Welcome Tristan!

My daughter Pam and her dear husband Michael had a new baby boy on Oct. 20 -- which just happend to have been my father's birthday (he died when I was 5).




He is such a cutie! His big sister Tayler just loves holding him and giving him lots of kisses!!

How many have YOU done?

If you want to play, just copy and paste this list on your blog, and highlight which ones you've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band -- I sucked at violin
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland -- Well, Disneyworld
8. Held a praying mantis
9. Climbed a mountain
10. Sang a solo --- 4th grade school play
11. Bungee jumped - no, but I did jump off the top of a telephone pole attached to a harness -- does                       that count??
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch --- several
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning ---ugh!!!!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty -- it was closed all 3 times I visited!
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France -- no but I DID see it in Washington DC's Smithsonian when it        was on tour. Tiny!
20. Slept on an overnight train --- in Italy
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (stupid me)
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill -- who hasn't???
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (both)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Learned a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (does a charcoal drawing count?)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie  - no but my son was.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching - no, but I have gone dolphin watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (not intentionally)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job -- at 17, after just one week -- they said I didn't fit in :(
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House -- I've seen it from outside twice.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating -- Lobster
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life (my youngest son almost drowned in a swimming pool)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

My Scrap LOs

So honored...

to be asked by Jen U to make Quick pages using her designs!! I can't tell you how flattered I am!!! The very first digi kit I ever bought was from Jen U -- her Wild Longstems flowers, which I still use all the time!! To think that she likes my LOs enough to ask me to do this is unbelievable to me!! It is so easy for me to create LOs using her stuff -- it is sooo my style!


Here are the two latest I have created, a pair for Mother's & Father's Day, which are available in Jen's store JenU-Designs:




These LOs were very emotinal for me. My Dad died when I was only 5 years old, so I have only the briefest of memories of hi. I small mamory of sitting on his lap as he watched an army movie, hearing him whistle "Strangers in the Night" as he came in the building after work, being in a cabin in Monticello on a cold morning as he warmed my clohtes in the oven for me. Little things like that.
And I lost my Mom at just 26 years of age (she was buried on my 26th birthday). I can;t believe it's been over 20 years... I still miss her every day...

This week I am the featured CT member at The Loft: The Tangie Baxter CT Blog, where there was a short Q&A about me. Make sure you visit Tangie's store too -- she and Vintage Flair , the talented Sherrie Drummond, have done an amazing collab kit called Studio Remnants, which is actually nine kits each based on artists paint colors. Buy the complete kit, though, for a fabulous deal -- and get a free bonus pack too!



Speaking of the Tangie CT -- I got the sweetest gift from Katrine, one of the other CT members.
She awarded me this:

Read more about it on her blog Skrapedilla. Thank you sooo much Katrine!! You don't know how thrilled I was to get this from such a talented scraper as you!!!! I am so happy I have inspired you, as you have me! Now I have to think about who I can pass it on to!

Meet my new Grandchild

My daughter Pam is pregnant!! Yayy!!

She and her husband Mike had been trying to get pregnant for about 8 months and had just strted to get discourgaed, when lo and behold, she's expecting!

She had a sonogram done (it is the one they do in place of all the other prenatal testing) and she sent me these great photos:



She was only 12 weeks so she won;t know the sex of the baby until she has another one at around 5 months. Personally, I'd rather be surprised, but they really want to know what they're having.
Tayler is sooo excited to be a big sister! She is nine years old so she will be a big help too.


Pam was eight years old when I finally had another baby. She couldn't wait to have a baby sister. She was a bit diassapointed that it was a boy, but no big deal. She was a great big sister to Shane.
Then two years later I was pregnant again, This time she was sure she'd get that baby sister. But nope, another boy, But KC was sooo cute with those bright blue eyes, that she was happy anyway.
Then two years later I was again, expecting. She was adamant that she HAD to have a sister this time. When Gage, another boy, was born, she was so disappointed that she refused to pay any attention to him. Really! She wanted no part of him. It was sad. (She tortured him for years, telling him that I was not his real mother, that I had found him and other mean things like that.)When I FINALLY had a girl, Lynnea, a year and a half later, it was too late. By then, after already having three little brothers in her stuff, she decided she was better off as an only child!!

Looking thru the Window ...

Jen U recently added some great Old Window Frames to her store. And they have started a creative streak agalore! I think I have a series going here --- check out my latest LOs. Images are clickab;e to see credits.)

I should have extracted one of the small swags that I made to hang on the chairs at the wedding for this LO, but these digital flowers were just too pretty not to use! Maybe I'll redo this LO.
I used flowers and branches from Jen Ulasciewicz, New Life Dreams, Natali, Annie Manning, Bluebird, Laurie Anderson and ON Designs.


Everything in this LO (except Gage!) is form Jen U.


Along with Jen;s window, everything else here is from
Gisela B's Nature Calls kit.


Here is my Amazing Digi Scrap Race Challenge 5 LO. We had to "interview" an inanimate object. So I chose the restaurant where I work. I've been wanting to scrap it for a while so this was a fun take on it. To print it I might take out the interviewing parts, and leave it as regular journaling.


And finally, Tayler and I shared a birthday cake at Cheesecake Factory and I loved this photo of the two of us blowing out the candle! She's the best birthday present ever !!!

The Freebie has landed...

Yup, this morning I posted the free INSPIRED kit from Tangie Baxter Designs over at our CT blog The Loft.

If you downloaded it, don;t just let it sit there --- create a LO using at least 4 of the products in the freebie, post it to any gallery, and link us up here and the creator of the most inspiring LO will get a $10, yes $10, gift card at Tangie's shoppe!

And you will be wanting that GC to pick up some of her awesome and FUN new DIGISTRATIONS! What's a Digistration?? Well, check out TBD!

OK, I'll give you a tiny preview:

They are basically a way to set the scene on your LOs! And let me tell you, once you try them, they are addicting!!!

Up for a Challenge? and a freebie????

I am hosting this weeks challenge over at The Loft (the blog for Tangie Baxter's creative team !!
Lucky me, I get to give away a freebie mini kit for yu to create your challenge LO. Be sure to check The Loft on Friday, March 14th to grab this lovely kit that will Inspire you to create a memory.

In the meantime, wanna see my latest LOs?? I got quite verbal this week!
Both challenges for ADSR required a LOT of journaling. For someone who was at the top of their class in English and writing, I, for some reason, haven't translated my love of writing over to my scrap pages. I seem to get so involved in the visual part of my pages that I forget to leave room for the journaling! But there was no escaping that this week. Another big change for me was that I did both pages about, get this, myself.

The first LO shares my fear of dying young like my mother and leaving my children without a mother. It's hard to write about something that most of us are afraid to talk about. The response I got from other women who lost their Mom's has been so touching. It was comforting to know that I am not the only one who seemed to view my life expectancy in terms of how many more years I had until I reached the age of my Mom's death. That number sort of looms over you like an expiration date. That scary number. I am relieved that it is now behind me -- now on to the rest of my life!

For this Challenge LO, it had to be about yourself, and fill at least half the page with journaling
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The journling is my Pushing 50 blog entry. I love love love those Vintage Frames from Jen U!

Challenge 4 for ADSR was from OScraps. It required: at least one large Picture, some blending and Spill It Journaling (at least 1/4 of the page had to be journaling). I've always loved this conversation between my daughter Pam and I right after she gave birth to Tayler.

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Journaling: I had gone to visit my daughter Pamela just three days after she had given birth to her daughter, my first grandchild Tayler. I was just sitting there as Pam gazed lovingly at the baby sleeping soundly in her arms. After a few minutes, Pam looked up at me with that “baby love” look and said, “Oh, Mom, I’ve only had Tayler for three days and already I love her sooo much. I can’t even imagine my life without her. Did you feel this way about me when I was I born?” Without a pause I said,“Pam... I still do.”

It was at that moment my daughter finally understood a Mother's Love.

I did this one, too, because I wanted to use Kathryn Wilson's Stripped tranparency and word strips (only $1!), Tangie's new Threaded Ribbon and Jofia Devoe's Diamond Rain. Hey, why not use them together???

ADSR Challenge 2

submitted their Challenge 2 LO last night for the Amazing DigiScrap Race. I think it came out awesome!! We decided to do a He Said-She Said Lo about our realtionship with our husbands and scrapping. Check it out:

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--- JOURNALING ---
CATHY SAID: Honey, can you come look at this?
KEITH SAID: Be right there...just one more minute...
CATHY SAID: Does this look better here . . . or here ?Which color background, pink or yellow ? Which looks better. . .flowers or hearts ? Should I put the journaling here . . .or here . . . or is it better here ?
KEITH SAID: Okay... uh huh...yeah...
CATHY SAID: Should I move this photo 1/4" left or 1/2 inch right? Do you like it better like this... or this?
KEITH *THINKING* You wanted me to get off my video game for THAT?? Why don’t you get off that stupid computer and do some laundry??
STEPHANIE SAID: Hey, look at this layout. What do you think? Does this cardboard look OK or should I skip it? Something is missing... Does this drop shadow look realistic to you?
BRAD SAID:What is it supposed to be? Cardboard?What is it there for?I think you should try something else...
BRAD *THINKING* Why is she waking me to look at a piece of torn cardboard? Since when is trash a decoration ??
STEPHANIE *THINKING* Why did I even ask?He just doesn't get it!If he only knew what it takes to do this...
BRAD SAID: zzzzz....

I guess some other scrappers like it too, since just minutes after I posted it at DST it was listed as a Gallery Stand Out and won Layout of the Day at Digitals.com today!

I am sure many of you ladies can relate... LOL

Oh, and a big thank you to CZNY who RAKd me her fun Thought Bubbles when I did an ISO forum at DST. Look for them coming soon in her shoppe.

A Coupla LOs

Last night I couldn't sleep. My sweet son KC had brought me home a Haagen-Daz ice cream bar and the caffeine in the chocolate kept me up all night. So what did I do? Scrap of course!

I did this LO using Tangie's new kit The Bounding Main and Pink Sea. Her kits always have the coolest names! I added some items from JenU's Down by the Sea and the greenery is from Lorie Davison's gorgeous new Water Spirit kit. If you've ever seen Lorie's kits you know they are packed with tons of whimsical, beautiful papers and elements !!

The photos were taken on a sunset cruise I took with the kids this past summer in North Carolina. We left from Beaufort, passed the Rachel Carson Reserve with its wild horses, passed Fort Macon, under the bridge, went up toward Morehead City and came back under the bridge at Atlantic Beach. I love this photo of Gage.

I also did this one of my sweet NINE year old granddaughter Tayler and I blowing out a birthday candle. My daughter and SIL took us to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday a few weeks ago and of course they came out and sang to us!

Tayler's birthday is the day before mine -- she's still the best birthday present I've ever gotten!! (even if it was a few hours early.) Funny story about that too:
Pam was in labor and didn't want to push. She felt it all in her back. It was already evening the day before my birthday.
So I told her "OK, don't push -- then you'll have the baby tomorrow and we can share a birthday."
Pam said, "This baby is going to have its OWN birthday" and pushed her out before midnight!

New Scrap Goodies

Have you been to Jen U's new store yet??? No??? Well hurry and get over there --- you know how gorgeous her designs are and right now she is having a Grand Opening sale -- 25% off !!
Her latest toy for me to play with --- these:

Jen bought some vintage Italian frames to put in this kit!

Recently there was a Designer/Scrapper thread over at DST were scrappers could offer to create a LO for a designer. The scrapper could request a kit, or the designer could offer one. Well, I was given two amazing kits!!! The first was from NewLife Dreams ofering me her beautiful annd jam-packed Something to Remember kit

I used several elements on my ADSR Challenge 1 LO that you saw in my last post.

I also used the butterfly pin from this kit on this LO
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The other offer i got was to create a LO using the kit of my choice from Gisela B over at Scrapbooking Heaven. Have you seen her stuff --- wow!

I chose her Nature Calls kit and created this outdoorsy LO of my baby Bear --- isn't he soo cute!!! He looks like such an old man with that white beard. He actually turned 7 on Martin Luther King's birthday.

Gisela and Mareen liked my LO enough to invite me to be on her CT! I can't wait to get my hands on her new spring Kit JOY.

Speaking of CT's, the other fabulously creative ladies I CT for have some new items you should see:

Mikkel Paige has the adorable clear acrylic alphas -- two kinds! Did you see them on my First Frineds LO??

And Tangie Baxter has these cuuuute children Silhouettes

and these versatile mix-and-match Round Tags with a bunch of frames, backgrounds and fasteners -- I know I;ll get a lot of use out of these! I used the Silhouettes in the First Friend LO too.

So what are ya waiting for --- get off my blog and go grab some of their stuff!!!!

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Prom LO

So in June my son KC took his first love, Taylor, to his high school prom. They were such a gorgeous couple -- they looked like they stepped out of a fairy tale! She even wore a tiara and a blue dress reminiscent of Cinderella!
So I finally got around to scrapping some of the photos (here is my LO)
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The only problem is, they broke up a few months ago and now he doesn't even want to see the photos!
Oh, well, they did go to the prom together, and it was memorable for us as well as him, so hopefully one day he will look at the photos taken that day and remember it with wistful memories instead of hearbreak...

ADSR

So, Stephanie (HapEScrapr) and I have entered the Amazing Digi Scrap Race.
I didn't enter for the prizes (although they are a great bonus!) but rather for the chance to get to know Steph better, find some great new digiscrap websites & designers, and mostly, to spark some major creativity.
Challenge 1--
1. You have to use this template:

2.Use your favorite color on the layout. Try to make at least half of your layout in your favorite color so we can all see what it is.
3. Share with us a picture of your favorite person or animal to scrap about on your layout. I want to know who or what is closest to your heart.
4. Go through your collection of digital elements and pick out one of your favorites. Then use at least three times on your layout.

So here is the Lo I came up with: (my favorite color is pink, but I was feeling kinda silver that day!) And I have 8 people closest to my heart (I am missing DH Keith but he is OK with that).
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And here is my partner Stephanie's LO:
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Cute kids, huh?????

The last Scrap event I entered was the Stand Up & Scrap Challenge -- I totally shocked myself by coming in 5th in the Intermediate division and tied for 12th overall out of over 250 entrants. Not too shabby for someone who had just begun to scrap digitally a few months before. But when I entered, I set a personal goal to get into the top 10 once during the 6 weeks of the contest ---and I did it!!

BUT the real reward of entering was seeing all the wonderful, creative LOs made by the other contestants. Every week they just got better and better, influencing me, teaching me, and inspiring me.
So ADSR participants -- are you up to that challenge???

Wedding Layouts

So my daughter has been married since September -- of LAST year -- and I have recently been inspired to do some wedding LOs.

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Of course I am supposed to be doing a wedding album for them -- simple and modern -- which I really, really do have every intention of doing -- but right now I am loving taking tiny bits of the wedding and highlighting them in individual pages.

I think this is helping me to see the wedding as a series of mini events,-- individual moments -- rather than a single event. It lets me explore the different emotions, gestures and relationships that made is such a special day.

It certainly helps that I have recently gotten some of the most BEAUTIFUL kits that have truly inspired me, like those from Annie Manning, especially Perfect Day and Charmes d'atan, and Natali's Purity and Variation.

Honestly, I think my reluctance to start their album is my fear of it NOT BEING PERFECT...
I think this is a common problem for scrappers.
We have these special memories we want to preserve, but our fear of them not looking EXACTLY like we envision them prevents us from scrapping them at all!

When making these LOs about my daughter getting ready for the Big Day, I wanted to show the bride getting ready --- but notice you don't see her face... instead you see little bits that show the ceremonial primping, the dress, the veil, the shoes --- along with the feeling of apprehension as she gets ready -- her clenched hands... the walk down the hall toward her future...

Me asking, "Are you ready?"
Are you ready to go?
Are you ready to get married?
Are you ready for the future??
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Doing the above LO inspired me to extract an actual wedding bouquet from one of the photos and make this simpler, more realistic LO:



I like them both, but I know that the one with the real bouquet is much more representative of the actual wedding. Pam certainly likes it better and I think so do I.

But I had this NEED to use Velma Balint's new Timeless Kit. LOL!! And if i hadn't done the first LO, the one with the real bouquet might never have been created.

And anyway, isn't that what scrapbooking is all about???

Trying different things, learning along the way, and most of all,
saving and savoring those memories????



Some fun photos of Tayler skating with the skates and pads I got her last Christmas. She looks sooo happy!!! And I was so happy to finally use the Tickled Pink kit from Amy Hutchinson.


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Isn't this funny??? I got this idea from a card my daughter had given to my husband. This LO was made to highlight the fab products in Tangie Baxter's Mystery Kit #2.

New Contest at TBD

We're playing a new little game at The Loft! The winner gets a TBD gift certificate.
The layout you need to find is in the Creative team superstars gallery. It has 2 framed photos in sepia, and a tag with a date on it is hanging from one of the frames. There is a crown in it as well...
Send your answers to TBDloft@gmail.com by midnight (EST) on February 18th, and we'll draw one lucky winner. The winner will be announced on the 19th. Good luck, have fun looking through our great gallery!
Don't forget about the Mystery Case ...Available until Wednesday February 13th only!

Lovin Annie Manning Paint the Moon Designs

Yesterday morning I opened my email to find a wonderful surprise --- Annie Manning of Paint-the-Moon Designs RAK'd me her beautiful new Charmes d'atan Add-On kit! I love it!! She is so sweet!
This kit is beautifully whimsical and perfect for heritage LOs. I knew everyone would make these awesome feminine LOs using it, so last night I decided to make a "manly" LO of my son Shane with it. I had these photos of him in my computer from a trip to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, from a visit to my grandmother's house that I really wanted to scrap. So with this great kit, combined with JenU's new Natural Wonders: Down by the Seashells (gorgeous and sooo realistic), I was able to create a slightly offbeat beach LO. credits


But I wasn't done there -- I had too much CocaCola at work last night and it kept me up most of the night so I scrapped another LO for the next challenge at the Loft. Ypu have to mix and match at least 5 different kits -- easy peasy for me!!!
I used the Charmes d'atan Mega Kit along with some fab new items from Tangie Baxter's Mystery Box #2 (do you want me to tell which items are from the Mystery Box??? Nah, I'll let you be surprised! (hint: she's making a set of vintage paper items...) plus tons of folige and flowers from her Royal Court kits and her amazing Spring Forest Floor set. Plus a few others! See the credits to see all I used. I adore the Misc. Wordart I added from Jen Wilson (I love her stuff!!)
That striped ribbon is Annie's -- as soon as I saw it I knew it would be on one of my next LOs. Doesn't Annie make the BEST ribbons & bows????
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These photos of Pam & Mike &Tayler were taken Christmas of 2005, the one of just Pam & Tayler a bit later. I love how happy Tayler looks in the bottom photo -- lately it's so hard to get photos of her where she's not making silly faces.

At the TBD Loft we're playing a quick game. You will have to search the shop and find products that match a list of clues. We will draw one $5 gift card for every 5 correct answers.
Send your answers to TBDloft@gmail.com by midnight (EST) on February 11th. We will announce our winner on the 12th.
Good luck and have fun looking through Tangie's fabulous designs.

TBD Loft -- Come One Come All !!

Tangie and Stephanie (HapEScrapr) have done an amazing job setting up a CT blog for Tangie Baxter Designs! Now you;ll find us hangin' out at The Loft...
Won't you come join us?? We've even got our first blog Challenge!!

In honor of Tangie's newest releases, Her Royal Court and His Royal Court digiscrap kits, we want to know what you would do "If You Were Queen for the Day?"
Only a couple of guidelines: Must have the color purple and the words "If I were Queen for the day..." somewhere in the layout.
The winner will get Their Royal Court Alpha & Numbers set plus a $10 gift card!
Two runners up will get $5 gift cards to the shop.
So come to The Loft and link us up to your entry by Thursday 02/07. See ya there!!!!

So cute!

I am on a roll using Tangie Baxter's new stuff!! Here's another LO I did using her new Fundamentals papers and tabbed frames. And of course I had to add some of the gorgeous foliage from her Spring Forest Floor kit and her fabulous glitter Natural Influence paper.

I always call my son Gage "Mo" -- I don't know why. I just started when he was a baby and it has stuck. So when I saw how cute he looked in this photo with our ferret Zoey I knew I had to scrap it! At 15, most of the photos I take of him have his hand, or more likely, his hair, in front of his face!

Pushing 50...

So today I turned 47.
I have officially lived longer than my mother.

This fact somehow saddens me at the same time that if makes me feel relieved.
My mom died of complications related to kidney disease at just 46 years of age (in fact, she was buried on my 26th birthday.) Of course I am relieved because having had cancer 15 years ago, I have always had that unsttling feeling that I, too, would die young. The age of my mother's death sort of loomed over me, that scary number.
Mom was sooo young, and missed out on sooo much -- my sister growing up, my brother's wedding, her younger sister's losing battle with AIDS, her parents last years, never seeing 10 of her 13 grandchildren, not seeing the wonderful adults her children have become.
So of course I am relieved to know that I have not left my children behind as she did. My sister was about the same age ( just 14) as my youngest daughter is now. I can't imagine being motherless at such a vulnerable, tender, emotional age... a time when it is so important to both bond with and seperate from the person most important and influential woman in your life. The woman you most want to be like --- and the woman you swear you won't ever be like!! I have lived long enough to see my oldest daughter married, spend none womderful years with my dear granddaughter, see my two older sons graduate high school, things I was always afraid I would miss. And am I done??? No way!!!!!!
So although this was a tough birthday, I am so thankful to know that now I am also officially pushing 50!!! Happy birthday to me!


Here is a LO I did a few days ago using an adorable new kit from Tangie Baxter called Aunt Tangie's Toy Box. This is a photo of our niece Madison blowing out candles on her 5th birthday cake, wishing, of course, for TOYS! I love that it looks like there is no background on this LO.




And FLERGS over at Scraphead was offering an oh-so-pretty mini kit as a CT challenge kit so I just HAD to make a LO using it! I did add just a few other elements from other kits of hers that I had. I loved these photos of my daughter Pam when she was about 7 years old. They really show her personality. She hated these photos because she was wearing a bright orange shirt -- but when I softened the color of the photos using Lightroom her shirt became a tolerable shade of pink! Wasn't she cute??

She still is!!

Want to see a few more Los???

I love this photo of Tayler taken at Pam & Mike's wedding... so of course I had to scrap it!
Journaling says: "Tayler -- I love this photo of you in your new Daddy's arms. You look so content, so secure. So serene.

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Shane getting his tattoo. When our son Shane told us he wanted a tattoo as a graduation present, I was not too happy. Yes, all his friends had them, but this is my baby we're talking about!!! And a tattoo is forever!!!
A few years earlier I had admired tattoo work on two different people and both had them done by the same tattoo artist, so I told him that if he got one, I had to choose who did it and suggested that guy, Larry Davis. Shane agreed and spent months looking for just the right lion. Finally he found this photo of a young male lion and knew that it was "the one". After calling about eight tattoo parlors, I finally found Larry. We met with him and looked at his portfolio and knew he was the perfect artist for the job. His tattoos looked like pencil sketches and he specialized in portraits. Larry told Shane that he had to wait until he was 18, so Shane got it two weeks after graduation, on his 18th birthday. Four hours -- and $300 -- later, I did have to admit that it was beautiful work..

Grandma Morrisey with my Dad, Phil, and his baby brother ,Robert.
I had borrowed my Grandmother's photo albums last year to make some copies for a Digital Scrapbook I was making for her 90th birthday. I totally fell in love with the pictures of my Dad as a child. He died when he was only 25 years old, so for my Grandmother, most of her memories of him were as child. And since I was only 5 when he died, and I was the oldest of his four children (the youngest still not born yet), I really have only small snippets of memories of him. This photo really appealed to me because of the beautiful light coming in the window.

My son Gage's 2007 JV Football team.

The lovely Bridesmaids at my older daughter Pam's September 2006 wedding.
My youngest, Lynnea, Pam, Nikki and Kiya.
I loved how the flowers in this LO perfectly matched the pink roses in the girls' bouquets.
I had gone a bit crazy getting the perfect color roses for the wedding! I went into NYC twice for sample roses, then the day before the wedding I went into the city to pick them up from a wholesale florist and delivered them to the florist who was making the bouquets -- even though the price for the bouquets included the flowers! The florist couldn't get that particular rose, but I could.

My son Shane at his Graduation in June 2005. I loved the shot I took of the mortarboards flying in the air so I put them around the title. I was dying to use Birgit's frames. And isn't that tassel from Lemonaid Lucy really fun -- the 2005 charm hanging froom it is from Kim Higueria's Graduation keychains -- both were freebies.