School Days

I'm not back to my winter scrapping yet, but I've eeked out 2 pages with the school pictures.

I love how this page turned out, especially the picture.  I previously mentioned I ordered a Photoshop Elements book from The Digital Scrapbook Teacher.  It has some really cool things you can do and what I did with the picture is a series of strokes and layering.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!! I used the Toddler Life kit from ScrapALatte Designs. 

This page was from a mini scrap challenge over at Divine Digital.  The kit is by KS Designs (part of Schooled by the Numbers full kit).

Thanks for stopping by!

Double Layout in Photoshop ~ Sweet Summertime

I've mentioned before that I love Persnickety Prints for printing my scrapbook pages.  About 2 weeks ago they linked to a post from the Digital Scrapbook Teacher.  Since I'm self taught on using Photoshop Elements 7 and I see so many cools things that I'm not sure how to do (or what they are called so I can research them), I scooted right over to check out the site.  I was so excited about what I saw, I ordered Patty's book and some of the tutorial CDs.  I stalked the mail person for a couple days just waiting for it!!

Now I've spent days with my head in the book and my earphones on listening to the CDs that show the step by step tutorials from the book!! How very cool!  Love it!  I would highly recommend if you are a Photoshop Elements user to go check out the Digital Scrapbook Teacher!!

So, in the book she shows how to do the 2 page layout.  I had already completed the page on the left side and knew I wanted them to somehow match up.  I'm just so excited about how this turned out!!

Papers and embellishment from the Summer Whisper kit from ScrapALatte.


Thanks for stopping by!

Family Reunion Kit by Digital Compilations by Cinda

I'm so excited that Cinda has been working on quite a few very cool digi kits!  Her newest kit is Family Reunion, which can be found at Scrap Delicious.  I loved the word art that is an add on to the kit and when I read it, I knew which picture I would use.  The picture is of my Grandma Kitty and I just see so much of all the girls in our family in this one picture.  Below is my page with the kit:

Thanks for stopping by!!

Crescent Beach

Papers and embellishments from the Swimming with the Fishies Kit by Saxon Holt Designs.

No New Door Yet...

So disappointing. I was so excited... about getting my new front door. Really!  It was delivered and it was beautiful.  But. There was a little scratch on the fiberglass and while it wouldn't have been a major problem, the door was expensive and the scratch was right at eye level.  Bummer. Who gets excited about a door anyway??! 

To add insult to slight injury, the door salesman went on vacation so we had the door sitting on the garage floor for another full week.  They just picked it up yesterday. I have no idea when I'm going to get it now.

Hubby said when I finally get the door it will be anticlimatic, but frankly I'm a little sad. I was so excited.  

New Kit from Digital Compilations by Cinda ~ Boys Roll

I've mentioned before I am on the CT for Digital Compilations by Cinda.  Lately she has been churning out some great kits, I just haven't gotten to do much scrapping.  I finally got around to doing a new page with her new kit Boys Roll.  It's so cool with great colors and has just the right amount of grunge.  LOVE it! It was just perfect to do a page for my hubby's new motorcycle!

You can find the kit here at Divine Digital.

Thanks for stopping by.

Picking Paint Colors

Is there anyone out there that enjoys picking paint colors and picks the "right" color the first time??!  I can say with all certainty I am NOT one of them.  I am however a big fan of the little sample paints from the orange store! 

I wish I had a before picture of the door with the dozen or so little paper paint chips taped on the door.  Family and neighbors were making their picks and we had it narrowed down to 3 colors.  We were looking for just the right red to add a "pop" of color, but not be obnoxious, but match a colonial house.  We ruled out one color really quickly as it was a bit on the pinkish side and that left us with the 2 colors below:  Dozen Roses by Behr (the orange store brand) and Classic Burgandy by Benjamin Moore. 

I really wanted to love the Classic Burgandy since we have a colonial house and it just seemed like it should be the right fit (is this a good time to mention that hubby liked Dozen Roses better?), but it just seemed so dark next to the black shutters.  I left the colors up for a few days, looked at it at all times of the day, from my lawn, from the street, and from the neighbors. 

In the end, concensus was with Dozen Roses and I must admit I love the name and it makes me smile :)!  Since the Sherwin Williams paint had such great reviews, I had them do a color match on the Dozen Roses sample.  

I'm glad I did all my testing of colors on the door that will be removed.  I was going to paint the sidelights red too, but hubby thought that would be too much.  We took a ride through a neighborhood that had both painted and white sidelights and with red I liked it unpainted.  Glad we did that as it saved me some time!  I did finally paint the front door all one color and I also sanded and painted the garage door the same red. 

I am so excited to get my new door this week ~ although I'll have to paint it all over again ;)

Painting Vinyl House Shutters

The first project I'm tackling is painting the vinyl shutters black.  I read the reviews online for exterior paint on vinyl and found great reviews for Sherwin Williams Duration line.  We chose black to paint the shutters so I just got their Tricorn Black which is a basic black. 

I must say the paint is REALLY thick, but I really like. Some spots will need another coat and it is is kind of tricky to get the sides, but so far I'm loving the color and I'm happy with how great the paint looks!!  Hubby said he was surprised how great the paint looks :) 

The House

Well, since I haven't spent much doing my digi scrapping or been on the computer too much, I thought I would share some of what I have been doing.  Since we are in the Northeast, we definitely have a summer season and the weather has been wonderful! While we've been enjoying the weather, I've needed a few days in a row without rain to do some outside painting.

My projects right now revolve around the outside of the house. As you can see in the picture below, the house has yellow vinyl siding with teal shutters.  When we first bought the house 8 years ago, the door was also the color of the shutters.  We had planned on taking off the shutters, but they are installed with shutter locks and they leave a hole where all the screws were, so we've just left them for the past 8 years!

You probably can't see too much, but in the bottom right corner of the door, the moulding is rotting and it has now rotted through the door.  So, we ordered a new front door at the beginning of July that will be installed the first week of August.  This was a process because in order to decide on a door, we had to decide what we wanted to change on the house, if anything, just so it all matches.  When the door guy was out measuring, he suggested painting the shutters.  I thought it was a GREAT idea.  Hubby did NOT.  He thinks I'm crazy. What's new?!  So, I've been on a mission to get them painted without removing them. 

So, check back here to see my progress!!

Thanks for stopping by!

July 14th Sassy Lil Sketches Reveal

Once again Cherie over at Sassy Lil Sketches has come up with a great sketch!  

This is the July 14th Sketch ~ 

Below is my take on the sketch ~

I'm just loving this Fireworks and Pinwheels Megakit from Team Divine over at Divine Digital.  Be sure to stop on by Sassy Lil Sketches and check out the other great sketches, forum and gallery!

Thanks for stopping by.

April 14th Sassy Reveal!!

It's that time again!! A new reveal over at Sassy Lil Sketches! 

 Ta-da!

I used the Julie kit by Graziela Mendes.  I'm just loving the colors :)  Here is the sketch that Cherie did:

If you get a chance, stop over and check out the forums at Sassy and join in!  Thanks for stopping by!

New Kit from Digital Compilations by Cinda ~ Free to Be Me!!

I'm just loving this new and beautiful Free to Be Me kit from Cinda (Digital Compilations by Cinda)!  Here's the layout I did with it ~

Here's the full kit!

Cinda sells the kit at Divine Digital or at Faith Sisters.  Be sure to stop by and check it out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Atlanta Pages

I'm reeeeaaallly trying to keep up with my digi scrapbooking and have almost finished my 2009 pages - yeah for me!  I just completed my pages from my work trip to Atlanta last September.  I'm pleased with how they turned out. 

I loved that at the Coca-Cola World they had all kinds of art. It was pretty cool and I just loved all the colors! I used an overlay from Royanna Fritschmann for the scratches on the red paper. 

The papers and embellishments from this page are from Christine Mortimer's (Digi-Licious Designs) Shutterbug Kit. 

My sister Katie and I are getting ready to go away for our annual scrapbooking crop ~so excited! 4 full days of no kids whining, school activities or expectations and lots of scrapping!!  So, I'll have some new pages and Cinda from Digital Compilations will have a new kit!  Stay tuned...

Thanks for looking.

Sassy Lil Sketches March 14th Reveal

Good Morning all!! Sassy Lil Sketches has a new reveal today!!  The really cool thing this month is that Nikki Sivils sent us her papers to use!  So, we had a great sketch by Cherie and Nikki Sivils papers to use!  How could we go wrong!?  

Below is another great sketch that Cherie came up with for us ~

Usually I do 12X12 pages, but I've scanned some of the kids old pictures that I've never scrapped and I've been working on those.  The older books for the kids are 8 1/2 X 11 so that is the page I worked with.  This one is from Mitchell's 2nd birthday.  All papers and embellishments are from the It's Your Day kit by Nikki Sivils.

Please be sure to jump over to Sassy to check out the other great sketches, or hop on over to the Sassy forum and join us for some scrapping chatter!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Sassy Lil Sketches - February 14th Reveal!

Being part of the Sassy Lil Skeches design team, I'm excited about my first pages with them today for their February 14th Reveal today!!! Below is another great sketch from Cherie over at Sassy Lil Sketches Blog!

I had fun with this sketch and even wound up doing doing 2 pages based on it!

the colors of Spring

The flowers and butterflies are from brushes by Obsidian Dawn.

All Boy

All papers and embellishments from Royann Fritschmann's 4 the Boyz Seb's Dream kit.

I hope you get a chance to stop on over at Sassy and check out the other design team pages, sketches and chatter! Thanks for stopping by.

I'm so behind on posting!

I've done quite a few pages over the past 2 weeks and just have not gotten on here to post! So, first I'll post my pics from the Statue of Liberty. I used This City kit from Digital Compilations by Cinda.

Love it ~ just perfect for my pics!

Sydney and I were driving to my sister's a few weeks ago (about an hour drive) and she was going through my CDs. Somehow the conversation got back to a song I listened to all the time when I was pregnant with her and she was little. It is Tell Me Why by Pat Benatar from the For Our Children cd. Also, recently I've been scanning in a lot of older photos. So, since I had some photos of Sydney when she was little and I decided I needed to do a page for her. The papers and embellishments are from the Fo Shizzle Kit by Just Jaimee. I was also happy that it was selected on a "Made You Look Monday" picture on Faith Sisters!

Then, since I did a page for Syd, I did one for Mitchell too! Papers and embellishments from

Roy Boy kit by Royanna Fritschmann. I still have to do a page of the song I listened to when I was pregnant with him... I'll ge there.

Thanks for stopping by!

Great News!!

I am so excited and honored to have been asked to be part of the creative team for Digital Compilations by Cinda!!!  Yeah!  She has some great kits at Divine Digital and Faith Sisters, so be sure to check them out. 

I am new to Faith Sisters and I must say I am really loving it!  What a great place and nice atmosphere.  I'm just navigating my way around but I've already noticed they have some great challenges. 

So, I already did a page with Digital Compilations by Cinda's new kit, Journey, and this is it! The pictures were perfect for this kit.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Family Playdate and Beach Pages

Previously I posted about the great pics that my sister Katie took for me and the family (they are in the header of my blog too), at the playground. I finished some cute layouts with them. I did a few because some are for my books and some are for the kids books.

I think this one is my favorite. I don't normally work with black and white, but I love how this turned out. Papers and embellishments from Shabby Princess. Stitching brush from Obsidian Dawn. LO from sketch by Cherie Averill at Sassy Lil Sketches.

I love how simple this one is and of course I love the pic of Syd and I.

Circles brushes from Obsidian Dawn.

I'm so happy with how this Old Orchard Beach, Maine page turned out! The ferris wheel picture has no editing ~ it is exactly how I took it at sunset. I color matched the brown sunset to create the background layer. Papers and embellishments from Royanna Fritschmann's Wish You Were Here kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm so excited!! Sassy Lil' Sketches News!

The new design team for Sassy Lil' Sketches has been announced and I am so excited to have been asked to be part of the team!!! Thank you Katie and Cherie for the opportunity to be part of such a talented and fun bunch!

Congratulations to all the other new Sassies too!! You can see all of the design team members on the right and a link to their blogs. Be sure to check them out ~ they are all very talented!

Also, if you haven't already been over to Sassy Lil' Sketches, go check out their new forum and gallery. Be sure to tell them I sent you!