Sultry Siren

This is my Aunty Flo many years ago. Silvia Romeo came out with this beautiful kit called Bohemienne and it was just perfect for my photo.

The journaling reads:
Sultry Siren, I wonder if my Aunty would laugh at that description of her? But here she is a young Miss with her whole life before her. Did she dream of far away places or long for love and home? She grew to be a woman I respected and admired, someone to share my own girlish dreams with. So pretty with her long curls and stylish hat. Such a dramatic change from the pulled back knot of silver wisps she had in the late years of her life. Daddy and Uncle Willy always called her Dolly and somehow it fit she certainly was just that a lovely dolly, maybe more so than a Sultry Siren.

My Family; My Heritage

This page was chosen LOTD at Gotta Pixel!

I was looking for a page to work with Silvia Romeo's new kit Cherries Jubilee and stumbled upon this family photo in an old album of my Grandmothers. I know it's been there, but I just don't remember ever seeing it There aren't a lot of photos of the 5 of them so this is a precious addition to our family memories.

There is a lot of blending her between papers and photo to achieve this look.
Fonts Long Island - Dico Medium

I loved the quote, I searched family, heritage quotes online and ran across this one.

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people. Thich Nhar Hanh

O Christmas Tree - Pixel Pick of the Day & LOTD

Today - December 9 - I got a notice from Gotta Pixel that they've picked this page again this time as LOTD! Thank you Gotta Pixel!!!

I did this page of memories (lots of journaling, lots of memories). As I looked at these photos and relayed to Momma on the phone what I was seeing my eye was drawn to different places in the dining room, other than the tree. It always amazes me what you see when you scan and enlarge an old photo. Often I've seen things in digital and enlarged on my monitor that I never saw when looking at the original. I agree there will always be something nostalgic and heartwarming to hold an old photo in your hand and wonder about it's origin. But it's amazing to let technology take over and see it in a whole new light. I'll post the journaling at the bottom of this post if you'd like to share my memories

I used Silvia Romeo's Cozy Christmas, perfect title don't you think? Silvia sells at several stores including Digitals, please check her things out. I also received notice this morning that this page was picked as a Pixel Pick in today's newsletter at Gotta Pixel. Sweet that others like what I do!

The journaling on this page reads:

A tree you might say?

It's not really the tree that drew me to this picture.
Yes, I must say, seeing it through the eyes of an adult instead of a Christmas crazed youngster I can see the limbs were a little helter skelter. The shape not trimmed to perfection. But the love, ah the love behind this tree would be hard matched today. This tree, as many before and many after, was taken from the woods in and around our family home. Momma, usually, would go out and search to find the perfect one and chop and drag it home. This was in the days when my memories were defined enough to take notice. I'm sure there were many years when my brother's were home when they went in search of the tree. Tinsel hanging like snow from the boughs. Carefully placed one at a time by Mom's loving hand, It's unusual to see the tree here, in the dining room. I asked Momma about it and she doesn't remember having it here, but those are the walls, the windows, the cup rack that always hung on the wall there.And upon that little shelf on the right is a small ships wheel, actually it's a lighter. So what you might ask, I remember as a very young child Billy and I fighting over that wheel, as I recall it never had fluid in it, so it never would light. But when you spun the wheel the little flap would pop up to reveal where the flame should rise. When I was in my 40's I asked my Mom if I could have this little memento of times gone by and she sadly told me she had thrown it away. So sad, a memory to remain in my mind but not my touch. Several years later on my birthday I opened a special gift from my Mom, and there wrapped in pretty paper was this little ships wheel that Billy and I had so fought over to play with.

Memories from the past that still color your present days.
What better a childhood could anyone ask for?

Eddie and Pyper

I've always loved this picture of Pyper and Eddie,
He wanted so bad to open the present for her but was trying hard to contain himself.
This is truly what Christmas is all about, expectations and excitement of the little ones!

Made with Silvia Romeo's Christmas Cozy at Digitals

Squirrel City

These are the squirrels that live in my sisters front yard.
What a photo shoot they let me take!

In my sister’s
yard lives the most
wonderful family of
squirrels who were not
shy about strutting
their stuff for my
camera.

I used Silvia Romeo's Sunflower's Garden for this page. Silvia sells at many stores including Digitals, please check her designs out!

New Pages

Layout of the Week!

PRESERVING MEMORIES

Gotta Pixel picked this page as their Layout of the Week. I don't think I've ever had a page picked by them before. Big kudos for me, it's on the front page of their newsletter this week! Makes you feel so good that others like what you create! I used Silvia Romeo's The Winery kit for this one. Bethany is the creator of this fabulous word art - I sure hope you'll check out her blog - Elegant Word Art by Bethany and her store. Her word art is what helped make my page so special! Most of her word art is free, but be sure and leave a comment praising her skill and generosity!

New Pages

Here are a few pages I've been working on the last few days. The first one is Zoie and Angi at the beach in summer 2000 using Joyce de Jonge's Fairy Dust kit.



The next is the day Mitch and Jeanett got married in 1998. Love the look on Derik's face. And it is Nicole in the pic not Beth, I have to change that on the final copy.
This was using Serendipity from Silvia Romeo at Digitals.




Next is my great-great niece, Alyssa when she was visiting Carol this summer and we happened to be there. I just loved this candid shot of her discovering her shadow. It's so much more fun when they don't know you have the camera in hand. I like the little saying I came up with. This is made using a brand new kit from Alessandra Designs at Digitals called Ethereal Fantasy. Such a wispy, soft, dreamy kit, I love it!





And last is Silvia's other new kit called Citrus Delight. This is Momma, they snapped this fast before she could object. Who would have known she'd look so cute in a hat. Aren't the colors in Silvia's kit perfect with the photo of Mom. What fun is Digital Scrapbooking!

4th of July 2008

I was just notified that this page was picked as


All four of my Grandkids on the 4th of July.
It's fun to be home and enjoying Kids, Grandkids, Family and Friends!
It'll be hard to leave in a few days, but I'll go with a smile and a happy heart
filled with all kinds of new memories of these kids.
Nothing can be better than the smile of a grandchild.

Zoie told her Mom the best Holiday was 4th of July
because Grandma Patti and Paul came home then to watch fireworks,
amazing the things that are important to little ones.

Credits go to Silvia Romeo - American Romance
kit for the page of Zoie alone and with Pyper and
Lori Giles of Digital Scrapn for her Starz and Stripes
kit used for Eddie and Derik's pages.

My Sister's Golden Anniversay

This page was chosen as at Digitals!These photos are from my sister Carol's 50th Anniversary party. Since we were in the process of moving and relocating at the time I wasn't able to attend. Through the wonder of digital and email though it was only a short time after the party before these photos hit my in box. I was thrilled and this is my small contribution to recording such a special day and special event.

Carol and Pete were married on May 2, 1958, but that wasn't the beginning actually they had been going together for several years prior. Since there is 10 years between Carol and I their wedding was a real momentous event in my 10 year old life. I was thrilled, another brother who didn't pick on me as much as my other two! Blood does that you know, makes you open game as a kid for your siblings!

I know my niece so well, she's a lot like me and I know her love for her Daddy so I kind of improvised her words into the bottom photo, I think she'll be happy with it. The journaling reads:

I love you Daddy, no matter how old I grow, no matter what day dawns.
To be here today celebrating your love for Mom for 50 years,
what greater joy could a daughter ask?
To lay my head upon your shoulder
and feel the support you’ve always given
the three of us makes my heart sing so happily.
I love you because you’re my Daddy,
I love you because you’re Mom’s other half.
I love you just because you’re YOU!

Both these pages were created using the kit Everlasting designed by Silvia Romeo. Silvia sells at many stores including Digitals. Be sure to check out her wonderful talents.

We Missed you at Sunday School

I know these things don’t quite go together but it was the age I was trying to show you here. The post card on the left was from Momma’s Sunday School wondering where she was, and why she was missing, it’s dated 1919. Momma would have been 8. The photo above of Momma and Uncle Kiehl has a hand written scribble on the side saying about 1919. So this is Momma in that same year. Such a cute little girl, and Uncle Kiehl, my goodness he was adorable even then. Of course I always had such a soft spot for him. What I see today in 2008 is how much Zoie looks like her Grandma, I don't’ think I’d seen this before. I see the features passed from generation to generation, I’ve written about that before but I’d never seen Momma in Zoie.

Oh my goodness this is the same age Mom talks about Grandma Moran putting these two on a train from Yakima to Walla Walla to visit Auntie. Mom says she was probably 7 or 8 and Uncle Kiehl was 3 years younger. Uncle Kiehl threw his hat out the window when they were stopped and Mom being the big sister ran out the train car around the train and grabbed the hat. She said the conductor helped her back on but the train was ready to go when she got on. We figured it must have been a full days ride back then considering it takes 2 1/2 hours by car now. This would have been 1918 or 1919. She said part of the ticket included a box lunch.

This was just a story when Mom was telling me but thinking about these two little tykes on a train alone, oh my goodness, it scares me to death. Things were so different back then, Everyone watched out for everyone else. They must have made it just fine, no damage done, but Zoie is 9 this year and to send her and Pyper, just about the same ages as here, alone on a whole day’s train trip just is beyond my comprehension. Times have really changed and the world is most certainly not the same as it was here!

I used papers and elements from Silvia Romeo's Tea and Sympathy kit (the mat for the journaling was made with one of Silvia's papers and altered with an action from Atomic Cupcake).