Honoring our Heroes

These two layouts were created using the Hero of the Day Bundle from Aimee Harrison Design Studios over at The Digital Scrapbooking Studio. The gentleman in the photos is my long time friend Jaymie's Grandfather. He was a Navy Veteran who served in WWII. I was lucky enough to have met him on several occasions, and I can say that he was a mischievous as he looks! This is just my little way of honoring him for Veteran's Day.

Happiness is...

Every day I like to take a minute and think about what is making me happy that day. Some days it's a huge important thing, other days it's something simple, like the smell of clean sheets.

For the past couple of days, I've been thinking about two of my best girlfriends. They live in Ohio (where I'm from) and have both had babies in the past couple of years. I'm thankful that I have been able to get back there to see them...though it feels like it's not nearly enough. Digiscrapping is my way of thinking about them, and keeping them as an active part of my life. When I miss them particularly bad I go on a Digiscrap binge!

Both of these LOs feature pictures of their newest little ones. The kit I used is called Happiness and it's from Paper Caper Designs over at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio. 

Aren't they the sweetest? Katie (in the top photo) is Jen's first child, and Alexander (in the bottom photo) is Renita's fourth. My friends make beautiful babies, don't they?

November Beauty

I don't know how many times I can say that this time of the year really is my favorite. Is anyone counting?? November 2nd was my 37th birthday, then on Nov 8th one of my best girlfriends, Ashley, had her birthday.


I met Ashley when I went to a bead store in San Juan Bautista, she and her mother were the owners. She had such an infectious laugh that I ended up spending a lot of time there. We became fast friends. That was about  years ago or so. Almost a year ago she decided to close the bead shop and move up closer to San Francisco with her boyfriend. We used to be able to have some great hangout time around my bead table here at home. But now, the distance and her work schedule make that difficult. When we do get together, we have such a great time! She's one of the sweetest women I have ever met, and I'm so happy to have her in my life.

Both of these layouts were created using the kit November's Topaz by Aimee Harrison Design Studio. The kit really captures the glow of November's birthstone. Warm golden yellow and bronze with hints of brown and cream. It's available over at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio

Ashley's smile really lights things up. She has a way of making the air around her just glow with sweetness!

Autumn Blessings

I have to say...I miss Autumn in Southern Ohio. The trees...the leaves...the final harvest in the fields...and the Autumn rains. I can smell it just typing those words. On, bonfires, I can't forget those. That crackle, the woodsmoke, and watching the embers glow after the fire dies down. There's nothing like it, at least not in this part of California.

Being so Autumn sick, I've been immersing  myself in Autumn creativeness. It's one way to shake the blues!

Both of these pages were created with the kit Autumn Blessings, a collaboration between Linda Cumberland and Julie Cohen from The Digital Scrapbooking Studio

I hope you're all enjoying Autumn!
Blessings.
Peace.
Joy

Things I Grow

When my mom moved in to our place, she started a plant collection on our patio. She has always had a green thumb, and having all of the plants out there made me so happy. When she moved to her new place, she took a lot of the plants with her, and left some with me. I was a bit worried. In the past, my thumbs have not proven to be very green.

Apparently, my thumbs are getting a bit more green these days. Here's a bit of what's growing on my patio at the moment.

 African Cape Daisy. I pruned this plant back to just stumps a couple of months ago. The leaves are growing back beautifully, and just this one flower popped up in all of the new growth.

 Coleus.

 This flower and the one below it are on the same plant, and unknown succulent. The hummingbirds love it!

 Yellow and orange chrysanthemum

 Alaska Nasturtium. One of the most beautiful blooms I've ever seen on a nasturtium.

 My big red geranium that was gifted to me by my friend and previous neighbor Kristi. It's full of flowers this Fall!

 I have a squirrel who hunts my succulents by my front door and eats them. She dug this one up and ate the roots, then started on the leaves! I replanted it just to see what it would do, then relocated it to the patio. The squirrel seems to stay off of the patio, probably because of the cats.

 Another mystery succulent that is currently in bloom. These flowers smell so sweet! The hummingbirds also love this one.

 I don't know the name of this plant either. It's another one that I recently cut back because it was getting too big! When it was all huge and crazy I decided to name her Tina, in honor of Tina Turner and her crazy hair!

 Last but not least. These little things appeared in the same planter as the African Cape Daisy. At first they were masses of these teeeeeeeny tiny little "balls". I figured it was some kind of fungus ( I may have been over watering the plant) and dug up as much of them as I could. I thought that was all they were going to do. That was about two months ago. Today, I went out and saw these sprouting. Turns out, they are Yellow Houseplant Mushrooms. Not safe to eat, but as long as you leave them alone they are neat to watch grow! I'm looking forward to checking them out tomorrow!

I guess it's official. I have a green thumb now. I really enjoy tending to these plants and watching them grow on my patio. There's also several frogs living out there...but I'll save that for another time.

Have a safe weekend!

Blessings.
Peace.
Joy

Productive Weekend!

Here it is Sunday evening and things are winding down. Not much excitement here this weekend, but lots of productive digi scrapping. After these last two, it's time to close the laptop and take a couple days to get caught up on my jewelry work!

The kit I'm featuring today is Autumn Fairytale from Laura's Digi World.

 

I have to admit, after I chose this kit....I was a bit intimidated by it! I have no idea WHY, but I was. It's full of beautiful Fall colors and amazing photo realistic elements with a dash of magic and whimsy. 

My first offering with this magical kit features the Venus of Willendorf. I have a lifelong fascination with Goddesses and their depiction throughout time and across various cultures. The Venus is one of the oldest depictions of the female form, and her meaning is still a mystery...but to me, she represents woman in her role as a bearer of life and creator of home. 

 My second creation also used a bit of magical inspiration. This time I started with a stock photo from MizzD Stock over at Deviant Art and just went from there. Since the kit is called Autumn Fairytale...I went with a fairy! 

Now I'm off to play with beads! I hope everyone has a great Monday. :)

Fall Goodies at The Studio

As of a couple of weeks ago I am now a member of the Creative Team over at The Digital Scrapbooking Studio. Part of my duties as a CT member is to create with new products from designers at The Studio. With Fall being in full sing now, both of the kits I am featuring today are Fall themed. :)

First off, I created a couple of layouts with the beautiful Autumn Grove Bundle from Digilicious Designs. The subtle colors of this kit really spoke to me. It has a very vintage feel to it, but in a modern kind of way. Does that make sense?? Anyway. First off is my niece Milora and one of my favorite pictures of her.

Isn't she a cutie? Her mom (my sister in law) made her little outfit for her. I thought it was perfect for the modern vintage feel of the kit. Up next, one of my best girlfriends and her little boy. He's now two years old, and I've been holding on to these photos for a while now. They're just so precious.

 

I think the kit worked perfectly for a more masculine theme as well. This yummy brown paper really pulled me in. It's so simple, but the color is just divine!   

Up next, a really fun and funky kit, Autumnal from Ruby Lane Designs. I'm a huge fan of the rich jewel tones in this kit, they remind me of autumn in southern Ohio. Ruby Lane will be a guest designer over at The Studio in November, so check back for links to her beautiful creations! 

Another page featuring the lovely Milora! That smile is infectious, isn't it?

This LO features a vintage picture of Maude Fealey. She was an actress in early silent films and also in "talkies", she starred in nearly every movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille. On top of that she had a somewhat successful career as a playwright and stage actress. Her beauty is, to me, quite captivating. 

 

So, what are you working on for Fall?