Saturday, May 16, 2009

Mother's Day Layouts

I have so much yard work, painting, and quilting to do that I really don't have a lot of time right now to do much scrapping. But when I saw the new releases at Sweet Shoppe Designs this morning, I found several "must have" items. And A Mother's Love Quick Page Album was at the top of the list. It's so easy to do a layout with quick pages, I had two pages done before I even ate breakfast!

The album was created by Carrie Lee with Melissa Bennett's A Mother's Love Page Kit.
I used photos from Mother's Day when we were visiting Jenny, Jarrod, and Trenton in Virginia.



I used Pea Heather font on this one. And sorry about the flowers guys, but what do you expect from an album called A Mother's Love?? Haha!



I used Pea Carrie font on this one and the Happy Mother's Day word art is a freebie from Tina Chambers.

Letters in Trenton's Nursery

And here are the letters in their place on the wall in Trenton's nursery.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Letters for Trenton's Nursery

I just finished painting these letters for my grandson's nursery. They kind of match the bedding in his nursery (if you overlook my wobbly lines)...haha!

Dad's Birthday Gift

I did this layout at as hybrid project for my dad for his birthday. He is the middle boy in the photo and the other two boys are his brothers.

I blended 3 backgrounds from:
Irene Alexeeva - Cloud #9
Irene Alexeeva - Heart Bits
Irene Alexeeva - Reverie

Remaining Credits:
Swirl - Irene Alexeeva - Reverie
"Treasured" Alpha - Jenny Binder - English Garden
Family Tag - Irene Alexeeva - Orangina
Bow - Irene Alexeeva - Baby Doll
"Family" font - 2Peas Evergreen
"Heirlooms" - made by me with Beautiful ES font and a Super Blade Pro effect
"Sweet" Alpha - Tina Chambers - Copper Penny Alpha
"Family" Alpha - Ronna Penner - Memories of Yesterday Lite
Staples - Irene Alexeeva - Arabian Fairytale
"Memories" Tag - Irene Alexeeva - Antique Patio
Heart - Irene Alexeeva - Reverie
"Memories" Font - Echelon

Font for remaining text - Andalus



I printed the layout, sprayed it with a few coats of clear acrylic sealer and then Mod Podged it onto an 8x10 artist's canvas. Then I covered the sides of the canvas with a canvas-like fabric that matched the layout.

Here's a photo of the finished project:



And this is a side view so you can see how I finished the edges:

Thursday, April 23, 2009

MCAS 2 Easter Party Layout

For the past 4 weeks, I have been participating in a "Slow" scrap at Scrap Orchard and Gottapixel. Each week we were given instructions on what we were allowed to add to our layouts. Once we uploaded our layout to the challenge gallery each week, we were not allowed to move any of our photos or elements in the subsequent weeks. That part was a bit scary for me because I am always moving and tweaking things as I work on a layout.

In week 1, we were to start our layout with 3 papers and 3 photos. This is how I started my layout. I used papers from Irene Alexeeva's Junk Treasures Page Kit:



In week 2, we had to add 2 fasteners (buttons, staples, brads); 3 ribbons (ric rac, ribbon wraps, straight or folded or curled ribbons); 1 set of stitches.

I added staples and rick rack from Irene Alexeeva's Fly High Page Kit and stitches from the Junk Treasures kit.



In week 3, our instructions were to:

* Add AT LEAST 4 Decorative elements to the layout- These can include doodles, flourishes, flowers, animals, splats/spills, unique elements ect.... Whatever embellishments fit within the layout you are working on- YOU CAN NOT however add more ribbons, stiches or fastners to count toward element count for this week. (since those were prior instructions)

*Add 1 element for writing - Such as a label, tag or journaling block/mat

I added a journaling label from Irene Alexeeva's Pink Mood Page Kit. Everything else that I added came from the Junk Treasure kit.



And in the final week, we were instructed to add a title using 2 separate Alpha's and at least 4 lines of journaling.

I made my title with alphas I made from papers from the Junk Treasures kit. I used the font AL Hurried Note for "MCAS 2" and I used 2 Peas Scrumptious for "Easter Party."

I used the font Pea Karen's Print for the journaling and the date.

And here is my final layout:

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Reading to Trenton

I learned to read by watching over my older brother Glenn's shoulder as he read his first grade homework to my mom. I have always loved to read and passed my love of reading along to Jenny and Bradley. And now Trenton is being read to right from the time he was born. I think I have bought him more books than I have bought clothes for him...LOL! I got these photos of Bradley and Courtney reading to Trenton when he was here in March.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Freebie - Timeless Teal Page Kit

When I posted the layout of Trenton yesterday, I noticed that I had posted 3 days in a row. Wow! That's a record for me...LOL! So I decided to make it 4 days in a row by giving away a freebie kit.

Hope you enjoy it! But don't expect me to make it 5 days in row...that's a record that is going to have to wait for another time :-)




You can download my Timeless Teal Page Kit here

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Trenton Goes Sightseeing

I am part of a group of friends who are working together to learn Photoshop Elements. My friend Jackie is a great teacher and I have learned a lot in the past few weeks.

I did this little layout as part of a lesson on cropping a photo into a shape. I plan to print this one and frame it for my mom and dad. They love seeing new photos of Trenton and Jenny is good about sending photos very often so we can watch him grow. I sure do miss him though and can't wait to see him again soon!

Credits:
Irene Alexeeva - Snips and Snails Page Kit
Font: Pea Karen's Print

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

No One Like a Mom

Just a simple layout -- a photography group that I belong to was exchanging texture photos and I started playing around with some of them. I ended up making this backgound. I added a photo of Jenny and Trenton taken at the Easter Party for Jarrod's command. Word art is by Tina Chambers and is available in the freebie gallery at Digital Scrapbook Place.





If you would like my background, you can download it here

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

4 Generations

Journaling reads:
On his last day in Texas, Trenton took four-generation photos with Mommy, Mimi, and Nanny and WaWa.

Credits:
Kristin Cronin-Barrow - Family Ties Page Kit
Zoe Pearn - Fresh & Festive Alpha - #4
Fonts: Berylium and Pea Karen's Print

Friday, April 3, 2009

DSP's Fab Five Birthday Celebration

As a part of Digital Scrapbook Place's fifth birthday celebration, members of the SNL group are giving freebie kits during their regular Saturday night chat. See this thread for more information: http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37633

I am giving a kit that I originally made last August for our monthly SNL challenge. I was inspired by a bedding set that my daughter had picked out for her nursery if her baby was a girl. We soon found out that the baby was going to be a boy, so obviously he didn't get pink and green ladybug bedding! But I have a scrapbook kit ready to use whenever Trenton has a little sister :-)

In addition, since DSP offers their kits in both 200ppi and 300ppi I am doing the same here.






Download the 200ppi version here

Download the 300ppi version here

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Trenton - March 2009

I did this layout as a summary of all of Trenton's activities for the month of March. He's so cute! It was lots of fun to work with all of these photos :-)

Journaling reads:
March was filled with firsts for Trenton. The month started off with Trenton's first snow - 4 inches of it! Trenton also went on his first airplane ride. He and Mommy and Daddy flew to Texas for his baptism. Trenton was able to meet a whole bunch of cool family members! After leaving Texas, Trenton took another plane ride to Florida for his first wedding and beach visit. One of Mommy's friends from college got married on the beach in Pensacola. Trenton also visited a few museums and historical sites in March - Fort Barrancas and The Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola and the Virginia Air & Space Center in Newport News. Trenton's busy month was closed out by meeting the Easter Bunny. Trenton is looking forward to the upcoming warm months so that he can get out and see some more new things!

Credits:
Misty Cato - Sadie & Her Sisters
Kay Miller - Cutie Patootie - Word Strips
Kristin Cronin-Barrow - Love Story - Red Flower & Brown Button
Kristin Cronin-Barrow - Family Ties - Red Heart
Heather Roselli & Amy Bleser - Hope Springs Eternal - Red Button

Font:Pea Amy Rica

Scraplifted from nikkiARNGwife: http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=576671

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Growing Like a Weed

Yippee!! Another Trenton layout done! These photos were taken when he and Jenny and Jarrod were here in Texas for his baptism. He has grown so much since we last saw him!

Credits:
Little Sprout Page Kit by Heather Roselli at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Font: Pea Amy Rica

I scraplifted from a layout by Rochelle789: http://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=83407&ppuser=1000


Monday, March 23, 2009

Trenton's First Month

When I saw Irene Alexeeva and Studio Mgl's collab kit, Treasures of the Deep, I knew it would be perfect for recording the memories of Trenton's first month. Trenton's daddy is in the U.S. Navy, so I couldn't resist using a nautical kit for the layout.

I used the video tutorial on Jessica Sprague's website to learn how to use a template in PSE: http://www.jessicasprague-m1.com/videos/CKHybrid/JSprague-CT0109-PhotoTemplate/JSprague-CT0109-PhotoTemplate.htm and her template can be downloaded here: http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/content/view/17371/

I took my finished template and layered it onto a 12 x 12 scrapbook page and finished it off with more elements and journaling.

Journaling reads:
Trenton had a very busy first month of life. Mimi and Pops came to meet him when he was only a few hours old! JJ came out a few weeks later to spend some time with her new grandson. Trenton also met his furry new best friend, Bailey, and his super fun neighbors. He was a trouper while Mommy and Daddy went on all of their house hunting excursions to find him a new house to live in. Trenton was supposed to be born on Superbowl Sunday, but he sure was glad that he came early because he was able to go to his first Superbowl party at cousin Aiden's house! Trenton hopes that his second month is as exciting and fun-filled as his first!

Credits:
Treasures of the Deep Page Kit by Irene Alexeeva and Studio Mgl -- available at Scrapbookgraphics.com or ScrapOrchard.com
Little Sailor Word Art by Irene Alexeeva -- available at Scrapbookgraphics.com or ScrapOrchard.com
Fonts: Qwigley and Pea Amy Rica Script



Wednesday, February 11, 2009

More Scrapbook Pages

I've spent entirely too much time the last few days doing scrapbook pages, but it's been fun. I am trying to make the switch from Paint Shop Pro to Photoshop Elements so it's been slow, but each layout gets easier and easier.

Here's one with Trenton's first photo.

Credits:
The Land of Nod Page Kit by Dani Mogstad
Brown Alpha -- by Zoe Pearn (part of Fresh and Festive Collab Kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs)
Alpha Beads by Ronna Penner





When Jenny sent me this photo of Jarrod, Trenton, and Bailey I knew it was destined for a layout. I had to do a little surgery on the photo though because Bailey was not looking at the camera. Jenny had sent several poses and Bailey was looking at the camera in one of them, so I cut his head from that photo and pasted into this one. I still had to do a little cleanup work since part of the original head stuck out under the new head.

Credits:
Rule My World Page Kit by Irene Alexeeva (kit included in the Scrapper's Guide Premier February Issue)
Brown Alpha by Zoe Pearn (part of Fresh and Festive collab kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs)
Scratch and Creasing Overlay 6 Pack by blushbutter


Sunday, February 8, 2009

My First Grandbaby...and a Freebie!

I am proud to introduce our first grandbaby, Trenton Brantley Smith. He is an absolutely adorable little guy! Robert and I were able to visit him and his Mommy and Daddy and Bailey (his doggie) for a week after he was born. We got to spend a lot of time hugging and cuddling him. We can't wait to see him again! Sure wish he didn't live so far away.


I made this layout using Sweet Beginnings: Blue by Penny's Miscellany and Word Jumbles: Baby also by Penny's Miscellany.






And for those of you who love the digi-scrapping freebies, I am giving another old SNL kit, Fall Into Christmas. I made this one in October 2007. Needless to say, my designing is going to be taking a back seat to actual scrapping since I plan to be spending more time making layouts with photos of our new little precious bundle. But keep watching the blog because I will still be giving freebies from time to time.






You can download this kit here