Richardson Springs

Here's the whole group. It was so much fun getting to know everyone a little bit better!

Here's one of my mom & her sister (my aunt) I was thrilled to be able to get a few good pics.

It was such a blessing to be able to go to the retreat with my mom. Love that I was able to get some pictures of her, she is usually the one behind the camera. The one thing that I do regret is that we didn't get a pic of the two of us! Maybe next time.
Richardson Springs was so beautiful...so many great photo ops! I wish that I would have had the extra time to really explore but, since I was part of the music team I didn't really have the down time. Hopefully next year!

more vacation layouts

I am still working on vacation LOs & I am having so much fun with this awesome kit from MME. Definitely the best 19.99 spent on scrapbooking supplies! I can't wait to get the whole album completed and then I can calculate how much I spent on each page. Yes, I am a dork! I have started scanning & stitching my LOs at the nudging of my hubby. I love the vibrancy & detail of the LOs but I cut off the tiniest bit off of the sides. I am still mastering the process! For the Tidal Pool Lo I used my 2$ cuttlebug Die that I scored at Big Lots. Love that!

Love this paper! I added a few rub ons from Me & My Big Ideas, plus a few flowers & gem brads. I am still debating whether I want to do a title or not!

The kids had so much fun watching the Elephant seals near San Simeon.

Summer vacation: Layouts Galore!

I am in love with Peachycheap.com, I ordered an amazing MME kit from them. Perfect for my vacation LOs. I am tickled pink! I was so inspired that I knocked out three LO's. OK, so this one isn't from the kit...but I just thought that I would include it. Love that the kiddos get along (most of the time). The pp is from DCWV, the chipboard is Elsie for KI Memories (a Tuesday morning find).

Ok, back to the beach. Sweet Elli loved the smooth stones at Montana De Oro. She spent forever just stacking them into Papa's waiting hands. Too cute! You'll note at the bottom that I tried my hand at selective coloring.

River & Rayne, these California cuties are the kids of my dear friend Cyndi. They drove up for the day to hang out with the kids at the beach. They loved the boogie board. I have so many more boogie board shots! Needless to say there will be a couple more boogie board LO's in the future. I loved the surfboards at the bottom. To add a little dimension I added pop dots to a few extra surfboards. I really like the way it turned out. Love this kit!

Great weekend

Just thought that I would post a few pics from last weekend. We had a wonderful time at the cabin with my folks. Enjoyed the weather & had fun taking in the local sights. I am still looking for the best way to get true skin tones....AHHHH, I am thinking that I may need to take a photography class or something. I am may be taking a beg. photo class through the local Jr. College. I am just not sure whether I should do beginning or intermediate. I guess I will start with beg. & if it's to easy I can switch. They have lessons on PSE as well so I am hoping that I will be able to pick the instructors brain. The instructor is a local photographer & she has been in the business for 25 years so hopefully she will be a able to answer some of my silly questions!

Love the way the I caught the light in this photo, it just makes me smile & think of the cabin. Love it!
Here's the hubs. I really need to figure out how to fix his glasses to remove the glare!

Ok, so here's the big skin issue! Sophia appears yellow. I tried to cool the temp but she came off to blue. The automatic skin corrector that is in PSE always makes things a little red , I just want to find a happy skin color! I guess that will be my goal for the week! I will be surfing for skin tutorial this weekend!

Here we are again....a little yellow...Argh, so frustrating! I was going for a sun glow look not jaundice. :(

Back to school Lo's

I thought that I would post the LOs that I completed from Friday afternoon. It was pure bliss being able to "just scrap" I am tempted to do the same thing today....we shall see! I had already posted most of these pics but now they have come full circle and they are ready to go in albums. I still have to get Evan's school year album so I can start highlighting his educational journey! Sophia's school album is going strong & I am looking forward to adding this LO. I must admit this picture is not the best of this LO but I just wanted to get in posted & I was not very patient. I wish that the title showed up just a bit better, it looks more striking IRL & stands out so much more. In this picture it really just disappears! Oh well!

I actually completed this LO last night with the KI memories friendship stack. I got the stack at Tuesday Morning plus the matching embellishments. I love TM for scrapbook deals! I find my best deals there!

Today, I am going to scrap.

I have made up my mind, I plan on getting down to business! I am going to use my hour & a half while the kids are in school to actually create rather than clean. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this afternoon! Till them however I decided to post a pic from Donner, since fall is upon us I wanted to linger a little longer on an image of summer. This is my "Happy Place" an image from my childhood that will forever remind me of the summers we spent at our cabin. I am so thankful that my kids will be able to have those same summer memories. This weekend we are going to head up there & I am sure that the next time we visit after that, the cabin will be covered with a thick blanket of snow. Till then we will relish the last few days in the sun & time on the lake!

chalk it up

It was my turn to host the challenge over on the CK mb. I had had this idea floating around in my head for a while & there is nothing like a public challenge to get things done! I pulled out the old chalks & let em fly. Here is my LO:

I used a stencil that I cut out with my Cricut "Life is a Beach"to create the shell border. I also used that cart to cut out the star fish & sand dollars. I highlighted the cut outs with chalk & used a resistance technique for the title. Honestly I am not sure why I don't pull my chalk out more often! I think that I may have to start participating in more challenges so I can really make the most out of all of the supplies that I have been hoarding over the years! LOL