Next Up

Working with those beautiful pictures Christa took of Kat is so fun! All the layouts in this post feature some of those pictures.

This first layout is a lift from a layout frame I saw in Creating Keepsakes magazine. It had a shadowbox effect and this incredible flourish border around it. I loved that and just had to recreate it. The wooden word and fleur d' lis are colored with a copper marker to get a little sheen.

This layout is a combination of two of August 2010 Page Maps sketches. I've had these charms for several years. They were leftover from some VBS project, so I knew someday I'd want to use them. The doors in these pictures and the beautiful lighting just seemed perfect for that. The papers are all K&Company. The fiber is Basic Grey.

Christa did such an amazing job catching Kat's eyes in her photos. I just loved they way that the top photo here focused on the eyes. It's truly one of my favorites. For this layout, I used Bazzil cardstock, K&Company and DCWV patterned paper. The ribbon is paper ribbon from Walmart.

Speaking of eyes, Kat rolled hers when I read her this quotation sticker, but I've had it for years and always wanted to use it. In the end she approved this layout. Patterned paper is K&Company and cardstock is Bazzil. The buttons are from that antique jar I bought. The photo turns are from DCWV. Oh and the quotation? "All the things I prayed you'd be all the things you are. You were once my little girl and now my shining star." Yeah, okay, it's a little sappy, but sweet and I just like it. I did ink the edges to keep it from being too little girly.

So while I was gone...

I took my scrap stuff with me and sat on the porch and scrapped some while at Paisano. I got 5 pages done, well, one 2 pager and 3 singles. I also made a couple of cards and a mini-album for my sister's birthday, but I didn't scan those. All of these LOs are from the senior album--gotta finish before school starts!


So the 2 pager: Senior Recital

This uses DCWV Music Stack pp and the font is from Cricut Songbird cartridge.

The next page is a lift from one Gizzy did in my circle journal last year. I just loved the way she did the folded corner with the double sided paper and wanted to do that too. The upper corner looked so blank, I had to add some pretty stuff there, too.  The picture is another Christa Holland picture from our senior photo shoot. The paper is from Deja Views Global Views. The button I got in an jar of vintage buttons at a flea market. Love those flea markets!

Next up, the pictures from this year's prom. This beautiful dress was created by my sister-by-choice, Cheryl. She combined 5 different patterns to create the look Kat wanted. It was just gorgeous. The layout uses Basic Grey and Bazzil papers along with some Thickers, silk flowers, eyelets and a Making Memories journaling spot.

The last one is again using senior photo shoot pictures from Christa. The horse was Christa's dad's horse, Indy. That made getting these shots a little more special. I love the one of Kat and Jeff getting the horse ready. Oh and in the black and white photo, Kat says she was thanking Indy for not bucking her off for getting up on him in a tight skirt! The patterned paper is from DCWV Old World stack and DCWV luxury stack. I used a felt ribbon and paisley brads for finishing touches.

Now I need to get busy and finish this album!!!

More Paisano Fun

So on our last morning, I sent Jeff and the kids off to rock climb while I did some packing up. Kat took my camera along and took the pics in the previous post from the top of Fatman's while they were there (and the one of Jeff peeking up Fatman's Misery. Here are a few more from their climb.

Kat standing by the top of a live oak tree.

Archie under a live oak tree near the top.

Jeff proves that he no longer has to worry about Fatman's Misery being miserable for him.

A view from inside Fatman's.

Archie's turn.

Views from the inside of the crevice.

Kat conquers the tallest part of Fatman's rockpile.

Where I've Been

We spent the last week at Paisano Baptist Encampment between Alpine and Marfa, in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. It was so lovely this year! They've had a good bit of rain in the last several weeks (and a few afternoon storms while we were there) so it was green and cool (not a day over 80). Anyway, I got a few layouts done, wrote some curriculum and attended some awesome worship services. The music was incredible. Kat sang a solo in one of the choir pieces and she and Jeff were in an ensemble that did a beautiful rendition of the New 23rd Psalm acapella. Here are some shots of the area.

This is the entrance to the camp grounds. The mountain in the background is Paisano Peak, the remnants of an anicent volcano.

This is our cabin. Please excuse the mess, we're doing some upgrades--like adding baseboards.

The view from our porch.

The Tabernacle where we have services. It is open sided and seats well over 1,000.

A panoramic view from the top of the largest rockpile in camp.

Looking the other direction.

The big rockpile, also known as Fatman's Misery, because...

of a crevice through the rocks that is a little hard to squeeze through.

And now for some things from off the campgound.

Cathedral Moountain seen from the Marfa Lights viewing site about 50 miles away.

The Serria Rica Mountains in Mexico. Over 100 miles away from where I was standing.

Well, I have a ton more pictures, but this post is long enough! I'll scan and sare the layouts I did later.

Windows

My friend Sherri asked to see how I display my antique window layouts in my home and since she lives in Canada and I live in Texas, she can't just come by and visit (although I'd love that).

So here they are. The first one is the one I did several years ago. It hangs in the back of our living room in my scrap area.

Next, the single pane window that I just use as a frame for one of my favorite senior pictures of Kat.

And last the collection window of Kat's senior pics (http://scrapsandsnippets.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html) It hangs above the sofa.

I have one more of these saved back for Archie's senior pics. It'll keep for a couple of years.

A Little Flower and Some Beauty

The next two senior layouts (I promise, I will do other layouts again someday!) are quick ones I did this morning while waiting for a friend to drop by.

A Little Flower uses some shots we took at a old, small, rural cemetary near here. Someone had made sure this cemetary was well-seeded with wildflowers and there were some gorgeous beds of irises as well. We got there just before sunset and got some nice shots. I'll do another layout with both kids' pictures from that trip soon. I've had these silk bluebonnet petals for years and decided they'd work well for this layout. The patterened paper I got in a gift exchange with a friend several years ago as well, so this layout is helping me use up some of that stash!

Inner Beauty is more senior photo shoot pictures. These are some of Dad's favorite shots. Kat loved the hat, so we built this outfit around it. The caboose is part of the local museum and the others are taken in a little run-down shack. She just looks so serene, peaceful and happy in these shots. They're simple, so a simple LO seemed ideal. The paper is from Me and My Big Ideas. The grey is all flocked so this is has a nice texture to it. I've had the chipboard tag for years (again, using up that stash!) It's from the old We R Memory Keepers Urban Window set. I think that may have been the first set of chipboard I bought. The key is from DCWV's Once Upon A Time set. The boarder is K&Company.

Giggle time

When your awesome cousin does your senior photos, you act yourself--in other words, you get silly. And that's what Kat did with Christa. These were just a few of the moments that made us all laugh. Little brother, Archie, was there for some of them and I'll add those later, but the tounge being stuck out is aimed at him.

This is Bazzil cardstock and Basic Grey paper. Lots of paper flowers and some nice bling along with a cardstock quote make for a fast simple layout. Not bad for a 10:00 pm scrapping session while watching Ace of Cakes, huh?

A Musical Moment

More beautiful photos from Christa Holland --->see her link at the right---->. Kat took her flute out to the farm for her senior photo shoot and was playing us Amazing Grace. She chose the quotation for this on herself and that inspired the title. The background paper is from DCWV Luxury Stack (gotta love those stacks!) and the rest are scraps from Fancy Pants,and the Old World Stack. Add in a silk flower, a Prima flower and an eyelet and that's it. The title is cut using the Songbird Cricut font and some music designed paper from Hobby Lobby.

Mean Scrapbook Mommy and Bad Band Mommy

There are times Kat just doesn't want to pose for the camera on demand. Her 18th birthday was one of those times, but we did it anyway. These were taken at the railroad tracks in downtown Abilene. The band pictures were taken all throughout the marching season. I didn't take all of these, in fact, I didn't take most of them. There were taken by various band parents who were kind enough to share with me. First the 18th birthday layout. This one uses Bazzil cardstock, and scraps including Basic Grey Phoebe, ProvoCraft Euro Vintage, DCWV, Me and My Big Ideas and Fancy Pants. Lots of ribbon scraps too. The sketch I used is the first one in this month's Page Maps.

The band LO uses DCWV's Music Stack (getting lots of good mileage out of that one!) and some Paper Studio paper along with Offray ribbon and some Sticko cardstock music stickers. I can't remember the brand of the letters, but they came from Hobby Lobby. The sketch is based on one I found at everything-about-scrapbooking.com This lady has some great sketches.

More Senior Album

This layout is a repeat of this one that I did for Gizzy's circle journal. We had so much fun photographing those outfits that we decided to add some of Kat's newer clothes too. And then I went to town with the embellishments. The pp is from the ablum kit we got at Hobby Lobby for her senior scrapbook. She loves these colors and fleur de lis desgins. It's K&Company, I believe. I kept some of the pre-designed pages to use and others to cut up and use, because, you know, I just can't handle following someone else's plan exactly. :)

The tags on the side we saved from clothes and accessories. Look closely at the two necklaces. Kat made those. The turquoise, brown and cream beaded one has an old earring of my mother's as the charm. The other one Kat coiled copper wire and attached it to a stone she had. I think both are beautiful.

The other stickers and jewels are K&Company and DCWV. The title is cut using the Paisley Cricut cartridge.

I think I may have come up with a complete, if unorthodox, solution for my stitching issues. I downloaded ArcSoft Scan-n-Stitch Deluxe and scanned and stitched each page. I couldn't get a satisfactory joint between the pages, so for that I went back to the Paint method. It worked. I'm sure there's an easier way, but I haven't found it yet.

Back to the Senior Album

I decided I'd better get busy and finish up Kat's senior album, so this week I'm going to try to do several layouts for it. This one is about her work at church with our Wednesday night children's program. She was the pre-school teacher this year. The kids adored her. She came up with some very good lessons, kept their interest (and discipline!) and was always quick to lead them during their music time. She started out getting community service hours for her goverment class, but ended up doing it all year and loving it.

For this layout I used paper from DCWV's Music Stack, borders and letters from Marcela by K and stickers from Sticko. Sorry for the strange stitching job, I don't have the hang of putting together larger layouts yet.

Circle Journal

This is Nena's Truth or Dare Journal. She had us take a truth and a dare. The truth I choose was to tell about an embarassing kitchen moment. The dare was to use lots and lots of texture on the page.

This layout recalls a day during the summer in HS when my dad asked me to fry some frozen french fries for lunch. I didn't turn off the stove correctly and the skillet caught fire. I did try to use a fire extingusher, but hit the fire in the wrong spot and it jumped up to the vent-a-hood above. There was plastic on the hood since it was not drawing air, but blowing and that started to melt. I finally got the fire out with baking soda, but there was some damage. Since we lived in a parsonage, the church had to know. Boy did I get teased for years afterward about cooking fries.

For this LO I used lots of scraps as well as some yummy metallic pp that Nancyroo gave me (thanks Nancy!) Lots of torn and curled edges a little ribbon, some thickers and ink all add texture. The pictures are from the internet and I cut the boring white background away from the fire extingusher and sanded the edges of the others to add another layer of texture. So this CJ goes in the box and to the PO tomorrow. Headed your way, Cheri!

Circle Journal: a Big Dare

For this Truth or Dare challenge journal I had to take a photo of a compelete stranger in some public place and then make up a life story for them. So at my nephew's graduation, I snapped several of what my daughter calls "stalker" pictures and chose this one. So here let me introduce you to the fictional "James Marshall". I used a single page sketch from scrapbooking at about.com and arranged it to be a 2 pager. Then I raided my scrap pile and found enough scraps to get this done. Oh and I found a great article on how to use Microsoft Paint to stitch scans, so I'm back in the stitching business. For those who were interested in stitching as well, http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art7487.asp

Antique Senior Window

Hmmm...that sounds like the senior is antique, not the window, but you get the idea. This is a window we found at an antique store a long time ago. We had to replace glass in 5 of the panes, but it was worth it. I tooks some of the lovely photos of Kat taken by Christa Holland (see link to the right for more of her fabulousness) and made a layout with each. Then I put them on some cardboard (no, not acid, free, but neither is an antique window.) Oh and Lori, two of the cardboard pieces have your mailing address, from our last CJ. LOL. This is the second window like this I've done. The other is here:  http://www.scrapjazz.com/myjazz/index.php?mod=galleries&u=20907&m=view&id=415311&start=160&page=1.

 

Each pane has it's own theme, but they're all on vintage style papers. This will be hanging above my sofa. I have another window to fill for Arch in two years. I'm looking forward to that.

                                                                    The top row up close.

The bottom row up close.

And now to finish rearranging all the stuff in the living room so this fits....

Inspiration

I know sermons are SUPPOSED to inspire us, but this morning's sermon had a secondary inspiration: a layout. I took these pictures (and more) at an old cemetary near here that was covered with bluebonnets, irises and other flowers recently. I just haven't had time to do anything with the pictures yet. So when I opened my Bible and read this morning's scripture, my mind started going. Yes, I paid attention to the sermon as well. It was very good. I flipped over the outline of the sermon that was in the bulletin and sketched out this layout. Then this afternoon, I put it all together. The scripture quoted is excerpted from Colossians 3:15-24. It says: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him...Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord...

I'm hoping to get several LO's done the next couple of weeks, so check back often, I might just get something done!

Truth or Dare Number 4

This is the fourth Truth or Dare Circle Journal that I've done (including mine). April challenged me to scrap a layout about my toes. I used pink cardstock and scraps from my scrap bin some Basic Grey and some K & Company. I used Making Memory clocks, K&Company flowers, letter stickers, and the journaling tag is by Making Memories. I still don't have a good stitching program, so I'm posting this in two pictures. Please imagine them side by side. The journaling reads, "Pedicures-I love them! My daughter says I'm boring--pinks & purples & some form of white flower with jewels. Oh well, as you can tell, it's time for a new pedicure, so who knows, maybe this time..."

Invitation Time

As we near the end of my daughter's senior year, there are so many things coming up that will need us to make cards. Announcements were done by the amazing Christa Holland of Green Shoes Photo, so all we need to do is address those. Thank you cards we'll put together as time allows. But we really needed to get on the ball and get invitations out for her senior piano recital next week. So, incorporating her love of music (of course) with fleur de lis accents and green, brown and peach we created these. I think they turned out pretty nice. Now she needs to address them while Mom works on other stuff.