OK, I'll admit it...

I sent my application to the Junkitz DT contest. I would really like to be on this DT!! Just love their stuff! Of course, I also entered the QK contest... love their stuff, too, as it is the only die cut machine I own... I would just like one manufacturer's DT to create for...

Anyway, I am posting my Junkitz DT application projects. Wish me lots of luck! I know there are hundreds of super talented artists competing for this one!

Finally!!!

I am so grateful.... I am not a one hit wonder!! I just had a layout picked up for Scrapbook Answers magazine. It is for the "Beyond the Big Red Heart" feature, and will appear in the Feb/March issue. I was so impressed with their first issue. They have a very fresh approach to this industry, and they demonstrate lots of techniques. I am VERY excited to get this call!!!

Even nicer, my mentor on 2 peas challenged me to do this layout. So, thanks!!!!

Fall flowers...

My daughter loves her flower garden. To our delight, it is still producing flowers! She loves to pick them and give them to her favorite people, including me!! I took this photo on my camera's macro setting.

November DT work...

Just thought I would post my designs for this month for Scrapncircle. Our product sponsors were C & T publishing ( http://www.ctpub.com/ ), who provided us with these wonderful ready to alter board books, and Queen and Company ( http://www.queenandcompany.com/ ), who provided us with some of their pretty brads! They were both fun to work with!

It's really fall!

My husband raked leaves this morning, just so Kendall could play in them!!! She had so much fun!

Sunset on the James

I'm cheating today. My dh actually took this photo last weekend while fishing with our older dd and his dad. I love his creativity with photography and wanted to show it off! His "filter" is actually his sunglasses! But what a pretty sunset, huh?

Do babies fly?

Well, sort of. I was playing with Anna and had her on my lower legs while I was on my back, lifting her up and down. She was having a great time!! Then I thought, well, wouldn't this make a great photo? So, here are the results. I couldn't pick just one!! Of course, big sister had to get in on the fun!!

Pretty girl...

Here's my POD!! I did a conversion, too, again. I'm hooked!! I need to try some of Tisha's other conversions, too.

Kendall, you are such an imaginative little girl. I love to watch you play outside. You have a great time, even if you are by yourself. You just love nature!

On to another subject: Today is a good day for Virginia. That's about all I have to say about politics!

Kitty cat...

We have 2 of these monster cats. They are brother and sister, long haired tabbies. They are HUGE and look like Maine Coon cats. This is a picture of Sapphire, our girl cat, by our sliding glass door in the morning sun (sunbathing!!). I used Tisha's conversion guide for the b&w again.

Just playing with B&W conversions...

I couldn't sleep. So, here I am, blogging... and I was thinking about this layout I want to do using this picture. But my conversion was terrible, so I decided to try the technique of my super fabulous friend Tisha, and this is the result!!! Sooooo much better! Thanks, Tisha! I guess this will double as my POD, but I may post another one later! (in case anyone was wondering, the one on top is the "new" conversion)!!!

****You can link to Tisha's blog to the right.... the instructions for the conversion are toward the bottom of her blog!!****

I love how Anna already admires Kendall!!! This was such a lucky shot, and so old it was taken with my (very) old digital.. an Olympus 1.3 megapixel!!!

Fire!!!!

We went to an old fashioned story telling last night at the Cultural Arts center in our area. We had a great time! They had these barrell fires so you could roast marshmallows and make smores. They had hot cider, too! Well, I couldn't resist taking a photo of the fire.

Fun at the park!

I took the kiddos to the park by our home yesterday. We had a blast!! Here's my favorite shot of the day!

Beauty and the Beach...

Here's my photo for the day of baby Anna, and I am also posting a picture from our recent beach trip, just because I love it!

I'm having some trouble taking good photos indoors with this camera!!!

Another silly photo...

Kendall, you crack me up!!! You are always coming up with funny "poses" and saying, "Mommy, I think you have to take a picture of me!!!"

This was her "pose" from yesterday. Silly girl!!!

Froggy!!!

OK, I am cheating today... I 'm really not feeling that well this afternoon, so I am posting a photo that I took the other weekend at the beach. My dd discovered these tree frogs hanging out on the balcony of the house we rented with our family.... cute little guys, aren't they? I see some BG skate shoppe for this layout....

Photo of the Day

I joined a challenge over at 2 peas (http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/default.asp) by Sagehen to take a photo every day this month. Here's mine for the day! The second is photoshopped a little, and the first one is manipulated lots!!! Thanks to my friend Tisha who gave me instructions on her blog for the technique! http://tisha.typepad.com/

I would like to take time to thank my parents for my new camera!! It was my dad's old one, but it is 4 megapixels and tons better than my old digital. I have a wonderful old Nikon F-9 film SLR, but I am totallly addicted to digital photography now! I still pine for a Canon 20D, or at least a Rebel!!!

Ode to the OBX...

Just thought I would add my layout of why I love this place!!

I love the beach!!!

Especially the Outer Banks. It's our favorite vacation spot. I love that it is only a 3 hour drive, and we get to drive through the area where I grew up. So the trip really doesn't seem that long to me! We went for a long weekend, and here are some of my pics. We saw some spectacular sunsets courtesy of Wilma, and Ralph, his dad, and uncle caught 95 spot!!! Enjoy!!!

Inspiration???

This is a common question we ask ourselves in the world of scrapbooking. Where does one find inspiration? I find it in the oddest places... and in some not so odd ones, too! I love to browse the bookstore at graphic design books, aisles at Target for color combos and patterns, magazines for ads, catalogs to note trends... it's all good!

I do look at traditional idea books, but in my quest to stay origninal, I rarely buy one. It's what I call the Yanni philosophy. OK, I don't listen to his music, but I saw an interview with him on a news magazine type show. He stated that he never listens to anyone else's music but his so he can stay original. Interesting. For me, half the fun is seeing what other designers can create, but I hesitate to buy the book unless it is heavily technique driven. I fear that I may accidentally scraplift!! If I look at the book and put it down, then an idea I saw may morph into something original by the time any idea ends up on paper. At least, that's my intent, anyway!

The layout above was inspired by a room featured in a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. They had used circles as a border around the room around chair rail height. This was my interpretation of that circle theme!

The sound of music...

Do you think that our kids will think "our" music is old and seriously outdated when they are teenagers? I'm talking about the music I grew up with... stuff like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soul Asylum, the Cure, and I admit to being a bit of a Morrissey/Smiths fan during my teenage years. Of course, I also listened to lots of "classic rock," which was AFTER my parents' generation!

I know there has been a shift in music when they now have a "90's flashback lunch" program on the radio!!! And they feature all the stuff I listened to in college!

Some artists I love and are still making great music, like the Dave Matthews band. I also love John Mayer, but he's kinda new!

But do you think our kids will say, "Oh, mom, you really used to listen to THAT?" Or that a band will come out with a "new" hit, and we'll point out to our kids that so-and-so artist did that song originally back in the LAST CENTURY!! I know I think my parent's music is OLD!! But they listened to 50's bubble gum pop!

I know I will have become OLD when my kids think my music is lame...