy with getting this much done. What have you created lately???

The Best of 2018

As with most years of my life, 2018 was a mix of fantastic, average good and very sad.

I got to visit Huntington Beach, CA (work trip), Boone NC (with my sis), New York City (family trip), Ocean City NJ (family vacation), Orlando FL (work trip), and Kauai, HI (getaway with Jay).

I made NINE trips to Maryland for work - gone an average of 3-4 days each time.

We lost our beloved pet Kira in August.  She was 17.  Thankfully, her sister Ashley is still going strong.  Ashley had been very sick in 2017 and we thought we were going to lose her then, so the fact that she has outlived Kira was a surprise to us.

Made with Tami Miller Designs Love Birds kit, currently on sale HERE.

I PLAYed more.

I lost some weight and gained most of it back (story of my life).

We had a lot of good family time.

I got a new car!  2019 Honda Pilot, dark grey.  Very nice ride.  I don't miss the Odyssey at all.

Becca passed all her PTA program exams and just has this semester of clinical rotations to finish, then the Boards and she'll be a Physical Therapy Assistant.  Lots of anxiety getting this far, but we are on the final stretch.  Mom could not be more proud!

"Life is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs. But it's your CHOICE to either scream or to enjoy the ride." (unknown)    I'm choosing to enjoy the ride!  How about you?

Sharing A Little Bit More

Manu Design Studio's Blue Velvet kit needed to take the center stage.  Paired with a very old photo of me at (I think) 3 years old.  From the time I spent living with my Aunt Bev.  The curls are NOT natural. But the blonde totally is!

 From Tami Miller Designs - a collab kit with Aimee Harrison called Family is Forever.  A photo of my family at Ocean City NJ in August. 

Also from Tami Miller Designs, the Grateful Hearts collection.  This was also taken at the shore, but includes our +2 boys, Andrew and Kyle, who are quickly becoming part of the family.

And yes, this is the extent of my creativity lately.  I haven't had the time or inclination to log into Lifebook in the last three months.  Hoping to get past that soon as I'm already signed up for Lifebook 2019 and I'm missing my paints and getting messy.  But these pages are making me happy too!
How's your creative life these days???

Creative Team Share - Tami Miller Designs - part 2

Here's more from Tami Miller Designs.

 1. Using a kit called "Above Rubies".  This was a proud moment in 2016.  Can't believe it has already been two years since we were in Scotland.

2. Using "The Story of Us" to highlight a photograph of our Summer daylilies.

3. This one is "Sweater Weather"

4. Probably my favorite from the group of nature inspired photography, this was taken in Scotland - while everyone else was pointing cameras 180 degrees in the other direction at Sterling Castle, I was focused on the beautiful flora growing alongside the road.  Using "Sweet Simplicity."

Creative Team Share - Tami Miller Designs

 Today, I'm highlighting layouts created with kits from Tami Miller Designs.  Again, the name of the kit will link to where the kit can be purchased.

1. From Thankful for You.  Picture taken while hiking in the Waimea Canyon on Kauai in October.  Jay and I don't really "do" selfies, so this is one of only about 3 photos of us together on Kauai.  The kit colors were a perfect match!

 2. Using Autumn Glow.  Sometimes Tami sends out a kit with a real mixed media, art journal vibe.  This was one.  Loved using it to showcase my first fall photo into an artsy layout.

3. Using Beautiful Dreamer.  This one got me scrapping a very old photo, but brought back so many memories.  I actually turned the round frame into a freebie cluster that was available through Tami's newsletter.

4. This is Tami's newest release - BeYOUtiful.  The photo is Becca and Kyle at the shore. It's not a great photo but I love that they are both laughing and goofing around.  This kit has some great self-esteem word art.

5. Using a collection titled Bliss Yourself Out.  Just the title of the kit evoked art for me!  But seriously, click the link and check out the absolutely gorgeous colors in this kit!!!

6. I almost can't believe this was created with a kit titled Hello Fall.  I wanted to do a "big photo" layout that would commemorate my trip last year to NYC with my mother, without it being the typical "touristy" layout.  I feel like I succeeded.

I still have several more layouts to share, but didn't want this post to get too long.  So more coming in my next post!  Needless to say, I've been doing a bit of scrapping the past two months... not so much art, but this is filling the need for now.

Creative Team Share - Manu Design Studio

Man am I behind!!!  Two months since my last post - I blame it on work commitments and travel.  But so much catching up to do...

Today's post features layouts from recent kits by Manu Design Studios.  The name of each kit is a link to where it can be purchased.

This first one is from a kit called Book of Memories, using only elements from the kit:

These next two are from a kit called Bound By Love and I just ADORE the ripped papers!  Photos are from this year's family trip to the shore.

 The Last Ride was created with a kit called Fading - it was an interesting exercise in trying to turn a kit that is basically vintage shabby chic into a manly layout - but also highlights just how versatile Manu's kits really can be!

 This memorial layout for Kira was made with Ripped Paper Templates 3  and the Antiqueness Kit.  Kira was actually sleeping on my lap in the photo.

 And my newest set of layouts from Manu use her beautiful new Snowlicious Kit.  It's a wintry mix with a beautiful pop of pink:

It's easy to see why I adore her kits!!!

Creative Team Share

Remember I told you I joined a few new Creative Teams?  Here's my first post!

I was accepted on Tami Miller Designs team.  Tami's work can be found at ScrapGirls.com and MyMemories.com.  Her newest kit - "Give" - released this week:

And you can find it Here

When I played with the kit, here is what I came up with:

I also played with two of her older kits.
 "Just Breathe":

Available HERE

and "Sweet Memories":

Available HERE

 I fell in LOVE with the torn edged papers available in the Collection! 

Tami's kits use a lot of colors that I love and have a bit of that shabby chic vibe that feels so ME.  Just hoping I can keep up with her!

Exciting News for Summer!

I have something new and exciting to share for June...

Let's start with the facts.

I haven't done any digital scrapbooking since April of 2016.  Two years.  I know, right?

I missed it terribly but between work, the shop, and just life ... well, I know you get it.

On Sunday, June 3rd, one of my favorite digital artists posted that she needed a few new members for her creative team.  It was sheer luck I even saw the post that day.  I pulled together an application and went looking for my best layouts using her products.  Not easy given that I hadn't done a digital layout in over two years! 

On Monday, June 4th I hit "send" on my application.  Then I saw her blog post saying she had received tons of responses and had added 4 new members to her team.  So I figured I was too late.  But at least I tried!

On Tuesday, June 5th I drove to Rockville MD for work, arriving late afternoon to my hotel.  I set up my computer, connected to the Internet, and was SHOCKED to see an email from Kim asking me to be on her team!!! 

So.... I'm on a new creative team for Kimeric Kreations at The DigiChick!!!  So excited!!!

 This  layout was created with Kimeric's kit All About Attitude.  I needed a new chore list and this just seemed to fit the bill!

And this one features her newest kit - For The Love Of Summer

I hope this means that you'll be seeing a lot more scrapbooking shares from me now!

Dusting Off The Microphone

Tap. Tap. Hello?  Is this thing on???

By now all my readers have likely moved on to more interesting and updated hotspots or are sitting back in wonderment at how eerily quiet things have been in my little piece of real estate in the blogosphere.  Is the place vacant?  Did she pack up and move in the middle of the night?

No, I'm still here. Well, sort of still here.  I've planned so many posts in my brain, but have had such precious little time to translate any of them to words on a screen.  I think about writing. Then I don't. Then I feel guilty. I've let myself down. I've let my readers down. My little home on Planet Internet has been left lonely and neglected. The weeds are growing rampant, the dust lies thickly on every surface. The place looks abandoned.  All that is missing are the shuttered windows and the crooked hanging sign that says "closed".  

What could have possibly kept me away for so long?  Hmmm.  Life?  A series of unfortunate events?  Yes, and Yes.  Remember how back in February my computer DIED suddenly and without warning?  And I had to wait until March 10 to get my new one? And then all the time spent setting it up?  ... Well, I had barely owned the thing for a month when it somehow caught a nasty virus and we had to restore it back to factory settings.  All that time I spent setting it up ... all the programs loaded.... all the preferences checked... ALL GONE. Again.

The virus happened around mid-April... so it isn't a surprise to me look back and see that I haven't blogged since April 4th.  We got the discs and did the whole reset on April 25th and I started loading programs again. But this time, my heart just hasn't been in it.  I still don't have PSE and LR set up for my preferences, and I'm still finding Windows 10 a bit confusing to navigate. And the computer is still a bit fussy and temperamental.  So it is hard to get photos to go with posts since my editing capabilities aren't fully functional yet. And I really hate to post without photos.

So here are some photos:

 These first three are layouts created for Rachel & Becca's School of Life albums for 7th through 12th grades.  I did all these at the ALS Charity Crop on April 22 & 23.  I found it very hard to digi-scrap on my laptop computer.  The screen just isn't big enough!

This two page spread is of Sarah's high school graduation party - it will feature in all three girls' albums as it is a great example of what it looks like when extended family & friends gather! That was really all I could handle for a day & a half crop, but still happy to have them done!

I will endeavor to stop back at some point during the weekend and catch you up on other doings in my life. But please don't hold me to it - life is crazy busy right now!

Memorandum Monday & LOAD 26

Happy Leap Day!  Popping in to quickly say hello to all my fellow Memorandum Monday-ers.

I spent my weekend thrifting, researching, and restocking The Shop.  One thing we bought was a Homer Winslow print titled "In The Mowing".  I never took any art history or art appreciation courses in high school or college, so all I knew in making the purchase was that Winslow was a famous artist.  What I learned in the research is that he was largely self-taught and considered one of the most influential American artists of his time. He did pencil sketches, oil on canvas, and ultimately watercolors - and it was with the watercolors that he truly made his name.  So now I know a little bit about Homer Winslow.

I didn't do any LOAD layouts for Saturday or Sunday. And as it turns out, I was just fine with it.  I have accomplished a lot this month - with all the layouts needed to complete Rachel & Becca's K-6 School of Life albums and a lot of other stories told as well.  So I was perfectly content to create this layout with Krystal Hartley's new "Fresh" kit.  I actually went outside and took the photo just to create the layout!

And then, just for fun, I made this page for my planner:

WHat did you do for fun this past weekend?

LOAD 21 - 25

A few of you asked about my friend Chris Witte and how her family was doing after her death.  It has been two years and I know it wasn't easy, but they all seem to be coping well. Her oldest daughter, Kristin, had two young boys at the time. She also inherited the care of her sister TaylorAnn who was only 18 and a freshman in college. Kristin is expecting her third son any day now and TaylorAnn is a Junior in college and doing well. I stay connected via facebook and whenever I send a care package to my girls, I send one to TaylorAnn as well - it's no harder to send out three than two! Luckily, they have a broad extended family and a wide range of Chris' friends who were willing to adopt them for a bit, so they've had the support they need to deal with the tragedy they went through.  Thanks for asking!

 2004-2005 School Year highlights.  For the School of Life albums.

 I did this page 4 times, changing out two photos and a bit of the journaling. It will be printed as a page for each of the girls' School of Life albums and our family "Places We Go" album.  Love it when I can make the work stretch that far!

 A page for Sarah's 7-12 grade School of Life Album

Documenting the making of beautiful smiles. I was originally going to do a separate page for each of them, but couldn't find any photos right after the braces came off that really showed those beautiful smiles - that was the period when all my photos of them are of hands in front of their face (thank heavens they eventually outgrow that stage!)  The pictures are each about 2 years apart.  It is amazing to see the growth in a span of just four years!