I got my first Scrap for Hire job via Facebook last month from a close friend who had been seeing me post layouts. I’ve been doing video tributes for my funeral home clients but I’d also like to do some custom “photo artwork” and “family tree projects.” So I was thrilled when Edwin asked if I could do a Christmas gift for his wife Tracy!

They have two boys, so it was fun doing a rockin’ boy layout since we have girls. I used I *Heart* Mommy by Shawna Clingerman at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Kiki Halbert revamped her “Snowberry” kit, now “Snowberry Punched Up”. As you can see it is adorable for photos of children playing in the snow!

I played with the blending modes on the sunset play photo so that her beautiful paper would show through. I love how it enhanced my sunset photo!

On Christmas Eve Oklahoma was hit with the first blizzard in 20 years. Since we never get blizzards….did we listen to their warning to not go anywhere that evening? No, it was safe on the way to the Grandparents. We purposefully shortened our stay…but it snowed at least 4 inches in the two hours we were there. Then we drove home in the thick of it. Scariest experience of my life!

Other Credits: The Christmas tree word art is from Bisontine.

My Wordpress blog got a virus last July and I spent two months working with my then hosting provider to resolve the situation. They finally washed their hands of the situation and said I needed to get help from the Wordpress forum. Well that did not go anywhere either. So, my blog sat stagnant for the fourth quarter of 2009 while I mustered the energy to rebuild.

From September through December I was working on a contract basis doing strategic marketing for GoAnyware which left me with very little spare time. They are giving me a break in January and I expect it to pick back up in February. So, I decided January would be the month to rebuild my blog (post by post and picture by picture…ugh) and launch my website. I’ll also go ahead and backdate some posts with work I shared on Facebook during my technical difficulties.

I used a great little application called “Artisteer” to create my Wordpress theme. It was very easy. I’d highly recommend it.

I also decided to try using Joomla for my main site. Call me brave or call me naive. It has been a bit more challenging so if you go to my main domain (please don’t) then you will see a mess right now. I’ll be getting back to that next. I might even get started this afternoon!

I’m thrilled to be able to get back to blogging in 2010….Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our house to yours…these are just mailing today!

The kit is a collaboration between Catherine Designs and Bisontine.

My dad was an only son and he had three girls then finally my brother James. So, since we need to carry on the family name we were all happy that James’ second child was a boy. It was a proud moment. And, I thought my Nikon 1.4mm lens captured the moment quite beautifully!

These layouts were created with Kiki Halbert’s U Build It items at Scrapbook-Elements.com. Make sure and check the U Build It collection out because you get to mix and match your own kit with $1 and $2 items. They are available that way for a limited time.

Other Credits:
The flourish is from Kiki’s Cool Nights Blue Sky. I also used Dawn Inskip-water colors/bear/buttons/tag alpha and frame masks from Christina Renee and Tracy Ann Digital Art.

I just adore fall and spring! Especially with camera in hand and my beautiful girls as models!

This was taken on Thanksgiving out at Neal’s parents log cabin in the woods. I always have plenty of good photo ops out there!

Kiki Halbert’s Le Grunge kit was my starting point. I think Kiki’s Le Grunge is perfect for outdoor fall layouts. It is the paper right behind the frame, but on the left here it it is blended w/ a photo I took of a log w/ peeling bark.

By the time I finished I also used the frame and a jewel from Glimpse of Twilight and papers from Cool Nights Blue Sky. I used some commercial use swirls from Jason Gaylor, a pierced scallop from Mira Designs, and two Atomic Cupcake actions.

A variation on this page is available as a freebie Quick Page on Kiki’s blog!

The ninetieth anniversary of my sorority’s founding happened to also fall on the 20th anniversary of my graduating from college. Scary, I know!

I had a really fun time hanging out with the 7 out of 67 (or so) pledge sisters that showed up!

I really enjoyed working with Kiki Halbert’s Neopolitan Sundae kit for this event. Our colors were “pink and mode”, and mode is a shade of brown I suppose. Who would know that pink and brown would actually be fashionable 20 years later?!

Credits:

Frames-New Life Dreams, Flourishes-Katie Pertiet. All else Kiki Halbert: Neopolitan Sundae, Glitter Dust Edges, and Cherry Ice Alpha

Granny made Danielle’s princess dress as a birthday present. She loved it! Of course the curls, the “Bumpit” hair piece and my Grandmother’s Cameo really made the outfit! Raeleigh wanted to be a pumpkin but they only make those costumes for babies, so I talked her into being a pirate princess, which she also loved. I took some great pictures of them in our yard right before sunset.

I used Kiki Halbert’s Royal Treatment and Glimpse of Twilight for my Halloween pictures. Three of the paper are from Royal Treatment. And a freebie stamp set from http://www.brusheezy.com/brush/205-Creepy-Tree-Brushes . I confess that I used a Katie Pertiet (Designer Digitals) template to start these with, that is where the perforated masks came from.

I can’t remember where I first heard that term, but the Magic Hour is right before sundown. The time period that most bridal portraits are shot. I took this photo of the girls a couple of years ago at the tail end of sunset. The sky was striking, and I had the flash on so you could actually see the girls. I like the way it turned out even though I didn’t have a fancy flash or camera. It was before I got my Nikon D90.

This layout uses Kiki Halbert’s Cool Nights Blue Sky kit…one of my favorites from her stash. I overlaid my own pumpkin photo on her Kraft paper using Photoshop’s blending tool. A nifty little trick anyone can try.

I had a Coke too late in the evening last night and couldn’t sleep. And a quote from my Oswald Chambers devotional that evening was really stuck in my mind. So I got out of bed at 1:30 a.m.,  surrendered myself to my awake state of mind and drew till about 2:45. The roofers then promptly awoke us around 8:00 and I colored this afternoon while trying to ignore their nail guns because a nap would be impossible for my 3 year old, much less me!

When I read what Oswald Chambers wrote I totally “got it”.

The call of God is like the call of the sea, no one hears it but the one with the nature of the sea in him.

I call myself a “wimpy” certified diver. I love to dive but don’t want to ever see a shark. Ever. I prefer stationary dives to drift dives. And my dive master is always in my sight. Despite all that fear, when I am underwater and all I can hear is my own breathing while gazing at a whole other world it is amazing. There is something about getting past your fear and being 100 percent in the moment that is kind of a memorable experience.

There was a point in my marriage where my relationship with God hit a new level. It was when I realized that I was totally alone in my relationship and accountability to God. Despite the amazing God fearing husband He gave me there are some times when He is talking to me and only me. Running what I think I heard by my husband, sister, or friend really doesn’t do any good. Because ultimately my relationship with God is and always will be as solitary as I feel when I’m under the ocean and can’t talk to anyone else. I can’t get anyone else to chime in and validate what I think I’m hearing. My faith is MY faith and mine alone.

God does speak to others in order to give you affirmation, but that is a whole other subject. I don’t get into my Faith very often on my blog, but I thought I would today so that you would understand the illustration I’m sharing. Also, I was inspired by the latest Artful Blogging to be authentic. So there you go. Deep, huh?

I drew this using two Dover illustrations as reference and then colored it with Copic markers. The flourish is meant to be seaweed or living coral. I colored the water BG10, drew squiggly lines with BG13 and shaded with V12, B32 and YG11. Then I came back with the colorless blender to make the bubbles. I won’t list all the colors for the fish and seaweed. I took creative liberties in coloring them in an attempt to stylize the look instead of making it realistic. Lastly, I finally over came my fear of the Copic air brush system I’ve had for about nine months. You can’t see it but I airbrushed around the illustration with pink and orange. What fun!

My latest layout of the family birthdays this past January is a pretty good example of how you can add depth to a layout by adding additional papers as overlays. Here is the layout before I added the overlays. It was a very nice looking layout but I thought it could still use a little texture.

And here it is with two sketchy/painterly papers used as overlays. Just place them over the background papers. Click on the new paper layer and choose blending options to play with the different modes. I can’t usually predict which mode will look good because it really depends on the color combination of the papers. In this case I used the standard “overlay” mode for both papers.

Just another example of what I like to say, “it’s not finished till it’s finished.” And, the beauty of digital is that the playing around in search of perfection is non-destructive!

CREDITS:

Alphabets: Christina Renee and 5 Steps to Heaven
Glitterline and grey swirl paper: TADA
Red paper: Holly Designs
Paper overlays: MK Designs and Dawn Inskip
Floral accents: Jofia Devoe
Ribbon: Lotta Designs
Frame Cluster and Fasteners: Katie Pertiet

And I can’t forget to mention the fabulous “web” resizing action from Fruit Loop Sally. Right now available as a Freebie.