A Gift of Memories

No Way!

WHERE have I BEEN?  

I just learned that these two guys are the same person!!

 

 

Did YOU know that?  And you didn't TELL me? 

So Be It

Just playing around. Liz challenged us to scrap our new years resolutions. I don't really make any resolutions for the new year.  Why set myself up to fail?  hehehe  Actually, I figure if something needs to be changed or improved or worked on why wait until January 1st to do it?  If it's important enough JUST DO IT.  Don't wait for the ball to drop before you 'change your life' .  You know what I mean? 

I rarely scrap photos of me. I don't have that many. And, my looks have changed so drastically over the years that when I do see myself in a picture my first thought is 'Who is that old broad?' .... bbwwwahahaha  But, every once in a while I pop up in a photo taken by someone in my family ... like this awful one .. with legitimate excitement upon receiving my Red Wii for Christmas.

I printed out a blank calendar grid with some journaling onto some white cardstock.  Then, I trimmed it so the Making Memories bracket cardstock  would act as a mat. Did the same with some fun red/white polka dot paper and added a bright, cheery strip of yellow notions trim at the seam.  A couple of well placed clusters for emphasis and this quick, easy page was finished .... awful picture and all!  hehehehe

 

 

 

One Little Word

Snow.  That's the word for this month in Suzanna's 'One Little Word' Challenge. It's hard to find some snow related photos when you live in the desert southwest.  I had a few from last year's trip to 'StaffFlag' to watch the Dynamite Express dance at the NAU half-time show. But, I scrapped them already. So, I dug around in some old photos and discovered these oldies but goodies. 

My memories of the Christmas Blizzard of '82 are as vivid as if it were just yesterday.  Mom and Daddy came up from Pagosa Springs to help Bob and Duana.  You see, Jordan was born on December 22 and Bob brought Duana and their new baby home the next evening. Mom and Daddy were there to help with Brandon, who was seven .. and to help with all the hoopla that comes with Christmas in our family. 

They had forecast snow on Christmas Eve ... maybe 6 inches or so .. just enough to provide a nice blanket on the roof for Santa's sleigh. But, by the time the storm was over the airport had been closed for 33 hours and we had drifts of snow 4-10 feet high!  I remember Duana telling us that Bob brought her and Jordan home only a few hours after the snow had started falling. And, she was tense and scared as they slowly drove home from the hospital ... taking a couple of hours to drive just a few miles And, we closed the store on the 24th.  Totally unheard of before then. It didn't matter WHAT the situation, that store was NEVER closed.  But, carpet installers and painters couldn't get out of their driveways to get to work ... let alone get into the parking lots of the apartment complexes where the work was done. The whole city was shut down.

The worst of it was that Santa Claus stored his Christmas presents for the kids in the warehouse at Standard .... our family business.  There was no way that a car was going to make it through the 'white and drifted snow'. But, Mom and Daddy had driven their Jeep CJ5 up from Pagosa so Bob and Craig took the Jeep out late in the afternoon to gather up Santa's goodies for Christmas morning.  

It was hours before they returned. We were ALL worried about them.  You have to remember that cell phones hadn't been invented yet. So there was no way of getting updates. And, I remember the great relief when I saw Craig drive into our driveway long after dark.  Evidently the Denver show plows had been running all day.  Craig said it was slow going on the main roads, but the streets were passable. The problem was on the side streets in the neighborhoods ... and in the parking lots of strip warehouses on Santa Fe Road!

He told me that when he and Bob finally made it to the store, the snow was so deep in the parking lot that they couldn't get the Jeep close to the store.  So, they parked next to the show drift that was as high as the Jeep and 'waded' through the snow to get to the front door..  Once inside they hauled everything from the warehouse down to the front door and piled it all into heavy-duty black trash bags. Then, they each made several trips back to the Jeep dragging the toy-filled bags across the thigh-deep snow until the Jeep was FULL! 

Justin and RaKell were thrilled, as always, at the load of presents that Santa had brought them.  And, after the excitement of the big reveal and discovery of presents we were supposed to go over to Bob and Duana's where we would open our family gifts with 'the family'.  It's what we did every year.  This year was going to be no exception.

But, there was no way we could get the Jeep out of the driveway.  UGH.  We called Bob and Duana to let them know that it was going to take us some time to get to their house ... not all that far away from us.  So, we got dressed as warmly as we could, gathered up a couple of rusty snow shovels from the garage ... and started to dig our way out.  It was in these moments of frustration and frostbite that I snapped these two photos with a Kodak Instamatic camera I had found in my Christmas stocking. :D

We eventually made it to Bob and Duana's. Everyone had been waiting there for us to arrive. I remember it approaching evening while we were opening our presents. There were stories to tell, lots of warm beverages to drink, and concern about whether the Bronco's would be able to get to LA to play the hated Los Angeles Raiders the next day.  Duana felt crappy and spent most of her time in bed.  Daddy said it was the worst Christmas ever. And, RaKell, Justin, Craig and I didn't care much because we were too cold and exhaused from shoveling snow all day.  UGH. 

Inspired by my digital graphics project for Miss MaryAnna yesterday, I decided to try my hand at some digital scrapping.  I found a cute kit called Snowday by Kristi W Designs online and played around with some digi elements.  It took me forever to get this completed.  I'm not very good at digital scrapping and frankly I miss the texture and the richness of traditional scrapping.  But, I'll never get any better if I don't work at it, huh?

ooohhhh, all this SNOW and blizzard talk is making me chilly.  Better get another cup of coffee and warm up!  hehehe

 

1-11-11 !!!!

How do you go about getting a big celebration on a blog? 

  

It's 1-11-11 and I want to wish my two

Birthday Girls the Best Birthday Ever! 

Love you! xoxox

Shuttercal 365 - Week 1

Week 1 of my 365 project is over.  I'm proud to say that I managed to take a Picture-A-Day and get them uploaded to my Shuttercal calendar.  It's so easy to upload the photos and only takes a couple of minutes from start to finish.  And, it's fun to see the little squares start to fill up.

The last picture is of some digital work put together for Miss MaryAnna, the owner of the studio where RheAnna and Breckin dance.  I haven't presented it to her, yet.  Hope to do it later on this afternoon.  But, playing with these digital images and fonts and such ... well, I'm not proficient at it ... in fact my digital skills are limited .... but, it was kinda fun.  So much so that I thought I'd try my hand at some digital scrapping! 

Preserving Those Memories With Basic Grey

You saw the pictures.  I shared them with you a week or so ago.  Our evening at the Hale Theatre to see A Christmas Carol was wonderful.  And, scrapping those pictures was a lot of fun, too! 

The  inspiration for this page was Mandy's Manufacturer Challenge at Challenge Masters. The January manufacturer was Basic Grey.  And, we had to use four different BG products on our page.  Well, THAT'S easy, huh?  

Did a few fun things on this one before I even put a photo down.  Stamped a checkerboard on the background using a foam stamp.  Then, ran the paper through the printer to add the sub-title 'Scrooge' and some additional journaling. 

Distressed the edges of my layers and used a new AE acrylic stamp for the swirlies around the outside edge.  Cut some circles from a BG Sugared pattern paper and created a 'faux' border detail. Layered some more BG papers and used my beloved script stamp to add to the layering. Printed more journaling on a Tim Holtz Journaling Tag ... love those!

Added my photos then finished by mixing up the title alphas to include some more BG ... chipboard and cardstock letters.  To finish, I added some flowery clusters of embellies, ribbon, and buttons to support the color theme.

Wow ... when I think about it that's pretty much how I go about doing most of my layouts.  Love altering the papers before I begin. Love layering papers and patterns to provide an interesting background for my photos. Love using clusters to strengthen the color palette. Come to think of it .. I just plain LOVE scrapping!  bbwwahaha

365

This month of celebration, preparation, festivities, and obligations is almost over and I'm looking forward to getting 'back to normal' and back to my scrapping.  It seems like it's been a MONTH since I've made time to play with paper and pictures.  Wait.  It HAS been a month!! Ugh. 

In the meantime, there's lots of buzz about the beginning of the new year and discussions about starting 'Picture A Day' projects.  Bill-I-AM and RaKell gave me a brand new camera for Christmas and I'm excited to start taking pictures with it! And, what better way than to commit to a 365/Picture A Day project!

The buzz about this is inspired by  Becky Higgins Project Life idea and Ali Edwards' December Daily  ... among others. And, I must admit that I LOVE these ideas and really want to do this!  BUT ... I also know myself. I have little confidence that I would be able to 'stick to it' for a full year.  I'd start out motivated ... but, in a short time I'm sure it would become oppressive .. "ugh, I'm behind and MUST scrap last week's photos" .... and I can see it becoming a CHORE instead of a pleasure. 

BUT ... Marianne shared a link this morning to a fun 'compromise'.  The picture above is directly from ShutterCal.  It's a FREE site ... you just register to join ... and then upload a photo a day into your own calendar!  Then, after your year is over you can print out the calendar pages and VOILA!  Your own Project 365 ... quick, easy, and full of the pictures you love and your memories of 2011! 

So, I'm sharing the link with you ... and inviting you to join me!  Let's take 'A Picture A Day' and share our calendars with each other!  It could be FUN!

Bah Humbug!

Bah Humbug has taken on new meaning at my house.  The hectic pace of the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas has severely cut into my scrappy time. So, this won't be a scrappy post.  My scraproom is full of gifts, wrapping paper, ribbon, tags ... and my mom working on her candy cane jigsaw puzzle.  No scrapping is being done HERE. 

But, I will take advantage of my silly blog to share some pictures with my family and friends.

 

 

Bah Humbug!  Lisa and RaKell shared their infectious holiday spirit with the family by reserving tickets to see A Christmas Carol at our local neighborhood theatre. After filling our tummies with delicious Olive Garden pasta we made our way to downtown Gilbert ... the Gilbert water tower guiding our way like the Christmas star ... to The Hale Theatre Arizona.  This was my first time at The Hale. And, let me tell you ... it is quaint, comfortable, friendly and totally charming!

I won't regale you with tales of amazing live 'theatre in the round', scary ghosts of Christmas Past, vintage Christmas carols sung by beautiful women and handsome men dressed in turn-of-the-century couture, Scrooge, Marley and Tiny Tim, baritone voices that filled the dark room while props and scenes were efficiently changed.  Let me just say that it was OUTSTANDING and AMAZING and FUN!

We missed RaKell, who stayed home to take care of RheAnna who had a high fever and had been hucking up all day ... the stomach flu that has been 'going around'. But, we'll be coming again, for sure! It was a wonderful family experience and the perfect way to get rid of a little of the stress and humbug of the pre-Christmas days.

The attention to detail, the talented actors ... even the magical 'Disney' snowfall that twinkled in the marquee glow and sprinkled overhead as we left the theatre ... aaahhhh.  

God Bless Us Every One!

Merry Christmas! 

Challenge Swap!

The Diva's over at Challenge Masters decided to spice things up a bit this month by swapping challenges!  So much fun!  I chose the Technique Challenge because I've been dying to share this technique with them for a while now. Here's the Technique Challenge I posted this morning. 

 

No ... it's not a stamping technique. It's an example of where you can find the plastic 'clamshell' packaging you'll need for this challenge. Look around at your scrapping supplies. Nearly everything comes with a clear plastic protective cover. They are usually adhered to the front of a printed piece of chipboard and allow you to see the goodies you are purchasing. They come in all kinds of different shapes and sizes. And, they make wonderful frames for your photos on a scrapbook page!

For my example I chose to use the protective plastic that came inside my embellishment box from Stampin Up. I've had my eye on it for a while now. And, loved the variety of 'windows' it had. You can use something with multiple 'windows', like I have, or something simple with a single window. It's up to you. 

Measure your window(s) to determine what size your photo(s) will be to fit 'inside' the window. After I measured, cropped, and sized my pictures to slightly larger than my window size, I just printed them all together on a sheet of photo paper.

Lay your plastic packaging over the photo to get an idea of where to trim. Your photo will need to be trimmed large enough to 'wrap' up the edges of your window. Once you've determined that you printed your photo large enough, cut it out with scissors. But, don't worry about it being the exact size ... after you fit it into the window you'll be able to trim any excess away.

Turn the plastic packaging over and place your photo over the opening you are going to fill. Press the photo into the plastic using your fingers at first, gradually working it into the shape of the plastic. You may want to use a bone folder or something similar to help you get it into the corners ... depending on the shape of your window.

Once you get it shaped to fit, remove it and trim away the edges that stick up higher than your plastic.

Here's an example of what it will look like when your photo is trimmed and fit inside the plastic window.

If you have chosen packaging with only one window then your ready to proceed to scrap it on your page. If you choose a multi-photo plastic then continue to fill the rest of the windows using the same technique. Feel free to use any tools at hand to work the photo into the corners and rounded edges of your plastic. For this one, my round nose stylus worked great. (Hint: If you find that the photo doesn't want to stay inside the window, place a tiny bit of adhesive in the corner of your photo where it won't be visible and that will hold the picture in place enough until you get it on your page.)

When you've finished filling your windows, run adhesive around the outside edge ... where the plastic was adhered to the original packaging, and place it on a piece of solid color cardstock mat. Trim off the excess cardstock using your scissors and there you go! All ready to scrap on your layout.

Get creative! On this page I traced the shape of my plastic on the cardstock first, then stamped words around the outside edge where the adhesive would go. I punched a couple of holes and tied some pink ribbon just for fun. However, the matted plastic is not tied on to my layout, just adhered like a regular photo would be using my tape runner.

You can see how fun the added dimension is!  People will be amazed at how creative you are! It can be used on a scrapbook page or something more simple on a holiday card or tag. Beware ... once you try this, you'll never look at your scrapbook supplies the same way again! 

I added some fun flower, brad, and doodle embellishing to my patterned papers on this example layout.  Love how it looks! 

 

Busy time of year for everyone.  Hope you're managing all your tasks this month with skill and grace!  I'm afraid I'm not doing it as well as I'd like.  hehehe  

Until next time ...

I Guess I Better Blog About All This Fun!

Not quite as many blog entries this month.  It's not because there's nothing to blog about ... it's just making the time to do it!  bbwwahahaha  I'm basking in the glow of an amazing week which began with my youngest granddaughters debuting their dance solo's at the KAR National Dance Competition on Saturday, my first ScrapLift With A Twist Challenge went live on Sunday over at Challenge Masters and ending with a very full tummy and a heart full of love ... the family spent Thanksgiving together at my house ... tons of food and loads of fun! 

RheAnna and Breckin have been working hard on their dance solos.  Choreography started last August, costume fittings in October, untold hours of practice at home and at the studio. And, it was just so exciting to watch them peform their dances on stage for the first time!  Both girls have been dancing for a few years now ... since they were barely out of diapers. Both girls on the Jazz Drill Team called The Dynamite Express and this year RheAnna has moved up to competitive dancing in the youngest group of the DC2 Company ... Sugarbabes.  I'm just so proud of them.  And, it was a thrill, beyond words, to see them both on stage ... alone ... without the camoflauge of their teammates ... performing for the judges. 

Miss Alexa, a senior dancer for the DC2 Company is responsible for everything here except doing the actual dances.  She is an amazingly talented dancer in her own right and has been an assistant for the past couple of years to Miss Tanya, the Director for the Dynamite Express.  She knows the girls well and they love her.  So, we were pleased as punch when she agreed to work with them on their first solos.  Alexa chose the music, choreographed the dances, designed the costumes .... and I know she was as proud of the girls as we were ... maybe even a little bit more ... when they performed on Saturday. 

RheAnna's not known to be all that 'sharp' with her moves during class or practice .. and will sometimes 'walk through' some of her moves while she's dancing in the privacy of her own livingroom.  BUT ... when this girl gets on stage ... she just 'lights up' and everything somehow blossoms into an amazing performance. 

Oh sure, she looks beautiful ... excellent toe point, wonderful extension ... but, look at this little 7 year old strut her stuff in the video! Here's RheAnna dancing to 'I Like To Fuss'!   (btw ... she didn't 'miss' her toe rise .. her foot undies slipped on the floor ;)

 

 

 

To be honest, Breckin wasn't going to do a solo this year.  Being 5 and dancing on the Dynamite Express and adjusting to kindergarten seemed like plenty for a little girl.  But, she really wanted to have a solo ... especially when she learned that her big sister was doing one ... well, her mom finally gave in.  There were no expectations placed on Breckin.  Just be sure to try your hardest, you HAVE to practice ... and HAVE FUN!   

Isn't she just so cute? But, there's more to this little girl than meets the eye.  Unlike her sister, she is driven to be the best ever!  She's consciously aware of every toe point, every fully extended knee, where she's supposed to be and what she's supposed to be doing while she's there.  She dances every time ... even in practice, like it's the last time.  And .... you can tell she had a BALL showing off for ... and playing to ... the judges!  In her adorable top hat and tails ... here's Breckin dancing to 'New York, New York'! 

 

After watching 68 little girls ages 4-8 from dance studios all over the Phoenix Metro area perform it was time for awards.  The girls were thrilled when they both took Top First Place in their respective categories ... rushing across stage to receive their large, purple trohpies! After trophies were awarded the Top 20 and Top 5 were announced.  Points are awarded to each dancer based upon various dance criteria and the girls are not actually judged against the other dancers in their category, but are actually judged on the skill, technique, difficulty, showmanship, choreography etc ... of their own dance.  

As the Top 20 were announced we were ecstatic when RheAnna was announced as 12th overall!  WhooHoo!  She just beamed as her medal was placed around her neck while those of us in the audience shouted and hugged and even cried a little.  It couldn't have been more exciting!

All the dancers were sitting on stage during the awards.  I had my eye on Breckin ... and I could see she was actually disappointed when her name wasn't called.  She KNEW she had danced her best ... and I silently wished she had received a medal for overall points.  But, she is only 5 .. this was her first competition ... and she'll have plenty of time for points and medal.  Wait ...

It was time for the Top 5 to be announced.  Number 5 was Riley ... another DC2 student and one of Miss Alexa's  dancers!  Cheers, hooray!  And then ... Number 4 .... and the song 'New York, New York'  filled the auditorium!  Breckin had placed FOURTH overall!  She jumped up from her quiet place on the floor at the side of the stage .. proudly walked to the announcer ...

'What's you name, honey?'

 'Breckin.'

'Who choreographed your dance?'

'Miss Alexa Moffett.'

'And, what studio do you dance at?'

'Dance Connection Too.'

And, with that ... our proud little girl took her place on stage as the remaining three were announced.  Her smile was as big and glorious as ever ... she was waving to us in the audience ... and I was so happy for her I could barely contain my pride and love for this amazing little girl.

Dancer #3 was from a competing studio.  But, Miss Alexa's dancers took second and first place in the competition!  Brooke looked simply amazing in her red costume and nailed it for second place.  And, Dylynn, who competed two solo's in the competition took FIRST place overall!  Nearly all of Miss Alexa's students (a total of 9 competing) took Top First Place in their categories! And, they placed 4 of the Top 5!  It was an exciting morning to be sure!

The girls loved their trophies and medals .. but honestly, the BEST award was the custom little bear that each girl received from Miss Alexa after her performance ... each bear wearing a glittery, feathery dance costume that exactly matched the dancers! 

 

And there was so much love and pride backstage in the dressing area afterwards .. little girls so happy, so proud, so beautiful ... being little girls.  It was truly a day I will never forget.

(l to r: RheAnna, Allison, Devon, Riley, Breckin, Miss Alexa, Brooke, Dylynn, Brinley.  Not shown: Chloe)

And, who doesn't love a congratulatory, frosting covered, giant cookie for reward?!!! 

You've got to know there's a ton of scrapping material after THAT adventure!  Just need to have some time and figure out what I'm going to do. ;) Speaking of scrapping and adventure .... 

my first ScrapLift Challenge went live the next day!  I don't have to tell you how I feel about scraplifting ... using someone else's scrapbook page as inspiration for one of your own.  I encourage scrappers to lift ... copy ... pages that they see and love.  It's how we learn to go outside of our own comfort zone ... to try new designs or techniques we may not have thought of trying on our own ... to expand our scrapping skills.  I mean, WHY do you think there are so many scrappy websites and galleries .. scrappy magazines filled with examples?  You are SUPPOSED to lift those designs, take away from them the things that inspire you the most.  

True to the Challenge Masters tradition I chose a layout from the CM very own gallery as my first liftable page.  I just loved Diana's page design ... the collage of photos, the half circles of painted cardboard, her journaling and found it to be very inspiring for my example page. 

Here's Diana's page:

and, here's my lift: 

In between shopping and cooking and carpooling I managed to play along in a couple of challenges this week.  One was particularly fun ... it was Jamille's Card Challenge.  We were to make (3) mini cards ... 3 x 3 or smaller ... with a holiday theme.  ooohhh, I've never made 'mini cards' before ... and it was the perfect project for a busy week with minimal time available for scrappy projects. 

Not only were they fun and quick to do they were made entirely from my Stash!  Gotta love using up those scraps!  You've got to admit, these cute little snowy 3-D Paper Studio stickers add so much character to them ... and I got to use my new Technique Tuesday holiday sentiment stamps!  Doesn't get any better than that! 

Thanksgiving was so delicious and fun, too!   I'm waiting for my family to share their pictures and I'll post a few of them here.  The highlight of the day?  The winner of our first ... but certainly not last ... Golden Spoon "Oh No, Not Shrimp Salad Again" award!  But, you'll have to wait for that announcement. 

Well, it's no wonder I don't blog often.  It takes HOURS to put these things together ... come up with clever text, crop photos, embed videos.  It's a labor of love and I'm just to happy that I have this opportunity to share this stuff with you ... my family and friends.  Don't forget to leave a comment ... just so I know you stopped by for a visit. 

Big hugs!