Somerset Digital Studios

In November, I found out that I was lucky enough to have been selected as one of the Spotlight artists in Somerset Digital Studios Spring 2012 issue. I was thrilled. I absolutely love this publication. It is filled with all different types of art and it is so inspiring. I love reading what inspired the pages and how the artist went about creating each piece.



I have six pages featured in this issue including this page below:


All products for this layout are from Designer Digitals.

This issue was released today (March 1st). I feel so fortunate to be a part of it. God has truly blessed me and I am so grateful.

Unfortunately, there was some confusion with one of my layouts which was my fault. The layout description and credits did not match the page that was published. The right credits for the layout "Sunshine" can be found here. My sincere apologies to the designers for the mix-up.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Blizzard

We have had very little snow this year and we woke up to a blizzard this morning. School was cancelled...that RARELY happens here. The electricity went out shortly after we woke up and was out for about 5 hours. We spent the morning playing in the snow. The kids were so excited.


My big birch looks like this....

This picture was taken about 7:30 this morning...everybody was excited to dive in and start playing....well, maybe not everybody...I probably would have preferred coasting into the day a litte more in my jammies...

Our bird feeder looks like a fancy chandilier...

We built this guy right away this morning. Amelia wanted him to have blue eyes but we were out of blue food coloring so instead we have a red-eyed snowman!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Children's Artwork

I LOVE art...always have....always will. I love to look at it...I love to create it...and I have recently found out that I love to teach it! My girls both love to create as well and it is so fun to see what inspires them. I have piles of their artwork which I never seem to want to get rid of. The piles of artwork have come to a point in which I needed to do something. When I get something that they REALLY put a lot of time into or it touches me in some special way, I will tuck it in the back of their scrapbook. I also like to scan it in and use it on my pages. I really like to incorporate their art into mine.


I recently created these two pages for my daughters. This was one of those cases in which I had the vision in my head before I sat down to the computer so it didn't take me long at all to put this together. And once again, one of the many benefits of life in the digital world is that you can easily personalize the page. I wanted their artwork to look as if it was a mural on this wooden wall. I was so excited with how this turned out because their beautiful artwork steals the show. My girls loved these pages as well which is always a bonus.





A couple of years ago I created a spread for each of the girls. This was the left side and the ride side was just filled with framed images of their artwork...

Right when I came to the digital world, I saw this idea somewhere and had to duplicate it. This picture was done by Ellie when she was 4 and I'm pretty sure that out of all of the pages that I have created for her...this is her favorite. She still loves to turn to this page in her album.

All products are from Designer Digitals.

I am working on a new class which will start in May and the first page in this post will be included in that class. This class is called "The Angles of Photoshop" and I'm really excited to share these pages and these techniques with those who are interested.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for stopping by.

More Pages

Life is hopping around here. We are still up to our ears in girl scout cookies. This is Ellie's last week of basketball and the girls continue to love skating. Creative Composites finished last week. I was sad to see it come to a close. I had such a wonderful group of people to work with but thankfully many of them are still very active with Blending and Beyond. We are in the second week of Blending and Beyond. I am thrilled with what I am seeing in the gallery...it is full of beautiful pages. We have our first webinar today that I'm looking forward to. I'm going to do a demonstration on the page below and take apart some of my pages in my gallery as we take a closer look at blending modes. If you are in Blending and Beyond and haven't registered yet, there are still a few spots open. I hope to see you there!


Here are some of the other pages that I have created in the last couple of weeks.

All products are from Designer Digitals.

Happy Friday. I hope you have a good weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Sledding

Today it was beautiful outside so the kids and I went sledding all morning. We had an absolute blast. I refer to this place where we sled as Mt. Everest....it is HUGE. I just sat at the bottom of the hill for the longest time and appreciated every moment looking at this scene in front of me. God's light was shining right down on us. I cannot wait to scrap this photo!



The hill was very fast with LOTS of jumps...this is how Mia's first run went...

I followed suit and went down that same run right after Mia and had the same experience. Although I am pretty certain that I didn't look nearly as cute with my body rolling all over the place. The kids laughing hysterically confirmed that.

I took some shots of the kids and I felt like I was in a studio because the snow was pure white and sparkling.

Quinn has a different approach...he likes to lean back...I think he might have a future on the luge.

It was such a great morning....love days like this. We might have to head back there tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Digital Scrapbooking Essentials

Pattie Knox is starting her next series of classes next week...Digital Scrapbooking Essentials and More Digital Scrapbooking Essentials. You can purchase them individually or as a bundle. The first workshop runs from March 1st - March 22nd and the second workshop runs from April 5th - April 26th. I get the privilage of proofreading and viewing all of Pattie's materials before class begins. I'll just say that tonight I read through Lesson 1 on recoloring. I honestly don't think my proofreading was quite up to par because I was SO enthralled with what I was learning. The first lesson is 20 pages long filled....FILLED with fabulous material. I learned a TON. That handout is not leaving my desk...so many valuable tips in there. I cannot wait until lesson 2.

If you are looking to learn more about photoshop, I cannot recommend this series of courses enough. I spent tonight just playing with all of the techniques she shared. I'm just giddy...my supply stash just became that much bigger because now I know so many cool ways of recoloring!!! Can hardly wait to see what I learn tomorrow!

Project 2012

It is hard to believe that I just finished Week 7 for this years project. It has been easy to keep up with this project because of my simple template. Here is a peek at the layouts for February so far.

One of the things that I love about this project is that it really is my reference book. When I want to do a page for one of my kid's albums, I just bring on the corresponding page in this file folder and pull the pictures that I have already selected and use it for my children's albums.

I hope you had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Happenings at Creative Passion

I am very excited to tell you that Vee Jennings will now be teaching at Creative Passion. Vee is a very talented and inspiring paper scrapbooker and we are thrilled to have her on board. Vee's first class starts on April 3rd. It is called Scrapbooking Clear Elements.


I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed my time at Creative Passion. It is such a fun group of people to work with and there are so many exciting things happening. We had our first Digital U on Sunday night. Amy Kingsford, Pattie Knox and I all used the same title and created it in our own unique way. I'll just say there was a lot of informatin and a lot of fun! If you are registered for Digital U, you can head on over and check out the recording.

Our next Digital U is scheduled for Sunday, March 11th at 9:00 PM EST. Our topic will be "Quick Photo Fixes".

We will also have another Digital U on Thursday, April 12th at 9:00 PM EST. Michelle Houghton is an incredible artist and she will be joining us. She teaches copic art at Creative Passion. Michelle is creating a title for each of us and we are going to incorporate it into each of our pages. I have never done anything like this before and I'm really excited about this.

Mark your calendars and register today. We are limited to 100 people for each webinar. We hope to see you there!

Heritage Page

I am very interested in family history. I've spent a ton of time researching and documenting our family roots. I feel like this information is SO valuable. The page below can be seen in the Creating Keepsakes March/August 2012 issue. All rights are to Creative Click Group.

I treasure these wedding photos of my great grandparents, grandparents, and parents. The weddings that are pictured on this page occurred in 1905, 1937, 1965 and 2002. I have scrapbooked these photos before on their own individual pages but I love looking at them side by side. When I look at these photos, I can see so many changes that have occurred over the course of the last century and yet the core values that are represented on this page have remained the same. Each of these photos represents a celebration of love.

My journaling reads: As I look over the family photos that have been passed onto me, I can't help but feel a sense of gratitude. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents layed the foundation of lives focused on love, marriage and family. There are 106 years of marriage represented on this page and that is truly a blessing.

All products are from Designer Digitals.

I am so passionate about family history. I feel like passing this information on to future generations is so important. I have started working on a new class that I am hoping to offer in the fall called "Generations". I'm so excited to share my passion for family heritage with others.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I really like Valentine's Day. I think it has a lot to do with being with the people that I love, making crafts/cards and of course chocolate. I made these little Valentine's for the kids. They took no time....have I told you before how much I love life in the digital world....5 minutes and I have a cute card for each of them!
We have a few valentine's traditions. The kids always come down in the morning to cards, candy and a new book on the table. At dinner I make....or rather TRY to make heart pancakes and scrambled eggs. Which is followed by a scavenger hunt for chocolate "hugs" and "kisses" that are hidden in the basement. It sure makes for a fun day. I hope you are enjoying time with your loved ones today. Have a great day!

Girl Scout Cookies

The Girl Scout Cookies arrived Friday night and the kids were so excited. We have had an unbelievably mild winter and then Saturday rolls around "COOKIE GO DAY"....and it is absolutely FREEZING outside. We loaded up the wagon and headed door to door. I told them that they had to be tough if they wanted to be a girl scout....I'll admit that I was the one who spent the least amount of time outside during this whole process. With two girl scouts, we now have 145 boxes to sell....minus of course the boxes that we already ate ourselves!

Here is Mia working on her sales pitch...

Her sales pitch must have worked. Our neighbors were equally excited for "COOKIE GO DAY".

I hope you all had a great weekend! If you need any cookies let me know!