Digi Scrappin' With Gina

It's Been a While

2008-04-03T14:28:00.000+02:00

Well ... its been quite some time since I posted here ... and quite some time since I did any scrapbooking. Things have just been too crazy preparing for the deployment and spending time with the kids etc. With that said though, I did manage to get some pages done for Mariah recently. Here they are:

The first ... We Miss You ... is one that she is going to send to Robbie to brighten his day in Iraq.

There is another one for Robbie as well .... I like how it turned out ... here it is:

Then I did a page for her, one for Mackenzie and one for RJ. I had a lot of fun doing all of these pages, now I have to do some for us as well .. in preparation of Mitch's deployment to Iraq.
This is Mackenzie's page:

Here is the one that I did for Mariah ... I really like the words to Shedaisy's song, "Come Home Soon".

The page for RJ is cute ... I tried to get as many pictures of him and Robbie on there as I could. That way he can see his daddy every day.

Mission: Support Our Troops Extended

2007-08-19T08:36:00.001+02:00

Mission: Support Our Troops! Thank our Soldiers with a Layout DEADLINE EXTENDED through Nov. 30 email: Gina Schwans DigitalsDiva@gmail.com to submit layouts for our troops and upload them to this gallery: http://digitalscrapbookpages.com:80/galleria/showgallery.php/cat/1044

~Stacey

Owner/Designer @ Digitals

http://www.digitalscrapbookpages.com/digitals/

Hummie's Hosting the DSD Tailgate Party

2007-08-17T11:09:00.000+02:00

Just found out about Digital Scrapbooking Day being the first Saturday in November. Now there is another really cool event!
Hummie is hosting the DSD Tailgate Party. It's a party before the party!
There's going to be layouts, prizes and much, much more. Head on over to Hummie's Blog to find out more!

Thought I might take part in this Tailgate Party also. I am not really in a scrapping mood ... but we are supposed to share Heritage type layouts. Hummie's directions were to "Create a layout with "heirloom" photos and/or memorabilia." I decided to go back through my layouts and post some here that I haven't shared with you all yet. That was actually a fun thing to do .. going thorugh my old layouts. Here is the first one that I found. I cannot take credit for making it though ... it was shared with me by my mom. This was given to my Aunt as a Christmas gift this past year by her daughter. I really like it though, so I'm sharing it with you all here.
The next 2 layouts that I am going to share were created by me. The first is a page done using a photo of my husband's father from 1948. It is of his High School Basketball team. The second page is a wedding page. It was done using photos from 4 generations of my family members. My husband and I, My parents, My Mom's Parents and their parents.

Digital Scrapbooking Day

2007-08-17T07:28:00.000+02:00

Well ... scrapbookers around the world have a holiday. National Scrapbooking Day is in May each year. Looks like Digi-Scrappers will have a day of our own to celebrate too. Digital Scrapbooking Day will be the first Saturday in November each year. This holiday will start with a bang on November 3, 2007.
For more information on Digital Scrapbooking Day please check out the information provided by Susan White (Director of Marketing for Triscape) at the DSD blog .. http://www.digitalscrapbookingday.com/

No More Training Wheels

2007-08-15T23:09:00.000+02:00

I did this layout up for the Picture This challenge at Digitals. I had a ton of fun creating it. I combined two templates created by Simply Sarah. I used Amanda Thorderson's Songs of Hope kit. I took these pictures today while we were all outside. Here is what the journaling says ...
Today was a day of firsts! When the day started I sent the boys outside to play with their friends. They wanted to ride their bikes, so I got them out. They were riding with Wesley, Daniel and Jason. A little while later Andrew came in to tell me that Daniel had taken off Wesley's training wheels. I wasn't sure that was such a good idea, but he did just fine without them. A few minutes later Cody said he wanted to learn to ride without his training wheels too. I had him use one of the extra bikes that we have, since it had no training wheels. He did great.
BJ didn't want to learn, he was scared. I finally got him to agree to try, but he wanted to use his green bike, not one of the extra ones. We compromised. He used Cody's green bike after I took the training wheels off. I didn't even get a chance to teach him what to do. He hopped right on the bike and started going. He did a fabulous job too! Now there are no more training wheels in our house. They are all big boys now!

ADSR2 -- Challenges 8 & 9

2007-08-14T11:58:00.000+02:00

Challenge 8 for the Amazing Race was a tough one for me. Finding the pictures was a real challenge. I managed to find ones from when I was a teenager pretty easily; had to scan them in, but I found them easily. They aren't the greatest pictures in the world; but who has the greatest pictures from when they were a teenager. Not many people back then. Anyway ... finding current pictures was more difficult. I am always taking the pictures. Especially when I am with Mariah ... well, she takes pictures too, but nobody takes pictures of us together! I decided to use a picture of me holding Mariah's new baby and a picture of her when she was pregnant. We were at the bowling alley and she was taking pictures of the boys and Mackenzie bowling. She and I love to take pictures and do so as often as we can, especially when we are together. Maybe some day we will be able to get someone to take a picture of us together. For this layout I chose to mix a bunch of things together. The background paper, journaling page and star are from Amanda Thorderson's A New Baby Boy kit. The wordart is from Tracy Dane, Kikibug and TartzScrapz. They were all freebie downlaods from awhile ago. I love wordart, so I have quite a collection. Font is Velvet Script. Full page journaling reads as follows:
The meaning of friendship changes as we get older, along the same lines as we do. When I was in high school I spent a lot of my free time hanging out with Leslie Erpelding. She and I were inseparable. We played Volleyball together and did Chorus together as well. She was a year ahead of me in school, so we didn't have classes together, except for Chorus, but we got to spend lunch period together. The photos below show just how goofy we could be when we wanted to. Luckily there was someone around to take pictures of us, even if it was to embarass us with them later. Leslie was there for me no matter what. She helped me through boy troubles and parent problems and I did the same for her. She was even nice enough to help me learn how to drive. The things we talked about back then don't seem all that important now, but they were back then. I am married now and have children of my own ... all boys of course, so I won't have to deal with them and "girl talk". Every girl needs someone to talk to though, a place to vent her frustrations. I found that person again a few years ago. Being a military family we don't live in the same place for very long. That makes it hard to find real friends. Mariah is a great friend though. She and I cn spend hours on the phone talking about nothing. I dont' know what I would ahve done without her during Mitch's last deployment; or what I will do witout her during the upcoming deployment. She still lives in Mannheim, but we are stationed in Baumholder now. It is a 70 minute drive to get to her house, Luckily we still have the telephone and instant messaging. Thank God for the computer. It is a necessity that I talk to her every day. She knows just what to say when I am mad or frustrated with my children, or upset because of something that Mitch has said or done. She is a real sweetheart. Our normal conversations are more about our kids and life in the military than anything else, but its great to be able to talk with someone who knows what I am going through. Not many people understand the life of a military wife. Its great when you connect with someone who does. I'm glad I found Mariah!

This is the layout that I created for the ADSR2 Challenge #9. We had to scrap about our most embarrassing moment. I don't know if its my most embarrassing moment .. but its the only one I can think of at the moment, so it will have to do. We had to use at least one ribbon, a tag and 2 different fonts while creating this page.
For my layout I used a kit called PopTart ... available at Elemental Scraps. Its one of the kits that I purchased with the gift certificate we were given for completing a previous challenge in this race. The fonts that I used are Kids First Print Font, Lindsay Beehive and Velvet Script. It's A Date Stamp Set by Teriann Hanks @ DSO.

This is what the journaling says:

Lunchtime at the Elementary School is usually a fun thing to see. But not always. There was one day in May, during the year Andrew was in Kindergarten. I was at the school volunteering, like most days. It was time for lunch and ice cream was on the menu for dessert. The lunch ladies had forgotten to give Andrew's class their ice cream when they picked up their trays. The lady working the register gave me the box of ice cream and told me to make sure that all of the students with hot lunch got their ice cream. I handed the cups to all of Andrew's class and the class that shared the tables with them. Then I went to the other tables and started handing the ice cream cups to the third Kindergarten class. I had given it to almost the entire class when their teacher's aide threw a fit. She had purposely made sure that her class didn't get the ice cream cups when they went through the line. She was really mad at me for giving it to them and made me take it all back. I was so embarrassed. I had only been doing what I was told to do, but she made it like I had done something incredibly wrong. I felt so bad for the kids in her class. Especially when I was taking the ice cream back that I had given them I shouldn't have been embarrassed, I only did what I was told. I honestly don't know if I was more embarrassed or upset at the whole situation Probably a bit of both. After taking the ice cream cups back from her students I took the box back to the counter and went to eat by Andrew. I hope tha tI never have to go through anything like that ever again. It was not fun!

Digitals Challenge Layouts

2007-08-13T08:26:00.000+02:00

Along with the Amazing Race, Digi Scrapping, 2; I am also working on completing this month's challenges over at Digitals. I do my best each month to get all of the challenges done. It keeps me motivated to scrap and also earns me great kits for free. The two layouts above are from the August Scraplift Challenge and the August Sketch challenge. Here are the original images that were used as inspiration:

The layout on the left was created by Amanda Risende and was chosen as one of the scraplift choices for this month. I really liked this layout, the way it used so many photos and was a bit grungy. I didn't go with the grungy feel when I did the lift, but I did use the same photo concept. For my layout I used Sharia Braxton's Little Boy Blue kit. The photos on the layout were from Friday, August 3, 2007. The boys had a ball making faces for the camera while they were outside playing with Mitch.

The layout on the right was a sketch template created by Jen Maceunas at Digitals. The sketch was available for purchase as a template in the store, but I didn't do that. I just created my layout based on the sketch. I used Sharia Braxton's Little Boy Blue for this layout also. Photos on the layout are from Sunday, August 5, 2007. They were taken at the park in Mannheim after dropping Mitch off at the airport.

Teamwork

2007-08-11T07:28:00.000+02:00

I tried to take a bunch of pictures the day that Mitch left for Georgia ... I didn't do a very good job at the airport. I managed to get a few there, and only one of Mitch himself; but I did a decent job at the playground in Mannheim afterwards. The boys love to have their picture taken. I hate to take posed photos, but sometimes its the only choice I have. I get a few natural ones of them playing around and such, but when they realize that I have the camera out they want to do funky things. Its ok though, sometimes it can add to the quality of the photo ... or the silliness of it at least ... LOL For these layouts I used Dea Spina's newest kit -- Untouched -- available at Digitals, along with her newest template pack -- Variety Layered Templates -- also released this past week at Digitals. They are both great buys. I like the textures and patterns in the kit and the templates are different from her others. I like multi-photo layouts, so these worked really well. If the papers are placed right they make a fantastic 2 page layout. More photos from the park can bee found on my fotki site.
There isn't any journaling on the right page ... just the date (August 5, 2007). The left hand page, full of photos of Andrew, shows the location (Mannheim, Germany) and contains all of the journaling. Here is what the journaling says:
Andrew can be such a monkey sometimes. It is really fun watching him play outside. We stopped in Mannheim on the way home from dropping Mitch off at the airport. While we were there the boys got to play at the park by the Post Office. They really like that park; nothing like that here in Baumholder. Andrew had a great time swinging and sliding down the Fireman's pole. He went down the pole a bunch of times. I'm glad that they enjoyed themselves. That park has a lot of opportunities for teamwork. BJ and Cody worked really well together on the mari-go-round. I miss being able to spend time at the park with them like this ... if only we had nice parks to go to in Baumholder, guess that means more trips to visit Mariah and Mackenzie in Mannheim.

Playing With Daddy

2007-08-10T10:06:00.000+02:00

Well ... the rules of the ADSR2 challenge #7 were changed ... so Shawn and I had to redo my layout because we couldn't use templates.

My new layout was made using an enlarged photo of my husband combined with a blue paper from Sharia Braxton's Little Boy Blue kit. The Reel is from Pamela McNicol’s Digitreats Expecting You kit ... recolored using a paper from Sharia Braxton's Little Boy Blue kit.

Shawn added to the layout and made it pretty. The paper behind the reel and star on top of the reel are from Amanda Thorderson's America the Beautiful kit, and the flourish is SwirlsII brush by Obsidian Dawn.

WordArt created by SimplySarah.
Journaling font is Velvet Script.

Journaling reads as follows: Mitch has been gone so much lately that the boys have not gotten to spend any time with him. First he was always busy with work and then they went to the field for 3 weeks. He did manage to come home a full week before he was due to leave for school. He was still busy that week at work and the boys didn't see him much then either. It was really nice to see them outside having fun outside Friday night. They tossed football, played helicopter and generally acted goofy. I think we had about 10 kids in the front yard that evening. I got a real laugh when Mitch kicked the big playground ball in the air ... he kicked it so high that it got stuck on the 3rd floor balcony. That apartment is empty so we couldn't get the ball back ... that ended that game real quick.. I got the ball back on Monday when the workers were there to clean.

Girl Talk by Gina

2007-08-09T12:33:00.000+02:00

Saying Good-Bye to Daddy

2007-08-09T08:53:00.000+02:00

Mitch left for Ft. Gordon on Sunday and I tried to get some pictures of him with the boys before he left. It didn't work very well, seeing as how he hates to have his picture taken. I did manage to get a picture of him and some of the boys. So I did up this scrapbook page to put them together. I took the photo of the boys at the airport while Mitch was checking his baggage in and finding out his gate. After that we went upstairs to McDonald's for breakfast. Nothing like burgers and chicken nuggets for breakfast .. LOL I took the picture of Mitch while he was walking back to the table upstairs. For this layout I used Dea Spina's Bejeweled Nigtht kit. The page was submitted for the Ad Challenge at Digitals.
The journaling reads:

August 5, 2007 --- Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt Germany
Daddy left for school on Sunday, August 5th and we had to take him to the airport. It was a rough day for all of us. Going to bed the night before was a challenge; many tears were shed. BJ didn't want to sleep, he wanted to go on the airplane with Daddy. It was hard to explain to you all why he had to leave the next morning. This is the first extended separation that you boys are really old enough to understand. Sunday morning we got up at 5am to leave for the airport. It was a nice drive, but a long one at that hour. You all behaved remakably well. At the airport you were kind of crazy, but it was understandable. After a breakfast of McDonalds burgers, nuggetts and fries it was time to say good-bye to Daddy. Instead of saying good-bye at the gate he walked us back to the car and we said good-bye there. 14 weeks is a long time to be apart, but we can do it.

August CT Assignment

2007-08-04T09:13:00.000+02:00

Well ... August has arrived and our CT assignments have been made at Digitals. I am working with a fabulous designer this month. Her name is Dea Spina and she is from Brazil. Dea has a multitude of kits available at the Digitals Store ... make sure you stop by and check out her shop.

Today is the 4th of August and I have already worked with a handful of her fabulous kits. The first one that I worked with was My Little Gentleman. I combined this with her A History To Tell template set ... what a great combination. Here are a few of the layouts that I did with these kits.

The next kit that I chose to work with was Dea's Beyond Mystery kit.I combined this kit with templates from other sites. I really like this kit because the papers have that grungy feel to them ... and the elements are really neat. This was a perfect kit to scrap some of the photos from the Munich Zoo.

I am having such a great time working with Dea's kits. She has a new one that just came out. I can't wait to get a chance to work with it also. It is called Untouched ... and I just noticed, she also has a new template pack out, its called Variety Layered Templates ... what fun! Lucky Me!

New Duties ... More Layouts?

2007-07-24T13:23:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to stop by and mention that in addition to my duties as a 1st Responder and Challenge Hostess at Digitals I am now also on the Creative Team there. I can't wait to get to work with the different designers. What an opportunity this will be.

I am also participating in the Amazing Race, Digi Scrapping 2. The race is hosted by Natural Designs in Scrapbooking (NDISB). Its a ton of fun. More on the Race can be found here.

Stop by and see the layouts created by my team. I have teamed up with Shawn (csuramsrule) and we have a race blog.

Digitals CT Call

2007-07-24T13:15:00.000+02:00

If you can't see the graphic, here is the text:

Want to work with a variety of fabulous designers, earning free kits and making gorgeous layouts? We have the job for you!

We need 5 more members to join our Creative Team at Digitals. Each CT member will work with a designer for 1 month, making at least 2 layouts with each kit provided and posting them in our gallery, DST, and a minimum of 2 other galleries of your choice. Emailing LOs through Yahoo groups, writing reviews in the store, and submitting to magazines are big pluses. You will be given a minimum of 2 kits per month (4 layouts) for free, but you have the opportunity to do more if you and the designer wish. CT members will rotate to a new designer each month. Please be willing to make a minimum 3 month committment and sign a confidentiality agreement. If you and a designer click, they may ask you to be on their personal CT.

Please email Stacey @ Digitals with a paragraph explaining why you want to be on the team, links to the galleries where you are most active, your other involvement in the digital scrapbooking community (moderator, creative teams, etc.,) your username at our site, and a little about yourself. This call will remain open until we find enough people that fit our team.
We look forward to your applications!

Weekend Happenings

2007-07-08T16:11:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we helped Wesley celebrate his 7th birthday. It was a lot of fun. We should have been celebrating Mitch's 32nd birthday with him ... but he is currently in Graf and not here with us, so that was not possible. The boys got to play some fun games at the party and really enjoyed themselves. Here are a few layouts that I've done so far today with the party photos:

This is a fun 2 page layout ... you get to see all of the kids that were at the party in it. I also did up a page with just one photo .. its a quick page but I love the photo so it had to be done too.
I have been a busy scrapper this weekend. I did up a page for Kaleb (who turns 12 today). I really like the way that it turned out. I also did a page for my grandmother with photos from the baseball game that she went to on the 4th of July. I hope she likes it.

Mission: Support Our Troops

2007-07-05T13:19:00.000+02:00

I have been AWOL from here for quite a while .. for that I am truly sorry. I feel like such a slacker. I promise to get better though. Mitch left this morning for the field and will be gone, for the most part, for the next 19 months. He is doing training for the next month and then will return home for a few days and head off to school in Georgia. He is due to return here to Baumholder around the 17th of November. His unit is deploying to Iraq some time that month .. so he will come home and deploy right away. In preparation for his deployment and in support of those already deployed we have started a new campaign at Digitals. Mission: Support Our Troops. We are asking people to submit 12x12 layouts @ 300dpi. These layouts will be gathered and made into a video. It will be shown when his unit leaves for Iraq this fall. We are offering to send it to other units that are deployed as well. This is to show them that they are appreciated and that we support them in what they are doing. So, whether you believe in the war or not, let's believe in our troops. Show them that you care and send them a message from home. Every person that submits a layout will receive a Patriotic Mini-Kit made by Selana. Here are a few of the layouts that I have submitted for this great cause ... the first is a simple thank you message from our family and well wishes for all of the service members who are serving overseas right now. For this page I used the Mini-Kit that Selana is providing as a gift for those who participate. The second layout is pretty straight forward and to the point ... Some Heroes Wear Capes ... Mine Wear Combat Boots! My third submission was inspired by a poster that I saw on the Air Force website and by the lyrics from a Toby Keith song. I used Lori Imel's US Army Forever kit to create this page. It's one of my favorites. Right now I have one more page that I have submitted for this project. This one was inspired by a website that I found to purchase an MP3 version of the song whose lyrics I used for the layout. A Soldier Coming Home by Ned McElroy & Jerry Williams. This is one of my favorite songs. It was definitely true the last time that Mitch was deployed and I'm sure it will be true again this time too. I really enjoyed making this page. I used the flag background paper from Glenda Ketcham's Red, White & American Blue kit. Photos shown are all my family and friends. Anyway ... I hope that you have enjoyed seeing the layouts that I have submitted. Stop by the Mission: Support Our Troops gallery at Digitals to submit your own or see ones submitted by others. I can't wait to see how many layouts get submitted for this great cause. A few other digital scrapbooking sites have done similar projects in the past few months and their participation was fantastic ... lets hope the folks that hang out at Digitals can do just as good a job, if not better.

2006-08-17T10:40:00.000+02:00

Everyone loved the layouts that I did for my grandfather's memorial service. I was asked to do a layout for my Great Aunt Helen and her husband Arthur. Art is the only one of m grandfather's siblings that is still alive. They celebrated their 57th Anniversary the week before my grandfather died. The photo of them together is from my grandfather's memorial service and the bottom photo is their wedding party. I used Tink's Tying the Knot kit, available at Digitals, to created this layout. It's great to celebrate a life lived together.

2006-08-17T10:35:00.000+02:00

This photo of my grandparents was shared with me by my mother. I loved the photo and felt that I had to do something with it. I used the Virtual Painter, Oil Painting filter to get the painting look on the larger version. The background is a paper from Tink's Orange Spice kit, available at Digitals. The page was recolored to look like the dining room wall. The frame is from PSP X.

Grandfather

2006-08-10T10:48:00.000+02:00

Today is the day of my grandfather's funeral. I cannot be there physially, but I will be there in spirit. In memory of you PaPa.

A Few More for Grandpa

2006-08-09T14:25:00.000+02:00

Did up a few more layouts this morning .. Thought I would share.

In Memorium

2006-08-08T15:14:00.000+02:00

The layouts completed today were done in memory of my Grandfather who passed away, peacefully, yesterday at the age of 76. He was a great man and I will miss him dearly. I have not seen him in more than 3 years and I am truly sorry for that. He was always there for me when I needed him. No matter what I was doing in life, I could count on him to be there on those important days.
This first layout was created using a background paper from Veronica Culley's Simplicity Duos Purple kit, available at Digitals. I also used a paper from Glenda Ketcham's Sibby Goes to Kindergarten kit to create his name. The graphics used were obtained from Elder High School in Cincinnati Ohio, where my grandfather graduated from many years ago. The wordart phrases used on this layout are from many different designers, obtained mostly from 1HourScrap.
This second layout was done using a quick page. I have searched all through my files and can't figure out where I got it from .. I can't find the original quick page on my computer anywhere now. The font that I used is Gracey's Curse. The wordart was created by Sue Jones for the July It's Only Words challenge at Digitals. I had "fun" adding the pictures to this page. It was neat to see all of the old photos.
The third layout I created for his memorial is also a quick page. The wordart is from the daily download at 1HourScrap. I can't figure out where the quick page came from .. that seems to be a trend today. I love this photo though. It is of my grandfather with my nephews last summer. It saddens me though, because I know that I do not have any pictures of him with my own children.
The third layout from this morning is a great example of how my grandfather was always there for me. These two photos were taken when I graduated from college and on the day I got commissioned as an Army Officer. He supported me in everything that I did. I will truly miss him.
This layout is my favorite out of the ones that I have done for him. I love the way that it turned out. I used Lori Imel's Classic Black and White kit to create the layout. My grandfather was one of the biggest Elder High School fans that I have ever met. I remember times when I was younger when we would walk over to "The Pit" as their stadium was known, to see what was going on because we saw the lights on from our house. Friday nights were spent there cheering on "The Pride of Price Hill" while I was growing up. I returned home from college on friday nights to attend football games with him. The photo on this layout is his Elder High School Senior Portrait.

I cannot take credit for this next layout. I was having a really hard time coming up with something for this gorgeous photo. I asked Lori for some advice and input. When I couldn't do it I asked her to help me out. She graciously agreed and did up this wonderful layout.
This is my final layout today. I am headed to bed in a few minutes. I couldn't come up with anything for the color photo of my grandfather in the Army. But I had better luck with the black and white version. For this layout I used the Army Of One kit from Cristy Sturm at Butternug Squash Designs. The wordart was from there also and is free.
I hope you have enjoyed looking at the layouts that I am doing to remember my grandfather. A few more will probably be done tomorrow.

Relaxing by the Water

2006-08-07T09:27:00.000+02:00

This month I am concentrating on creating layouts of my grandparents. My grandfather is in the hospital dying and I want to create as many loving memories of him as possible. Their 51st Wedding Anniversary is coming up this Sunday, August 13th. I hope to have some great layouts done for them to cherish. This particular layout is the second in a series of layouts from their vacation in Hawaii in 1998. They went to Hawaii for their anniversary. For this layout I used Maddy Fernandez's Of Sand and Sea kit. I also used some elements from the add-on pkg for the same kit. Both are available at Digitals. The fonts that I used for this layout are mandngo and milk & cookies. Both can be downloaded here. Let me know what you think of the layouts .. I LOVE comments. :)

Movie Night

2006-08-06T11:30:00.000+02:00

This layout is my submission for the August Me, My, Mine challenge at Digitals. It completes the challenges for August. I got all 13 of them done in record time. Would have had them done on the 4th, but didn't have any August photos, and the Me, My, Mine challenge has to be done for an event during the current month.
Anyway ... for this layout I used Lori Imel's newest kit, Classic Black & White, availble only at Digitals. The fonts are Ravenscraft, Rage Italic and Eras Bold ITC.
We took the boys to see Superman Returns last night at the theater here on post. It was the first time that BJ and Cody had ever been to a movie theater. Andrew went a few years ago with Mitch to see Shrek 2. The boys did pretty well last night considering the movie started right before bedtime. They all stayed awake through the entire movie and were relatively well behaved. They were quiet through the whole movie, can't say they sat still, but there was enough room inbetween the rows that they could move between Mitch and I without bothering anyone else. And, they only spilled the bag of popcorn once.

Another Productive Day

2006-08-04T22:06:00.000+02:00

I am quite proud of myself today. I got a lot accomplished. I finised 5 layouts, which leaves me with just one more layout to complete and I will be done with the challenges this month at Digitals. I'm on a rool, because today is only the 4th day of the month. I took on another roll today at Digitals, I became a member of their 1st Responder Team. Looking forward to doing that job. Anyway, now for today's layouts.

This layout was done for the Designer Elements challenge at Digitals. This month's challenge was hosted by Sophia Davies. As per my norm, I did a 4x6 recipe card. The fonts I used are Ravie and Rage Italic.
The recipe is as follows:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
7 cups sliced peaches
2 Tbsp honey
2/3 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers (5 squares)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp rolled oats
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375*F. For filling, in a bowl stir together granulated sugar, the 2 Tablespoons flour and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Add peaches; toss to coat. Spread in 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Drizzle honey over peaches; set aside.
For topping, in a bowl stir together crushed graham crackers, brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, rolled oats, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over the peach mixture.
Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.
Makes 8 servings.

Each serving without ice cream:
306 calories, 8 grams fat (5 grams sat. fat), 20 mg cholesterol, 101 mg sodium, 58 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams fiber, 2 grams protein.
Daily Values: 21% Vitamin A, 17% Vitamin C, 3% calcium and 7% iron.

The second layout was done for the Picture This challenge at Digitals. My kids LOVE to swim .. and this day was no different .. LOL
For this layout I used background paper and mattes from Christy Sturm's Pool Water kit, availble at ButternugSquash.
The elements are from Christine Schultz's Pool Party Kit, available at Digitals.
The font I used for the date is Rage Italic.

The third layout was done for the All About Me Photo Challenge at Digitals. The challenge this month was to scrap about our favorite moment from school.
I used Lori Imel's new kit .. Classic Black and White. Font is Rage Italic.

This last layout was done for the August Scraplift Challenge. For this layout I used Maddy Fernandez's Of Sand & Sea Kit. Fonts are Gracey's Curse and Rage Italic. For this challenge we scraplifted a layout of Sophia Davies'. I love this photo of my Grandparents on their Anniversary in 1998 in Hawaii. More layouts from this trip to follow.
The last layout that I did today was for the Scripture Challenge at Digitals. I used a photo of my grandfather that was taken in the hospital last week. I will not be posting it here. It is posted in my gallery at digitals, if you want to see it you can visit there.
Thanks for reading. More to come tomorrow, I'm sure.

More Challenges mean More Layouts

2006-08-04T07:36:00.000+02:00

I did this first layout at the request of my mother. She wanted something new to hang in my grandfather's hospital room. She really liked the 12x12 layout that I did for the challenge at Digitals, but that's not easy to print or hang. So, she requested an 8x10 layout that she could order and frame for in his room. I know he probably won't get to see it, because of the sedation, but she will show it to him, and everyone else who enters the room will get to see it. I hope things get better there soon, whatever better is. For this layout I used a few different kits. The elements are from Tink's Tying the Knot kit, available at Digitals. The purple matte is from a background in Glenda Ketcham's kit, Sibby Goes to Kindergarten. The wordart is from Gayle Richter's Quote Overlays, available at DigiScrapIt. The background image is from Suzanne Walker's Wedding Whimsy Kit, an old freebie from DSP.
The tag says
Jean & Norb Briede
"Together Forever"
August 13, 1955
Golden Anniversary
August 13, 2005

This second layout was done as part of the Let's Get Sketchy challenge at The Digi Dreamer .. and also for the Font Free 4 All challenge at Digitals. For this layout I used Maddy Fernandez's kit, A Walk on the Wild Side, available at Digitals. Journaling states that we found this Rock Wall at the end of our street the other day while we were teaching Andrew to ride his bike. The boys fell in love with it the minute that they saw it. They ran over to me, after jumping off their bikes, Look Mommy, Look! I didn't let them climb it, not yet anyway. But, I'm sure that when they do it will provide me with a great opportunity for more photos. Fonts are Rackham Italic, the challenge font, and Rage Italic.

The third layout from yesterday was created for the It's Elementary challenge at Digitals. For this layout I used Veronica Culley's Simplicity Duos Purple kit and the elements provided for the challenge.Butterfly Border by Jen Maceyunas (recolored)Fun Slide by Jolene ShafferSummer word by Karin McCombesButterfly by Michelle Hessler (recolored)Fonts are Scrap Cirlces and Scrap Katie. I love the photos in this layout. Andrew has absolutely no fear and he loves to try new things. Here, he was running up to the pool, jumping, and basically flying into the pool. It was so fun to watch him do it over and over again. I tried to catch him completely in mid air, but the battery on the camera would not cooperate.

This third layout was created for the It's Only Words challenge, and as a gift for our neighbor. A second layout with photos from his birthday. For this layout I used Jaime Conn's kit, Games People Play, available at Digitals. The wordart was provided for the challenge by Sue Jones.

August Challenges @ Digitals

2006-08-02T17:57:00.000+02:00

It's Challenge time again at Digitals. I thuroughly enjoy completing the monthly challenges there. It gives me the motivation that I often need to get layouts done, and it also gives me some ideas. I work best with a goal to meet. Today is the second day of the challenges and I've already gotten 3 layouts completed. The first layout that I completed and posted was for the Sketchy Details Challenge. For this layout I used the Fresh as a Daisy kit by Tink (c) Andika Designs. The fonts that I used in this layout are Scriptina, Rage Italic & PS Bluegum Forest. The photos are from my grandparents' 50th Wedding Anniversary. I was not able to be there for the celebration, but I am going to do my best to make up some memorable layouts for them.
The second layout that I completed was for the He Said, She Said challenge. For this layout I used the Strength of a Father kit by Eugenia Bacon. The font I used is Scrap Katie. I love these pictures. I took them last month while the boys and I were exploring the outdoor exibits at the 1AD Museum here in Baumholder, Germany. The boys had a grand time exploring the tanks and the other military gear there.

My 3rd layout for today was done for the Captivated by Colour Challenge. I used Glenda Ketcham's kit, Sibby Goes to Kindergarten (redone). The font that I used is Rage Italic. I really enjoyed putting this layout together. I love the vibrant colors used in this kit. Glenda did a fantastic job creating this one. A good buy at any cost.

Look Mom .. No Training Wheels

2006-07-31T12:17:00.000+02:00

My little boy isn't so little anymore. He came to us yesterday and asked if we would take the training wheels off of his bike and teach him how to ride like the big kids. he is 5 1/2 years old and we figured it was a good time. He's not all that tall, kind of short actually, but he tries. He has a 16 inch bicycle and his feet barely reach the ground with his seat on the lowest level. While I was searching for the kickstand to put on his bike his Dad took the training wheels off and started to teach him. I did my part and helped him learn a bit as well ... but I needed to take pictures, so I left most of the training up to Daddy. It didn't take him that long to figure out the balance part, but he needs a LOT of work on the steering and the speed control. He likes to go WAY TOO FAST! This makes him run into things and fall over. He ran into a big truck (the bumper) and hit the curb quite a few times. He needed quite a bit of room to ride, so most of his training was done in the street. Luckily there is a circle at the end of our street and it isn't busy at all. He's doing great .. I am SO proud of him. He's a Big Boy now.
For these layouts I used the June Sports Spectacular Mega Kit from SOTB. Fonts are Marydale and Dirty Fingers.

Look Mom .. No Training Wheels

2006-07-30T17:54:00.000+02:00

Created this today, after taking a TON of photos of Andrew learning how to ride his bike like a big kid. For this layout I used the June Sports Spectacular kit from SOTB, the Cycling section in particular, created by Trish Richhart. The Font I used is Dirty Finger.

Still Around .. New Layout

2006-07-26T09:33:00.000+02:00

I'm still around, honest. Things have been so crazy this summer, with the move and all. I've been scrapping, just haven't been posting here .. I know, shame on me.

I am currently on 3 creative teams. I work mainly with designers at Digitals .. and my goal is to complete all of the challenges there each month. I also do the Rockin Recipe Roundup Crop at SOTB each week.

I have completed a ton of layouts since I last posted here. They can all be seen on my fotki site. I will start posting more here as I get them done. Here is one that I did up this morning.

The kit I used is Games People Play, by Jamie Conn, available at digitals. The alpha is by Alisha Hess and is called a Clear Bubble Alpha, no longer available. The fonts are Kristen ITC and Gracey's Curse.
I took these photos yesterday at our neighbor's 6th Birthday party. I hope they like the layout. We just moved here a month ago and Wesley is pretty much the only other boy in our building for my children to play with. They don't mind playing with the girls, but having boys around is nice too. Everyone had a great time at the birthday party. The cake was frozen when his mom picked it up at the store, but it was fine when it was time to eat it .. the ice cream on the other hand, had melted .. the kids didn't seem to mind though.

Orange Spice by Tink

2006-05-10T21:32:00.000+02:00

Tink sent me her Orange Spice kit last night, at my request. I couldn't wait to use the kit. The different shades of orange are just brilliant. I love this kit.
I have done two layouts with it so far. The one to the left is of Andrew's trip to the Worms' Zoo last year. The preschool students at Mannheim Elementary go every May. I created this layout as part of the Me, My, Mine Challenge this month at Digitals. This challenge called for a May themed layout, using the date in either the title or the journaling. I used the date in the deco square, sub title, and the month/year in the journaling. This particular study trip was a joy for me. We will not get to do this trip again this year though, because of the threat and concerns reguarding the avian flu present here in Germany.

This second layout with Tink's Orange Spice kit is a 4x6 recipe card. This recipe is a great one and fitting of this kit. I created this layout as a contribution to the Recipe Card Challenge we are having in one of my yahoo groups. We are making these to share them as a gift on holidays and such. Here is the recipe that is on this card:

Pineapple Butterscotch Squares.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour.
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can ( 20 oz) crushed pineapple well drained
1 cup ( 6 oz) butterscotch chips
1/2 cup toasted chopped nuts
vegetable cooking spray
powdered sugar , garnish ( optional)

* combine flour, baking powder,& salt in small bowl; set aside.

*beat together butter, brown sugar,granulated sugar, in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs & vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in pineapple. stir in flour mixture, butterscotch chips & nuts until blended.

* pour into 13 x 9 -inch baking pan sprayed with vegetable cooking spray.

* Bake at 350 degrees, 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. cool completely in pan on wire rack. dust cooled cake with powdered sugar, if desired. cut into squares.

Grandpa's Lap

2006-05-10T19:06:00.000+02:00

I was in a sentimental mood the other day. It has been 2 years since my Father-In-Law passed away and I wanted to do something to remember him. I only have 2 pictures of him with my children. They were all incredibly young when he died.

I completed this layout as a way for my children to remember the time they spent with my husband's father. I did it at 8x10 so that I could order a good copy of it and have it framed as a gift for my Mother-In-Law. She is moving into a new Condo this week and I want her to be able to hang it in her new "home". I hope she likes it.

I don't remember where the boy themed kit came from. It was one of the first I ever got and there are no TOU in the folder. The heart shaped word art is from Glenda Ketcham and the February 2006 Scripture Challenge at Digitals. The main WordArt is by Stacey Thurman at 1 Hour Scraps.

Rockin' Recipe Roundup Wk7

2006-05-10T18:52:00.000+02:00

This is my contribution to the Rockin Recipe Roundup 2006 Crop at SOTB for Week 7. This week's theme is vegetables.

Layered Spinach Salad
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon each: sugar, salt and pepper
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves (can use big ones with OK results)
2 large grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
1 small cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small red onioin, chopped
1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced (optional)
1/4 cup sliced green pimento-stuffed olives

Directions
For dressing, put oil, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well to blend.
Wash spinach, remove and discard stems, pat dry on a paper towel. If using mature spinach leaves, tear into bite-sized pieces.
Arrange 1 cup of the spinach in the bottom of a 1-quart glass, straight-sided dish. Arrange half of the grapefruit, cucumber, onion, avocado and olives in layers over the spinach. Add 1 cup spinach. Continue layering remaining vegetables. Pour dressing over all.
Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours to marinate and chill.

Rockin' Recipe Roundup Wk6

2006-05-03T20:49:00.000+02:00

Here is my layout for the Rockin Recipe Roundup 2006, week 6 at SOTB. This week's theme is Italian food. I haven't tried this recipe yet, mainly because I haven't had the items on hand to do it. But, it looks SOO good. I really want to try it.
Here is the recipe

1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound ground beef
1 loaf (1 pound) Italian bread, cut into 1-inch slices
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 jar (28 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, minced

In a bowl, combine onions, crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Add beef and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls; place on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 400*F for 15-20 minutes or until no longer pink. Meanwhile, arrange bread in a single layer in an ungreased 13x9x2 inch baking dish (all of the bread might not be used).Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, Italian seasoning and pepper; spread over the bread. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella. Combine sauce, water and garlic; add meatballs. Pour over cheese mixture; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, at 350*F for 30 minutes or until heated through.YIELD: 6-8 servings.NOTE: Do not use reduced-fat or fat-free mayonnaise.

I also did up this recipe in a 4x6 for another group that I am on. We are trying to compile a 4x6 recipe book, either for ourselves or as gifts. This is going to be fun. For the 4x6 layout I used the Rockin Recipe Roundup 2005, Wk 3 Kit ... created by Elizabeth Lane at SOTB.

2 More Layouts Today

2006-05-03T15:12:00.000+02:00

Well .. I got 2 more layouts done today. I'm really enjoying the challenges at Digitals. Maybe I should check out the challenges at some of the other sites as well .. never know what I might find.

This layout is for the May Calendar Challenge. I did it a little different this month. I took the calendar image and the background image and combined them. Then I brought back the cork board from last month's challenge. I really like the cork board. It makes it look like the calendar is hanging on the wall in my house. I also included a picture of each of the boys outside during our unit picnic.

This second layout was created for the Font Free 4 All Challenge at Digitals. This month's font is Quigley Wiggley. Its an interesting font. I used this layout to help me teach Mariah how to put a layout together. Shc came over this morning to help me declutter my desk area and such in preparation for our upcoming move. After my meeting we sat down at the computer so that she could learn how to do her own layouts. I am so enjoying doing these.

Luisen Park 2006

2006-05-03T07:21:00.000+02:00

I finally got to spend some quality one on one time with Andrew this past week. These pictures were taken during his class' study trip to Luisen Park, located in downtown Mannheim. This was the second year that we have gone on this trip, but this year was different. Andrew is not a little boy anymore. He is 5 now and will startk Kindergarten in the fall. We both had a really good time. This is just the first in a series of layouts that will be done from this trip.
I completed this layout as part of the Sketchy Details challenge at Digitals. I used Cristina Blomberg's Soccer Season Kit, available at digitals, and the font is Quiggly Wiggly.

May Card Challenge

2006-05-02T20:20:00.000+02:00

We're Moving
Well .. not for 6 more weeks. But this was the perfect time to make this layout up. This is my contribution for the May Card Challenge at Digitals. I used the April Challenge Prize Kit from Digitals to create this layout. The font that I used is Bernard MT Condensed.

I had fun doing this layout. I was looking for a neat way to tell our friends and family members that we are moving. I might just get copies of this printed as post cards and send them out with the nw information on the back side. I don't know yet. I can order them as actual cards with this as the front side and the new information on the inside. But I will have to decide. I hope you are enjoying my layouts.

Outside My Front Door

2006-05-02T06:56:00.000+02:00

This is my contribution to the May 2006, My Neighborhood Challenge, at Digitals. I love this challenge. It gives me the opportunity to scrap about things that I probably never would have done otherwise.

The theme this month was "Outside My Front Door". We were to describe through words or pictures what we see when we look out our front door. The hostess for this month stated that she saw a Momma Kangaroo and her baby when she looked outside that morning. Another participant stated that they saw a Momma Duck and 11 chicks in their pool that morning. I wish I could see those things.

Being a military family we tend to live in some of the most boring places. Not to say that Germany is boring .. Not by any means. But, living on post feels like living in the ghetto .. or some other form of sub-standard, low income housing. Everything is the same. The buildings all look alike. The hallways are BORING. But we make due. We only have 6 more weeks living here in Mannheim and then it is off to Baumholder. Hopefully the on post scenery will be a bit nicer.

For this kit I used the backgrounds and frames from Cristina Blomberg's Soccer Season Kit which is available at Digitals. If you want to see a larger view of this layout please check out my gallery at digitals or my fotki site. Thanks for visiting, hope you enjoyed the layout.
Gina

Rockin' Recipe Roundup Wk5

2006-04-26T18:03:00.000+02:00

This is my contribution to this week's Rockin' Recipe Roundup at SOTB. This week's theme was Mexican food.

I love this crop, hosted by Elizabeth Lane. It is the first crop that I ever participated in last year. It is a great way to get layouts done and create a gift for future generations.

Here is the information for this layout -- kit is RRR 2006 Wk 5 by Elizabeth Lane. Font used is Engravers MT. Recipe is as follows:

INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 teaspoons begetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can (32 ounces) V8 juice
1 jar (16 ounces) salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn, thawed
6 tablespoons cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS
In a large nonstick skillet, saute chicken in oil until no longer pink. Add water and taco seasoning; simmer until chicken is well coated. Transfer to a sloww cooker. Add V8 juice, salsa, beans and corn; mix well. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through. Serve with cheese, sour cream and cilantro.

YIELD -- 6 servings.

Creative Team Call Submissions

2006-04-26T14:18:00.000+02:00

Well .. Elemental Scraps is having a Creative Team Call .. So, I decided to enter. I had fun doing these layouts. I don't have any daughters, so I chose to use a friend's daughter for the layout. These photos were taken last summer while swimming outside. Rachel had just learned to walk on her own. It was a great day.

For these layouts I used Amanda Rockwell's Spring Kit. I received it from the staff at Elemental Scraps when I submitted a reply to their creative team call. I used 2 fonts .. Engravers MT and CK Holida Spirit.

April 25, 2006

2006-04-25T21:40:00.000+02:00

I am beginning this blog as a way to share my digital scrapbooking layouts with other people. My name is Gina and I have been digital scrapbooking for about 8 months now. I absolutely love working with graphics and creating memories for myself and others. This passion actually started when I opened a CafePress shop as a way to help my children through my husband's deployment. I created pillows and t-shirts using photos that I had and military graphics etc. I enjoyed it so much that digital scrapbooking seemed like a great idea.
All of my previous layouts can be found in my galleries at Digital Scrapbook Pages, Scrap Outside The Box and my Fotki Site.

The layout shown here is a simple page that I did for the military album I am creating. I used a background page from the Army of One kit, available at Butternug Squash. My husband is truly my Hero. He and all of the other service members that give up their time to defend our country are truly Super Heroes in every sense of the word.

I am looking forward to sharing my future layouts with you all. I have recently become a member of the creative team for Tink at Digital Scrapbook Pages. I am thankful to her for allowing me to be a member of her team and giving me the opportunity to show off her great kits.