Chilly!!! It sure is chilly today with a temperature of 28 today. Brrr... Today was my day off of work and I wish I could have stayed in the house all day and not even gotten dressed but I took my best friend for her Chemo Therapy treatment and then we stopped for lunch at a local diner. The owner of the diner is a friend of Bobbie's brother and so we had a wonderful lunch! She always fixes something special for us when we stop there. While we were at the diner (which is right next to a creek) I watched the swans and ducks...it was relaxing in itself even though I wasn't at home in my comfies curled up in front of the fire with a good book (which is how I would have loved to spend the day.) So I took some pictures out the window of the diner of the swans. They were kind of far away and the battery was going dead on my camera so it isn't the best picture, but it was good enough to scrap a page with. I used a new kit by Deb Ammerman at Deco Pages called Tattered. This kit is a wonderful kit with feathers, torn edged frames and so much more. Font is 1942 Report.


Afterwards when I was leaving I stopped and took some pictures of the Mallards. I hadn't seen so many gathered at one place at one time ever. It was actually quite a sight! I used the same Tattered kit for this one as I had used for the Creekside Cafe page. I really like the colors and the elements in this kit!


I also made a page with my grandson from a few photos that I took on Thanksgiving. He was riding his battery powered car and he flipped it by accident. How awesome is it that I had the camera and was able to catch the event, including the look on his face. He was so funny! He thought it was the car's fault that he fell and decided to ride the bike after that and not the car. Kit I used for this is Tyler's Toys by Jen Hanson of Deco Pages. I love this kit for Gabe. They are both so cute!

Yeah, well that's enough for today. It's time to curl up with that book!

New Club Deco Kit - Cabin Fever and Challenges

There is a brand new Club Deco kit over at Deco Pages and it is awesome so far. With only part of the designers having submitted their contributions it promises to be a true "Mega" kit. For the month of December the Designing Team has used the theme: Cabin Fever. You can just imagine the colors and elements that are going into this! It's wonderful! Check out this partial preview of what is already available for Club Deco members!


There are new challenges starting this month and the rewards for them are awesome. There are two challenges that have starter kits available free to Club Deco Members or can be purchased in the Deco Pages store for $1.99.

The December Color Challenge is one of these. If you are a Club Deco Member, the kit is free but if you just want to participate in the challenge you can create your pages with the color pallet or purchase the starter kit for $1.99 in the store. Look at this months color challenge starter kit created by Lori Staton! I just love that Santa Face and the Candles! I can't wait to create something with this great starter kit and to see what I create with the color pallet.
Then there is the "New" Scrap by Numbers Challenge hosted by Marcee Fairchild (RoseMadeDesigns). This challenge consists of adding a certain amount of elements to the page as specified in the challenge guidelines. There is a starter kit that is available for this one but it isn't required to use it. This challenge is connected to two other challenges: the Material Girl Challenge and the Holiday Challenge. The rewards for these kits coordinate with the starter kit and reward. Check out the starter kit for these challenges:
I love the non-traditional coloring of this kit! Stop over and check out the Material Girl and Holiday challenges to see the coordinating rewards!

Then there are a ton of other challenges too. I host the Journaling Challenge in the Creative Team Challenges. In this monthly challenge I offer two quick pages created with a kit from one of the design team members. This month the kit is Merry and Bright by Deb Ammerman. All soft and glittery, this kit was wonderful to use. The theme this month is to journal about Traditions. Check out the QP's that I made for the challenge and my Traditions page as well!
I sure miss my Mom and my tradition has yet changed again since my kids have grown up and left home. I have to decorate the tree myself now and am lucky to get it up by Christmas Eve. Lol! Such is life!

I hope that you'll come over and join us this month in the challenges and share some of your experiences and pages with us! Hope to see you there!

It sure Feels Like Winter

Brrr... It sure feels like winter right now with temperatures in the low 30's but at least there's no snow to speak of right now. I can't believe how quickly fall has come and "feels like" gone. All the leaves are down now and with the temperatures below freezing it feels like winter. Brrr... It hasn't been that long ago that my trees looked like the one you'll see in the page below. Believe it or not I took the picture with my camera phone. It is a little LG Rumor phone. Not too bad but my digital camera would have captured the light coming through the leaves better. I used the color challenge kit "Pumpkin Spice" from Dana Conditt and Lorene Hill over at Deco Pages. It's free for Club Deco Members or during the month of November you can purchase it for $1.99.


Here is the preview to the starter kit!


I've really been having fun with the challenges at Deco Pages...when I've actually had time to participate in them. There is a challenge called scrap by numbers which is three seperate challenges and three rewards but it uses one starter kit which you don't have to use but have to have a set number of elements in the pages. The three different challenges are called Scrap By Numbers, Material Girl Challenge and Holiday Challenge. There is an add on kit reward for each challenge that you participate in.

Here is the preview of the starter kit that as a Club Deco Member you can get for free or purchase in the store for $3.00.


This page below is the page that I created for the Material Girl Challenge. The challenge was to use a recipe card and I thought I would mix it up a little by not using an actual recipe...instead creating a recipe for "Love" The journaling reads: 1 cup of enthusiasm, 1 cup of devotion, 1 cup of unselfishness, 1/2 cup of affection, 1 tsp affection, 1 tsp benevolence, a pinch of attachment. Mix together in a heart shaped vessel and bake a lifetime.


This next one is the one that I created for the Scrap by Numbers challenge. There were a list of elements that you could choose 4 from to complete the page. I chose ribbon, metal brad, scalloped edge, and three papers. It was fun to do too! Of course with a subject like my dear grandson, all the challenges are fun for me.

I still have to complete the holiday challenge to complete the three of them. I can't wait to see what I wind up doing....

Family Book with Color Technique

I have finished the family book that I started with the splash of color technique in the Photography challenge over at Deco Pages. I have never done anything like this before and am learning how to use Photoshop Elements so it was an interesting thing to do. I really enjoyed the experience. So starting with Mary, my grandmother...



She is a wonderful Grandma too! I spend as much time with her as I possibly can and try to ask her questions about my heritage and family. Not to mention that I just enjoy spending time with her. This page was made with the November Club Deco Kit with contributions from Amy Passmore. Fonts used were Engravers and Freestyle Script.

Her oldest son is Dale. He is a great Uncle. He always has lots of funny stories to tell.




This page was created from the November Club Deco Kit: Heritage Blessings with contributions by Dana Conditt. Font used was Freestyle Script.

Then there is Aunt Sis. She is a wonderful lady, I just love her to pieces. It's too bad that she doesn't live close enough for me to see her more than once a year.



Her page was made with the same November Club Deco Kit iwht contributions by JBurkhart of Burkhart Scrapzone Designs. There are so many wonderful pieces in this kit! It has been such fun to work with. The font is Freestyle Script.


Aunt June follows third in the progression of children. This wonderful lady has survived breast cancer not once but twice and currently is being treated for Cancer on her spleen. She is my hero and my friend.



Her page was made with Heritage Blessings November Club Deco Kit with contributions by RoseMadeDesigns. I just loved the rich colors for her. Font is Freestyle Script.

Following Aunt June is Uncle Ronnie. He is so funny as well as talented and artistic. Closer to mom's age, he was her favorite brother.



Same Club Deco Kit: Heritage Blessings with contributions by Deb Ammerman. Font is Freestyle Script.

Last but not least and obviously my favorite is Connie, my mom. She was the youngest of six children even though you will only find five here. Uncle Jack died when he was sixteen playing Russian Roulette.
Moms page was created with contributions from Paris Designs, RoseMadeDesigns, Lori Staton and Jennifer Rassi. Same font was used: Freestyle script.

You can find the Designers at Deco Pages and as a Club Deco member you have access to the monthly Club Deco Kits for Free as well as other kits and gifts that are exclusive to Club Deco Members. There are wonderful challenges that stretch the imagination and teach wonderful techniques such as this one in the Photography challenge. It is a great community, I hope that you will come and join us.

Thanks for looking! Hope to see you at Deco!

Heritage Blessings

Heritage Blessings is the November Club Deco Kit and it is awesome! I love all of it! Just look at what I did with just a few of the pieces of the kit. I used pieces from Lorene Hill, Paris Designs, Deb Ammerman and Amy Passmore. I created this page for the November Photography Challenge: Splash of Color.
The technique of adding the color to the photo was so much easier than I had imagined it would be. Or at least maybe Deb's tutorial is so good that it would be hard to mess it up. I just love the way that this turned out. Who knows, maybe in a few days I'll put the page up as a QP freebie! Stop back and see! :) In the meantime, if you would like more information on the Club Deco kit, stop over at Deco Pages and see what's going on!

Thanks for stopping in!