Back again...

Wow, I've been a really bad blogger! The last few months have been busy, with one kid in sports, one kid now in pep band, my job and trying to improve my photography and photoshop skills.  Some things I've learned on the photo-taking and editing:

• A higher ISO setting lets you get a faster shutter speed.  Sounds so simple, but definitely a "a-ha" moment for me. I had always thought a high ISO was only for when there wasn't much light.  Not so!  Even if you're shooting in sun, a faster shutter speed lets you capture fast moving objects like runners in a cross country race: 

• Sometimes the perfect shot just happens, but you can help yourself get lucky if you have your camera settings right for the occasion.  I couldn't have gotten this (outdoors during an actual race) shot if I'd tried purposely a million times, but lucky for me it just happened and my camera settings were in my favor... straight out of camera:

• The newer versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements have the ability to utilize pre-made actions.  Many very cool actions are free on the internet and can turn a good photo into an even better one:

• I've been reminded how sweet little ones can be... with two teenagers, it's easy to forget sometimes!

• Never underestimate the power of beautiful light when the sun is low in the sky:

Hope you're learning lots of cool things on your creative journey as well! 

It's been a while...

Whew, it's been a busy summer and I've neglected this little blog...so time to catch up!  The layouts at Sketches:Creatively Yours never cease to inspire.  Here are some of my recent contributions:

I also wanted to share a mini album cookbook I did some time ago, maybe it will get me into a cooking mood instead of a take out mood, ha!   



The circle frame around the vintage ladies below is actually a inner lid from a canning jar!  To get the red tint, use a reddish color permanent ink such as the Tim Holtz Adirondak inks from Ranger.

This one has my personal cooking motto "If at first you don't succeed, order pizza." :-)  And just because it's a recipe book doesn't mean you have to use traditional recipe cards.   Using tags that can easily be pulled out and put back later allows you to really utilize the recipes without worrying about ruining the album itself.

And of course, it wouldn't be a scrapbook without some photos or journaling!  As I created the album, I started thinking about different members of my family and my memories of their cooking skills.  Each tag is for a different family member. One of my favorite memories growing up is my Grandpa making us biscuits and gravy for breakfast whenever we spent the night.  I learned to make gravy by watching him do it and to this day, it's one of the few things I can make well and without a recipe!

See you at the fair!

Well it's county fair time here and in the county I live, it's a really big deal!  I love making mini albums so I decided to create one highlighting all my past memories of the fair.  I even talked my husband into taking it over this week so it can be displayed in the Family Arts building.  The fair opens Sunday and we can't wait!  For the album, I used October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket papers, both of which are quickly becoming my favorites. 

Some random fair memories including the "Peep Show" featured every year on the midway when I was growing up.  ha!

My daughter won her school class spelling bee two separate years. The winners compete at the fair.  The first time, she didn't win and was so happy to be out of the spotlight!

But two years later when she was in it again, she actually won!!  So proud of her.

Her first year in 4-H, she won a Grand Champion award. The Fair has been good to her, lol.

The photo on the left side of this page was taken inside the Strawberry ride.  Who would have ever guessed the Strawberry provided for perfect portrait lighting?

One year at the Fair, I had to bribe my son with a Big Red to get this photo.  I had to be fast in case any of his friends happened to walk by and see him!

Be sure to stop by the Sketches Creatively Yours blog this week to check out the layouts created from this week's sketch.  There are some really amazing interpretations this week and the quality of the photos on the layouts is just as amazing!  Here's my layout for the sketch.  It's of the bittersweet moment when my son played the last game of his high school basketball career.   

"Vacation, all I ever wanted..."

Yep, showing my true 80s style with the quote from the Go-Go's song!  I have been on vacation, and apparently took a vacation from posting on the old blog...wow, can't believe a month has gone by.  We had a great beach vacation, very relaxing and lots of sun, playing in the pool and eating good food.  I am very blessed!  A few of the sights:

View from our room:

Friendly tourists:

And I would love to know the story behind this one!  I was taking pics of my daughter and looked up to see this...

I'm so glad to be part of the design team at Sketches: Creatively Yours.  It sounds cliche' but it never ceases to amaze me how one sketch can inspire such a wide variety of layouts, all of them unique in their own way.  Be sure to stop over to check out this week's sketch.  My interpretation uses a layout of a photo my mom took of me when I was three or four.  I distinctly remember us going out into our yard and her having me hold my birthday cake.  I was wearing a dress my grandparents had gotten me.  Although the photo is black and white, I remember the dress was brown plaid and the lawn chair was teal.  It's also amusing to me the "quality" of this photo.  It was taken back in the day when getting photos centered was easier said than done, definitely some "parallax phenomenon" going on here with part of me being cut out of the photo!

Back again

Whew, it's been a while since I've posted!  I do have some new projects to share... and some new photos too.  Be sure to check out this week's sketch at Sketches: Creatively Yours, you'll find some amazing inspiration there as well as a new card designer!  Here's my interpretation of this week's sketch using some of my favorite Graphic 45 papers:

I always love working with goodies from Teresa Collins and Heidi Swapp... so I made a boy and a girl version of the same type page.  And who says boy pages can't have flowers too?!

And here's another using a sketch from the blog at AllyScraps:

And finally, just have to share some photos of my cousin's little cutie from the weekend!

A little birdie told me...

Be sure to stop over at Sketches: Creatively Yours to see this week's sketch and interpretations.  The sketch is for a card, but could quite easily be adapted to a layout or even a mini book.  The spring card above is my interpretation.  The sketch is so versatile I'm sure I'll use it often!

One of my blessings this week has been watching my son's track meets.  This is his first year in track. Among other things, it means he is one of the slower runners.  But I'm so proud of him and how hard he works to beat his personal best times.  Not only is he now in great shape, he's made some very close friendships I'm certain will long outlast the track season.  And it's a great way for his mom to practice action photography! 

I was taking photos of one of his best friends during a sprint.  It wasn't until I got home and uploaded the photos that I realized this sign was in the photo... too funny!

Prom time

My niece went to her first prom this weekend, making her aunt feel very old!  I was so flattered when she asked me to take photos before they left for the big night.  They're just friends, but they do make a cute couple:

And one to show off her personality:

The new design team interpretations are posted at Sketches: Creatively Yours.  Be sure to check out the amazing inspiration and lovely sketch .  My interpretation uses photos of our kitty, Lucy.  She turned one this week, and YES we did have a party complete with a gift for her.  And NO, she is not spoiled at all...ha!