and the winner is......

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Colorado!!!



There was an international poster contest where each society could enter a design. I designed this poster for the Colorado group....and we won!!! So I have to explain - this was my first foray into what I'm going to call digi-digi art. You should give it a try!

A few days ago, I uploaded a piece of background paper that I had made using photoshop (digital scrapping). I printed out that sheet, then used my Circut (digital diecutting) to cut the tree (Heritage cartridge) and stars (Joys of the Season cartridge) in regular cardstock. Inked the edges, attached them to the background paper and scanned them back in. The rest of the poster was done using photoshop. Quite easy, gave it some dimension, and really fun to do.

I used Tina's Yiska Hebrew Brushes in photoshop. Ranger distress ink. My Epson 13x19 printer finally came to use once I got the ink in the cartridges flowing again! Oh, I used some other photoshop brushes to create the flourishes on the background paper - no idea who created them. But I like the idea of combining what you can do in photoshop with what you can do with the cricut. Digi-digi. Fun stuff!

I'm so honored to have been asked to design this poster. Thanks Ellen!!!

Great God, Our King

Driving down the highway, across Kansas, I came upon a hill with a lone gigantic flag flying in the breeze.




And it made me wonder.....do you know the words? To ALL the verses? Have you forgotten? Do your kids know the words? Did you teach this to them?

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.



Do you sing about the freedom you still have?

Do you sing to God?

Does freedom's song swell the breeze and ring from the trees?

Have you forgotten?

Great God, Our King

Day 8 - Sleep-in Sunday

Got up at 7 am and looked outside to see if it was still raining.  Nope, but it sure is overcast.  The employees are already out there cleaning out the pools, wiping down the plaza, putting out baskets with towels.  The beach looks spotless so I imagine they have already taken care of it!  Such a clean place....and so many employees working non-stop to keep it this way!

Decided to just go back to bed.  After all, what are vacations for?  I think Kerry has learned the true meaning of rest and relaxation!  This is a vacation!  A trip is when you go visit relatives, or friends, or go tour a new place.  A vacation - when you vacate your life!!!

We ordered room service at 11 am so that should tell you where today is going....nowhere!!!  About 3 pm, we ventured down to one of the restaurants for lunch.  Thank goodness they are open almost 24/7 here!  

I thought I should do the pronounciation of this place - Huatulco.  It sounds like Waa-tool-ko with a long o at the end.  In the state of Oxaca which is waa-sock-ah.  Accent on the second syllable in both words.  Not something you can say real fast!  LOL!!!

I spent some time today learning the most recent lessons from Scrappers Guide, a digital scrapbooking site that I subscribe too....and never have time to play with.  So this is what I came up with today for digital layouts!

Today was a day to teach myself a little more in photoshop and digital scrapbooking, working with very old (ok, yes, the word is VINTAGE) photos of myself and Kerry.  

to see this as a larger image, just click here and then click the magnification button.

And in this one, I learned a new way of erasing what's not needed inside a frame.



What a relaxing, fun day....and I still created a little!

Adore

Rarely does Kerry take a good photo, but the photographer on the cruise was amazing. She got him laughing. And I truly love this photo of the 2 of us.

So, I took one of the monthly kits I download from Scrappers Guide and decided to play. I think digital scrapping is getting more and more sophisticated. Look at the leaves, the birds, scrolls and hidden clock. The papers and embellishments in this set are so much fun.



We truly had a great time on the trip. I adore this man for so many reasons, but perhaps most because he put a stamp in my passport - he takes me places I never thought I would get to go, and once in a great while, he takes a good photo!!

Another "4 Moore Girls" Adventure!

If you haven't figured out by now, I just LOVE a great adventure! In 2000, all 4 of us Moore girls (and I put that loosely as we are all over 50 now!) and our hubbies went to Lake Powell together. It was the first time the 4 of us girls had been together overnight since we left home. We mostly laid in the water as it was around 108 degrees the whole time we were there....even at midnight!



In 2002 all 8 of us went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico together.....for a whole week! I guess we decided if we could handle a few days on the lake, we could handle a whole week! We didn't share all the same activities, so here are 6 of us out on an ATV ride through the "jungle". We did some snorkeling, some day cruises, some massages and some shopping. Ok, 4 girls....we did a LOT of shopping!



Then in 2005, 3 of us went to Israel and Egypt for 15 days. Are we getting brave or what? TWO weeks together? It was just the most wonderful trip I've ever taken! You can tell from this photo that we just had so much fun! They dubbed us the "Ya-Ya sisters".



And now, this October, 3 of us and 2 hubbies are taking a cruise together. I can hardly wait! We just booked it this week and the phone lines and emails have been flying so fast I can hardly keep up with everything!



It's a 10 day cruise, so Kerry decided he wanted a bigger suite.....wowzers!



I love this floor plan....I have 2 sinks in the bathroom....a complete necessity at this age! LOL!



Anyone want to join the family fun? Holland America We have 3 full days at sea....I can teach digital scrapbooking! For FREE!!! :o)

Hey Aunt Jean! I think you and Uncle Bob should join us! Wouldn't that be so much fun??? Any of my cousins dare to join the famly fun???

So a little over 20 weeks. Can I get into that size 12 swimsuit by then? Weight Watchers 2.5 lbs per week maximum might even get me into a really old size 10 suit! LOL! I guess my diet starts NOW! Perhaps I'll blog my progress on a weekly basis.

A gift for you!

A whole page of tickets with sentiments and mini phrases on them! You should be able to download and import into your photo editor, resize for your printer and print. Or just open into a new window and print from there.



Then use your paper trimmer and cut them apart



Next, use a small circle punch to trim the corners



And you will have wonderful little embellishments for your projects!



Of course, you can also use these as digital scrapbooking elements....just crop, edit and paste into your project!

If you can think of other words or phrases that you'd like to see on a ticket, just let me know. Now that I have the template set up I can easily edit and change these over and over!

Crop for the Walk

UPDATE!!! We will be having a second Crop for the Walk in my studio on March 29. Same details as the one below....except a whole new set of prizes to give away. My vendor pals and my art pals have just gone over the top with insanely generous donations for this crop...you will not be disappointed at all!

Register by emailing me, or signing up at meetup.com/1950. But most of all, be sure to give your $35 to Rachel! She's at 96% of her goal....just $144 more is needed!

***********


It was so much fun yesterday afternoon and evening to watch the thermometer on Rachel's site double!!! Thank you so much!!!

And I am sooooo excited!!!

I'm going to offer a 12 hour Crop for the Walk on March 8th. 11 am - 11 pm in my studio here in Lafayette CO.

A fundraiser for the National Epilepsy Foundation and Rachel.

Here's the deal. Just click on Rachel's photo at the top of this blog and donate at least $35.00. It's 100% tax deductible.

Then email me and let me know that you want to participate in the all day crop. It's free!

We'll have pizza for dinner....

And I'll offer you a one time discount of 40% off your entire order from my Product Performers catalog....

AND...Liz from Scrapbook Your Life! is going to donate goodie bags to everyone who attends. Trust me...I've been the recipient of her goodie bags....they are wonderful!!!

There will be hourly prizes and we will even have a few contests! I have contacted 21 of my favorite manufacturers and asked them to donate for the day. As the prizes come in...I will post more here! (Update...After Midnight Stamps is sending prizes!)

Scor-It just emailed that they want to donate a Scor-it Mini!!! And I didn't even ask! Gotta LOVE a company like that!!!

There will be at least 2 make and takes (I'm sure my local artist pals will step up and volunteer for this!)

Seating is going to be limited to 20.

If you want to fly in for the event, my guest bedroom is available....and I have 2 sofas and I'm sure we can find an air mattress somewhere! So lodging is free!

If we fill this one up, I'll have a second crop on March 29. But the one on the 8th has to fill up first!

So....a chance to play and create for a full 12 hours in my studio with access to all my diecut systems, dies, embossing plates, folders and more.....what fun!!!

And we will be calling Scrapbook Your Life! in San Diego to give a shout out to Rachel!!!

I am so excited...



Trust me, I have a repetoire of funny stories about Jeff and his seizures. Not so funny back then, but just hilarious now. We had a system set up...3x5 index cards in our house and at each neighbors. Back then, if you called 911, it locked your phone and we did not have cell phones (oh my, how on earth did we manage?). So when Jeff had a seizure, Jason (5 years older) ran next door to Linda's house and Linda would call my husband at work while I hit 911 from the home phone. Then Linda would call a block away to my kids godmother, Kay, and her daughter, Julie, would run over to babysit Jason while I rode in the ambulance with Jeff to the hospital.

All quite well organized.

Seizures are 100% unpredictable. They can happen at any time. Back in the mid 80s...I was into curly hair and gave myself home perms about every 3 months. So you can only imagine what I'm going to tell you next! Yes....I had started a perm. In fact...I was in that 20 minute waiting period before you put the neutralizer on. And Jeff had a grand mal seizure. Just about the second I needed to apply the neutralizer.

Towel over head, baby in arms, I reached for the phone to dial 911 as Jason ran out the door to go to Linda's house. All I could visualize was lime green hair broken off about 2" from my head. I just knew I was headed for a complete disaster!!!

The paramedics knew our situation and could arrive in less than 2 minutes. They rushed in with oxygen and grabbed Jeff from my arms as I collapsed onto the floor in tears. Linda had called Kay and she was at my house about the time the ambulance arrived. She picked me up and lead me back to the bathroom where she applied the neutralizer and in such a calming voice kept telling me that Jeff would be just fine.

He was. And my hair did not break off. Or turn green or any other odd color. But I have not had a permanent since that day!!! Sometimes, a mom has to give up her "beauty" for her kids! And yes, that's me in the photo above, about 3 months after Jeff was born in 1983. Now you see why I was worried about my hair??? LOL!!!

My prayer is that there will come a day when no one has to give up anything. So again, click on the photo above of Rachel and give to this most worthy cause. You never know who might be on the floor as I was all those years ago. Let's help those we can!

And then let me know that you want to join our Crop for the Walk on March 8th!!!

Sick as a dog

So, does anyone know where that expression comes from? This is my little 5 pound Chihuahua, Men (short for Menimum). He is always ready to kiss anyone, especially me when I don't feel so well.



Last Friday, I lost my voice for the day. Didn't think much about it, my sis came down and it didn't take long for me to find it (my voice). By Sunday, I had a pretty good cough going...deep down in my chest. Had a Lucy McGoo play day here on Monday and by the time the gals all left....all I wanted to do was to crawl into bed. Mind you..I had not slowed down working in my studio...was just having a bit too much fun.

As this week has progressed, so has my cough. No fever, nothing head related..just so deep in my chest and coughing so hard I couldn't get my breath in. Kerry says to me yesterday, "you need to call your doctor, I think you have pneumonia." And my reply (as always) is, "My HMO won't do a thing til I've been sick for a week unless there's a temp or I'm coughing up something green".

Well....I think I pulled some muscles with all that coughing. I woke up this morning and my chest hurt so bad I nearly cried each time I coughed. And then there was this piercing pain in my right hip every time I coughed. I've slept on the sofa the past 3 nights, propped up in a sitting position because I can't begin to lay down...there's too much noise in my lungs.

Amazing when I called the doctor with my symptoms, they got me in within an hour. OK..I sort of figured Kerry was right and I think they knew it. Sure enough...I have pneumonia. I believe it's the first time in my life. But that got me to thinking. I never call a doctor when I'm sick....I just go through a regimen of home remedies and over-the-counter products. So perhaps I've had pneumonia in the past....just never diagnosed with it.

It hurts. It hurts to cough, to breathe, to just "be". I've started on 3 prescriptions and the doc said I should feel some relief within 48 hours. I'm thinking I might not live through the next 48 hours! LOL! OK....I WILL live...I just don't "feel" like I will. I am truly lucky as the last time I was sick was in October, 2005, after our trip to Israel and Egypt. I know that was the water in Egypt....completely different. I suppose that with the odds in life, it's time for me to let my body have some down time.

But when you are sick and you are an artist....is there downtime for you mind? I have a sketch pad next to me and have been filling it with ideas and thoughts. My laptop is right here and I've been looking at more digital scrapbooking lessons when I'm awake. Today...I've been asleep more than awake, but my notebook is still filling up!

The doctor didn't think this is contageous, but he wasn't sure. I asked him if it could be schedule related...just being on the "go" for so long and he just gave me the funniest look! So I explained my recent creative burst and he said that I could well have run myself down. He had a good laugh over that one. Said he had never heard of anyone "playing themselves sick"!

I really hate it when Kerry is right. But I think the next time he tells me to call the doctor...I will! Sick as a dog...that's me!

What do you see?

When we were in Israel, our tour guide told us that the city of Jerusalem is shaped like the Hebrew letter “Shin”. The Valley of Ben Hinnom, Tyropoeon Valley and Kidron Valley form the 3 arms of this symbol which can represent “Shaddai,” a name of God. Thus, the name of God has been literally stamped on the city. Amazing when I first saw this flower, I thought of a “Shin”. His presence is in all that I see.



I see the shin in flourishes and stamps, in everyday designs. I most often see it in flames. Is it my creative eye? Do I alter everything I see? Or do I just look at things differently?

All through college and graduate school, I had a continuum of papers on the subject of selective perception. Why do we see, do, say, feel the things we do? It's based on the inputs that we have had in our life....we choose from those the "definitions" that define what we see. Our perceptions are selective in that they are based on "what goes in is what comes out". Example: if the world tells you that you are an artist, then you will believe that you are an artist.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

What do you see when you look at a flower? I choose to see Him as The Artist.

Once again, from my "6 Degrees" blog, may you never cease to realize that Jehovah's imagination can be the inspiration for who you are and for what you do!

Penny & Potter

Mom has 2 "new" cats. This one she named "Penny" because she is not worth one red cent!



And this one she named "Potter" because it sleeps in a clay pot:



I just thought that was so very funny! So I had to write a poem:

Penny and Potter
came to mom's to play
I have to wonder
How long they will stay

Penny is worthless
Just sleeps all day long
Potter is funny
Pot-sleeping is wrong!

Entertaining mom
Is what they do best
After watching them
We all need a rest!

Penny and Potter....
they know how to play
We should take lessons
and join them today!!!

And of course, when you have photos, a poem and a "title".....well, you might as well put it all together and make a layout!



Yep, yet another digital layout using Scrapper's Guide products and a few fun brushes I've found online.

Penny & Potter
are sleeping today,
but I have to ask....
are you gonna play?

The cutest digital greeting card ever!

My cousin, Nathan, is married to April, who is probably the first person to inspire me to do anything digital. She is an amazing photographer and has the absolute cutest 3 little kids for her subjects. Now, I don't send out Christmas cards, but I do tend to receive a ton of them. April & Nathan's card is just so cute that I had to share it here, with their permission, of course! I'd have to say that she digitally scrapped her card perfectly! But can't you just imagine what fun she had getting the little ones to pose for these photos?




But how she got all 3 of them to look this cute at the same time...and not blink their eyes is beyond me!!!



I have to tell you this card has been the center of attention for all of our guests these past couple of weeks! Everyone has just loved it. You can check out more of April's work at Moore Creations. She does wedding invitations, announcements, advertisements, catalogs, billboards, brochures and more! So if you are in the market...

I love this line of cards that she created with her kids!

And she did the brochure for our Aunt's B&B in Syracuse, IN, the Anchor Inn.

Now, be careful what you send me....it might show up here! LOL! And April, thanks for continuing to inspire me to do more with my digital scrapbooking!

New Year's Eve

I have a cold, so we stayed home last night and I spent my evening watching videos about digital scrapbooking! For this one, I took my aunt and uncle out of the photo in my last blog and learned how to "spherize" them into an ornament! I didn't even know "spherize" was a word! But it is in photoshop! Filter/distort/shperize. Great tutorial by Scrappers Guide on this one!



And how fun is that font? Called "Bleeding Cowboys" and it's free at DaFont. I can hardly wait to see what else I can learn. I'm thinking digi scrapping may be rather addictive.

My "house" line

I think as a child I must have been dyslexic. I so struggeled with my b's and d's....and my p's and q's. I still have trouble with them to this very day. But "back then" I don't think we had a label!

I also had big problems with names. I spelled Uncle Wendell as "Window" and thought Aunt Yvonne was Auntie Von. My grandmother was Myrtle House and I could never make myself say, "We're going to Grandma House's House" because I thought people would think I was stuttering! So I just said we were going to Grandma Myrtle's House.....and still thought that was totally confusing!

Funny now how willing I am to confess my childhood problems! I've come to the conclusion they just weren't as mammoth as I once thought they were! In fact, I sort of like a little play on words these days! Mom sent me this photo of her brother's family....they are indeed the House family and since this is a photo of the Houses in front of their house...the title had to be "From our house to yours!'




Am I bad or what? Well, at least I eventually learned how to correctly spell my Aunt and Uncle's names! My cousins Gary and Gwen are here with their spouses and kids. My Aunt and Uncle live in North Carolina and I don't know why, but I always think of fall colors and beautiful leaves when I think of that state, so I chose these papers from ScrappersGuide. I'm having a bit of fun with these brushes, today I added a bit of a shadow to the brushes and played with shadows on the font.

Amazing what a simple change in font can do to the entire layout:



This is my 5th digital layout. But I'm thinking it would make a great print for my Aunt's front door!

My "house" has truly been blessed by so many cousins, aunts and uncles! I love the internet and email...it allows us to watch the kids grow up even when they live 2000 miles away! Here's hoping your "house" will be blessed in the coming year!

10 Second Layout

OK, maybe 10 minutes! But how fast can one design a great layout, card, tag, brochure, flyer....anything.. using digital scrapbooking techniques. Now, I still prefer paper as I'm a hands-on type of gal....but when I can't get to my studio, this is just so much fun!!!



I thought that was "good", but then I decided to play around with my brushes tool and some shadowing techniques. Look what happened when I added 2 simple brush clicks! Oh wow! I think I need to run through a few more tutorials on brushes!!!



I love the fact that the family is standing in front of the door and that's where the greeting came from. Something so simple, so quick, so much fun! I received the photo as an email attachment, and quickly sent it back as a layout! Of course, the little girls are Kerrys granddaughters, so it's all in the family!

How much fun can you have in 10 minutes?

Fruitless Fruitcake

I grew up in a family that celebrated Christmas as the biggest holiday of the year. My life today is entwined in memories of yummy smells this time of year. So, when it snows in Colorado, I get the urge to bake! Last night, I made Grandma Myrtle's fruitless fruitcake. Ok....don't click away just yet! LOL! I know....no one likes fruitcake. But this is FRUITLESS fruitcake....no candied fruit in it at all. And oh! I wish you could have smelled my house!!! Yummm!!

Now why do certain smells remind us of certain events in our lives? I don't think I had a childhood Christmas without her fruitcake. She also made date pudding, date swirl cookies and sugar cookies (which I made this week). I remember so much food as a kid....tables and counters laden with pies, cakes, dumplings, cookies, cupcakes and candy. It was the one time you ate til it really, really hurt!

So while things were in the oven, I quickly edited some photos from 1964 and did another digital layout.



I even wrote a little poem to go with it:

When it starts to snow
and the sun sets early
I remember holidays
from my past with glee.
Family gathered
to eat and play
time to share
things to say.
Hard to think
it was so long ago.
These photos keep my
memories aglow!

The fruitcake turned out absolutely perfect! You should give it a try...it's a prized family recipe!

Combine these ingredients into a saucepan on the top of the stove:
1 1/2 c raisins
1 1/2c dates
2 c sugar
5 T shortening
2 c water

Cook this at least 20 minutes, boiling all the time and stirring constantly. It will turn into a rather thick paste. Pour it out into a large mixing bowl and stir in

2 c flour
1 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1 c walnuts (chopped real fine)

after that is mixed well, stir in 1 more cup of flour

pour into a greased angel food cake pan. You know, the kind with a hole in the center. Bake in the oven for 1 hour at 350F. When done, let cool and then remove from the pan. Wrap tight in plastic wrap and set aside for at least 24 hours. Now, over the years, I have found that it's best to bake this at Thanksgiving and put in the refrigerator until Christmas. OK...who am I kidding? I've never had one last that long around here!!!

It has the consistency of fruitcake, but no fruit...and it should be quite chewy in the center. Just one of my very favorite things to have on hand to serve guests this time of year.


Note: Digital papers and embellishments from Memory Makers Magazine and Scrappers Guide.
Recipe credit to Myrtle House.

Making dreams come true

I absolutely love to make a child's dream come true! Kerry's granddaughter came to visit a few weeks ago and informed us that she really wanted a very specific doll....but she must have her own jammies and slippers! Kids can be so cute when they know exactly what they want! So, Grandpa ordered it...and you can tell from the look on her face, she's not the least bit disappointed!



I love it that this child knew exactly what she wanted, described it perfectly down to the very outfit the doll needed. I think somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose the ability to articulate exactly what we want. Or perhaps we just don't know any more what it is that we want! Take a moment and think back to when you were a child. What was your dream? Did it come true? If not, why not make it come true now?

This is only my second ever digital layout. So I still feel like my brain is stretching, trying to squeeze in more new stuff. I used paper from Scrappers Guide again, but this time, I changed the colors to meet my wants. Sort of fun!

May all your dreams come true...and may you journal, scrap, record and save the memories of moments like this!

Brain stretching?

Well, that's how I feel this week...like I'm stretching my brain beyond it's capacity! I'm learning photoshop and Illustrator, iweb, html, and all kinds of technical stuff. So I decided....why not try digital scrapping? OK, OK, OK....I swore I would never do this...but hey! mom said, "Never say never!"

This is my first ever attempt at digital scrapbooking and I just could not resist. We put coat and antlers on our puppies yesterday and snapped their photos and they just looked so pathetic....like they just wanted to know "WHY?"






I have to confess....I have subscribed to The Scrappers Guide. They just make it so easy! And I don't have Photoshop Elements...I'm using what they teach with my Photoshop CS3...it works just fine! I love the online videos...but have only had time to watch 3 of them! Just think what I can do when I learn the rest of this!

Poor Katie and Men. They are such good puppies. I wonder why on earth I do things like this to them? Well, they don't like the antlers, but they do love their new winter coats! Men growls when I take his off and Katie will run and hide under hers.






So if I go off the deep end and start digi scrapping everything...we will just blame it on the puppies! In the meantime, I think I'll see what I can learn new today and stretch my brain just a little bit more!