Harry & Miles

We had a lovely visit with my niece Tracy, her husband Henry, and their adorable boys Miles (age 4) and Harry (age 3). They were here from Chicago for a family wedding, and they stayed with us for a couple of days. We really enjoyed the boys.. I chased them around with my camera, but the elusive Miles, wouldn't crack a smile for me. The best picture of him I got was the one on the right of my layout, where he was running, unaware of my clicking shutter. In a couple of the photos Miles was picking some dandelions for his Great Grandma. Tracy and I stayed up late a couple of nights, laughing at some of our favorite websites, and enjoying family gossip and stories. I don't get to see her very often, but we have such a great time together when we do see each other.


(pictured: My Mom, Tracy, Miles, Harry & Henry)

In other news, I got a new hairstyle on Saturday... it's funny, I wore my hair about this length for many years in the 80s, so this is the way I see myself in my mind. When I looked in the mirror after the big cut, it was like seeing my old self again. It's a wee bit short, but I'm really liking having it out of my face and off my neck.

Fun With Funky Fotos!

Just what you've been waiting for, another episode in the creative series, "What I Do When I Have Time on My Hands and I Feel Like Being Arty". (See Episode 1 here, and Episode 2 here) Actually, I'm already breaking my own rules: my original guideline was that I was only going to work with crummy or out of focus or faded or damaged, or otherwise below average photos. My new layout has one spectacular photo, which I have made crummy, out of focus, faded, damaged, and below average. (The large wedding photo of my Grandparents). The others pretty much met my low expectations.

Anyway, this is the story of the early years of my maternal Grandparents marriage... and a few photos of the years between 1909 and the mid-1920s. The background image is the 1920 census from Twin Falls, Idaho. Their information is on the very bottom.. as if it's visible! All damage by me.

The Rocking Chairs

The last day we were in Utah on our family reunion vacation, many of us gathered at the Parry Lodge in Kanab, to have breakfast (some of the lucky group got to stay there), and reconnoiter for the caravan to the Grand Canyon. Pretty white rocking chairs lined the porch area, and so, we took advantage of that age-old pastime... we rocked out. Photos of folks rocking in rocking chairs don't exactly set the world on fire, but I was kinda fond of these, and wanted to find a way to scrap them. So this is what I did:



To make the large rocking chair image, I simply enlarged one of the rocking chairs from the background photo, and created an overlay 'cut out' shape. Voila! Big honking rocking chair!

By the way, the photos are of: sister Lynne & Mom, Bruce & me, Harry & sister Leslie

The Pool

Ok, I think I'm getting a little obsessed here... I enjoyed the last layout so much... doing something more artsy than my usual, that I decided perhaps I would like doing a whole series of off-kilter (get it?) layouts, based on really bad old photos. I have tons of them! This one uses a series of photos taken when I was three years old, the summer we moved from Oregon to California. My folks got me a wading pool, which we set up in our backyard in Vale. My siblings and their friends hung out nearby watching me, (I was the much younger, spoiled little sister) and I mugged for the camera. I mentioned in my layout that we took the pool with us, which of course, I know because the next summer, they took more photos of me in said pool. What a detective I am!

Off-Kilter

Something a little different for me, but I was inspired by a recent edition of Layers Magazine (May/June 2010), and their featured graphic artist Clare Nicholas. I thought her art was fantastic! So, for a journaling challenge on 2Ps, I created this layout to share some of my feelings about my family photos, and the family history that I love. I think I might have to do this again sometime soon, it was really fun to try a new style, and get into my artistic side a little bit more.


Art by Clare Nicholas

Views of Texas

There really is no end of our 2010 vacation photos... since we've taken two wonderful vacations so far this summer! I wanted to scrap a few random photos we took on our July Texas vacation. These photos were taken in some of the small towns near San Antonio & San Marcos.
I also love experimenting with dimension & texture, and it was fun to create a little 'fool the eye' effects with layering and shadowing. Lately, I've been doing a lot of my designing in my head long before opening a blank Photoshop file. I've learned to love my long daily commute, not just for the pretty scenery I get to enjoy, but for the solitude & planning I do. I turn off the radio when I can't stand the babbling any more, and just think and plan. This layout, and the previous one, were results of some personal brainstorm time. Since I have so little time of my own any more, this serves me well, and gives me a bit more focus when I begin my creative projects.

Flower Crazy

I don't know what's wrong with me. I keep entering contests, hoping against hope that perhaps this one time I'll, you know, win.

(I don't want anyone to know I actually want to win. That might jinx me or something).

So this past weekend, I created this layout for a contest about flowers. It seemed right up my alley, since I must have several thousand photos of flowers in my iPhoto library. Ridiculous numbers of flowers. Even a few really bad & out-of-focus flowers that I need to delete, but just haven't gotten around to. But there are a few good ones. Now, these flower photos would make a professional squirm. They are not professional. But some of them are decent. So, in the spirit of the theme: Wild About Flowers, I created a layout about how the flowers just come spilling out of my camera, (or perhaps it's spilling into my camera) and pile up in the air, and then fly away. Totally symbolic of something, but I'm not sure exactly what. My goal is often to create a sense of space and three dimensions in my layouts, so you'll have to tell me if I achieved any sort of depth to my little scene.

And it's true, I am a little Flower Crazy.

Life In Malibu

Driving through Malibu every day gives me a perspective on how many people live their lives. Three words: Not Like Me.
I enjoy my time in Malibu, and don't feel a bit envious of the beachy-rich lifestyle. I did pause the other day, though, when I came to the Malibu Pier and saw the oddest vessel out on the ocean. At first I thought it was a futuristic submarine. Then I thought it was some sort of movie set, then finally, I realized it was a yacht. I mean, this was totally beyond my comprehension. I've seen yachts before, but this was like no other yacht I've ever seen. It must have been unusual even by Malibu standards, because everyone was taking pictures, and even the news trucks were there with their camera crews. The yacht was there for a couple of days, and although I didn't have my good camera with the telephoto lens with me, I did grab a picture or two with my little point & shoot. I'll include a link here so you can read about exactly who owns it, and why it was hanging out by the Malibu Pier.

One!

The Perfect Grandbaby just turned one... hard to believe it's been a year! The Cute Little Couple Alec & Alicia may have moved out of state, but we have been fortunate to have seen them many times since their departure in February. But a visit every month or so just isn't quite enough for all of Jackson's loving grandparents! A & A brought Baby Jack down last weekend for the Big One.... and it was indeed a Big One! Spoiled shamelessly by friends and family alike, it was a wonderful celebration of Cuteness and Photo Ops. It looked like the paparazzi had arrived at a Jonas Brothers concert when The Yearling dug into his birthday cake. I'm not sure what was going through his head, but it might have been something like this:

The Beautiful Grand Canyon

I'm not sure how I missed this Wonder of the World not more than a few hundred miles from my font door... I knew that visiting the Grand Canyon was definitely on the 'must see' list for the future... but somehow I just hadn't made the effort to go. It took 32 of us in a seven-car caravan to finally drag me there. All I can say is, 'WOW'! So glad we made the trip. This was the last thing we did with the family on last week's magical trip to Utah, and it was a fantastic way to end our vacation. My brother Gene, geologist extaordinaire, was in his element. I, the amateur photographer, was in mine. Here's a double-double. Click on the images to see a closer view.

A Wonderful, Fabulous, Very-Good Day!

Yesterday was quite a special day...both of our girls have been home this week after vacationing with us last week for our family reunion. It worked out perfectly for Amy, because last night was her Moorpark High School Ten Year Reunion. It's so hard to believe that she graduated ten years ago! More on that in a few minutes. The big event yesterday, was the celebration of Jackson's First Birthday. Although the actual date was Thursday, Alec & Alicia wanted to celebrate with the entire family in California, so after the reunion last weekend, they went home to Draper, Utah, then caught a flight back to Southern California on Thursday, in preparation for the Big Party Saturday afternoon. The event was delightful... spoiled rotten (duh), lots of amazing gifts, lots of family, friends and food, the li'l guy was feted in style. I just wanted to post a couple of photos of the Guest of Honor, layout to come soon.

This is the little card I designed for Jackson. Everything drawn by me.


















Amy had a wonderful time at her reunion last night. Man, I wished I'd looked like that at my ten-year reunion- I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, and as big as a house. My ankles were so swollen that...oh, forgot. This isn't about me, it's about Amy!!! Anyway, she looked gorgeous. She just glowed, and everyone there noticed that Amy's beautiful smile (which won her the coveted "Best Smile" in her Senior Poll) was still as bright and genuine as ever. She had a wonderful time, reconnecting with many of her friends and acquaintances. She's gone again, we took her to the airport after church today, and she's back home in Salt Lake tonight. I miss her already.

More Vacation photos!

I'd call this post Utah! but I think I already used that one up.....These are just a few more lovely photos of the amazing skies, horizons, and mountains of Southern Utah. (If you noticed that one of the photos was taken at the Grand Canyon in Arizona, you have good eyes!) The big photo was taken from a moving car at about 70 mph. Thought it turned well.

The Great Toy Giveaway

(See, I didn't even put Utah in the title!)

One of the fun things I did at our family reunion, was to give each one of my grandnieces and nephews a special toy from my company, Spin Master. There were 5 girls and 4 boys plus my sweet little grandson Jackson. Each girl got a Liv doll, and a playset (designed by me), and the boys got a variety of toys- from the Preschool Pop On Pals to Bakugan to Tech Deck to the Last Airbender. The evening I gave them out, was so much fun- the kids were so sweet and appreciative. No fighting, no whining, no tears... they all hugged me and thanked me, and then they settled down to put their toys together (with a little help from the Moms). They played the rest of the vacation with those toys, and I heard from a parent or two, that those toys saved a little grown-up sanity. It really put my job in a different light. We often get so caught up in the small moments of our work, that we fail to see the big picture. To see how much the children loved the toys that I helped design, was so rewarding and sweet. I really do have one of the greatest jobs in the world!

More Utah!

I think you're going to see several more Utah layouts, I'm just warning you. Monday the 'kids' in our family group (the under-40 set) went to Zion Canyon for a fun day of hiking & swimming. We old folks drove up to Bryce Canyon for a more quiet day of sedate sightseeing. Bryce Canyon is spectacular, and well worth the hour drive through gorgeous mountains, canyons & meadows. My brother Gene gave us the abbreviated version of the several million years of geological history, and we tried to imagine what this place must have looked like when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Or perhaps dinosaurs roamed the earth before Bryce was created. I forget. But I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. Bryce Canyon is truly one of the wonders of the world.

Utah!

Click on the photo for a closer view!

Our family is in Utah for a family reunion. Joining us in Kanab/ Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, are my brother Gene, sister Leslie, sister Lynne, my Mom, and most of our families.- spouses, children and grandchildren. There are about 35 of us ranging in age from 1 to 98. We arrived in Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon, and we've had such a fabulous time each day! We've spent hours eating, visiting, playing games, hiking, visiting, riding bikes (not me!), taking pictures (me!) climbing sand dunes, visiting, sightseeing, and more eating! So far, I've taken nearly 900 photos. I'm sorry, but there will never be any end to the layouts I might have to do...
Tonight, our last night here, we had a family banquet. I put together a slide show of some of the best shots of different family members, my brother created a wonderful PowerPoint tribute to my Dad, who passed away in 2002. It was full of wonderful photos & some of my Dad's funniest & quirkiest expressions. I also showed my slide show of our old family photos which I have been scanning for weeks. (See here here here & here!) We also had a special celebration for Jackson's first birthday, which is coming up this Thursday!
Today we went to Bryce National Park (the old folks), while the young folks went to Zion. Tomorrow we're all going to the Grand Canyon. Amazingly, neither Bruce nor I have been to the Grand Canyon, even though it's not all that far from California. I can't wait! But then afterward, we will be heading back home, and back to work, and normal everyday life.
This is my first layout of the vacation, I'll bet you can't wait for the rest! LOL!