Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

It's National Scrapbooking Day and there are huge sales everywhere, gifts and games!!!! What fun! I hope that everyone enjoys all the wonderful contributions that are out there! I am off to find some myself....but here's some of what I have been working on the past week. Mother's Day is coming and with it brings memories and heartache for my mother. But in honor of Mother's Day I made a couple of pages of her. This page is made with May contributions to the Club Deco kit that Club Member s receive with their paid subscriptions. The papers, ribbons, charms and envelope are from Jen Hanson's Mother's Day contribution and the flower and title is from Dana Conditt's contribution.
This next one of Mom was done for a Lyrics challenge at Deco Pages. The lyrics are by Randy Travis for his song Angels. The lyrics just remind me so much how much I miss her. Kit used was Precious Gems by Movefearlessly Designs.
The Red Bud tree page was made with the May Club Deco Kit as well. Contributions from Designs by CAZ from Deco Pages. I just love spring and all the beautiful flowers and color. Such a warm and welcome break from Winter.
This next page was created using the monthly Color Starter kit for the Color Kit challenge! The starter kit is $1.99 in the store at Deco Pages.
Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

I'm really at a loss for words this morning, imagine that! I usually have so much to say the talker that I am. Maybe I'm just not awake yet. So instead of talking I'll just share some of what I've been working on instead. First off, I love going through old pictures, don't you? Found this picture of my son when he was two and compared it to my DGS who just turned two. They really do look so much alike even though Gabe is starting to take on his own looks a little bit the similarities are almost like looking at the same child.
I had my DGS from Wednesday through Saturday last week and he was so much fun! I love being a grandma. The weather was wonderful so we spent nearly all our time outside. Daisie was in heaven having a playmate her size to play with and she and Gabe became very good buddies. This trip he wasn't someone to just step on her trying to go to another room. (she is so big she takes up most of the room herself, lol.) So, I created a few pages of the two of them playing together. The pages are made with Doggie Treats by Retro Designs of Deco Pages. Very cool kit to work with for my furbaby pages! Daisie didn't go very far from Gabe most of the time that he was here.They discovered a new game...well Daisie didn't discover it.....she is a master at it. She follows me everywhere so closely that if I stop she runs into me. So , I play a game with her where occasionally I will "suddenly" turn around and say boo! and then chase her around the house...she loves this game. Well, Gabe was chasing her around the yard having a good time and then suddenly...Daisie turned around to chase him. Ha, ha, The look on his face was priceless! He was so surprised, and elated too. Luckily for me I had the camera and was taking pictures... So here is a two page layout of their little game.This week is quite the week with NSD and all the sales and activities all over the community! There is so much going on that there is no possible way for me to participate in everything I would like to! I'd like to know what some of you are participating in? Care to share?

Speaking of sharing.... Here's a new freebie for you. Great little quote from Oprah Winfrey.
Have a wonderful Friday.

May Already? and a Freebie

Wow, where does the time go? It's May already! I can tell I'm getting old because of how fast the time flies compared to how slow it was when I was young. I thought each school year would never end...thought I would never get my driver's license, thought I would never graduate high school, thought I would never get finished with college....the list goes on and on. Now I barely blink and I've lost a day, a week, a month, or a year! Geesh! Here it's almost Mother's Day again! Before we know it, it will be Father's Day, then Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and then we'll mark the end of another year! Yep, I'm getting old...marking my month's by the holidays, lol.

I remember taking my kids on their first train ride, what doesn't seem like that long ago and what a "novelty" it seemed like! My mom traveled by train when I was little... and guess what?! They're making a come back! At least from a freight standpoint and if gas prices continue to rise the way they are passenger cars may be the growth spurt as well as we look for affordable alternatives to vacation. I read an article in "The Columbus Dispatch" today "Freight by Rail Enjoys Comeback,"about the rail road industry experiencing it's largest growth in a century. Yep, 100 years! (At least it's not senility making me think that I'm spending more time waiting for trains than I used to.) With all the airlines cutting back on flights, the smaller airliners like Sky Bus closing; it could very well be the "new trend" in the not so distant future. Columbus has been debating about re-introducing the street cars as a mode of transportation as the cost of gasoline increases and have had several articles in the paper recently adressing the need. In fact over the past two days there have been at least three articles on the subject... Streetcars Aren't For All, Streetcars will Ultimately Benefit Everyone, and Critics Have Their Say In Street Car Plan. That's a lot of journaling space in two days for one subject. Even Cincinnati is debating the subject of Streetcars as published in The Enquirer with an article about how Streetcar Debate Continues. That is just a couple of Ohio Metro Areas, I can't help but wonder what other areas are debating the same thing in other states. It will be interesting to see what comes of this...I will have to journal the progress I guess because who knows what the transportation mode will be in the next 40 years and my grand children may be shocked at how much we drove cars as much as they will be about the fact that we actually entertained ourselves outdoors and not on game systems in front of the TV.

Speaking of journaling.... I find it very challenging to actually journal in my scrapbooking. I share short little blurbs here and there but don't really "journal." Having lost my mom a few years ago and my Grandmother turning 90 I am spending a little more time thinking about the past and wondering how will the children ever know about their heritage, where they came from, what kind of challenges and opportunities were available to their ancestors...etc.. What kind of Living Legacy will be left for them to reflect on? So, I have been honored with the opportunity to host the "new" Journaling Challenge at Deco Pages. If I have these thoughts I am sure that others do too. So May is the first month for 3 new challenges at Deco Pages. The Journaling Challenge is new, there is the "Lyrics Challenge" being introduced by Iwannaalife and a brand new "Gallery Hunt Challenge" hosted by Mom2triplets04, that all debut today. They are all being hosted by Creative Team Members and can be found in the Creative Team Sponsored Challenges forum at Deco Pages. The three of us have collaborated and created 6 new QP's for our participation rewards and for the Month of May they are made with Deb Ammerman's "Roses for Mom" kit. The theme for the Journaling Challenge, in honor of Mother's Day, is Relationships with "Mother, Grandmother, Mother-in-Law or any other "mother" figure that has had an impact in our lives. I think this is a great way to kick off the "Living Legacy" journey. I hope that you will join me there.

Here is the preview to the QP's that I will be offering to our participants for the Journaling Challenge.

Here is my page kicking off my "Living Legacy"

In honor of Mother's Day I would like to share a Word Art that I have created. You may pick it up here, or click on the preview to take you to the download.

Thanks for reading this, have a wonderful day!

New Pages and a Freebie

I participated in the Manic Monday chat challenge yesterday at Deco Pages and it was so much fun! This was my second chat and first chat challenge I've ever participated in. We used a great kit from RoseMadeDesigns called Rainy Daisy and it is soo cool! I love the colors and all the elements in it! It was so much fun to work with (but then I have an adorable subject to scrap with in my DGS!) and right now it is on sale for $5.00. So, here are the pages that I made with it so far! I can see me using this kit a lot!
I made the word art definition for this particular page and it is a freebie if you like it! You can get it here or click on the preview below.
Thanks for reading this, have a wonderful day!

Poisonous Politics and a freebie

I was reading an article in the Dispatch today about our government "Federal Logjam Hurts the State" and it just gets my goat how the politicians on Capitol Hill just don't get it! It has to be about what "party" wants what and the "other party" has to slam on the brakes because it's not "their" idea?! It's just not right! The Article starts out: "Ohio's efforts to fight hunger, expand health-care coverage to uninsured children and boost student achievement all have been stymied by the stalemate that has plagued Congress the past year." We have both parties in office and we manage to get past it to do what's right for the population of the state...I don't know why the "Federal Government" can't get past it to do what's right for the "Country!" As of March of 2007, Ohio's unemployment rate was already higher than the national average! "Ohio Stats" Since then we have had multiple other issues effect the state and who knows what the real count is now! Food banks can't keep up with the current need let alone have the ability to prepare for might be yet to come.... Personally, I think it's a shame that the stiff collars in Washington can't get past who's who and what party they belong to! Enough ranting on my part...

It's almost the middle of the second quarter of 2008 already.... can you believe it? Where does the time go so quickly? Spring is in full bloom here in Central Ohio and it has been wonderful! The birds are all back and looking for nests, the grass is green, the trees have leafed out and a lot of the flowering trees are bloomed, and the butterflies are appearing already! I have only had white ones at home so far but went to the Franklin Park Conservatory with my Grandma this past week and got to see ones that will be more abundant as it warms up even more. You can see some of the photos in Friday's blog post.

Here are some of the pages I've made with the photos that I took at the Conservatory. The first page was made with the April Club Deco Kit from Deco Pages, called April Surprise! There are kit contributions from 17 Designers for the month! I was so amazed at all the wonderful pieces in this Monster of a Kit! For this page I used papers from JBurkhart, Frame from Ilona Hamp, Charm From KTW, Journal tag from LHill and the Flower Cluster from Paris Designs.

My second page was from the same kit with the background papers, and tag by Carolyn Rupley, Scalloped Frame and Glitter Splat from Dana Conditt, Sparkly edged ribbon from Deb Ammerman and the butterfly from Designs by CAZ! The word art is from me and you can find the link in Friday's blog.
The last two pages that I've made from the conservatory came from Dana Condit's Day Dream Believer Kit and QP add on! This kit is so cool! It has 25 Gorgeous colored, textured, and patterned bgs. 5 Swirly Tags, 5 Wooden Photo Corners, 5 Plastic Bread Tabs, 5 Chrome/Gem Photo Anchors, 5 Deco Wooden Frames, 1 Chrome Deco Frame, 5 Textured Bookplates, 5 Stick Pins, and 1 Chrome Brad and is on sale right now for only $3.99. Great price for this totally cool kit!
I have made another word art that I am sharing here for any who are interested. I just fell in love with this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt when I read it! You can find the word art here:


Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week!