CT Layouts by scrapladyandmore

Hi!  I'm Lajuana aka scrapladyandmore and I discovered digital scrapping 5 years ago.  Although I have many hobbies I enjoy, digital scrapping has moved right to the top of my favorites list!  I'm privileged to be a member of Retro Designs' Creative Team and love creating with her wonderful kits.  Retro Design kits are perfect for my many family heritage photos, but I also have scrapped some layouts I love of my very modern grandchildren.  Thank you for taking a look at my creations.  It is my hope that you will be inspired to make your own wonderful creations after seeing the many possibilities of these magnificent kits by Retro Designs!

Click on each layout to get a larger view...click back on your browser to return here!  To leave Comments, please scroll down to the bottom of the page!

Fall is in the Air!

Came across this page yesterday and it brought back such fun memories of the day we played in the leaves in the back yard three years ago.  Sweet Avery will soon be 8 years old!  Love that I have so  many memories scrapped to pass on to her some day!  

This memory was created using Helen's wonderful kit, Vintage Patina, which can be found in her store HERE! 

Pages with "Doggy Treats"

The most recent "doggy" in my life is the Fisher Price Lil Snoopy toy that was part of our present for Brody's 1st Birthday so I couldn't resist using Helen's Doggy Treats QP Freebie to scrap this memory.  This toy brought back memories of the toy I had as a child.  Was a little disappointed when I found this little guy that he didn't look like mine, but he's a cute modern version and he barks!  Brody just started walking this past week so it will be a while before he's pulling it around but he did pull it while crawling once. And it is so cute, when he is watching someone else pull the doggy, his feet go back and forth just like the doggy's feet.  

JOURNALING:  Your “Lil Snoopy” looks different than Nana & Papa’s but we hope you love playing with him as much as we did when we were children!

Hard to believe that it has already been a year since this little guy was born and spent a month in the NICU.  Brody has come a long way since then.  He was recently released from physical therapy as he has reach levels at or above his age level in all skills.  And, he no longer has to wear the helmet needed to reshape his head that was slightly flat due to weakness that caused him to sleep on the same side every night.  Previews of Doggy Treats and this awesome QP freebie can be found here.  Doggy Treats is also in the store

Pages with "Nature Notes" 

Helen created this very special QP from Nature Notes.  Just happened to have some photos of Miller with Mom and Dad and his big sister that I chose to put into this QP freebie. I recolored the photos so they would match Miller LO I made from when he was one-month old.

Check out Retro Designs Blog and you will find this freebie!  And you will find Nature Notes HERE in Helen's Store!

                                    

I love the browns, tans, and touches of black and gray in Nature Notes and they are so perfect for Miller's one-month old pictures.  Miller Zackry Brown was named Miller after Papa Miller (my DH) and Zackry after his dad, Zack Brown.  Found a lullaby by Horace Smith that I thought was sweet and went along with the layout.

Evening is coming, and night is nigh;
Under the lattice the little birds cheep,
All will be sleeping by and by.
Sleep, little baby, sleep.

Visit Helen's Store where you will find previews of Nature Notes and LO samples.  Visit Helen's Blog where you can find previews and you just might find a freebie, too!

 Pages with "Jewelled Sea"

"Jewelled Sea" is one of my many favorite kits of Helen's.  Previews of this kit actually made it here in the blog in July of 2011.  Since then, the store has been opened and "Jewelled Sea" has been added to Helen's STORE as the featured kit of the month!  You will find an animation of several of the pages I have made using this kit with "non-seaside" photos in the store!  I have some of those and a number of sea-themed pages shown here also....just scroll down until you see ocean waves, sandy beaches, and seashells!

As soon as I find the non-digital photos of a lighthouse and sailboats I have that I want to use, I'll be back with a few page made using "Jewelled Sea" and the "Painted Seashells Freebie" just posted by Helen.  Check out this awesome freebie on the Home Page!

I did find this project I did for a 96-week workshop learning to use a design program called Photo Impact.  The original design was a brighter blue and I recolored it to match these gorgeous shells.  Loved how this turned out...looks almost like the moon is being reflected on the seashells.

LOs Using Nostalgic Scrapbook
 

Loved using this new kit to scrap a few of my Great-Aunt Mattie's studio photos.  I have such mixed emotions on paper versus digital scrapping.  I love digital, but all these heritage photos deserve to be in an album.  Another project to add to the list.  These will be placed into the album in the photo holders and still on the photo cards as these are as unique as the old photos.  Journaling:  It is going to take way more than one cup of coffee to get my grandfather’s family pictures into an album. There are about 100 photos which include many of his mother’s family photos.

You can find Nostalgic Scrapbook in Retro Designs Store HERE!

Even though these interesting Texas Pioneer Girls are unidentified and known only as some of Com's kinfolks, this photo still deserves to be in an album for future generations of  the Commadore M. Thomas family.  The Thomas family album will be so thick that these may perhaps end up in a separate album.  It's been about 5 years since I gone through all of the photos and have pulled a few from time to time to scrap, but someday I must get them placed in albums. Right now I think they look wonderful in the vintage scrapbook from Helen's Nostalgic Scrapbook.

Journaling:  Many of the photos found in Granny Thomas’ trunk belonged to Granddaddy’s two sisters.  Since Granny couldn’t identify them, she referred to them as “Some of Com’s Kinfolks”.    Someday they will find their way into an album by the same name!"

LOs Using Vintage Whimsy 

I love this QP freebie made from Helen's Vintage Whimsy kit.  I also love this photo of Reese...would love to know what her thoughts were at this moment.  She and Dad were on a bike ride when they spotted this vacant lot full of bluebonnets.  Luckily Dad had the camera along and took so many wonderful photos that it was hard to narrow it down to just one to use here.

Vintage Whimsy and it´s now available in Retro Designs Online store. And you´ll find more info about  Vintage Whimsy and this QP freebie HERE.

Helen's new kit "Vintage Whimsy" was released just as my DD's sent pictures of my grandchildren in the lovely clusters of bluebonnets celebrating spring all over parts of Texas.  The bluebonnets were to reward of all the recent rains.

LOs with Simply Serene

I knew when I first saw Helen's restoration of her mother's childhood photo that I had seen those eyes before.  My first thought was what sad eyes.  I quickly search through photos and came up with these two.  Fortunately for me I know the story behind these somewhat sad looking eyes.  Tonia was observing lots of activity outside the nursery viewing window during family time as many parents, grandparents and siblings were there to see the newborns.  Moments before she was smiling and pointing to her new baby sister.  Reese was helping mom by holding Miller's bottle while mom changed Miller's diaper.  Moments before she was smiling at Papa telling her what a good girl she was for helping Mom.  Seems that sometimes the camera captures a split second of deep thought that we may never know what comes to mind between the smiles.    Retro Designs kit, "Simply Serene" used for this LO may give another insight...the camera captured a simply serene moment.  Previews of "Simply Serene" and additional LO samples can be found at Retro Designs Online Store.

Some Layouts with "Flight of Fancy"

It was such a blessing to get to hold Brody this weekend after him having to spend his first month of life in NICU.  These four photos were snapped as Brody was dosing off to sleep...his time to smile and peek out at you every once in a while.  Maybe he is having sweet dreams or maybe it was Nana telling him just how cute he is!  Journaling:  Okay, I get it.  I'm just too cute.  And it does make me smile to hear how cute I am, but could I catch a few winks here before it is time to wake up and eat again!

Helen recently added Flight of Fancy to her Retro Designs Online Store and this is my most recent LOs using this wonderful kit.  Love all the bling and how perfect to have a safety pin to use with this LO of Brody. 

I am also posting a few of my other LOs using Flight of Fancy...a very versatile kit as you will see from the variety of LOs below.

This photo of Avery is one of my favorites.  Her mom took it before church on Mother's Day a few years ago.

Look closely and you will see a double rainbow...this photo was taken from my front yard.

This Flight of Fancy QP was perfect for Jojo's photo...such a sweet smile!

A collection of my Granny's valentines she received as a child around 100 years ago.

You can find Flight of Fancy at the Retro Designs Online Store!

Summer Past  

I was working on Avery's LO with the Summer Past QP freebie and decided to make it a two page with one for Luke to match.  Couldn't resist using the picture of Luke with the hay straw in his mouth.  You can tell by the smile on Avery's face that she is one happy little Cowgirl.  All the kids at the birthday party got to ride this horse, put their hand print on a white horse, and go on a hayride.  It was such a fun party for everyone. 

Here's Luke and Avery's pictures combined.  I may play around with them a little more before adding them to a book to be printed.  Love the deep rich colors and touches of gold on these pages.

I started with Helen's QP Freebie to go with her new kit Summer Past.  I added the rectangle photo of Luke, the heart and swirl in the left corner and the brads below Luke's name and turned this QP into a "cowboy" page for Luke.  I took these pictures this weekend a Avery birthday party.  I'm thinking that bird has an eye on the piece of straw Luke is chewing on!  Check out previews of this gorgeous new kit and see some sample LOs at Retro Designs Online Store!  You can find this QP under Kit Previews on Retro Design's Blog.

Sweetness And Light

Brody was born 6 weeks early due to DD's life-threatening blood pressure.  It's sad to not get to hold and cuddle a precious newborn.  And LaChelle wasn't able to go see him for 2 days until her blood pressure got better.  The next morning she got a quite look before Brody was moved to Children's Hospital and she couldn't see him until she was released 2 more days later.  I told LaChelle Brody was just spending a little time in his own special cocoon until it was time for him to fly out into our arm.  It was so appropriate when we walked into Children's Hospital and the lobby was full of butterflies hovering above.  Brody is "spreading his wings" a little more each day.  After 2 days at Children's he was changed from a high tech ventilator to a smaller one.  And yesterday taken off the vent and is using just an oxygen tube in his nose.  He still has a small hole in his lungs that is almost sealed.  LaChelle is getting to go and stay as long as she wants with Brody but won't be able to hold him until they remove the chest tube that drains the air leaking from his lungs.  I have come home and am resting up so I can go back once he is ready to leave his cocoon and fly!  (Oh...he was 4 lbs. 6 ozs. at birth and 18 1/2 in. long!  LaChelle is still having blood pressure issues and the cardiologist is running tests to determine what all is going on.)

Helen's beautiful and sparkling butterfly from her Sweetness And Light kit adds a special touch to this memory for Brody's Baby Album.  This kit is available for purchase in Helen's new STORE!

I have been eager to use Helen's lovely QP freebie created from her new kit Sweetness And Light.  This is my Dad, the baby on the left, with his older sister Lazelle and his twin sister Thelma.  If you can read this names at the bottom, you will see his name is Elma.   Although it rhymes with Thelma, it would not have been his first choice for a name.  His sons are named Steve, Mike, and Greg...no confusion there! I love the painting and hardly ever walk past it without stopping and reflecting on my Dad and many wonderful and precious memories. I think this QP it is perfect the reflection I have had today on Dad's birthday!  He and his sisters are celebrating today in heaven along with his parents and other siblings there with them.  You will find the freebie HERE and the kit is available for purchase in Helen's new STORE!

cassJan 26, 2012 04:30 AM

What a wonderful oil painting to for you to have. Great page about your Dad!

A Christmas Carol

Papa Miller and Miller sharing a "magical" moment during Christmas 2011.  Miller loves his Papa and shares something in common.  They both have (had in Papa's case) red hair.  Growing up DH's hair was a gorgeous dark auburn red and very thick.  Time will tell if Miller's hair is like Papa's or if he has "carrot top" red.  Either way, he will always be our precious little red-hair grandson.  Love this Moon and cherub element which was the inspiration for this LO.  "a Christmas Carol" is now available at Helen's New store HERE! 

Love how the photo blends into the background and your focus is on all the smiling faces and one little one that's not so happy at the moment.  Although the tree is hidden behind everyone, these wonderful Christmas elements from Retro Designs new kit "A Christmas Carol" made a very festive page for this special memory.  There's much more to see so take a look at Kit Previews here on the blog and you might even find a freebie or two!  Great News! This kit is now available at Helen's New store HERE!

retroJan 11, 2012 05:48 AM

Love the bright and sparkling Christmas Carol page! And how lovely to see the contrast between the tiny Santa and the Avery of today.

Some Christmas Memories 
using Nouveau Summer

No, you didn't read the heading wrong...a number of years ago as a Deco-Pages CT I chose Helen's Nouveau Summer Kit. Don't recall why I did Chirstmas LOs other than the gorgeous reds and greens. Helen didn't even recognize the kit at first as the Christmas theme surprised her. Several went to buy this kit to use with their Christmas photos. Good News...you too will be able to buy this wonderful kit very soon. Just in time for Christmas! 

Watch Helen's Blog...she will let you know when this kit will be available for purchase. 

Page with Flight of Angels Freebie

Avery just pulled her 2nd front tooth and this photo came from her mom's blog today.  Somehow it brought back memories!  I pulled up the PNG of Luke's "two front teeth" layout from last Christmas and made a few changes.

I added a background that had some purple in it to blend with Luke's background...changed the title and date to purple and topped it off with Helen's Flight of Angels Freebie. I can't help but believe these little angels know the tune to this Christmas time favorite!  If you´d like this angelic quartet, you´ll find it HERE.  I used the larger photo of Avery...loved that it shows her Kid's Time t-shirt with the many names of Jesus on it.  Here's the photo of her close-up smile!  I bet we will see at least one of those teeth peeking through by Christmas!

cassNov 8, 2011 04:40 PM

Great page for Avery

 

Luke's "Two Front Teeth" layout from last Christmas!  These LOs were made using Retro Designs Noel Nouveau Kit!

retroDec 5, 2011 12:11 AM

What a cute companion page you´ve made for last year´s one of Luke. I hope that not only the angels but also the tooth fairy have visited Avery!
As for your family group, how lovely to see the oldest and the youngest together, and all so beautifully colour-coordinated.

Pages with Golden Memories

My DDs got together and decided we needed to take Family Photos on Saturday after Thanksgiving.  So, in 25 mile an hour wind and a wind chill of 45 degrees, the photographer found a spot next to the Vistor's Center where these could be taken.  Of course, on of my favorite was the one of Papa and Nana with all the grandchildren.  Not shown is LaChelle and Curtis' baby boy due the last of March.  This red background from Helen's Golden memories was perfect for the various shades of red being worn.  And the gold and black background provided a nice contract with the gold and complemented all the black.  Go HERE to preview Helen's Golden Memories and pick up some great freebies, too!

OMG...this wallpaper looks so similar to Helen's background paper "red lace retro" in her Golden Memories kit.  I just had to scrap it.  This picture shows the furnishings along the banister overlooking the stairway going down to the first floor.  Loved the stain glass window and how awesome is that lamp hang nearby.

Just opposite this landing to the stairway is the elegant dining room on the 2nd floor.  A nice area for guests who don't want to dine in the large open area downstairs.

Don't ever delete a bad photo without first trying to salvage it.  See original photo below.  I was so surprised to see the color that was in the photo once I lightened it, added some contrast, and increased the saturation some.  I probably should have worked on getting the sun glare out of the photo, but in a way it seems to give reason to all the shadows in the photo and the washed out look of the table cloth.  So I left it.  Those gorgeous turquoise pieces would have never been seen nor these antique pieces of furniture had I just deleted the photo!

Funerals are a part of our life and though sad, they are an occasion to take photos of family members we don't get to see very often.  I was burning a photo CD for a cousin who didn't have her camera with her and came across these photos which were perfect for  Helen's kit "Golden Memories"!

First, this is Sue's oldest son's daughter Hannah who is the oldest of his 3 daughters holding Sue's youngest son's daughter, Clementine who is just a few months old.   This was Sue's first time to see Clementine who lives in another state.  This was snapped at a family gathering following the funeral.  Such a precious memory for Sue!

Second, this photo of Luke and Avery with the two older brothers of Clementine and a sister of Hannah was taken in a sitting are at the bed and breakfast where the family gathering was held.  Such an elegant room...thanks goodness for the TV which was a lifesaver keeping the room's elegant touches "safe" from these little cousins!

Friday was the Vocabulary Parade at Lawn Elementary.  My DD posted Luke's and Avery's photos on her blog.  "Some the words the students picked to dress up like were awesome and very hard.  For example, when was the last time you heard the word deciduous, metamorphis, osteology, exoskeleton, etc."

"Avery chose dazzle to be her word.  One definition of the dazzle is to shine brilliantly.  She sparkled from head to toe."

"Luke chose fanatic, someone who is very and sometimes overly enthusiatic about a belief, cause or interest.  He chose to be a Texas Rangers fanatic.  The whole school gave a big cheer when he came up to say his word."  Of course, the Rangers were playing in the World Series that night!

These awesome pumpkins were downloads from the Texas Ranger website which provided a stencil to be used to carve your own Ranger pumpkin!  Can you tell who Luke's favorite Ranger is?  He got to see them play last summer.

I recently posted this page on my blog in memory of Tony's Aunt Allie Rae.  Her time on this earth ended just a few days before her 93rd birthday.  This QP from Retro Designs Kit "Golden Memories was perfect for this very elegant elderly lady!  Go HERE to preview Golden Memories and pick up the lovely QP, too!

retroNov 25, 2011 12:13 AM

As I said on your blog, your Golden Memories pages are gorgeous. And you´ve such an eye for design that you even noticed the similarity between the wallpaper in that lovely room and the background in the kit!

Pages with Pretty Shabby

Searching through a file titled heritage LOs under Retro Designs, I found the following LOs all of which have a great number of papers and elements from Pretty Shabby but also have a few items from some of Helen's other kits.  Some day when I have more time, I must go on a scavenger hunt and find and label these extra items and kits.  Does make it clear that Helen's kit all work well together. 

The first LO is my Granddaddy sitting in his Dad's lap.  His mother died when he was two and her photo is hanging in the background.  Also note that there are quilts used for the background and on the floor for this photo.  Makes you wonder if the photographer had come to the house to take the picture.

The younger girl in the background is holding a picture of the oldest son, Berry James, who had left home by the time this photo was taken.   This 2nd LO shows some of Berry James' many adventures. 

Found a record of my Grandparents marriage in the church records at the Church's 100 Anniversary Celebration!

How fun to find this LO once again of Granny as a baby sitting in the  "Summer Meadow"  a paper from Helen's Nouveau Summer kit.  Scroll down and you will see this baby's great-great granddaughter rolling down a hill in the same meadow!

Just downloaded this awesome Pretty Shabby QP freebie from Helen.  Somehow I missed this freebie from the DP days and I so love it.  Have so many photos of Miller that I would like to scrap and thought this QP was perfect to show Miller with his mom.  This picture of Miller could almost be Papa Miller as a baby.  Such a family likeness right down to the touch of auburn hair. 

You can see previews of Pretty Shabby HERE  and you will find this and a few more freebies, too!

These are photos of my Granny's School Days.  You will see her circled on the back row.  Granny was born in 1909 and married at 15 so this was prior to 1924.  Interesting that she had these photos of her teachers, especially the one of them washing up and getting a drink from the facet.  My Granny got her first facet in her house in 1969 so it seems strange to see a facet way out in the middle of nowhere in the 1920's.  In the background you can see horses.  The horse in the the photo is Bandy.  Granny told me she rade Bandy to school for a several years.  Pretty Shabby was perfect for this heritage LO of Granny's "Dear Old Golden Rule Days"!  Oooops...should it be "Ole"?  Either way, these photos are OLD!  You can see previews of Pretty Shabby HERE  and you will find a few freebies, too!
Oct 6, 2011 02:28 AM

Love those Pretty Shabby pages...and Miller is simply adorable!

Oct 26, 2011 03:33 AM

Some wonderful heritage pages.

Pages with Nouveau Summer

Being a "novice ballet Nana" I didn't know about the flowers for the ballerinas following the recital.  I had already started making a "candy bouquet" to give to Avery following the recital when Jennifer gave me the heads up on the tradition.  It worked great, however it was so hot that even though I kept the bouquet in a cooler with ice packs, it started melting by the time we got these pictures made!  If you look close, you can see a big candy ladybug on a large candy leaf and 2 small ladybugs on the sunflowers.  I didn't think to ask what Avery costume looked like, so my candy ballerina with a black tutu and red tights didn't match her perfectly, but it was close.  Seeing all these pictures again for the first time since June, I think there's no doubt, Avery had a very special first ballet recital!

OK...could see real quick when I joined these two I will be making some changes should I ever print these together.  Will have to decide if I would enlarge the family group photo on the left or reduce the photos on the right. I made the pic with bouquet large so it would be seen better.  I can cut some off the top of that photo and adjust every thing on both page to balance them out better. Also will have to make a choice between the backgrounds.  I used a blending technique to bring the gold out on the right side page.  Rather redo now, I think I will just study them and make changes later.  Besides, Luke and Avery will be here for a few days, so I won't be scrapping for a while!  Still have some excess ballerina candy on hand and Luke has started football...can see us making football candy mints while they are here!  

Who let the Ladybugs out?  Helen so generously passes along freebies with her kits.  This adorable little ladybug I used here is part of Nouveau Summer's Freebie.  I probably used too many ladybugs, but I think Avery will like all of them! Can you find Avery among the waking ladybugs on stage?  This is the 2nd page of the 2-page LO below...keep scrolling and you see the large size of page 1!  You can see previews of Nouveau Summer and this freebie HERE! 

Definitely have plans for a 2-page spread of each of the first two LOs below, but I couldn't resist playing with the "Summer Meadow" background paper in this kit.  We took several pictures of our little ballerina in the park in the city.  It was fun putting Lady Bug Avery in the meadow with all the dragonflies and butterflies.

 After the posed ballerina pictures, Avery and Luke could not resist rolling down the little knoll in the park.  This little lady bug was having fun!  I love this paper and have used it in several other LOs in the past...even a heritage LO of Granny when she was a baby.  You can see previews of Nouveau Summer HERE!

 We were high in the balcony, and Avery looked about the size of a Lady Bug...thank goodness for tele-lenses! Beeatrice is a very cute story and so many adorable little insects entered the stage (the backyard) from behind that tree.  For Avery's part of the program, they flooded the stage with red lights as you can see by the background of the stage where I blended her closeup photo taken in the dressing room once stage makeup and glitter had be applied!  I was extracting Avery but ended up leaving her with the stage showing.  Pretty sure there will be some pages with her extracted.

After the Ballet Recital we went to a nearby park to take some pictures of our little Lady Bug Ballerina.  Family and friends present their ballerinas flowers following the recital and these gorgeous roses are from Freddie and Luke...two of her biggest fans!  They both had to admit that though it didn't compare to a drag racing event, the ballet recital was actually fun to watch.

Nouveau Summer provided just what I needed for the first very elegant LO and then for this fun photo of Avery with her roses and family.

Helen's kits are always very versatile...so much so that to everyone's surprise at DP, my CT LOs with Nouveau Summer were pics of my granddaughter's first Christmas. Now at 5 this kit with it's reds, greens and golden accents is perfect for her first ballet recital.   Here's a look at the Christmas LOs and I'll be back soon with some ballet recital LOs!

You can see previews of Nouveau Summer HERE!

cassAug 12, 2011 03:58 AM

Love all of your Nouveau Summer pages, especially the little ballerina.

retroAug 28, 2011 02:27 AM

I can only repeat what Carol said about your little ballerina but all your pages using Nouveau Summer are perfectly beautiful.

Pages with "Jewelled Sea" 

Being a grandparent, I have to look through my pictures of the "grands" every once and a while.  I came across this photo of Miller with his Papa Miller and thought it was so precious and reminded me of this quote I had used once before.  Not sure whose more satisfied...Miller or Papa!   Went to "Jewelled Sea" and found what I needed for this "non-sea" photo.  The rustic frame with screws is perfect as Papa Miller is a carpenter.  Love the soft blended background paper, too!  Check out the previews of "Jewelled Sea" HERE!  You might find just what you need for a "non-sea" photo as well!

Helen is back from her beach vacation, too!  And she brought four new seashells back to add to her Jewelled Sea kit!  Downloaded them first thing this morning and you'll see them in this page along with two that were already in the kit.  I blended two photos with this fun background paper and added seashells, fish, turtle, and anchor to fill in the spaces!  Here's the two photos used.

The South Padre Island vacationers are back home!  Have just seen a few photos, but know they all had fun.  Love this silhouette photo of Avery and her friend.  I wanted to see their faces and I started playing with the photo.  Kinda liked the one that turned the ocean green and it gave me to idea for this LO.  The closeup is a little grainy but you can see the smiles.  Helen's seahorse is dressed to match the girls!  You can pick  up this adorable seahorse freebie HERE!

I have been waiting for Luke and Avery to go South Padre Island this summer to have some beach pictures of them to use with Retro Designs' Jewelled Sea kit.  Then I remembered their trip in 2008 and found these photos!  OMG, Avery is so young.  The font I used is called "Adorable" and it also describes Avery and all the elements Helen included in this kit.  I may have gone over board on how many I used, but I love all of them!   You can see previews of "Jewelled Sea" HERE! and you can pick up this adorable seahorse freebie while there!  It will be fun to scrap this years' photos of Avery on the beach...thinking maybe a title of Beach Beauty.  

 Ok...after loading Avery's page with elements, I decided Luke's page needed all the metallic elements.  Don't have a really close up photo here of Luke, but as you can tell, he was always on the move.  I think it is fun to see how much fun Luke had playing in that great big ocean and massive beach!  Even with all the elements I used in these two pages, there are so many more in Helen's Jewelled Sea kit.  There also a number of wonderful frames and papers.  See them all HERE!

Today, July 7th, is my youngest daughter's birthday.  We celebrated early on Sunday while all of the out of town nieces and nephews were home for the 4th!  Baby Miller is looking on as others sing Happy Birthday to LaChelle.  Reese looks mesmerized by the candle.  We were also celebrating LaChelle getting to come home after 13 days in the hospital.  Helen's swirls, jewelled staples, and papers from "Jewelled Sea worked great for this birthday memory!  
cass said...Great family photo for LaChelles birthday.July 11, 2011 2:42 PM 

This photo was taken  many years and many pounds ago...LOL!  Tony's cousin lived in Jamaica and we went for a visit for our 4th anniversary.  The ocean wasn't in this picture, so Helen's QP ocean scene here is perfect for the photo. Love this QP freebie and you can pick it up HERE!

"Jewelled Sea" comes with another great QP that I used here.  I added the top photo and cluster with it.   Journaling:  On the way home, we stopped by this hut and bought lobster for dinner...the man rowed out into the ocean and got them out of his live trap!  Look close and you’ll see Tony is holding a lobster.

cass said...Great pages for your Jamaican photos. How lucky to have gone there.

June 17, 2011 7:47 AM 

Since Helen was highlighting "Jewelled Sea" I went to this wonderful kit and found the Under the Sea background paper and the anchor.  Loved the colors and the anchor became the inspiration for Family...Life's Anchor.  We are proud to welcome Miller to "the family" and love having Reese, Zack, Bryce and Jojo as members of the "Miller Family", too!  You can see previews of "Jewelled Sea" HERE!
"Family...Life's Anchor"  A few days ago, Mom sent us
 some of her pics. Have you noticed his was name is our last name...makes for a proud Papa and Nana Miller!  When I saw the photo of Dad with Miller, I thought, "Where have I seen that cute little face before?"   I saw that cute face almost 33 years ago in the photo of Tonia, Miller's mom, the day we brought her home from the hospital.  Big sister, Jennifer is holding her and is Luke's mom.  Luke is shown in the bottom photo the day he came home from the hospital eight years ago...almost to the day.  Luke was born on May 28, 2003 and Miller was born May 26, 2011.  And, then there's Miller shown with his dad, Zack.  Miller Zackry Brown, for now, does favor Mom and Uncle Luke to me, but he definitely got his adorable chin from Dad and it is just like Reese's chin.  Babies change almost daily.  Jennifer and Tonia have favored each other at different times over the years, but not always.  Regardless of whom he may favor over the years, Miller is Miller and he is a very special little guy!

Pages with "Time Began In A Garden"

"Time Doesn't Stand Still"  I love this QP.  Luke and Avery are shown here watering the crepe myrtles last week when they spent the day with Nana.  Below is the same QP showing Luke in 2007 watering the crepe myrtles and Avery trying to fix the broken water hose.  In the recent page you can see how the kids have grown and it's Avery's turn to use the water hose.  Luke found the watering can and Avery is filling it up for him.  My watering can isn't a unique as Helen's from Time Began In A Garden, but it got the job done and kept both kids busy at the same time.  Later, Avery brought puzzles out to the porch to work while Nana and Luke took turns squirting each other with the water hose.  It has about 10 settings and proved to be lots of fun.  At some point Nana was finishing watering the crepe myrtles and Luke surprised Nana by sneaking up from behind and pouring a watering can of water on my head.  We both laughed and laughed, but Nana got even by drenching Luke with the water hose!  It was very hot, so it made for some "cool" fun!

"Week at Nana's House"  Wow, how time flies.  It is hard to believe it was 4 years ago when this photo was taken.  Mom was out of town and Dad developed pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital.  So even though Mom got back home as soon as possible, the kids stayed with Nana so Mom could be at the hospital with Dad.  We visited Dad each evening.  In the mornings, we played outside.  It was a fun week for Nana, but not much fun for Dad!   For a preview of Time Began In A Garden, GO HERE!  

Just spent a lovely visit to Jean's blog admiring all her pages featuring some gorgeous irises.  Reminded me of this page I made using one of Helen's QPs from her kit "Time Began In A Garden".  This photo was taken last year and the plant had multiplied from two to seven shoots.  Just counted them this morning and there are 17 shoots.  Looks like I need to read up on how the divide the bulbs.  I was so concerned that they might not even come up this year because it has been so dry.  Started watering the bed heavily and they did come up.  Now I wait and see if they bloom before the grass hoppers eat them.  Actually, I have some Diatomaceous Earth that I use to keep ants out of the cat food bowl.  Maybe I try it on my Japanese Iris?!?  This stuff is organic and I have no reaction to it at all.  The dust is ingested by the bed bug or other crawling insect, or as the insect crosses through the powder, the DE will cut their exoskeleton, causing them to dehydrate and die. Grass hoppers aren't listed on the package, but it's worth a try.  You can read about it HERE!

For a preview of Time Began In A Garden, GO HERE!  

Vintage Toys  All photos are of "Aunt Sharon" with some of her toys.  She is Tony's sister who died in a car accident when she was just 16.  Like many older photos, these were all taken outside and several in the flower garden so Helen's kit "Time Began In A Garden" seemed a perfect choice to showcase these precious photos.  Love the rustic and antique frames in this kit!  Time Began In A Garden can be found HERE!  

 Vintage Easter Greeting  Featured is an Easter card my grandmother received from her teacher in the early 1900's.  Colors and elements of "Time Began In A Garden" as well as the kit name makes this a perfect selection to use to scrap Granny's Easter card.  Time Began In A Garden can be found HERE!  

retro said...

Thank you for using Time Began In A Garden for these two beautiful memory pages. So sad about your Aunt Sharon and her untimely death. I like the way you´ve used the garden fairy swinging on the bird bath to link the 2 bottom photos together and somehow the addition of the sleeping cat makes this lovely page even more poignant. I seem to see something new every time I look at it. And I so love that vintage Easter card and the way you´ve set it down among all the garden elements. The use of the clock and the cross are appropriate to both the title and the theme and the colours all blend in beautifully. These two lovely pages are among my many favourites of yours.

June 8, 2011 11:23 PM

Ohhh!  A wonderful new freebie showed up while I was on our 40th anniversary weekend away.  Here's a LO using several of the paper elements...love these paper flowers and leaves.  I'm calling it Genesis Falls as it was the "first" water fall we saw in the garden of the Wildflower Seed Farm just outside of Frederickburg that we visited on our little trip.  This floral motifs freebie was given to us as an add on to Time Began In A Garden can be found HERE!  The background papers and row of buckets are also from Time Began In A Garden.

Journaling:  We followed this path in the garden and it lead to a water garden like I have dreamed of having in my backyard for years!  Now I’m dreaming of having this pathway, too.     
I couldn't get all of the pictures on one page at least not with them as large as I would like. I decided to do a 2-page LO.  I hope you can follow my path...it actually starts on the right side of the  page and ends on the left.  Remember to click on the LO to enlarge it... The birds love it when I keep my bird bath full of water.  Imagine how they would love a water garden.  Now, I just need to keep my fingers crossed that the frog doesn't have my butterfly for dinner! 

retro said...

I love waterfalls. I could sit forever just listening to the water splashing down. The backgrounds you´ve chosen go so well with the colours in this wonderful photo and I love the way you´ve used the leaves and flowers and the row of buckets as a border. As for the path, it really is a dream. I´ve followed the butterflies all around it and wish I could see it in reality. I think the frog is the guardian of the path. The butterflies seem to have got past him unharmed! What a lovely set of pages to remember your trip by.

May 19, 2011 11:26 PM

cass said...

What a gorgeous place to visit, I also would love that pathway.

May 23, 2011 2:07 AM