Another Digital Scrapbook page!

I grabbed a photo of my cute little great niece last night, and scrapped a page for it. It didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, but it takes me forever to figure out how to do a page anymore, so when I saw I was running out of time to work, I gave up trying to figure out what else I could put on the page...plus I'm not real good at clusters, so...the page isn't as interesting as it could be, but it's got her cute little chubby cheeks on there so it will do! LOL

Kit Credit: Baby Girl Heartstrings Kit, Template curled and folded #1 &Alpha pack 1.

I recolored the Alpha on this page by clipping a colored layer to the Alpha.  I think that is the BIGGEST reason I'd miss ps if it decides it doesn't want to work for me.  It is still showing thumbnails in the mini bridge...so that's a biggie.  It seemed to hang now and then last night, when I was working but not so much it slowed me down LOTS, so...I'm still on the fence as to if it's going to work, but leaning towards the good side of it working.  LOL

This little sweetheart will be a year old at the end of the month!  My how time seems to fly!  It's hard to believe in some respects, but...then it was hard to believe her Mom was old enough to HAVE her, so...what can I say.  *giggle*

Anyway, gotta get off here...have things to do, that won't get done if I continue sitting here yacking with my fingers!  Hope everyone has a great weekend, stay safe out there if you have bad weather in your neck of the woods, we are just on the northern edge of the expected snow line here, and for that we are thankful!  Don't need to much bad weather, I worry about my niece having to travel so far in it to get to work and back (not that I know if she has to work today or this weekend, since we don't get to chat much)...not to mention us having to get out if the need arises, so I if I had any say in the mater I would prefer some snow, but not ice...or not so much snow we get snowed in!  LOL

I'm also hoping it really does warm up to above freezing like they say it should on Monday!  Gotta cow to butcher if all goes well since we didn't get it done this week!  ;-))

Attention Digital Scrapbookers!

For all of you Digital Scrapbookers out there, we are starting a new year of digital scrapbooking challenges on the Blush ~n~ Dusty yahoo group now, so if you are interested come join us! We got a late start, but it's good to take time off from challenges now and then, so that's ok.

Because the group owners are wanting to push publishing your Layouts into books for posterity, they are giving the designer of the winning layout $10.00 so hurry in to the Blush ~n~ Dusty group and find out how to join us!

You have till the end of February to get this first layout in before we do our first poll. :)

Counting my Blessings

It's Thanksgiving here in the U.S. and we already stuffed ourselves with our favorite Thanksgiving dinner. We have lots of leftovers to tide us over the rest of the long weekend too...I'm going to enjoy not spending so much time in the kitchen!! :-))

Hubby is out messing with his old tractors with a friend, so I came and finished working on a couple of digital scrapbooking layouts I started yesterday. Yes...I FINALLY managed to scrap a couple pages! I'm totally impressed, aren't you?!! *giggle*

Guess I had to do my Thanksgiving scrap...even if that's almost all I manage for the year. :)

I did a two page layout this year...the first page showing my hubby who is the #1 thing I'm thankful for this year. I'm thankful he is feeling better since his back surgery, and able to walk around without his stick a lot of the time. I'm also thankful he has less pain to deal with, even if he does have a ways to go before he is fully recovered.


The 2nd page I showed some of my blessings, since I always like to think about the things God has blessed me with on Thanksgiving...although I do that a lot, not JUST on Thanksgiving. :)

I really am blessed, with my hubby, my parents, our fur babies, our home & our cows...and there are many other blessings...but I ran out of room on my page for them this year. LOL

Kit Credit: Unicorn & Fairy Kit by Blushbutter

Today is really nice, or least it would be if it wasn't so windy. It's over 70 out there, but the wind makes it kinda not so fun to be outside. Gotta love these warm days, when we could be freezing cold! :) So instead of going for a walk to enjoy a warm Thanksgiving, I'm going to go churn my butter and read or whatever takes my fancy, for what is left of this Thanksgiving day.

I do hope everyone is having a wonderful day!! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Edited to add this video...LOVE this song, cause I Thank God for my hubby everyday, and especially on Thanksgiving. :)

Cookbook Section Pages

I don't know why, but the pages I want at the beginning of each section in my cookbook has really been giving me fits. LOL I was able to come up with something finally today but we will see if I end up changing them over the next year.

Anyway, Blushbutter was able to get her part of "Deb's Kitchen" in the store now, and it's fabulous!!! She has a bunch of food items in it, which will work great...that is if I were better at scrapping lately, than I am. LOL I just wish my kitchen was half as nice as the "kitchen" the kit portrays is. I think it will be so fun playing with this kit...if I can just get my brain back in scrapping mode. It's been on vacation for a long time now, so my pages end up either being tossed together, or being the same as the last...just cause I can't think of cool changes. *sigh*


Case in point, these are my first two section pages...yep, they look the same, except for minor changes. They aren't even what I had envisioned to begin with, but that vision didn't go from my head to my computer to well. Ok, I didn't have a clear vision...just a thought that didn't fully form, or translate to my page on the computer. I have trouble like that lately it seems. To much going on, so my brain doesn't fully switch to designing a page like I'd like it to I guess.

I left the red on the right side of the beverage page, cause it's going to be right next to a Snack page, so didn't want the color changing in the crease of the book...so will just change the outside color on the section pages.

I am wondering if I should just do that little line of blue (or whatever other color they end up being) and leave the red the same throughout...or if the red should be blue (or other color) the same as the outside, once we get to the recipe pages for that section. Have I lost you? I think I did me! Ummm...hmmmm...can't think how to actually explain what I'm talking about either. Sorry! *giggle*

Have I mentioned I think my brain is on vacation lately?

Anyway, these two layouts contain papers and elements from Blushbutter & Dustybear's kits called Deb's Kitchen! They are two kits that will make a fabulous cookbook, if you are wanting to make one. I'm sure you can do way better than I am! LOL They even have a couple free mini kits to go with the big ones...and don't forget the recipe exchange we are having throughout 2011 in their Blush ~n~ Dusty Yahoo Group! :)

Hopefully I can get back to scrapping last years photos soon...I was hoping to be further along by now, but I tend to scrap a little then take a long break, then scrap a little...and that just doesn't seem to get the photos all scrapped. LOL To darn much I want to get done this month...it's so hard to believe it's already February!

Ok, gotta run, supper is in the oven, and I need to finish it. Hope nobody is buried to deep in snow! :)

Scrapping & Knitting

With winter hitting with a vengeance this week, it seemed a good time to get some scrapping done. However, that's still easier said than done, as it seems I keep busy doing other things. LOL

I know I said I was going to just let Blurb slurp up my yearly photos and do a quick and easy book, instead of scrapping them...however that proved to be easier said than done. Reading about it, it sounded easy...actually getting in there and doing it...well not so much.

I did try it, but...it seemed like it would still take a LOT of work on my part, so figured it would just be easier (since I know what I'm doing in PS) to make a background I could live with and then drop the photos on them and add text. So that's what I've been doing...although still haven't gotten real far, but hopefully I can get 2010 photos done this winter, and get caught up with this years photos at the very least...we will see how well that goes. LOL I still have a ton of 2009 photos to do too, so need to get busy.

Anyway, these two LO's show what I came up with for my 2010 photos that haven't already been scrapped. I used all Blushbutter products, but at this moment in time I'd have to go searching for just exactly WHAT kits got used so I'm just going to link to Blushbutter's store for now. Sorry! LOL If you have a question about something in particular feel free to ask, and I can try to update the post later if need be. I've got to get busy on other things as I'm running late today. :)

I thought the butterflies were so pretty...especially when, looking out my window, there is snow on the ground and cold temps. *sigh* I'm sure looking forward to butterfly season again. :)

I also wanted to share the fact that I've finally finished my first dishrag. It's actually almost big enough for two I think, I made it to long (it's doubled over in the photo), so didn't make it square as it would be way to big for my hands to squeeze out the water. LOL I have another one started only didn't cast on so many stitches...so maybe if I have time to work on it, I can get it finished sooner than this one...although won't count on it, as I haven't been sitting down to knit much either.

I've gotten faster at knitting...but not real fast. LOL The nice thing about it is if I have just a little bit of time to knit I can sit and do a little bit, without having to try to figure out where I am in a pattern...since I'm just doing the one stitch for my simple dish cloths.

I'm just still so thrilled that I got my brain wrapped around knitting finally...after 20-30 years of trying. Yes I'm slow. *giggle* Ok, well I can't say I tried ALL those 20-30 years, but I did try several times in the last 20-30 years.

Why do I keep finding "hobbies" that I want to do, I don't have time to do the ones I've been doing for years, let alone new ones. *sigh* I seriously need help I think! *giggle*

Ok, gotta run, hope everyones week is going ok. My prayers go out to the people around Brisbane Australia, I've been hearing (and seeing) all about the flooding and do hope it goes down soon. I know a few friends who read my blog live around there or have family there. Stay Safe!

Cookbook pages

I worked on my first recipe pages over this last weekend. I had so much fun with them and since I'm wanting to put the name of the person I got the recipe from on the pages (myself if I got the idea from somewhere and changed them to fit our life) I put a little tab on them for that purpose. Since not all of the dishes will have my name on them, I put a little photo of Peaches in the background kinda as a "signature" so if I use the page in the exchange people may still know where it came from...since I'm doxie on a lot of forums. LOL

I just really love how it turned out, that pose of Peaches is perfect for the shape of the tab...it's so cute! So did any of you think my cookbook was going to be doxie free? If so it was a silly SILLY thought! *giggle*

I shouldn't share these till Blushbutter gets her kit finished and in the store...but I just love them so much I have to share them now! LOL

These are the first two pages I'm making for my cookbook, and will be this months pages for the recipe exchange on the Blush~n~Dusty Yahoo Group. Sorry, I blurred out the recipe's cause of the exchange...if you want them feel free to join us and create a couple pages to share with us...and you will get all that people make this month. :)

Kit Credit: Deb's Kitchen (both full and mini kits) by Blushbutter & Dustybear. I am in love with these kits...I think they are going to make this recipe book extra special!! :) The curly shapes I put on the papers are made with Wool Sweater Streets Die Cuts & Card stock Layer Styles. Since it was a CU shape that will be merged into the page, I can use it in the exchange.


What I'm planning so far, since I can't seem to make lots of pages lately, is to basically use this layout on all the recipe pages, changing the red paper to other papers in the kit for each section. This way I can make it easy to see where each section ends as I flip through the book once it's done.

The wider red strip will be in the binding, I wanted it wider so I could still do a spiral book if I decide to. I would love to, but am afraid they wouldn't hold up real well...but I have a year to decide. That's why I made it so it would work for either version anyway. (I don't know for sure, but I seem to remember reading if you do a spiral book, the binding area needs a little extra room in it) If any of you have done a spiral bound book before, I'd love to hear how you liked it, and how you think it will hold up!! I know mypictales has a 8x8 one...or I can do the regular 8x8 custom hardbound book....just have to make up my mind over the next several months, not sure if anyone else makes them.

Maybe if we win a small fortune I could try both versions of the book out and have an extra one! *snicker* Yeah right...I know...in my dreams.

Now I need to get busy and work on a category page...cause I want a page telling what category the next pages are going to be for...so hopefully I can get to that before time disappears and the month runs away from me. LOL I actually need to get a little ahead and do next months category page too...since I'm going to give them to everyone who participates in the exchange too...least I'm hoping to have them done so I can. :)

I was going to try to do all this last month, and as you can see I didn't get around to it, so hopefully this month doesn't end up leaving me behind again.

Better run, have several things I need to get done today...and it's already afternoon. Hope everyone is having a great week, ours has been busy so far...but still no calf! Guess we aren't to good at reading the "signs"...or she is good at tricking us. LOL

I Scrapped!

I finally had to sit down tonight and throw a couple pages together...I just couldn't stand it anymore.

It's been far to long since I was able to scrap, with everything that's been going on here and trying to work on apples. I just got a hankering this evening to scrap...so I did, even if they did end up being rather simple I had FUN!! Yippee!! :)

The photos were some I took of our niece when she visited us this summer.

Kit Credit for both LO's: Roses in Bloom by Blushbutter. The frame on the 2nd LO is from the Digital Frame Pack by Blushbutter, I just overlayed a paper over it, so it wasn't white.

Today wasn't a apple day, I just had to much I was still trying to get done to get to work on them...I didn't finish with catch up over the weekend...so I had to do more today. LOL NOT that I'm totally caught up, but least I got some bread baked (we were almost totally OUT) and a few other things done, so maybe tomorrow I can do some more with the apples.

I have managed to put some of the apple sauce away, and come to the conclusion that I can't do to many more quarts, cause I won't have any room for them. LOL Guess I won't be able to get a couple years worth of apple sauce made...so if the apples don't do anything next year, like seems to be the pattern, I guess I'll be out of luck...maybe we won't eat all that I've made in the next year, but...if we do, we will either have to find some other apples next year, or...find something else to eat. LOL God will provide...he always has.

I really should make Cheese tomorrow...but I may just have DH use the milk for plants/trees or hayfield, cause I need to finish up on the apple sauce...and start some drying in my dehydrator. I wish I had been doing that all along, but my brain wasn't working right, so I forgot about doing that. A friend reminded me this weekend...so I'll at least be able to do that till the apples all fall from the tree. I think we can find room for dried apples. LOL

Well I better run, it's getting late, so I need to post my LO's around and get to bed! Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Accident

One of my favorite Aunts (great-aunt actually) is having a birthday party in September, so I have been wanting to make a LO to send to her, in case we can't make it down to the party. (We want to, but...are not sure yet if we can or not.) So when I saw this new kit of Blushbutter's I just HAD to use it for the layout. I made it 8.5X11, because I'm going to print it out and mail it to her...and didn't want to try to cut the white edges off if I made it my new standard size of 8X8.

Kit Credit: Roses in Bloom by Blushbutter. The background is actually two of the papers blended together.

I e-mailed a cousin to get a better photo of her, because the one I took a couple years ago just wasn't all that good. Thankfully she came through for me, and got me this one which I think is so much better than the one I had. I blended the photo into the background, and then copied the photo layer, so I could turn one into a black and white, and see if I liked it better...and turned the color layer off while I did so.

I actually put a tan tint to the black and white photo, and then was toggling back and forth between the tan print and the color one, trying to decide which I preferred. I didn't think the shirt color was really going to work with the LO, although I did really LIKE the color, so figured I would HAVE to go with the black and white print, when I accidentally turned on the color layer, while the black and white one was still on...and it showed me what I should do instead! Having the black and white layer on top of the color one, muted the pretty almost turquoise color into a darker blue that worked with the colors on the page. It also popped off the page a little better than the black and white did...so after asking DH his opinion, I had to go with this...both layers being turned on at the same time.

I love happy accidents like this...and really after this long with digital scrapbooking, I should have thought of trying both layers on at the same time, but I just don't seem to think of things like that usually. LOL

Anyway, I just had to share my happy accident, cause I love it when they happen! Hope everyone is staying cool enough...it's so HOT here, actually it's the humidity that's making it seem so hot, the temps haven't gotten up into the 100's yet this week...but it sure feels like it is, because it's so humid. We lost a goat because of the heat, she was one of the first ones we had born here on our farm...only one of those original ones left...and that one is living on borrowed time, cause it's almost apple season again, and it seems like every year at this time she starts getting out of the pasture and hanging around under the apple tree...cause she LOVES her apples. We will see if we get mad enough to take her to the sale barn this year...we threatened to last year. *giggle*

I got the beets done, thankfully we don't eat LOTS of them, cause if I had to can tons of them I'd run out of patience I think. They are a lot of work, even though once you cook them the skins come off easy, it's a pain to get them all off. DH helped me for a little while, cause lunch was cooking, and he felt sorry for me I guess. LOL

I think Apples may be next...some in the freezer for pie, and then I plan on making apple sauce with the rest...or well probably not all of the rest (cause the tree is loaded), just depends on how long it takes me to get REALLY tired of making apple sauce. It's not hard since I have that handy gadget my Mom bought me that mashes them and gets rid of the seeds and skin once they are cooked, but there is only so much cutting up of apples my hands can do, and I have to quarter them anyway, to cook them...and get the spots out of course if there are any.

We haven't finished the apple sauce I made last year yet, but it's only been lately that we were eating it routinely. Before it was only here and there...so even though we still have some left, I would really like to get more this year, than I did last year...as I think we will be eating it more this year...and if not, then I guess I'll have a bunch left next year, and won't have to make any. LOL

Anyway, better get off here, it's been a busy day and tomorrow looks like it will be another one...so I really need to get to bed before to late, cause I'm tired. Hope your week is going good. :)

It's cooler again.

I wanted a little color for these two layouts, cause of the photos being so brown...I'm just hoping the color isn't to distracting. LOL Plus I was in a hurry today, wanted to get a couple LO's done, but...didn't have time to fiddle like usual. As it is, I'm kinda running behind. So remembering that Blushbutter had a cluster pack in her store, and figuring it would add the color I needed, I grabbed it, and this is what I came up with...I left the clusters big, and let them hang off the pages for the most part, so I just had a boarder. Simple, yet it doesn't look like a simple page...and the best part is the cool clusters aren't real expensive! :)

The photos are of our puppies of course, from last month.

Kit Credit: Oranges & Lemons kit & Faery Kisses clusters with frame from digi frame pack ALL by Blushbutter.

We got some rain finally!! I sure thought it was going to keep going around us, but yesterday afternoon it finally built back up and hit us. Not sure how much we got, but it rained softly into the night, so I'm sure it's enough for now. Things are really looking green now, the trees are greening up, and we have blooms on the apple tree now too. It is cooler today, since the rain moved through, but that's ok, I like wearing a jacket, cause that means it's not TOO hot...or so cold as to need a coat. LOL The wind makes it a little chilly, but it's still a beautiful day out there!

I gotta run, as I have several things I need to do today. Will have to post these around to the galleries later on, once I get other things done. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Last years Cherry Blossoms

I played with one of Blushbutters new kits today and scrapped a couple photos I took last year of our neighbor's cherry blooms. I was going to use more of the photos, but...I put the photo on the 2nd LO, and liked it big like that...so just went with that. I love trying to get photos of the bees on the fruit trees...will have to try again this year I'm sure. LOL One of these days I'll managed to get one in flight that I like....but those are hard to get that aren't blurred, least for me.

Kit Credit: Oranges & Lemons kit by Blushbutter

Hopefully today goes better than yesterday did, I didn't get a lot done for some reason, and what I did try to do I messed up....I hate days like that. I have several things I really need to do today, but we will see if I manage them or not, I am tired today, cause I also couldn't get to sleep last night till late. :(

Oh well, least I am off to the right start today, with getting a couple LO's finished! They made me feel a little better too, course playing with kits in ps usually does...unless I just can't get inspired.

Hope everyone's week is going well, we are suppose to get some rain today...kinda hoping we do get some, but the line that was headed our way overnight has broken up...maybe some more will develop this afternoon. Better get off here and see if I can get anything done. Have a great day!

I have a serious problem...

...as you can see, I can't get away from the same kinda layout. Although I did use different colors for the background, I did the same thing I did with them yesterday, plus they are really simple layouts. Yep, I have a problem alright....I have no imagination left!! *giggle*

Oh well, what can I say...least I got a couple more pages done, even if they aren't COOL, my niece makes them cool, so I guess that works. LOL Go buy the kit from Blushbutter and show me how it's really done, cause it really is a pretty kit! :)

Both of these layouts show my niece with her new puppy (and her other dogs) when we stopped by for a quick visit last fall. Her puppy is SOOO cute, but then I'm sure you know how much I love doxie's. :)

Kit Credit for both: Favorite Color kit by Blushbutter.

I really need to get caught back up on this years photos, but in looking through my photos I decided I wanted to use these with this kit....and really can't complain, since I'm getting some of last years scrapped to. After all I have a ton that need done from last year yet. If I could continue to do a couple layouts a day, I'd have a better chance of catching up, but I tend to have long periods of not doing any lately...so who knows if it will ever happen. I still have other projects I would like to work on too, (wedding album and heritage album) however until I get caught up on my yearly books, I don't really want to start on them. *sigh* Wonder if that will ever happen. LOL

Even if I am behind on my scrapping, I think we are so blessed! Yesterday DH talked to ANOTHER neighbor (if you can call a guy a neighbor who lives several miles away) and he still has some hay left, and was willing to sell us a big bale of it for cheap (even cheaper than the last one) AND he delivered it directly to the hay ring! So now we should for sure be set, till the grass really starts growing good, cause it's really greened up the last few days, which means it's going to be growing too. We have plans for extra hay next winter (if all goes well), now that we have cows...but since we just got them last fall, we didn't have time to plan to well, plus with the winter being worse than usual, that didn't help. Praise God for GOOD Neighbors, they help make up for the not so good ones! :)

Well better run, got some more baking to do, those cheese crackers are gone...guess they were to good, and DH wants more of them. LOL Gotta make one or two other things too. Hope everyones week is going good! It's kinda cool and rainy here today, a good day to be in a nice cozy kitchen I guess. :)

Challenge LO plus

This month's challenge on Blush ~n~ Dusty is to scrap your favorite color, so this first layout is one I did for that. I used the challenge kit provided by Blushbutter. The second layout is to go beside the first one in my 2009 book, and shows some double lilacs I took photos of at the neighbor's house last year. I LOVE lilacs, but haven't ever seen any like this (that I remember) till last year.

Kit Credit for both LO's: Favorite Color Mini kit and on the 2nd LO I added a frame from the Favorite Color (main) kit by Blushbutter. I would have used the frame like this, that was in the mini kit, but it wasn't working for these photos, because the cool creases were distracting to much...which is why I switched to the frame from the main kit.

I love this new kit of Blushbutters, I'm behind now, in using her kits...because there is another one she put out a week or two ago, that I still have to use. Better get to hopping! LOL Hopefully later today, or tomorrow I can do more with the main favorite color kit, and then maybe get the other kit downloaded, so I can play with it to.

I also finally got to order the soap molds I've been wanting to get today!! I've been waiting for them to get back in stock for over a month, and the date kept changing...but finally today they came in. I got them ordered as soon as I saw the e-mail come in, so maybe....one of these days soon....I'll be able to make my first soap! Yippee!! LOL I do have a few other molds, but needed a loaf mold as they hold more than the single bar molds I have now. Now I just have to get time to go down to a friends house and see how she makes soap...then maybe I can get some made. If it doesn't work out so we can go, I guess I'll have to stumble through on my own, but I'd really like to see it done first...we will see if we can get together on our times available. :)

Well better run for now, have some things to do around the house, but wanted to be sure and get a couple LO's scrapped before I got started...since I've been so bad about getting any done lately. LOL Guess I've gotten to many interests in the past year or so, and am finding it hard to do them all. LOL While "cooking" isn't my major love, I really have enjoyed making cheese and butter, guess it's different and not a "meal" which is what I'm not fond of having to put together. So anyway, better get at it...got some cleaning to do to, much to my dismay. LOL

Simple LO's

I'm not sure where the time has gone in the past couple weeks, I really thought I'd get back to scrapping before now, but...not sure why but I kept busy doing little things and didn't get around to it. Almost had to MAKE myself sit down and open ps today. LOL It's not that I don't want to scrap, but if I don't get some done in the morning when I'm fresher, I just can't do it later in the day for some reason (usually)...and it's hard to always find time to, in the morning. I really wish I could get in the mood to scrap in the afternoon or evening if I have time. LOL


Anyway I did manage to toss a couple simple LO's together this morning, even though I could have been doing other things...but that will probably never change, so I left them for later and finally opened PS. The first LO is of the black eyed Susan's that I enjoy seeing in the summer. The 2nd one is of Tractor Buddy.

Kit Credit: Communion Kit by Blushbutter

Nothing major going on this week, DH went and bought a sheep at the sheep & goat auction on Monday...not for us though. LOL It's for my parents, as they only got one deer last year, so are running out of extra meat already, and the sheep was cheep cause it limps...so it will be a cheep source of meat for them, once we manage to get it over to them...one of these days.

I've been trying to make clabbored milk this winter, and not having any luck. It's enough to make me scream, can't figure out why it doesn't want to clabbor for me. I would really like to use it to make cheese, as there are several recipes I'd like to try, but till I get THAT, I can't make them (although right now I'd be hard pressed to make much because of the amount of milk we are getting). I finally broke down and bought some cultured buttermilk yesterday, and will try to use it to get some started...granted it will be cultured buttermilk, not clabbored milk, but it may be close enough to work. That is of course if I can manage to get it going with the store bought junk. I'm not sure if it's the temperature of the house that is making it not work, (we do keep it kinda cool in here) or what. I will try some once it really warms up if we still have milk this summer...but won't hold my breath. LOL

We heard about a new item that cows like, that may help fatten them up (which may even help milk production, least I'm hoping) so we bought some yesterday to try it. It's Beet Pulp (think that's what it's called) so hopefully we can get Mabel to giving us more milk and get a little more meat on her bones. She was a little on the skinny side when we got her I thought, but this long winter hasn't helped her any, thankfully it is about over...we think. :)

I'm about ready to go guinea hunting! One of the ones my Dad gave us last year escaped it's pen a while back, and now that the snow is gone and it's a little warmer, it's coming closer to the house (since it goes further afield) which lets me hear it better, even with the windows closed. I really hate hearing them, which is why they were in a pen to begin with, to keep them away from the house and available to be grabbed and butchered when we wanted a meal out of them...we just never got around to eating them all. LOL I'm about ready to grab a gun and go looking for it myself...just so I don't have to hear it anymore. I don't mind hearing the chickens...but guinea's are totally annoying to me, probably cause they like to keep up their "racket" for way longer than a chicken does.

Where is the sun? Except for a few brief moments we haven't seen it for over a week. I've so ready for a day FULL of sunshine! LOL I got a new cushion for the double lounge chair finally, so we can use it again this year...but it's no fun without the sun, especially when it's a little nippy out still. Looking forward to trying it out when spring finally gets here though! :) It is suppose to be really nice tomorrow here, and may actually see the sun, but then it's suppose to get cooler again, and rain and maybe even snow. Maybe next week will be back to nicer weather, with more sun...maybe.

Well better go, gotta do more of those "little things" that seem to take up lots of time lately. LOL Hope everyone is having a good week, maybe I'll actually get some photos tomorrow if it's nice out too, I've been neglecting my camera lately! *shocked gasp* *giggle*

Blush ~n~ Dusty Layout Challenge - Late

Well here I am, finally getting the challenge I take care of on Blush ~n~ Dusty posted. Blushbutter has had trouble getting me the mini kit this month, because of taking care of her growing family as well as trying to deal with headaches from allergies, so I got a little behind. I pray that she starts feeling better soon!! I know it's hard to deal with headaches, whatever the cause...thankfully I don't have them as much as I did there for a while!

I think this mini is just beautiful, love the soft pinks and the adorable teddy bears and the beautiful flowers. And that REALLY cool multi frame is really neat too.

This month is all about family traditions. I'm sure most of you have a tradition, either one that has been around for years, or one you started with your own family. I'd love to hear about one of them, so come join us for the challenge on Blush ~n~ Dusty this month, and tell us about it!

My LO shows the two fruit salads I make every Thanksgiving. I LOVE fruit, yet usually only make these at thanksgiving, and it started with my grandmother making them for Thanksgiving Dinner when I was growing up. Least that's when I think it started, sad to say I never asked her if her Mom made them when she was little, so I don't know if they go back further than that. I always loved them, so I make them now for our meal, even though we don't have a big family to help eat them. I did recolor some of the pieces I used from the kit, to go with Fall and Thanksgiving better.

I then had to go ahead and use the kit as it was, with that beautiful pink, for some of my 2009 photos! I picked out some from when our nieces visited us. This first one "Pretty in Pink" is so cool with that neat frame, and I love how the pink works with her dress so well. I blended one of the pink roses she put in the kit into the background, for added interest.

The last layout shows both nieces with their Grandma and a kitty.

Kit Credit for ALL: Softness by Blushbutter

We got 3-4 inches of snow on Sunday (really our first snow of the season that stuck for longer than a few hours) and then more last night and most of the day today it's been coming down. I think we have to be getting close to a foot on the ground so far, who knows how much more we will have before it's finally over. It sure is pretty when it's coming down...although it could stop anytime. LOL We are in a Blizzard warning here now too, so once the wind picks up tonight, we could get some big drifts. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in the morning when it gets light. :)

Other than that, not much going on, the animals are all staying in their shelters as much as possible, and so are we. LOL Maybe that's why I was able to scrap several pages today...cause it's the perfect kind of day to do it. I made some yummy homemade chicken noodle soup for Supper tonight at DH's request. He thought that sounded good for a snow storm, he wanted that or chili, and so I figured I'd make the soup now and maybe the chili for the weekend. That should make him happy, getting both of them in the same week. LOL I love the chicken noodle soup myself. :)

Ok, better get going, have to post my LO's to a few galleries and groups before bed. Hope everyone is staying safe in the snow storm, if you are having one too. Have a great week!!

Last of the graduation party photos.

Yippee, I did get to work on the last two pages of graduation party photos today! This just leaves a couple of prom...which I'll get as soon as I get a photo I'm waiting on from my niece...unless it's to long then I'll try it without it. LOL Anyway these are kinda plain, and I like the first one better than the 2nd...but wanted them to look about the same, and with the 2nd one having less photos they just didn't seem to look as good to me. Oh well, it's great to be almost finished! :)

Kit Credit: A Victorian Lady kit & Digi frame pack by Blushbutter.


I had to go to the dentist this morning and was happy to hear I didn't have to go back for a filling. Usually I have to every other time, and this is the 2nd time in a row I haven't had to!! Yippee!! *giggle* I know, who cares...but that's a big deal for me, cause I don't have the best teeth. I've been using a tooth paste with Xylitol in it for a few years now, and I have mints with it in it, instead of sugar (I've heard that Xylitol is good for your teeth) and the past couple years the dentist has thought I was doing something right, cause they have been improving...so maybe that stuff works after all! Whatever it is I'm sure hoping it continues. :)

We made cheese today, I do love fresh cheese...although not as much with the alpine milk as I did last year with the kinder milk. But it makes a great snack, and it's probably better that we don't pig out and eat it all in one day like it's far to easy to do, with the kinder milk...so I guess I'll live with the Alpine milk. LOL I think it would be better with just Nubian milk even...but we use what we have, so that's the way it goes.

I also took that little bit of cream out of the freezer yesterday that I had left from the last time we put the milk through the separator, so I could try and see if it whips up after having been frozen and it does, so freezing the cream so we have it for later will work great! I then tried to continue and make butter out of it and....well that didn't turn out so good...now at least I won't be so worried about the cream turning into butter when I'm trying to make whipped cream! LOL

We haven't tried making goat butter before, but we must have done something wrong...first, it could have been we didn't have enough cream, I don't know. But we tried it in the mixer...that didn't work so DH called someone he knows that makes soaps and all kinds of stuff out of goat milk, and asked her. She suggested using a blender, so we tried that and at least it did turn liquidity, but still no butter chunks...so not sure what happen. It's been YEARS since I watched my Mom make it and it was from cows cream...so I just am not real sure what I'm doing yet. I'll try it again, with more cream, and see if we can get it to turn out. I'd really like to try it at least, since I've never had butter made out of goat cream. LOL

We are going to have to make cheese more often I think, cause we almost have enough milk in the freezer to make another batch like we did today...so I'm thinking if we can make my Mozzarella another time or two, so we can put some in the freezer...maybe then we can try Colby? I like store bought Colby...so may as well try to make it too! LOL Before the summer is over I'd like to try to make at least one of the aged cheeses.

Anyway, I'll stop boring you about our cheese making, hope you all have a great weekend!! No big plans here I don't think...but thats good, I LOVE a lazy weekend at home on our farm. :)

Two more LO's.

I managed to get two more Lo's finished up of photos taken at Kali's graduation party. The 2nd one almost seems a little to pink...or maybe it's to many of the ribbon flowers, not sure. *giggle* But I had fun with a couple more of Blushbutter's templates so guess that's ok. :)

The first LO just has some of the candid photos I took and the 2nd one shows Kali at the food table, and then cutting her cake with her Dad and Uncle trying to bug her. She takes it well though, so it's fun to watch. *giggle*

Kit Credit for both: A Victorian Lady by Blushbutter. Green paper is recolored. LO 1 uses template # 6 & LO 2 uses template #11.

No news again today, maybe this is one of my not in the mood to ramble weeks, not that I'm in a bad mood or anything, just not talkative I guess. LOL I do hope everyone is having a great week! We have to make cheese again tomorrow so may be to busy to scrap...bummer....except gotta LOVE cheese days cause it's so darn good! *giggle* We will also put the milk through the cream separator first again...which will give us some more cream and this time we will have to make some ice cream, to try out our new toy. I found an electric ice cream maker in wally when we did our monthly shopping so bought it cause when we went to visit DH's Aunt last month she made the best homemade ice cream I've ever had, AND gave us the recipe!!! I've never really liked homemade ice cream (I know, I've always known I was strange ROFL) but this stuff was great! We will see how it is with fresh goat milk and cream!!! :) Have a great weekend!

A couple graduation party Layouts

I managed to scrap a couple layouts today of Kali's graduation party. Still have several to go but I'm so thankful I managed to get a start! For a little bit I was kinda stuck then it dawned on me...when you are stumped go use a template! Duh!! Ok well the first ones I always turn to are Blushbutter's because they are just so cool...so that's what I did and they came together beautifully.

The first one shows Kali sitting beside the cake table. The 2nd one shows some of the gifts she got at the party, some of which were mailed, since the people couldn't be there.

Kit Credit for both LO's: A Victorian Lady kit by Blushbutter. The green papers are recolored. The first layout uses template #9 & the 2nd LO uses template number 14. I actually had set 1 which had both of those in it (plus more) but you can get them separate too. Templates by Blushbutter also, and they are really fun to use!!

Nothing really news worthy happened here today so I guess I won't ramble on about nothing. LOL I need to post the LO's and see if I got any good photos on my camera the past few days, that I haven't had time to get off it. I did take a few of the newest baby yesterday in the barn...but didn't make it out to the barn yard to see them out today. Maybe tomorrow...between LO's and washing clothes and anything else that comes up. Take Care!

Blush ~n~ Dusty Layout Challenge for June

It's that time again, the first of another month. How quickly the months seem to go. This month as you can see from the LO's I've been doing with the challenge kit is all about graduations. Big surprise since we just went to my Niece's graduation this last month. LOL

This first LO is my "official" challenge LO, and is of her receiving her diploma. So she is an Official High School Graduate now!!! :) I think this is the last of the layouts I'm doing for her book of her graduation so now I just have to do party photos and prom photos and I'll be done!

Anyway if you would like to join us in the Blush ~n~ Dusty Yahoo group and do a LO of someone's graduation, either your own or one you have been to please do. You can get the kit for free, by using the coupon code that you can find in the group.

I had a lot of fun playing with this mini and getting Kali's graduation photos scrapped, although I have to say I'm glad I am finished with those now...10 LO's was a little much for my *poor feeble not to inspired lately* mind to handle...I still have several more party LO's to get though, so I better get inspired again later this week so I can work on more. I'm going to take a short break though, have some things to do for a day or two first.

This 2nd LO is of Kali moving her tassel around to the other side, and then walking out. I couldn't get a photo of just her for that, but that's ok. :)

All of the LO's use the June challenge kit Graduation Mini Kit by Blushbutter, but for this 2nd LO I also used some wordart and a staple that was from The Graduate by Microferk Designs. Oh and on that first LO I used a couple photo corners (stacked & one covered with a gold style) from two other Blushbutter kits, Beautiful Belles and Victorian Dolls.

The next LO shows Kali with her Diploma in hand and I show it open behind her. The last two LO's are of family members with her, I somehow missed getting her other Grandparents with her at the graduation so I'm really glad I got them at the party. I guess there is always some photo that you forget to take. LOL The last two as you can see aren't anything special...my mind is fried today and I couldn't think of anything cool to do with that many photos...so that's how they ended up. The photos that are cut out were easy to do because the white background was easy to get rid of on those two...since the lines between the blocks didn't show up...which is probably why I thought to do the extractions, since they were super simple to do. LOL

In other news, Autumn's leg was doing lots better by Sat morning so the vet said we didn't have to come in, unless it got worse again. She was still limping but not to much. Now she is pretty much back to normal, I'd love to know what happen but guess we never will since they can't tell us. LOL I'm really thankful it got better so quickly, with as bad as it seemed Friday night I didn't know that it would improve that much overnight, but I really shouldn't doubt so much. God is good!

Well I hope all of you had a great weekend, it was nice and quiet here. A little excitement with having the baby born Saturday morning but other than that a nice peaceful country weekend! It's warming up but thankfully we have managed to survive without the air...I was sure hoping to make it through the month of May before we had to turn it on and thankfully we did. I'm sure it won't be all that much longer though before we do, since I can't sleep when it's to hot.

Have a wonderful week and thanks so much for your comments!

Graduation Layouts!

I have been working on Kali's Graduation LO's finally!!! I got these first two finished yesterday, and they were going to be for the June Challenge on Blush ~n~ Dusty but then today I did 4 more and the last one I did I REALLY like, so I'm saving it for the challenge...which will start on Monday so I'll post it then. I did all of these with the June Challenge kit called Graduation Mini kit by Blushbutter. If you want to get the kit for free join us on Blush ~n~ Dusty on Monday to find out how!! If you just want to buy it, it's in her store, but I think she is having a little trouble with the store...something the host did, because I was having some trouble too although not to the extent she did...and we have the same host. So anyway you may want to wait a few days to give them time to fix what they did. It's a beautiful mini and I'm having a lot of fun with it! :)

I decided to do all the graduation ones so they look like they go together, which is why the backgrounds are all the same. Hope you don't get to bored with it! *giggle* I still have 4 more LO's to do of just the graduation....then I have her party and a couple of prom and I'll be done....I think! LOL Hope I make it, It's been like pulling teeth to get myself in the mood to finish up...have no idea why.

As soon as I saw this mini I knew it was perfect for the Honoring the parents LO's cause of the red rose. I got inspired and so as you can see I got several done...I'm just hoping I can keep that inspiration up till at least I finish her book. Oh and I have to point out...I actually used the alpha in the mini!! I don't use Alpha's very often cause I'm blond and can't figure out how to make them look cool...I do love them though. *giggle*

The third layout lists the awards she got and the photo is when she was standing up in front of everyone while they read the list. I would have really hated that part. Thankfully they didn't do that when I graduated, probably cause we would have been there forever with over 100 kids in my class...she only had 11.

The next LO is of the invitation she sent me. I scanned it all in then cut up the inside so I could show what all was in it. The top part with the 2009 showing down the side is what the front looked like when it was all folded up.

The last LO is her whole class up on stage and the large photo is her walking in. On the scroll I put the names of all the graduating class. Here's a funny...I had to cover up the toes of her one foot cause it was cut off in the photo. I was trying to wait as long as I could to get the photo so the guy ahead of her wouldn't be in it...since she was almost to close to him, and so I didn't get the toes of her foot...so I just covered it with the branch. Think it looks natural? What you have to do sometimes to make something look right with imperfect photos. *giggle*

I know I didn't have to mention that, and you probably would never have known...but I couldn't resist pointing it out...I think I really need to practice taking people photos! :)

The blue flowers are recolored, her colors were white and black...but the school colors I think are light blue, white and black...which is why I put a little blue in there too. I also recolored the frames.

In other news our baby girl (Autumn our Doxie) is limping really bad this evening and can't get comfy. We can't see anything wrong, but she must have done something to it. She was having a good ole time outside with a toad earlier this evening before Supper. We had supper and watched a little tv, then went outside and when I came in I brought the bedding I had drying on the line in and took it into the bedroom to make the bed. She came in there hardly able to walk on it which is when I noticed she was hurt. No idea how it happen but oh I feel so sorry for her.

She is restless cause it hurts and can't settle down for long, and kinda groans sometimes when she moves. Our one horse town (not a put down, I LOVE one horse towns! LOL) doesn't have any baby aspirin at this hour of the night...which is what the vet said to give her so she is out of luck till tomorrow. I think her limp is a little better than it was, but if she is still bad in the morning we will have to take her to the vet...I don't know if I'll get much sleep, cause if she keeps moving around I may have to see if holding her will help her stay still. Poor baby, I hate to see her in pain. Hopefully it's just a sprain or something and not anything worse.

Anyway I better get off here and see where she went, she just limped out of my office a little bit ago. Have a great weekend!! Thanks so much for your comments both here and through e-mails!!! :)

Congratulations Kali!

Today is the day you has been working towards for years now, the day you say goodbye to one stage of your life, and Hello to the next. I just wanted to say we are so Proud of you and are looking forward to watching the next stage of your life unfold. May God bless you and keep you safe from harm. We Love you!!

I made this LO so I could print it out and put it in a frame for Kali, and also so we could place it by her cake at her party. I used several different kits for it and it took me a while to figure out how to place things, because the poem didn't leave much room for anything else. *giggle* I finally got it so I was happy with it though.

Kit Credits: I used two corners from Blushbutter, stacked on top of each other and one of them turned gold with some gold styles I have, the corners are from the following two kits; Victorian Dolls & Beautiful Belles. The cap, scroll and Alpha (2009) are from The Graduate by Miki Ferkul, I recolored the ribbon on the scroll so it was blue which is one of Kali's school colors instead of the red that it was, and also the tassel is recolored. The background is my own as well as the two straight corners connecting the fancy corners. I used the gold style I spoke of earlier on the straight corners.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend, and Kali I hope your day is special and I can get lots of good photos! LOL (good being the operative word, since lots isn't usually a problem with me *giggle*)