Splash Pad

It has been another action-packed week around here.  We've hit the golf course, swimming pool, zoo, and Splash Pad this week.  We met my best friend (who I don't get to see vey often) and her two adorable children at the Splash Pad yesterday and had a blast.  It was such a fun outing on a hot summer day.  Here are the photos that I got....

I don't think this little guy can get any cuter....

Quinn showing Ellie a little "brotherly love"...

This is Olivia.  She just turned one and I could have watched her in these bubblers all day....absolutely precious.

I apologize for the lack of blog posts.  It is a challenge to juggle everything especially in the summer when everybody is home.  I'm hoping to get back on a regular schedule with my posts.  I hope you are all doing well.  Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!



Generations Fall Class

Generations is my new class that is now on sale at Creative Passion.  I am so excited about this course.  As many of you may know, I am very passionate about preserving memories as well as family genealogy.  This class is designed to share my passion for both by leading students through my creative process of putting together a beautiful, organized album that can be treasured for generations.  

I want my children to know about the people and the lifestyles that preceded them.  I think it is so important for them to have a strong understanding of where they came from and a greater appreciation for who they are. Losing my mother far too early in life ignited my passion for making sure that her story was told as well as other ancestors.  I have found this journey to be so fun, interesting and rewarding.  I am thrilled that my children and future generations will have something special in hand that will shed a lot of light on their roots.  

This class is structed differently than my other classes.  Class does not "officially" start until September.  Due to the material at hand, however, I am hoping that people spend the next couple of months getting their materials out of the box and onto the computer.  I have two recordings that students will have access to immediately.  The recordings are designed to inspire students to organize, scan, and restore their photos.  The forum is now open.  When class "officially" begins in September, we are going to jump right into creating our album together.  It is going to be so much fun.  I can't wait to see how everybody's album comes together.

Here is the schedule of events:

June 26 - Registration Begins (Welcome Recording and Photo Fixes Recording)
September 4 - Album Organization Part 1 (Recording and Outline)
September 6 - Album Organization Part 2 (Webinar)
September 10 - Time Savers (Recording and Outline)
September 12 - Special Photo Effects (Recording and Outline)
September 14 - Page Design Part 1 (Recording and Outline)
September 18 - Page Design Part 2 (Webinar)

Time to work on pages and post in our gallery

October 1 - Filler Pages (Recording and Outline)
October 3 - Cover and Finishing Touches (Recording and Outline)

* Dates may vary slightly

If you would like to know more about the class, you can find the information here.  I hope to see you in class!!!

Inky Doodles

Inky Doodles by Michelle Houghton is now available at Creative Passion. Michelle is such a talented artist and just look at the sales banner.  I'm drooling over these images and looking forward to learning how to create art like this.  I think her work is amazing and I'm so excited about this class!



Father's Day Weekend

We went back to my hometown for the weekend.  In addition to celebrating father's day, we had a family reunion.  I thought I would share some shots from the weekend...

At the hotel....

I am from Southeastern Minnesota and it is beautiful.  Winona is nestled between these huge bluffs and Mississippi River.

Here is a shot of my dad (left), my dear aunt who I am very close to and their brother who lives in Hawaii.  I think it is amazing how much they look alike.

You hear about family reunions in which you meet people that you had no idea you were related to and I certainly had one of those moments this weekend.  I will admit that I am not a TV person.  I could easily live without one unless the Masters or US open is on.  I learned that I was related to "The Kinetic King".  I had no idea who this guy was or what the phrase "Kinetic King" could mean.  He was going to do a performance at the reunion.  So the night before my cousin told me that I needed to see this before hand so he brings him up on Youtube.  Here is the link.  I came to find out that "The Kinetic King" got third place in America's Got Talent last year.  My jaw was on the floor as I watched the video.  To say it was unlike anything that I have ever seen before would be an understatement.  The "Kinetic King" gave a little performance for our family today and my main focus for the day was trying to keep Quinn away from his contraption.  It was unbelievable and obviously this guy inherited all of the patience in our family.  It was something to see.

The reunion was so fun and I'm so glad that I went.  I got some more family tree information which was exciting and made some new connections.  And this weekend proved that you just never know who you might be related to.

Friday

It is hard to believe that it is Friday already.  It was officially the first week of summer break and let's just say that the pace of life has increased immensely around here.  We had a great week....there is just not one ounce of down time until the kids are asleep.  Our week activities include golf, t-ball, ice skating, sports sampler camp, gardening with papa, Madagascar 3, and playdates.

Here is my favorite shot of the week.  After we got home from t-ball.  The kids grabbed a popsicle and headed to the end of the driveway to unwind from the day.

I am loving my new computer that Jeff installed for me last week.  I also upgraded to CS6 over the weekend and absolutely love it!  I really like the fresh new look and how the workspace is arranged.  I've also been playing with the content-aware feature which I really didn't use too much in CS5.

We are headed out of town for the weekend to a family reunion.  I'm really looking forward to it and I'm hoping that I might get some more information for our geneology search.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Creating Keepsakes July/August 2012

Creating Keepsakes July/August 2012 issue is hitting the newstands today. I am fortunate to have two layouts in this issue.  I have subscribed to Creating Keepsakes since nearly the very beginning and when I find it in my mailbox, I cannot wait to dive inside.  I was thrilled to get my copy last week.  I always find it so inspiring.

Jana's Jumpstarts - June 10th

Hello.  I hope you are having a good weekend.  I just wanted to let you know that Jana's Jumpstarts is up on the Creative Passion blog.  You can find it here.  I hope it inspires you to play along.  I'll be looking forward to seeing your page in the gallery.  Enjoy your day!

Extraction Time

Happy Friday!  We've had a great week here.  The kids are officially out of school.  The weather has been perfect.  I got a new computer and Jeff was able to move all of my files (including ACDSee and all of the tags) to the new computer which was HUGE in my world.  I'm so lucky that he is amazing with computers.....and taking care of me :).

I thought today I would talk a little bit about extractions.  If you have followed any of my work, you know extractions often play a big role in what I do.  I thought I would share a page that I created earlier this week.  My daughter choreographed a dance with some friends to her new favorite band's "One Direction" smash hit "What Makes You Beautiful".  I love the song and so does Quinn which I think is so funny.  At any rate, the dance ended with Ellie doing the splits.  She was so excited for this part.  She was doing one last practice the other day before school.  She was in the grass and I was taking pictures.  She did her splits and I told her "I need this to be an extraction".  She immediately got up and headed to the driveway.  I had a good laugh over the fact that my kids know what an extraction is and what they need to do.  I guess it is one of the downfalls of having a mom obsessed with Photoshop but she was excited for me to take the shot.

  

People might wonder why I use extractions so much and this is a perfect example.  I use extractions to create something more interesting.  The shot of her on the driveway is cute but let's face it....it isn't all that exciting.  I like to focus on the subject and find ways of figuring out how I can make that image come alive.  I also think it immediately catches the viewers attention because it is out of the ordinary.  I could have just put this photo in a frame, cropped it close and called it done.  If I had done that, it really wouldn't have done this photo justice so instead I created the page below...a page with a fun background that takes this average photo to another level. 

I did this page while Ellie was at school that day.  It took my 45 minutes.  I had it up when Ellie came home from school and the minute she saw it, she said "Wow Mom....I love that".  Ellie totally gets what I do.  She is very creative and loves to be involved as I'm creating.  It is a fun thing to share with her.

All prodcuts are from Designer Digitals.

Next time you have a photo in which the background does not excite you, think of an extraction.  What can you create to enhance that photo and really make it pop.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Digital U

Our next session of Digital U is scheduled for Sunday night (June 10th) at 9 pm Eastern Time.  Digital U is a free webinar series in which Pattie Knox, Amy Kingsford and myself cover various catagories related to Digital U.  I really look forward to them.  It has been so much fun!  I will admit that I'm a little nervous for this weeks session.  Pattie and Tami are challenging Amy and I to use one of Pattie's awesome templates and create a page in 20 minutes.....or at least try.  Everybody will get to watch as Amy and I scramble to put something together.  It should be a lot of fun.  I hope you can join us.  Register at Creative Passion under Digital U.  Looking forward to "seeing" you there.

Page Breakdown at Get It Scrapped

I created this layout the other day and Debbie wanted to feature it at Get It Scrapped.  It is a super simple layout that I created in about 45 minuters.  Debbie broke this page apart and you can see the steps that I used here.

All products are from Designer Digitals and can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Get It Scrapped Creative Team

I am thrilled to announce that I have been invited to join the first ever Creative Team at Get It Scrapped.  I am excited to be on this team of very talented scrapbookers from all over the world.  I have some old friends on the team and I'm looking forward to hanging out with some new people as well.

Debbie Hodge is amazing and inspiring in so many ways.  She has taken her love for scrapbooking and shared it with so many people....me included.  Debbie started Get it Scrapped several years ago.  I taught my first class there last fall and was so grateful that Debbie gave me the opportunity.  Debbie is one busy person to say the least.  She has a whole family of scrapbook sites designed to inspire you to record your story in your own unique way.  In addition to Get it Scrapped, Debbie has Masterful Scrapbook Designs, Easy Scrapbook Pages and This Memory Keeper's Life. 

I jumped at the opportunity to share my love for documenting life through these sites.  If you haven't checked them out before, I encourage you to do so.  They are FULL of ideas and inspiration.  I'm just happy to be a part of it all.