A HERITAGE kit this time!

Yea! I just LOVE doing my family genealogy (although, I admit....digiscrappin has taken over a big portion of the time I used to spend doing it.) At My Scrap Shop, the theme for Feb was Heritage/Vintage and every posting bonus was designed with this theme in mind.

One of the challenges they have there is the Members Design A Kit, or DAK for short. Trish picked the color pallette for this from a site for old house colors. Here's the link to where she got the idea. http://www.oldhousecolors.com/2007/0...-house-colors/ There are some interesting color names there like DRAB, SHUTTER GREEN and Inside White vs. Outside White. LOL! But they made for interesting colors for my Heritage kit.

It's just a mini this time, 12 papers and a few embies. One is an 1870 US Fed Census that I "doctored" up to look older than the scanned images at Ancestry.com (which is where I got this one listing one of my ancestors.) Hope you like it.

I only had 2 days as I did Kimb's challenge first and that was after procrastinating on it for about 2 weeks. (grin) Well, I do tend to put things off 'till the last minute. LOL! So, anyway, I will probably get around to doing an add-on to this one as I like heritage kits so well. And the wordart add-on that I did for Grandmother's Parlor will go with this kit nicely, too! I especially like my gold scrollwork that you could use as a border on any of the papers and the scenery of the barn is a picture I took of the old barn at the family farm that's been in our extended family since the early 1800's.

Here's the preview:

And here's the links to download:

Elements 1

Elements 2

Papers 1

Papers 2

So that's it for this weekend. Hope you can use this kit for your own family tree pages!

I've been tagged!

I almost forgot. Bunny Cates tagged me this morning. I have to go to My Pictures, go to the 6th folder and then to the 6th picture in the folder. This is my photo. It's my grandmother, Lillie Missouri Gay Spiker and do you see what she's wearing to rake the hay field????? A DRESS!!!! For goodness sakes. Can you believe it?? LOL!!

Now I have to tag 6 other people to do this same 6th folder, 6th picture thing. So hear's my choices:

1. Crops2dawn

2. PkDoll

3. Vanessa

4. Bekah

5. Eilajean

6. Cindyrelly

You've been tagged, ladies! Let's see those pics! Here's your instructions:

•Go to your photo folder in your computer

•Go to the 6th folder of photos

•Go to the sixth picture

•Put the picture on your blog and a description of it

•Invite six friends to join the challenge

•Link them in your blog.

Layouts to show you

And they all used my new kit, Bring Me A Dream! I just love it when I find layouts people used my kits to make. I enjoy seeing the different ways they used all the elements. This first one is from my loyal friend, Crops2Dawn, who always cheers me up and pats me on the back whether I deserve it or not. She even had a "pity" party for me on my birthday and got "skunked". Well, she pretended to get drunk. LOL! (See my comments area on Fri 13th) She's a dear, dear friend even though we've never met. I love this layout of hers!

The next layout is from my ever faithful follower, Eye! And just look where she put Mr. Sandman! LOL! So, so cute! Great page, Eye! I just LOVE it!

And this next one is from another good friend at SBM and DSO. Makeyesup made this wonderful layout of her granddaughters just one night after Christmas. I doubt Mr Sandman had a hard time getting them to sleep after such a busy day. Aren't they sweet?

Thank you, ladies for your beautiful work and for letting me show them off! I'm glad you like the new kit. I just love seeing sleeping children, don't you? They are so warm and sweet and innocent.

Ok, just one more and this one is my own layout of 2 of my grandsons. And yes, there's Cameron the model for my Mr. Sandman! He loved playing the part and was so patient with me taking his picture. I love you, Cameron!

I have a couple things on my desktop that I'm working on. We'll have to wait and see what gets done first! Keep checking back for the next chapter in my journey to become a digiscrap designer.

Freebie for you!

I always liked the song. The words changed depending on who was singing........a man or a woman but it always made you want Mr Sandman to turn his magic beam your way! As I told you, these colors just didn't sit well with me. I couldn't get anything from it until I was singing this song to my grandbaby and......well, here's what I did with Kimb's Color Challenge this month.

A little different from all the flowers and hearts others were doing but I hope you like it. Here's the prevew. Not everything is included in the preview as I did several colors of some of the elements. Lots of glitter and stars and even a sparkle so you can make everthing shine!

You even get my own Mr. Sandman if you want him. Or make your own little man into Mr. Sandman!! His bag of sand is separate so you can use it anywhere with anybody. Your downloads are here:

Elements 1

Elements 2

Papers 1

Papers 2

And don't forget to stop by Kimb's challenge to collect all the free kits in this color palette so you can have one MEGA sized kit!

I know, I KNOW!

There's just one week left to get my kit done for Kimb's Feb color challenge! My excuse? Well, Feb's a short month! It crept up on me faster than normal! Hahahaha! Awww......you know me. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow! But I am working on one. If you go to DSO, you can still get TONS of freebies already from those crazy people who always seem to get theirs done EARLY! Like Crops! She even had the nerve to do an ADD-ON already! Hahaha! And it's gorgeous, as always!

These colors were really NOT my style. I saw 60's psychedelic (goodness! How do you spell THAT one?) right off the bat! Long hair, bell bottoms and hippies dancing around with flowers in their hair. But I kept looking at them, trying to see ANYthing else. Started going off on the spring side with hyacinths and crocuses, some tulips........ but just couldn't get it right. So I'll save those for later in the spring. FINALLY, I think I may have hit on something.......Want a hint? Ok, but you gotta sing this in your head as you read it...........you ready?...........Are you sure?...........nah, let's leave it a surprise...................... No?................Ok try this...............Mr Sandman, Bring Me A Dream! Uh HUH! Had to sing it, didn't ya! Now, if only I don't change my mind again. Guess it's STILL gonna be a surprise then, huh! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Check back next week. (Better make it that weekend. sigh)

Forgot to tell you.....

I've got my own MONTH! Bwahahahaha! Yep, Eilajean made up a month JUST FOR ME! Eilajean was someone I met through Crops' blog and she never fails to entertain me. For my birthday, she made me a very special card using my Dec Color Challenge kit. When I read her post, I burst out laughing. I can't tell you any more. You've just got to visit her blog and check it out. See Friday 13th post. And thanks again, Eilajean! You're the BEST.

I've got some pretty layouts....

And I just HAVE to show them off! Another good friend from SBM, SACannon, has made a layout using my Grandmother's Parlor kit and allowed me to show it off to you! Sue had my name for our After-Christmas gift exchange at SBM and sent me some wonderful things from her area of Ohio, USA. Her layout is of a wedding photo of her aunt and uncle! Isn't it a beautiful photo?

And then my good friend, Eye has sent me another one. She is making a wedding album for herself and is trying to include something from every person at SBM! I am SO honored to be included in her album. Wasn't she a beautiful bride?

I just love having people send me their layouts!! If YOU use any of my kits, will you please send them to me? I'd love to show them off!!

I've been working on some CT layouts for Jazz this week. She has been VERY sick with pneumonia and has been trying to stay in bed and OUT of the hospital so she hasn't been blogging since the end of Jan. I miss her! She could REALLY use your prayers. But she did manage to get some new word art into her store at DSO! Last I checked it was marked at 25% OFF and is called Love Day Tags! Hurry here and get it before the sale goes off! Want to see a preview? OK!

REALLY cute, huh! And they aren't specific to lovers. So many of them can be used with children or grandchildren layouts as well. Gotta love THAT! Sue used one of them in her layout above of her Aunt and Uncle!!


I haven't used any of these YET! But I did use some of her latest kits. These next two are of children of a friend of mine. I used Jazz's Girl Power for this first one.

I did this layout for Jazz's Photo Op Challenge at DSO! She hosts a challenge where all you have to do is "change" your photo is SOME way. Doesn't matter if it's sepia or b&w or something a little more advanced but you have to include HOW you changed it so that the rest of us can try the same technique! And your posting bonus is always some kind of wordart! Cool, huh! For this layout, I extracted the little girl from the original, hit copy layer, then turned the "eye" off so it would be invisible. Then working on the original again, I used smart blur to soften the picture so it looked more like a watercolor. For the top photo, I did the same but then used the Hard Light blending mode and faded it into the background. Then turned the "eye" back on for the extracted girl so she would be still in place over her blurred image but she would still be clear. And voila!

For this next layout I used Jazz's Tiny Love Notes from DSO. This layout has been chosen as a Gallery Standout at DSO! I'm so tickled. By the way, my layout of my parents kissing (see the Jan 29th posting below) has been nominated for Layout Of the Week at My Scrap Shop! I'm on a roll! LOL! Anyway back to THIS layout. This is the baby sister of the girl in my above layout. Aren't they both just the sweetest things? Perfect little posers!

I made this one while practicing on my cluster work. I just love how it turned out. Wasn't sure about using wordart for this and asked my SBM friends for their opinion on the clustering and got some great advice! (I can always count on my friends there to help me out! Thanks, guys!)

Well, guess that's it for today. Stop by the SBM gallery and leave my friends, Eye and SACannon, some lovin' on their layouts, will ya? And tell them I sent ya!!

What a night.......

It certainly didn't turn out the way we planned. The girls surprised me early in the day to say we were getting pedicures before we went to the restaurant. WHAT??!! But I didn't shave my legs! That's OK, Mom. I'll bring you a razor to work. Can you get off early? Sure, we had several cancellations so no prob.

That's when the trouble began. Rachel took her 4 kids to her dad's place as her stepmother promised to watch all the grandkids for us. (Her first time alone with all of them.) Cassidy met her there and dropped off her 2. Then, for some reason, Rachel's dad insists she get tires on her van before we go out. In the mean time, my boss lets me off work at 3:00. BUT I have to wait on the girls. At 5:00 as my co-workers are all leaving, he says "Are you sure they're coming?" Rachel has no cell phone so I'm wondering the answer to this myself but I continue to wait. At 5:40 they pull up and haven't even gotten her check cashed yet. "We'll be right back." Ok. So I'm rolling my hair when they get back. Then I have to shave my legs. In a sink that hangs off the wall. So here I am with my leg all hitched up in the sink when the girls knock to get in.

Now, I KNOW they have my camera out there and I'm just sure that's what they are planning so here I am trying to keep the door locked while shaving as fast as I can. They find the key and are breaking in, I'm pushing against the door, still with one leg in the sink.......well, we were certainly having FUN! And NO you can't see the pic! Bwahahahahaha!!

We got our pedicures done and came back to pick up my cell phone and saw there was a message. Seems the stepmother was suddenly too sick to watch the kids. We couldn't find anyone else to watch them so the girls headed out to pick up their kids and I headed home alone. Stopped by Chick-fil-a and got a sandwich. I hate February.

Late that night the girls called and said to meet them at the ER. Stepmother had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance and they need ME to watch all the grandkids. So now I'm feeling bad because I thought the kids were just too much for her to handle alone. I am SUCH an evil person. I WAS actually going to send a Thank You card after my evening out but now it will have to be a Get-Well card! I go and pick up the babies. Next morning I find out they couldn't find anything wrong with her and were just putting it down to a virus. Hmmmmm........

One good thing, I think the girls were as disappointed as I. We were all getting along and having a good time teasing each other. Then BAM....February rears it's ugly head..............But we do have pretty toe nails. Wanna see?

Doin' the Birthday Shuffle

I can't dance. Ask anyone. I just sorta shuffle around so......I'm doin' the Birthday Shuffle! Looks kinda like a Boot Scootin' Boogie but it's not! And stop laughing, you guys!

I already gave you your gift so now it's time for me to get goodies! ...............................uh hum..........yeah, that's what I figured. Everyone at home is still in bed on this special day. And I'm sitting here at work waiting for the mad rush of calls from yesterday's wind storm. BUT.....they promised to take me to a Japanese Steak house and sushi bar tonight! Yippee! I love that place except when they throw the food at you. Hahahaha! Never been to one, you say? Well, it's quite a treat. Ya gotta try it at least once. But watch out! All the ones I've been to have this one moment when they throw a bite of food at you and you're SUPPOSED to catch it in your mouth....................right. I NEVER let them throw my food at me but the guy next to me will invariable miss and it lands in my hair. Yuck! I try to time my bathroom break for that "one moment". (Good tip there for you.)

And yes, BABY sister, I DID get the large one that swivels........ so I don't have to turn my glasses upside down like Mom! LOL! And remember, you've had bifocals a LOT longer than I have!!!!! See Crops! You aren't the only one with evil sisters! But I sure wish they were all 3 here to go with me to the Steak House tonight. (Yes, Jean. That means you too!) But the BABY is in Florida and I don't think she wants to fly 2 hours up and 2 hours back just to go to the Japanese Steak house with me. She could be here before the others who are in West Virginia yet still nearly 4 hours drive from me but it would cost her a good bit more than them. But if she REALLY loved me....................

Well, the calls are starting so I better get to work. Hope your day is bright and shiny! (And that I GET something bright and shiny, too. Heehee!)

I'm Baa-aack!

Couldn't stand it anymore! I missed my computer! Sad, isn't it? That I couldn't get out and find something else to do? Well, I did but it was shopping for a new monitor! LOL!

Sorry, Crops! I just don't want the hassle of Vista if I can get around it. I took Eilajean's advice and got the new monitor for now. I remembered Circuit City was going out of business so got a good deal on one. I am UP, SET and BACK on TRACK! Now when my computer goes down, I'll still have a good monitor to add to the laptop I'll get then. I really want a laptop so I can do my creating anywhere I want......in the car, on vacation, etc. But I'll hold out for a little longer anyway.

Thanks everyone for all the comments and downloads of Grandmother's Parlor and the wordart add-on. You've all cheered me up immensely! And now I can get back to working on new stuff! Yippee!

Wow! This wind is ferocious! 40 and 50 MPH winds here with a lot of damage everywhere! My day job as a CSR for an auto glass replacement company is about to get even busier. (sigh) We are still trying to catch up after the ice storm and now THIS! I'm at work right now and the front door keeps getting SUCKED open! That's right! It opens outward and is being sucked out! Then things in the office keep getting blown around. It's gonna be a bad day. Yeah, it's February. At least there's no damage at my house.........not yet. We've tried to prepare and have everything "battened down" that we can think of. Hope you all are safe where ever you are!

Computer trouble

Well, shucks! My computer monitor went kerpluey. My repair guy says "Replace it." But now I have a choice to make. Buy just a monitor and keep my computer tower with XP and hope it doesn't go next or buy a notebook with that yucky Vista on it. I'm going to wait to see what my Tax refund might be, could be I can't afford the new notebook anyway. But this curtails my designing until I can make a decision. Luckily, I already uploaded your birthday gift and I'll give it to you early, just in case something else goes wrong. (It was going to be handed out on Friday the 13th. Yep! Every so often my birthday is actually on Friday the 13th!!!) I can still get online at work, so let me know if you like it or not. That will cheer me up, anyway.

I hate February. I know it's my birthday month but if something is going to go wrong in my life, it happens in Feb. My husband left me on my birthday, then the divorce was final in Feb. My dad died in Feb. My 1st cousin died in Feb. Last Feb, my mother was gravely ill and we almost lost her. She has since promised me NOT to die in Feb! LOL! These are just SOME of the things but they are the most devastating. So, here we go again. Keep your fingers crossed for me as this is just the beginning of the month. Who knows what else can go wrong before March 1st!

Ok, my birthday gift to you! (Say a prayer as you download. My bad luck has never rubbed off on anyone else before this but it helps to be on the safe side!) I just made up a little group of genealogy wordart to go with Grandmother's Parlor. I love genealogy!! Hope you do, too!

Here's the preview:


And you can go here to download:
Grandmother's Parlor Wordart Gift

Ok, hope this works and you can see the preview. I've never tried to put an image from photobucket on here before. I always upload a pic from my computer so hope you can see it and that you like genealogy as much as I do! Until next time - BIG HUGS!

Workin' on somethin' new!

I've got a birthday this month so thought I'd give you all a gift! LOL! Well, they are all gifts as I'm not confident enough yet to apply to a store and.....well....... I just like doing the freebies so I don't disappoint anyone. If I mess up, you can throw it out! LOL! Anyway, I'm working on something to go with my Grandmother's Parlor kit and, if I get it done, Kimb's new color challenge at DSO has PURLPLE in it (as in Amethyst, February's birthstone) so thought I'd work with that and see what I come up with. Purple is my sister, Bobbi's and my daughter, Rachel's favorite color so I can't name it after either one or the other will get jealous! Bwahahahaha!!! I love you, guys!

So be sure to check back on the 13th for my birthday gift to you and watch for my color challenge contribution, too!