A Month of Comfort & Joy - Day 1

I had so much fun with my A Month of Thanks album last month, that I decided to do another daily album for December. Since it's Christmas-time, I thought of the lyric "tidings of comfort and joy"; thus, my album. Here's my layout for Day 1:

I used Winter Flakes by 3 Scrapateers. It's included in this month's Design Club downloads. It has 6 kits this month; one Christmas kit, 4 winter kits, and one winter paper kit.
I didn't do very well posting my daily thankfulness pages last month. I'm going to work on being more faithful with my blogging this month.

The Last Speed Scrap of November

Paul just reminded me that November ends Wednesday. The good part is that it's payday. I love Christmas, but this year has seemed to fly by, especially the last couple weeks. I didn't accomplish anything I intendedd to do with my long weekend. My house is still not clean and we didn't clean out the living room to make space for the Christmas tree we haven't yet bought. To paraphrase Scarlett O'Hara, next weekend is another weekend. Oh well!

Jessica led another great speed scrap on the MyMemories Facebook page. Here's the instruction layout she posted:

And here's my interpretation:

We have a few trees in our yard, but this is my favorite. Maybe it's because it's closest to the house, so I look at it more often. Maybe it's because of this side of it. Paul pointed out that it looks like a face. Can you see it?

Thanksgiving at Mom and Tony's was great. We all ate too much. We laughed and laughed. Alex had me laughing so hard trying to teach Margie to smile with her eyes open, I literally laughed until I peed! I haven't scrapped Thanksgiving yet. I know the kits I want to use, I just have to wait until I have the money in my account to buy them. It's not like I don't have tons of other pictures to scrap! I finished my October album. This may just be my favorite layout from Halloween:

It's definitely one of my faves anyway. Another page I really like from the October album, I just did today.

This is the first time I've used the background effect. I don't think I ever even tried that when I was paper scrapping!

I guess that's plenty for today. I'll try to keep up better!

Polly Girl

Here are my latest pages about Polly:

Family Traditions

The My Memories weekly challenge this week is Family Traditions. My family doesn't have much of a tradition on Thanksgiving. We haven't really since Grandma was no longer able to have Thanksgiving at her house. I decided to focus on Christmas. Again, Christmas is different now. When we were kids, we had homemade fudge; we left fudge, cookies, and hot chocolate for Santa and went to look at Christmas lights while he left our gifts, then we opened our presents. We always decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. I don't remember doing it when we were kids, but as adults, we had fudge and hot chocolate while we decorated the tree. I don't remember reading the Christmas story from the Bible consistently when we were children, but it did become a regular occurrence as we got older. I think it was after Mom got remarried when she began making homemade chili on Christmas Eve. At some point, Jiffy Cobblers were added to the mix. I don't have pictures of many of these traditions. For the challenge, I focused on the three I do have pictures of: chili, cobbler, and the Christmas story.

I haven't bought any Christmas kits yet, so I improvised with what I have available.
I read a suggestion of creating a page a day for the month of November, documenting what you're thankful for. I loved the idea, so I'm doing it. I'm behind on my blogging, so I haven't been posting my pages. There are a few that I don't have pictures for yet, so I haven't even posted to Facebook. Here's my page for today:

Polly had a doctor's appointment today. I'm always thankful when my dog is disease-free. We've been taking our pets to Westridge Animal Hospital since they opened. Dr. Murray, the owner, is an excellent veterinarian. At first, I was nervous when he started bringing in other vets to work with him. They have all proven to be just as good, or almost anyway, as Dr. Murray. Although I just love him, I'm perfectly fine with Polly seeing him or Dr. Burns.

Hats Off Challenge

The weekly challenge on the My Memories blog is Hats Off. When I read the post, I immediately thought of the pictures Paul took of me wearing his new cap at the fair. Here's my submission:

I love the challenges! They're so fun and motivational! I used the Love My Guy kit. (I can't remember the designer right now, but it's available in the MMS shop.) I didn't even look at the embellishments before I did the rest of the layout. As soon as I saw the button, I knew it was the perfect addition to my page. 

Trick or Treat Challenge

Two subjects I've been working on lately are Halloween and my A Month of Thanks album. I can't work on just one thing; I get bored. Here's the layout I'm entering in the Trick or Treat Challenge on the My Memories blog:

For my A Month of Thanks album, I'm choosing one thing per day that I'm thankful for and creating a layout about it. I sticking with a fall theme, so I'm using a lot of oranges and earthtones and whatever else is in the autumny kits I've downloaded so far. Here's my page for Nov. 3: 

Until Nov 15, I'm still driving all the way to Marshall to work. Wednesday night, I ended up with the front left tire and the spare tire going flat. (Notice the missing hubcap? Yeah. It was too broken to even put back on.) This is the first car Paul and I have had that hasn't had a lot of problems. This is the first Chevrolet I've ever owned; I'm a Chevy girl, now!

Freebie Time!

I'm really behind on posting. Sounds like a good time for some freebies. And just today I got the links for new freebies from My Memories. Each kit contains 2 quick pages, as well as the papers and embellishments used. Here's a picture of the first set:

You can download it here.

Here's the page I did using one of the quick pages:

I just added an embellishment (included in the kit), the date, and a little caption. I used the "match" and "picker" tool to match the colors for my journaling with the page. It took me longer to choose the photo than to create the page. Check back later in the week for more freebies!

And don't forget, you can save $10 on the purchase price of My Memories Suite 2.0 with coupon code STMMMS24479. When you purchase the software, you also get a coupon code for $10 in the My Memories store.

And the Winner Is . . .

The lucky winner of the My Memories software is . . . April Hawkins! As soon as I have the info for you, I'll send you an email. I know you'll love the program and all the wonderful things you can do with it. The possibilities are almost limitless. Enjoy!

No Faces Challenge

The challenge on the My Memories blog this week is No Faces. I almost immediately thought of our trip to Houston. (Could that be because I've been working on that album since this weekend?!) I knew I had some shots of Paul that weren't showing his face. My favorite is this one of him looking out from the Observation Deck at the San Jacinto Monument. Here's what I came up with:

I opted for simplicity on this one. This is the first layout where I've used the 'blur' special effect in the software. I think it helps draw attention to the smaller photos.

Speed Scrap & FREE MMS Software!!!

Sunday's My Memories Speed Scrap was a technique I haven't used much and learned to use in a new way. Basically, we used the Word Art tool to use pictures as words. I've done that before, on the title pages of my San Antonio and Houston albums, but I had never even thought of using it on a page, especially doing each letter individually to use a different picture in each letter. Here's my layout:

Now for the good news: I'm holding a giveaway for one lucky person to get My Memories Suite 2.0 for FREE. You read that right . . . FREE! I'm transferring from my current job in Marshall, TX to a new position in Texarkana. I want to share my excitement with you! All you have to do for a chance to win is click to follow my blog, visit the shop at My Memories, browse around, and tell me the name and designer of your favorite kit. I plan to announce the winner next Friday, November 4. Ready . . . . Set . . . . Go!

NOT Picture Perfect Challenge

This weeks challenge at the My Memories blog is for those pictures that didn't turn out like you wanted. We all have them, in many different variations: out of focus, not looking at the camera, making a face, some extraneous object (or person) gets in the frame, or maybe something in the background looks like it's part of the subject (like antlers growing out of somebody's head). I've had my share of out of focus pictures lately. My original thought was to scrap the pics Paul took of me with the pot belly pigs in the petting zoo at the fair. But, since those are the only pictures I have me petting the pigs, I'm gonna use them in the album and I haven't bought the kit(s) I want to use yet. Then I remember the pictures I took of Polly running in the yard the other day. When I uploaded them to the computer, I deleted a lot of the blurry pictures, but I kept a few of them. I was thinking I might want to show how fast she runs. Then came the challenge. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Here's my layout:

Again, I know it's not the winner, but I'm pretty happy with it. And a good thing about digi scrapping: If I wanna change it later, I can. Oh! I just had a brain storm! Gotta go make some adjustments!

I'm back. I just added a couple of things. I like this better:

This one is my challenge layout. :)

Speed Scrap and Text Wrap

Well, yesterday was Sunday, so that means it was Speed Scrap time on the MyMemories Facebook page. These were the instructions:

I ended up making three layouts:

I had a lot of fun with this technique, once I watched the video and figured out how to do it! The picture of Paul at the Alamo is from our trip to San Antonio in December 2009. I started on the album for the trip, but I didn't get very far. Since we went in December, I want to use a Christmas theme. The problem? The only Christmas "supplies" I have are the freebies I've found. None of them are quite what I'm looking for. As soon as I have the extra money, I'll buy a kit or two and really get started on it.
Since I couldn't work on the San Antonio trip, I decided to work on our Houston trip from June 2010. Since it was summer, I decided to go with a summer theme. Again, I haven't bought any summer kits yet, but I have enough from the MMS software and the freebies I've downloaded that I can move forward with it. I'm sure I'll make some changes, add some embellishments, when I buy more goodies. Here's the first page with photos:

The challenge on the MyMemories blog this week is Text Wrap. I've been thinking and thinking, trying to come up with a submission. I love text wrap, but I haven't used it very often. None of the layouts I've worked on since Wednesday have been good candidates for wrapping text around the photo. Until this one:

I know this is not the challenge-winning layout, but that isn't really the point. If I only entered challenges that I thought I would win, I'd never enter. Challenges are fun. I get to create something and maybe even get some feedback on it.

Speed Scrap Fun

It's Sunday, which means Speed Scrap time at My Memories' facebook page. Here's my layout.

I rearranged the photo only template I chose. The instructions also said to use just one photo. I thought it would set them apart if I turned the cropped ones black and white. Too bad there isn't a Smurfs kit. I improvised and use blueberries from the Love You Berry Much kit to represent Smurfberries. It's different than what I would normally do, but I'm happy with the result.

Framed Challenge

The MMS blog weekly challenge was simple this week: just use a frame. My entry seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

I'm a little behind on my scrapbooking this week. I'm so ready to get transferred! I'll have more money and more free time. I'll actually have time and energy to get some things done around the house. And more layouts done!

Fall Challenge

The MM blog challenge for today was fall. The first topic I though of was falling more and more in love with Paul. Here's the layout I made for his album:

I originally had hearts matching the title and mats in the three empty corners. Paul and I both liked it better without them. I wish I had a red glitter scatter that was either plain glitter or hearts. The red one I have is starts and the hearts scatter is pink; neither would look right, so here it is.
I love challenges. They give me some guidelines, but still let me express my own style and creativity. They really seem to motivate me.
The title is 2peas Heart's Delight and the journaling is Pea Bev from Kevin and Amanda. The paper is Love Sampler and the heart ribbon is Loving You 2.

Finally!

After waking up about an hour and a half late this morning, my day went pretty well. After I got home from work, I took a longer nap than I had intended. I even got a couple layouts done! The first one is the first page about Polly's first bath. Sheesh! Look at all those firsts!

The second page I did tonight was for Paul's album.

It started out as a quickpage. I added the journaling about him asking me if I'm happy with him. The "HAPPY" in the page reminded me that I had wooden tiles downloaded as an element. I think it goes well with the page.

I'm planning to do more layouts tomorrow. Well, it is technically "tomorrow". I guess I should say I'm planning to do more layouts after I wake up.

Whew! The week's almost over!

I am sooo glad this week is almost over. For one thing, it means that I'm one week closer to my transfer to Beginnings-Texarkana. This has been a really long week. It started with going to work as usual at 8 am in Marshall and getting off work at just after 9 pm in Texarkana. Tonight was the first night since that we've been home before 7 pm. I'm worn out. One day to go and I'm off for two days, but I still have to make it through my three remaining treatment plan reviews, talking to all the detoxers, and teaching family education. At least I only have three of my own clients left. Maybe I'll actually get some scrapping in this weekend!

Speed Scrap & James Dean

My Memories posts rules for a Speed Scrap every Sunday evening. Here's what was posted tonight:

This is the first one I've actually tried. Here's my page:

It wasn't all that speedy, but I like how it turned out. I used Rachel Dickson's Bloom pack that I downloaded from computerscrapbook.com. I probably never would have designed this exact page without the directions from the challenge. It's amazing the difference shadowing makes. It's something I'm not really used to. You don't have to worry about it with paper scrapbooking; it just happens naturally. I'm still catching on to this whole digital scrappin' thang. :)
For my All About Me album, I've decided to include all kinds of layouts. It struck me the other night that I should include layouts about my favorite actors, movies, TV shows, books, authors, musicians, etc. Here's the first:

All the photos were downloaded from the internet. There are so many pictures of James Dean that I love; I had to narrow it down. I decided to focus on his movies, so I used a photo to represent each one. I decided to go with a black and white theme, so the pictures from Giant and East of Eden were changed to black and white when I was creating the page. For a splash of color, I used a paper to mat the center photo. After I finished this layout, I started thinking of other favorite actors. I downloaded pics of James Stewart, Gregory Peck, and Johnny Depp. And that's just the beginning. I'm thinking I'll do an album just about my favorite actors, movies, and TV. Then I'll need to do one for my favorite songs and musicians. There are so many songs that touch me for so many reasons. I definitely think I need to explain that.
So many page ideas, so little time!

I was on a roll. :)

I guess I was feeling a little extra creative tonight. I did a few layouts tonight; I even finished the pages about Paul's haircut.

The majority of the "supplies" for these pages are from the Love My Guy kit I downloaded from My Memories. (I can't remember the designer at the moment.) I also made the title page for my All about Me album. Here it is

I'm finally getting sleepy. Time to attempt to get some sleep.

My Black & White Photograph Challenge Entry

In today's newsletter from oscraps.com, there was a link for a coupon code to get Designs by Sue Cummings' Simply Quick #37, a black and white quick page. It also described the Black & White Photograph Challenge. I thought, "Why not?" I know I won't win anything, I just wanted to participate. When I started to think about it, wedding pictures immediately came to mind. Here's my very first digital scrapbooking challenge entry:

After I uploaded, I looked at a few of the other entries. Some took advantage of all the rules, adding other Designs by Sue Cummings embellishments. Others, like me, simply used the quick page as is. Some even covered parts of the existing page, making it a little more their own. I'm proud of my page, not to mention happy that I finally found a challenge I felt I could enter! :)

I love tutorials!

Since my My Memories Suite software came in, I've been slowly figuring out how to utilize it. It isn't difficult, I just don't know all the tricks. Never really using any other scrapbooking software, I was almost totally clueless about it. Then I found the scrapbooking blog on The Pink Toque and watched Lesley's tutorials, which I mentioned in a previous post. While playing on My Memories, I found my way to the blog. Guess what I found! That's right, more tutorials! There are links to video tutorials and coordinating pdf files on this post March into MMS tutorial links. I've only watched the first few, but I've already learned so much. I couldn't find the goodies I had downloaded from the My Memories store. Now I know where to find them. I tried to use a quick page download on my own, but I couldn't figure it out. It was so simple, I don't know why I didn't realize what to do. Here's my first quick page:

It'll take me a while to watch all the videos. Lisa J. at My Memories posted a new video and pdf to their blog almost every day in March, so that's about 30 videos to watch. I can hardly wait to see what I'll be able to do with my scrapping once I watch them all!

Wow! I Was Productive

I haven't been sleeping well, so I was afraid I would sleep the entire day away. I did sleep, but not as much as I really would've liked. Paul found out the other day that Team Impact was at a church here in Texarkana this weekend. We saw them on TV shortly after we were married (just over 7 years ago) and he's wanted to see them in person ever since. This is the first opportunity we've had to catch them in our area. Here's the page I did with the picture I took before everything got started.

For the background page, I used the "picker" option in the software to match it to the blue in the Team Impact jackets. The center part is a stucco texture that I downloaded, but I can't for the life of me figure out where I got it. When I figure it out, I'll edit. The brads are included in the software. At this point, I'm not sure exactly what album this will be going in. Since seeing Team Impact was on Paul's bucket list, I'm thinking of making him a bucket list album. The other option I'm considering is just making a Team Impact album. We definitely want to see them perform again.
Now to the other page I created tonight. I'm gonna make pages about the teams I like, my favorite things, my "addictions". It just occurred to me that I can put all these pages in a Favorite Things album. I had to get creative on this Longhorns page.

I know paper scrapbooking supplies exist for college and pro teams, but I can't find any digi scrapping supplies. This page is created entirely from images I downloaded from various sites on the internet. Mostly, I did a Yahoo! image search for Texas Longhorns and accessed these pictures. I didn't use a texture on the background this time. I just really lowered the opacity for the picture I used as the "paper". I think it's set at like 35.
Now that I'm thinking about a Favorite Things album, I keep thinking of things to include in it. I guess I should write it all down somewhere so I can make sure to get pics of the things I can.

Technologically correct?

Will I ever really NEED to blog from my phone? Maybe not, but I'd rather figure it out now than be frustrated later if I do have a blogging emergency. :)

Welcome to My Blog

Here's the first page I created using My Memories Suite 2.0.

The paper and elements are in the software. I decided to start out easy. I've downloaded tons of free papers, elements, alphas, etc., but I wanted to try to ease into my adventure. (Yeah, I'm the girl that has to test the water in the swimming pool with her feet before she slowly eases herself into the water. No jumping right in for me!)
After I created this layout, I somehow found my way the digital scrapbooking blog at The Pink Toque. Not only did I find more free downloads, but I also learned that Lesley has posted tutorial videos on YouTube. I haven't watched them yet, but I saved them to watch later.
I realized something very important tonight. I don't have my digi scrapping supplies arranged right! Yeah. I just went to try to create a cute little picture for the top of my blog. (Hopefully, it'll be there soon.) I arranged most of my stash in folders by store, designer, etc. I quickly learned that isn't really functional. I guess my next step is to rearrange my goodies by what they are. I'm guessing it'll be a lot easier to find the paper I'm looking for if I have all my papers together. My new dilemma? How do I know who designed what or where I got it? I guess I'll figure it out as I go. I'm not sure if my anal retentiveness is a good thing in this area or not. :/ Oh well.
Off to reorganize . . . Again!