Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Wow - it's been a while since I updated my blog. I'll try to keep this bullet pointed!

• I have a new blog for those that are interested - it's called A Blessing Each Day and is my attempt at improving my photography skills using my Christmas gift from hubby - a Nikon D60 DSLR! it hasn't been updated either, but I have taken a picture every day, and just need to upload them.
  
• We just returned home from our Christmas Camping Trip - which took place after Christmas this year. We left on the 26th and returned home today. Our intention was to go to Bonham State Park, but when we got there, picked a spot, and started to set up, we realized there was no water and no one there to help us! So, we packed up and headed for Cooper Lake State Park - where we had water and sewer (ahhh)! Heehee Had an incredible time and took a 2 mile hike one day, geocached one day, and spent one day looking for herbs to remedy a cold I was coming down with. I tend to run from sinus infection into full blown brochitus, so we needed to do something quick. I'm happy to announce that today I'm 95% better! We also spent a lot of time playing Clue and Are You Smarter than a 5th grader - two games our children got for Christmas.
  
• We had an incredible Christmas. How was yours? My parents and sister came over on Christmas morning and we spent a wonderful time together opening presents and eating, and playing games. They had to leave early when my Mema was being taken from the nursing home to a local hospital because she seemed out of sorts. She's 91 years old, so that is understandable. They sent her home that night after diagnosing a UTI and rehydrating her.
• My dad is starting to breathe again! He's on a newish medication, that without my mom's insurance, would cost them $8,930 per month (and is instead costing $12). Is it outrageous to anyone but me that they can charge this much for meds?! Anyway, they are helping and we are praising the Lord! He was actually able to lay down in bed for 2 hours. He's been sleeping, sitting, resting, and otherwise doing EVERYTHING in a recliner for a month now!
• Scrap Matters is gearing up for a great year of more incredible digi scrapping challenges. These ladies are awesome (owner, designers, creative team, scrap matters gang, and all the ladies that make it a great digi home). Check it out - Scrap Matters.
• And I'm gung ho - fired up - to declutter! I've joined the classes at Christian-homemaking.com and am doing the Desperate Declutter Boot Camp. Why? Because I'm desperate! I've gathered my supply list of needed items and am on fire!
• Does the New Year fire you up? It does me! There is something fresh about the New Year that gets me set up to make some wonderful changes in my life. More on those to come.
• I'm going to be spending on Thursday with my Heavenly Father. Big P set up the camper right outside and I'll get some time to go out there all by myself with nothing by my Bible, a big box of Kleenex, and some devotionals. I'm excited to see what God has for me as a wife and mother this year.

That's about it from me. Not sure how much I'll be posting over the next week or two. The decluttering challenge is 6 weeks long (I have 5 weeks left - the first week is a prep week).

*******UPDATE******** - I couldn't keep up posting on the Blessing Each Day blog and will shut it down eventually.

Lots of stuff and challenge winner!

I'm going to try to make this quick! Ha!

We started a Christmas unit study yesterday. The children and I are really enjoying it! Check it out (Image is linked to The Old Schoolhouse Store):


Also, a friend of mine (one of the ones that got me started in digi) sent me a layout that she did using my template (#1). Isn't it great?!!!



And I announced the winner of my journaling challenge on ScrapMatters and sent of her copy of ACDSee yesterday. I know she'll be excited to receive and start getting organized. And I was happy to see that she journaled her page. We did a random drawing (P.9.G.) picked and the winner was Snowdrop (Heather). Here's a before and after of her layout!

Before:

And After (wow! look at all that journaling!)

We are going to do a bunch of baking today - but I have to get some fillings (previous ones fell out) at 1, so until then we are hanging around here about to do our unit study. Here's a bunch of my layouts for you to peruse. I put these up here hoping someone will get inspired and so the grandparents will see their grands! LOL

This one is going to be in the SM Newsletter (shhh, it hasn't come out yet) and it's talking about our quirky tradition of camping on Christmas. Note: this year we are actually going the day after Christmas, but I think we will resume the regular tradition next year!!:

{full credits for all layouts shown below}



This one is particularly meaningful to me. I heard this song at Christmastime last year and it really impacted me. When I heard it this year, I knew I had to do a layout for it and add it to our album.



And my honey (these are really bad pics taken in the dark with my iphone, but they are precious just the same!):

Sorry it's been so long {Freebie Alert}

Sorry it's been so long in updating my blog. We've had a lot going on around here. My big boy ended up with an infection in his ear about a week post surgery. We were in the ER and they began treating him for staph infection. Two days later we saw the dr. again and when the culture results were in, they found that it was not Staph, but another more rare bacteria. We have no idea how he got the infection, but I have to admit that I felt like an awful mother, even though we had done everything we were told to do. He is now on 2 oral antibiotics and a antibiotic ointment. Big P took him to the dr. today and things are looking really good. We are to stay on this regimen and come back next week. He is on acidophilus also - to counter some of those antibiotics are doing to his little body.

He also started Scouts last week! He was in Tiger and Bear cubs, but when we moved, we never found another pack for him to be in. After really trying to get involved in 4-H, we just determined that it was much more competitive than we felt comfortable with. So, we are doing Scouts again and he is there to stay. We are also starting up a new Keepers at Home group for P.9.G. and some friends from church.

Here's a pic of C.12.B. in his new uniform!!! Isn't he handsome?!



On my challenge:

Hmm, not going so hot. Last week really messed up my schedule and it was just sketchy after that. I'm excited to announce that Big P will be going back to days in June. At that point, he will have been on nights for almost 3 1/2 years. This was a decision that he made through prayer, but with my total support. Although I really have wanted him to do this for a long time, I've left it alone for a year now. I wanted it to be something that he decided and not by my nagging. So, I'm trying not to count the days, but am really looking forward to it and think that it's going to be able to help our family, our schedule, his sleep, my sleep, etc. It has truly been a blessing for our family, though, so I'm not complaining - just ready for a new season. And as far as late night scrapping, well.... LOL

So, on that note, here's a freebie for sticking with me through all of that. I made it tonight. I honestly have no idea who the lady is that said it, which is why I put that so small on the wordart. I wouldn't have put it there at all, if I was not really into legality! LOL I loved the quote, though. but before I give you the freebie, you have to see the layout that I did with it! Haha


Full Credits

Okay, here it is for real! Image is linked to 4shared.



I do have many more layouts to share and this weekend we cut down our Christmas tree and decorated it and had a wonderful time! I have tons of pictures, but really to load each one up here is such a drag, so I hope to make some layouts this week and I'll show them off then.

I'm also working on making up some routines and stuff using Homeschooling at the Speed of Life. Great book, by the way! Very sound Biblically, too!!

Options in Digital Scrapbooking

Okay - if you are not the least bit interested in digital scrapbooking - you will want to skip this post. A friend asked me to give her the dish on digi, so I'm doing just that right here. I thought it might be helpful to some others who are wondering the same things.

You seem to have several options in digital scrapbooking that I didn't even know about when I started in July. I'll try to give you a brief run down of each and the pros and cons, too.

Option 1 - Photo editing software and downloaded graphics

I think this is the best option. Not because I started out this way, but I think it is the ultimate in a digital scrapbooking experience. For someone who is a "jump in with both feet" kind this is the way to go. For some, this may not be an option ($ - although it really isn't terrible; no access to DSL - downloading graphics on dial-up might send some into a severe state of mania!).

The breakdown of costs for Option 1:

Adobe Photoshop Elements – $50 right now at Costco!! Originally $80, but if you are a homeschooler, you could possibly get it cheaper using the educational discount. You would obviously have to teach some graphics editing to your children for this to be a viable option. I’m a Christian woman, so I'm not into cheating the system!

Digital elements and papers (kits) – First, you can get TONS of freebies online. Several designers I know always have an “add-on” to their purchase kit that is free on their website. You don’t have to purchase the kit to get the add-on, but it is in the same color scheme and style as the one that you can purchase. When you do purchase the kits, they will run $3-6 depending on how large they are and frankly how proud the designer is of their work. Sometimes they are more than this and collabs (which is a collaboration from 2 or more designers) are often free w/ a purchase, but then are sold in the stores later with a large pricetag ($10 and up usually).

Sites:

Freebies that are always free and always rock:

http://ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/
http://summertimedesigns.blogspot.com/ - be sure to check out her gratitude kit several posts down.

Printing: This is applicable for all options. I use www.sbtoshare.com. Lise is really incredible to work with. She has been so helpful. Prices are the lowest that I’ve seen and the quality is bar none! She has a flat rate shipping charge of $6 no matter how large your order is. This really can make your pages cheap. I will only be printing pages 20 at a time.

Adobe Photoshop Elements is photo editing software. You create your pages from the ground up. You are creating in layers with editing software, just like traditional scrapbooking. Start with your paper, add your photos, frames (or you put mats on your photos which would be under them obviously), stickers, text, etc. You also have the option of using templates. I've offered a couple of these free on my blog. There are so many tutorials on how to build a page, but I really love Taylor Made’s tuts.

Quick pages - pages that have already been created and you just put your photos in. These still need photo editing software to work, though.

Creating a New Layout

Using a Quick Page

Here’s a LO (layout) that I created with a quick page! Some of these ladies are really incredible and their Los are amazing – so why not grab ‘em!

I used a QP from tortuemaori - who I'm going to guess is a french designer. The cool thing about digi is it spans the world over!

First I had this which is the actual quick page:


Then I added the photos under this layer and got this:


Then I added text on top (for a total of three layers - photos, then qp, then text) and got this:



Option 2: Photo editing software and purchased CDs with graphics

This is the option that would be best for someone with dial-up.

Adobe Photoshop Elements: still would use this – learning curve is slight and there are tutorials everywhere for it.

Digital Elements and papers: Hobby Lobby sells some CDs from a company called Digital Scrapbook Memories. Their products are really high quality and beautiful. The CDs range from $15 - $25, but are jam packed with papers and elements, and even quick pages.

http://www.digitalscrapbookmemories.com

Printing: The same as Option 1



Option 3: Scrapbook Flair, Scrapbook Max, etc.

These are programs which are sometimes free and you purchase additional supplies from them or sometimes have a slight cost.

There is no learning curve, they are definitely easy to use. They really limit you though. I played with one of them for a bit earlier and it is something that my 9 yo daughter could use, but not something I would mess with. I’m a jump in with both feet type of person, though. Scrapbook flair will allow you to use your own graphics, but you can’t rotate anything it seems. Also when I pulled in my graphics – which were created at 300 dpi, they were huge in the program and had to be seriously resized. This sent up a red flag for me, that when I printed a completed page, the quality might be poor. You can save them as jpg, which means you can get them printed wherever you want.

Here is a LO that I made using Britt-ish Designs papers and elements from Dreams Do Come True. I really didn’t care for anything they had to use on the program. You'll notice how flat the page looks. I wasn't able to add any drop shadows to the elements or pictures.



Cost comparison:

Traditional page - $4.00-$5.00 and up A good friend of mine told me that it costs an average of $5 per page to create a traditional layout.

Digital page – I would say that I spend about $2.50 - $3.00 per page – including printing, and depending on what I use. The coolest thing about digital is that you can use things over and over and over. So, if I use a kit over and over, eventually it is free for me to use that kit. Make sense? Digital is not consumable!

The absolute coolest thing about digital for me is that I can close my laptop and that is the extent of cleaning up!

What else would you like to know? Leave me a comment and I'll try to answer your questions! :)

Challenge: Day 1

Well I didn't make it by 10:30 but I'm so exausted I'll be falling
asleep fast. I'm posting this via my phone so I'll make it quick.

Went to sleep about 10 last night after an incredible day with my dear
friend Tanya and her VBA4C birth. More on that later.

This morning couldn't get up before the boys so had by "quiet time"
singing Jesus Loves Me and praying.

Exercised tonight holding baby A about 1/2 the time. He weighs over 20
lb. So do I get to count that for an hour???? Haha

Going to bed now!

Whose doing the challenge with me? I know my friend Mary is out
there. Anyone else?

Updates and Layouts

Okay I remembered earlier today that I had not given an update on my blog about my dad or my big boy! I had sent out a prayer request to a few close friends, but that's it.

Update on my dad: He's out of the hospital, but not feeling well. He'll see a pulmonary specialist on Monday. :( Please keep him in your prayers.

Big boy: On the day of the surgery, he woke up in recovery and I was trying to talk to him. He said "Mom, can I smile?" And he did! That was the worst of the complications from this surgery - facial paralysis. I said "Yes, you can smile!!!" He was so happy and I was praising the Lord right along with him. He said "thank you God!" There was a delay in getting him out of the hospital, because he couldn't hold anything down. It was because they had done the surgery so close to his inner ear and he was getting dizzy every time he would move. The doctor eventually had to call in some phengran for him. That helped and yesterday was so much better. Today was even better. He is still in pain at times, but the dressing was able to come off and he is doing well. We even played cards tonight! Praising God for doctors when we need them!

Please keep my dear friend Tanya in your prayers. She's 2 weeks past her EDD (doctor's) and 9 days past her calculated EDD. Either way - she's ready to have this baby and I'm ready to be there for her!!!

The Scrap Matters site was very slow today - flooded with people! I was glad i was inside the house shopping instead of at Walmart! Did you hear about that poor man that was trampled to death? All in the name of greed!!!!! It really turned my stomach to read that!

Oh, I forgot to mention that we decided against our camping trip on Wednesday because of Bubbs' surgery and recovery.

On a better note, I was able to do a black friday speed scrap tonight and I love how the Layout turned out. This is our new Mr. Coffee Espresso maker - $27.99 at walmart!

So, here's my SS layout (linked to SM for credits)(template is Sya's blueprints and the papers and elements are from the FREE daily download on Scrap Matters!!!):


These are for Digi Keepsakes new kits (using Monica's templates as well). These aren't linked as they don't really have a home right now. Monica has her new kits in the grab bag (shhhh! LOL) and so we haven't uploaded layouts - but I'm so excited with the way these turned out!




This one is using Monica's kit Delightful Refreshment, but it is not a new kit and this isn't her template. I was playing around with some of her goodies before she uploaded her new kits. Funny thing is, the place where we stayed was called Times of Refreshing! LOL

My First Creative Team!

Hey - my challenge doesn't start until Sunday! LOL I am about to go to bed, though, but 2 of my children are awake (again), 1 is coughing, and hubby is playing Uno on his iPhone! LOL

And when I went into the SM Forum, I saw that Monica had made the big announcement, so I could make my big announcement early.

I made my first Creative Team (CT for short)! How cool is that?!

I'm part of the new Template CT for Digi Keepsakes by Monica - a designer at Scrap Matters. Now, some of you might be asking "what is a CT?" When I first got into digi, I kept seeing this phrase all over the digi scene. And I thought "(insert blank stare here)".

A Creative Team is a team of ladies who design layouts using a particular designers products. In turn, she receives all of the products for free earlier than everyone else can purchase them. In this case, my primary responsibility on this team is to use Monica's keepsake templates (I LOVE templates!) and any kits that she releases to make layouts for her to advertise with. This shows her products in use so that people can get ideas on how they can use them.

I love templates! This was the very first thing I learned how to use in Digi when Anna and Naomi explained Ctrl-G in PSE! So, when she put the call out there, I was so excited to apply. I was shocked to be chosen, though!!

I've been digi scrapping for almost 5 months now and this is my 2nd team to apply to. The other was a couple of months ago and my layouts have really progressed since then.

Monica is releasing two new kits tomorrow and I have layouts and Quick Pages for both. i'll be able to show those tomorrow. :)

anyway - that's my big announcement. See, not as exciting as expecting a baby, but exciting still. :P

30 something challenge

In an effort to really fulfill the mission that our family has committed to, I needed to make a challenge for myself. I'm putting it on my blog for the "world" to see so that I can have more accountability for it. Hubby works nights and thus doesn't have the time to "check" my bedtime. So, this is a drastic accountability measure.

As we near the busy holiday season, isn't it important for us to be on our up and up, our best, most energized self? Isn't this important in our motherhood, as well. I've put these three things in order to have that for myself. And while I do realize that many people don't have the same spiritual convictions and beliefs that I do, I encourage you to do as much of this challenge as you can. If you don't have a quiet time with God, I would suggest that you spend some time in prayer and open your heart.

What I have found out is that this a big cycle. I can't do #1 if I don't do #3. I can't do #3, if I don't do #2. And #1 inclines me to do #2.

So, post the challenge banner on your blog if you feel so inclined. Make sure and upload it to your photobucket account before posting it on your blog.

p.s. all the papers and elements to make the banner are from Erica Zane's Secret Sage kit - available at Scrap Matters.com.

More freebies, more layouts, and more life

First I want to ask for a special prayer for my dad. He's in the hospital right now with pulmonary hypertension. We went to see him this afternoon and had a special visit. My sister then came and then my mom. The room was quite full with all of us but he was so glad to have all of us together. The only one missing was my sweet hubby (a.k.a. the most incredible man in the world).

I also want to ask for a special prayer for my big boy (our newly named - arrow). He is having surgery on his ear on Wednesday morning. Please keep him in your prayers for precision on the doctor's part and quick and full recovery for him.

Life - we made a family mission statement last night (Sunday). Big P, our arrow (C.12.B.) and our girly blessing (P.9.G), and I sat down and talked about what our family's purpose is and tried to define our activities - what needed to go, what needed to stay, and whether to add anything or not - all based on our family's mission.

We summarized our family's mission into this statement:

To serve God and each other by the wise use of our time; to walk through the goals set forth that will allow us to come into our full God given callings.

And in normal people terms - get rid of the unnecessary junk that has no eternal purpose!

Okay - more layouts:






If you are still with me... I have some super exciting news to share, but I can't share it yet. No, we aren't expecting. It's not that good. It's good, just not that good!

And the freebies - they aren't from me but they are from Scrap Matters awesome designers, which means they are excellent!!! And I've seen the whole kit (a big perk for being on the SMG) and it is awesome!!

Here's the info:

If I don't get on here before Thursday - have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Journaling Challenge {with a big prize!}

Ladies, if you have checked out the layouts in my gallery, you might know how much I love journaling. And if you are a journaler, you would likely have received a little notation about such in a comment I have left for you. But, I haven't seen enough journaling on some of the layouts going into the gallery and am often left wondering about the rest of the story.

Have you ever thought about what your children will want to know when they look through these scrapbooks you are making? They are going to want the who, what, when, where, etc. We know that! But what about how you were feeling on that special day? What they did that made that picture so special? What was going on that you didn't capture on film (or SD card!)?

So, here is my challenge. I would love to see layouts where you don't have much journaling, with more journaling added. Sort of like a before and after.

And the prize? A free copy of ACDSee 2009 Photo Manager. Yes, you read that right! It's a $50 value!! I got it as a freebie when I ordered mine and I want to pass on the love!

So, here's the nitty gritty:

• post to Scrapmatters with your images (before and after)
• come over and leave a comment here, on my blog with a link to your post from SM
• and I will pick one lucky winner on December 6th, 2008
  

That's it! You don't even have to pay shipping! How cool is that?!

I'd love it if you talked about the challenge on your blog and linked everyone back here, too.

*I have edited to extend deadline - because of Thanksgiving*

I'm (my handwriting!) famous

Okay, before I dive into the subject of that little title, I thought I'd update on how the retreat went. It was FABULOUS!!! That's red for Rubies, of course! Nancy was superb, of course, her message was timeless and so encouraging. She did a point by point on Isaiah 40:11 about the shepherd and how this relates to mothers and mothering. It was beautiful! We also got to hear not one, but 2 incredible messages from Vange. And Serene and Pearl graced us with their beautiful encouraging music - many of the songs from their new CD, This is Our Road, which is a CD with all songs about marriage. On Friday night, when getting ready to purchase the items I wanted from the book table, I realized my money was missing! All of it! I was discouraged, but held on to the fact that it dropped somewhere in the dining hall or the conference room and that God really knew what was best. I kept holding to the Philippians 4:6-7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, make your requests known to the Lord... I had done a digital framed print of this verse with Bible Art to give to Nancy, the girls, my dear friend Kelly who had organized the retreat, and one for a giveaway.

And while looking through the directory on Saturday afternoon, P.9.G. found the money!!!! There is much more to the story, but suffice to say that I'm married to the greatest man on earth - I'm fairly certain you already know this since I've mentioned it many times before (heehee!) and he was not upset with me for losing the money, but encouraged me to continue to have a good time. Wow! I'm sure he was super excited when I texted him to tell him that I had found it, though :P

And on to my title... Several weeks ago I had my handwriting made into a font by Darcy Baldwin so that I could use it on my digital layouts. I'm fairly certain I blogged about it. Hmmm. Anyway, I purchased the non-exclusive font (since it was cheaper) which means that she can turn around and use it to either sell or giveaway, if she likes it. I teased Big P that I would be honored to have my handwriting chosen to be sold! And guess what?! I was browsing the sweet shoppe site and I found this!!!

How cool is that?! Yes, I'm the sweet one! Heehee! And that's my little star and heart doodles. (Image is linked) I used this font for the names in the directory that I did for the retreat, because I kept thinking that the retreat had such a homey feel last year and I wanted to recreate that in the directory. I also used really cool stitched frames by Britt-ish designs for the pics!

Last week we had a serious cold thing going through the house. When I left on Friday and then called to check on everyone later, Big P was sick :(. I'm feeling better and all that remains of that is now with my big boy, C.12.B. and one of my little boys, B.4.B. But, we brought home a stomach virus from the retreat. :( P.9.G. was down with that all day. I'm going to be heading to bed soon after taking 2 - 1 hour naps today! Got a surprising amount done today around the house - although it doesn't look like it now! LOL

Oh, one more thing. I hooked up with a sweet friend I had made at last year's retreat and we both brought our Dulcimers and were played a bit on Saturday afternoon! She's taken some classes and was showing me some strumming and cords and it was really cool. It's encouraged me to get the dulcimer out and put it to use! :) We are going to learn this thing!

That's it for now... Have a blessed week!

Arkansas Above Rubies Retreat

This Friday, P.9.G. and Baby A are going with me to Little Rock for the 2nd Arkansas Above Rubies Retreat! I went last year and had an absolute blast. This is my 5th Above Rubies retreat! I love the AR one because it is quaint. LOL I have been either helping or planning for Texas for 3 years (2006, 2007, 2008). When I went to AR, it was nice to just sit. This year, though, I really wanted to help my dear friend, Kelly, and volunteered to do the directory for her. She let me! :) It's been really fun, but a big project none the less. So, this is the 3rd Above Rubies Retreat directory I've done and each one is getting better, as I get more experienced at doing it.

Kelly and I have had a great time talking about various aspects of the retreat, things that she is doing differently this year, and both getting uber excited about it all!

I really love Nancy Campbell and her straight from the Bible teaching. It's refreshing! Serene and Pearl will be there again this year singing. And they have a new album out with songs about marriage!!!! Vange will be talking, too. I haven't heard her since 2006! She's a knock your socks off kind of a gal with her strong messages and revalations for mothers!

Woohoo! So, there's my little preview of what the weekend has in store. If you don't know about Above Rubies, please check out their website here! This is an incredible ministry that has been around for over 30 years ministering to women in their highest calling as wives and mothers. I look forward to each issue of the free magazine! Which reminds me that my children need to check the mail because I heard that all those around me have gotten theirs!

Some new layouts

I haven't updated my blog in several days and am in the throws of a big project for the upcoming Above Rubies retreat (next post), so I'm going to toss up some new layouts that I have done recently - while my littles are outside playing.