Saturday, December 27, 2008

January Desktop


I created my January desktop last night. I used papers, embellishments, and quick page from Verena Karolyia Designs "Brr It's Cold Outside" kit, available at digitalfreebies.com, and the calendar is from 2009 January CD TTV Calendar, available at CottageArts.com.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Brrrrrr and it's only December




IT IS COLD!!!!! We weren't going to venture out at all today but I had to go out late this afternoon to pick up some coaxial cables. I drew the short end of the straw.

One good thing came out of staying in--I got my new TV set up in my "office." The bad news is the cable box doesn't seem to be working and I've been on the phone off and on for three hours with tech support. Tomorrow I need to take the cable box in and get a new one.

I did get some scrapping done today and cleaned up a couple pictures from Roger's family's Christmas get together. I've still got more to clean up and scrap. I'll leave you with a couple more pictures from last night.


Supplies are all from Winter Twilight Guild Kit Available THIS MONTH for all Guild Members at http://www.digitalscrapbookartisanguild.com.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Grandkid layout reworked



I joined Digital Scrapbook Artisans and received their kit for December, which is B E A U T I F U L!

Supplies are all from Winter Twilight Guild Kit Available THIS MONTH for all Guild Members at http://www.digitalscrapbookartisanguild.com.

To see the version before I reworked it, check this out.

Playing with cars


One of Luke's favorite things to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house is play with his cars. He has oodles of Hot Wheels, which he loves to race down his track. But we also have three PT Cruisers, the same color as my car. He loves these cars.

The following products were used in this layout. They are all available at Natural Designs in Scrapbooking (http://www.ndisb.com/store/).

Duniq Acauan and Amanda Resende - Let's Go Mega Kit

Action FafBr Designs - Simple Bow

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas Layouts of My Grandchildren




Carrie had the kids pictures taken and they were so great I decided to use them for a Christmas layout since (1) it's impossible to get them all three together in one picture, and (2) my next chance would probably be Christmas morning and having a group picture taken would be the last thing on earth they would like to do.

I decided to take the same layout and do one for Jaren. I might try a different picture in the layout since I've already scrapped this picture several times.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

My weekend

I've had a good weekend. Did some scrapping this weekend, tried to figure out how to make blinkies (no luck yet), babysat Jaren today, and completed a layout for the color challenge at Designers Digital.


Saw these pictures of my older three grandchildren from their recent photography session. I think I have the most beautiful grandchildren, just like every other grandma thinks hers are the most beautiful.





Saturday, December 13, 2008

The History of Aprons

I've received the following recently from a couple people. I think it is very interesting, especially since I mentioned to my daughter about the comeback of aprons and so for my birthday she made this great apron, which is reversible.



The History of APRONS

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma's aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron. But Love !!

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Christmas Preparations


Christmas letter done--Check
Christmas cards printed--Check
Envelopes for letter/cards addressed--Check
Christmas tree up--Check
Packages wrapped--almost all done. Still need to wrap Cailey's gift and Grandpa's should be delivered in the next day or two and then need to get it wrapped.

Still need to help Roger come up with gift for his mother and need to get Carrie & David a gift(s). Waiting for some input on that end. I'm feeling pretty good right now.

How are you doing on getting ready for Christmas?

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Bits and Pieces

I'm coming down in a cold I think. Woke up in the middle of the night with a scratchy throat. Went to the drug store on my way to work and have been using Zicam Cold Remedy gel swabs. According to the box, I can get over my old faster and reduces the duration and severity of cold symptoms. We'll see.

Well I've got my Christmas cards ordered tonight. Sent them to Costco along with some scrapbook pages. Can pick them up on Saturday and hopefully I'll get them out on Sunday.

Here's my December desktop on my laptop computer courtesy Shabby Miss Jen Designs.


I did get a page scrapped tonight of Jaren's visit to Santa. I used Lori Cook's ScrapSimple Paper Christmas Classics, Linda Nixon's journaling bracket, and based on template from Rackety Scraps. Isn't he a cutie. Those eyes are as shot--they haven't been retouched.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Me and My Boys


I had to scrap this photo taken yesterday at James and Lindsey's baby shower of me with my two grandsons--Luke and Jaren.

Ella's Baby Shower






Yesterday Carrie & David, Sarah & Jeremy, and Roger and I hosted a baby shower for James and Lindsey. We had pretty much the entire Loghry clan there--all except Mindy and Teri Lin. In addition, Lindsey's parents, Sandy & Bob (I think that is his name--sorry if I'm wrong) were traveling back from Omaha to Wisconsin and were able to join us, along with James other grandmother, Rita Reeves. We had some great food and fun games. James and Lindsey got some really nice presents, including a beautiful blanket that Barb, the soon-to-be proud grandma, knitted. It was so great to have everyone together to share this happy time with James and Lindsey.

I've posted just a few of the pictures from the shower. The rest are posted on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/queenshakenbake/

Our Thanksgiving



We were fortunate to have our family over for Thanksgiving, even though it gets pretty crowded. Hopefully no one minds. The fact that we are all able to gather is what is important. We have so much to be thankful for this year. As always, there was way too much food. Our menu for nine people (Jaren's parents brought his food) was:

10 pound turkey
5 pound ham
homemade rolls
Pioneer Woman's mash potatoes with cream cheese and half & half
gravy
green bean casserole
cornbread casserole
gourmet macaroni & cheese courtesy of Jeremy
cranberry relish
applesauce
pumpkin pie
chocolate cake

I might be forgetting some items. After dinner, several family members (the male members that is) crashed for naps.

We also went to Disney on Ice that evening. Grandma Okland, Julie, and Neena also went. David bought 8 tickets for their family and Grandma, Julie & Neena. Several hours later I purchased four tickets for Roger, Jeremy, Sarah, and Jaren and myself (actually Jaren didn't get a ticket--we smuggled him in). As luck would have it, we were right in front of the Okland tribe. What fun. The shocker of the night was when I went to purchase a bag of cotton candy and was told it was $10. I balked and didn't buy it. The reason it was $10 was because it had a souvenir crown. Roger ended up buying a bag so I could have the crown.

It was a great day.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Thanksgiving Traditions

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching,I got to thinking what, if any, Thanksgiving traditions we have. As I was thinking about this, I realized that although our traditions have remained somewhat constant, they have changed somewhat through the years as our children grew and started their own families.

The one tradition that has not changed through the years is watching Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Even when I was a child living at home, I would get up on Thanksgiving morning to watch this parade. Have I mentioned that I love a parade?

When the kids were younger, I would be baking a cake during the parade (my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner). Then around 12:30 we would head over to my mother's for dinner. After a few hours there we would head over to Roger's parents home for dinner.

Now that the kids have grown, I now cook Thanksgiving dinner. We always have Turkey for Thanksgiving. Sometimes I also will cook a ham. In addition, we always have mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, Jell-o with bananas, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. A couple years ago we added another dish to the meal--my cornbread casserole. Roger and David are really the only pumpkin pie eaters. Sarah might be, I don't know. We also almost always have cake for us non-pie eaters. Our dinner usually takes place between 1 and 2 p.m., followed by dozing off and on for everyone while watching TV.

Shabby Miss Jenn's Teacher Candy Bar Wrapper


The fantabulous Shabby Miss Jenn had this great teacher candy bar wrapper available for FREE! I have made one for each of my three school-age grandchildren to give to their teachers. What a great Christmas gift for a teacher--Chocolate! Thank you Jenna. I posted one as an example.

Friday, November 21, 2008

My addiction to Email

Blog Prompt from Digital Scrapbook Place: Can you survive without e-mail? How has it changed your life?

I've never been one for writing a letter and mailing it. Of course I never really had anyone to send a letter to since my family all lived within a short distance from me. There were of course a few short-term pen pals through the years and the four years my brother was in the Navy.

In the late 1980s we got our first computer and we used AOL. At that time it wasn't unlimited use--you had a small amount of time each month to be online so I got adept at working offline. I became interested in genealogy and my world started opening up with family far and wide and I lived to sign on each night and download my Email to read. There was not the spam at that time that there is now. I would check my Email at least once a day. The only time I didn't check it was when I was on vacation, which was not a problem.

As time went on, Email became a standard in the workforce. Until I learned to set a reminder to check my Email only twice a day and how to manage my Email, my work day centered around reading Email and responding. It became harder and harder to get any work done. Although I love Email, learning to manage your Email is very important so it doesn't rule your life.

Back to the original question, can I survive with Email? Yes, for a short period of time while on vacation if I don't have Internet connection, but I have come to look forward to my Emails to see what's new in my interest groups. I still check my Email too much. My personal Email is checked at least three times a day, but usually much more.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

If I could take tomorrow off of work, I'd...

pretend I was at The Chick Nest and sit at my computer and scrap to my heart's content. What could make it even better would be someone would fix my meals and clean up after too.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Saturday, November 15, 2008

For Carrie....



Isn't she so sweet? I'm still at my retreat at the The Chick Nest and have scanned some pictures from 1982 or 1983 and this is my first layout.

Been scrapping



Here's what I've been working on today.

Friday, November 14, 2008

I'm at The Chick Nest


I'm in Clear Lake at "The Chick Nest" at a scrapbook retreat. Was working on this layout last night and although I loved the papers and felt they fit in with my theme of High School Musical, they clashed with the red High School Musical in the pictures. Linda showed me how to add an adjustment layer to my papers...WOW...this made the trip completely worth it.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Shooting in RAW


I have been shooting my pictures in RAW lately. I love the control it gives me in cleaning up the not-so-great lighting pictures. Here are a couple pictures I took of the girls on Beggars night. The RAW photos were pretty dark. I used "100 Free Presets for Adobe Camera Raw" from photoshop guru, Jack Davis. Click here to get them for yourself.

Here's an example of the image straight out of the camera (SOOC) and then adjusted in RAW. The photo in the upper left hand corner is SOOC, the two square ones have had some presets applied to them,and the larger one in the bottom right-hand corner has a vintage look applied to it.

Thinking of warmer days...





The cold hit us on Thursday after a week of beautiful temperatures. I pulled out some summer photos to remember what it felt like to be warm. These pictures were taken on the West Terrace of the State Capitol when we were there to take some family pictures.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Yes we can!


Finally after almost two years leading up to it, the elections are over and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I feel he is what this country needs right now. He is positive, has some great ideas and is one fabulous speaker. I had the pleasure of seeing him at an event or two leading up to the Iowa caucuses.

I just ran across the following video on YouTube and think it is worth sharing. Unfortunately I have been unable to embed it here so I'll just give you the link:


Saturday, November 01, 2008


I tried updating my blog site last night and didn't mean to publish my changes. Hopefully I've got everything turned back before my edits last night.

Here is a layout from beggars night with my two Super Girls, my Batman, and Yoda and his parents.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Finished up Vacation Layouts -- Finally



Four months after returning from vacation, I finally finished up my vacation layouts.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Been MIA




I've kind of neglected this blog recently. I just finished up my Digital Photography Simplified class over at ScrapGirls taught by Mary Elizabeth. I really enjoyed this class and the weekly assignments. It has kept me pretty busy.

We tried (unsuccessfully) to celebrate the October birthdays--DIL Sarah's on the 17th, mine on the 19th, and SIL Davids on the 23rd. Sarah wasn't feeling well so the dinner to celebrate her birthday was cancelled. We were going to all go out to dinner on my birthday but Granddaughter #1 woke up sick so her and her mother, dad and sister and brother were unable to join us. It was just Grandpa, Grandson #2 and son and DIL that went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. The pictures of J and J with his parents were taken after lunch.

We then planned on another dinner outing to celebrate the birthdays birthday on the 24th and we were all able to attend except SIL.

For the fun of it I went out last Saturday for one last day of fall pictures before the winds hit on Sunday and blew all the leaves off the trees. I posted one of the pictures I took on Saturday.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Sarah Palin Son

Just saw this and had to share it.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Surprising New Presidential Nominee

I just became aware of a grassroot effort to elect an unknown person as President... and it turns out it's me! Watch this online video about my surprising nominee:

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=Efccjf&altl=Kpshfotpo

Jot back a note to let me know what you think!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Cherish


We spent the day at Howell Tree Farm today. The kids spent time playing in the corn crib, riding the tractors, climbing on the hay loft, feeding the goats, holding the rabbits, and going for a tractor ride. This is fall family tradition, and today was Jaren's first trip. The weather was beautiful, the mums gorgeous, and it was the busiest we've ever seen the place.

I created this layout tonight of a picture of our children and grandchildren. I used the October 2008 ScrapGirls club kit--Hearth, along with some other ScrapGirl supplies.

Headed out to Howell Tree Farm to spend the day


Today we are having a "family" day at Howell Tree Farm--one of our fall traditions. This will be Jaren's first visit. While waiting for time to go, I did this layout of Jaren with photos taken a couple weeks ago when he spent the