Sailing anyone?

Fun, fun, fun with dear friends in northern Minnesota. Miniature Golf was one of our favorite family-fun activities. It is sorely missed (can no longer do 'cuz of NRLA)!!

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This double LO features a few Michigan lighthouses visited during our mini-vacation to Whitehall, MI a decade ago. Lighthouses, Waterfalls & Wildlife are our absolute favorite things to see when doing our favorite things...nature walks, hiking, digital photography, etc.

credits: Come Sail Away kit by ClubScrap

fonts - constantia, resagokr, clive barker

Club Scrap is AWESOME!! I was a member from 2007-2008 and had to quit 'cuz unable to do hands-on (hybrid) scrapbooking anymore (due to NRLA & MCS). After few years of strict avoidance, nutritional supplements & homeopathic remedies... I was able to help a friend scrap pages for her upcoming son's wedding. She had to do all sorts of preps in order to come inside our house, but she was willing and it worked! ZERO reactions -- yipee!! So, I got "re"-hooked to scrap-booking -- and of course, HAD to reorganize stuff to make it easier to find things. It was like Christmas!! SO many fun things I forget were there :-)

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Well, I have A LOT of ClubScrap kits, Stampin-Up! papers/cardstock and TONS of misc supplies. Just this week I finished an album project (from ClubScrap Dec-2007 kit)... I had liked it so much I had bought 4 for gifts... had gotten all the paper cut, but then project was on hold for 3+ years... they're finished! (all except for the acrylic cover decor, which will be customized for the recipient). PLUS, I finished our 1st grandson's album of his 1st year and started on our 2nd grandson's album - yipee!!

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BUT, since I'm mainly a digital-scrapper now (much safer, even though all my scrap supplies are latex-safe, there are chemicals -- which my nasal-hepa/carbon-filters helped with), after working with ClubScrap stuff, I simply HAD to check them out again. btw, it was a member from the CS community-forum that suggested I try digi-scrapping back in Oct-2008... she also directed me to Jessica Sprague and Scrapper's Guide (now Digital Scrapper)—both which have GREAT tutorials for working with PSE (and PS). Add to that the PSE Technique magazine (and their awesome website), and I'm set... "except" for "gotta have more!". SO, I joined CS's digital club and downloaded April's kit, Come Sail Away (photo above is of the hybrid-kit) -- LOVE the green/blue colors!!!! AND, because I made the commitment to myself that if I was going to join a monthly club, they weren't going to sit in my PC gathering electro-dust... they were going to get used!! Hope you like the Pirate's Cove and MI Lighthouse layouts :-)

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Isaiah 40:31

Ely MN Adventures!

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credits: Campfire Stories by MagsGraphics

A Mish-Mosh of Mesh by MagsGraphics

font - Constantia

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Isaiah 40:31

Boys will be BOYS!

I just love these photos of my great-nephews Cade & Korbin. I'm SO blessed to have so many "boys" in my life (3 sons, 2 grandsons, 'many' nephews & 4 great-nephews)....AND they're among my favorite subjects to scrap!

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These 2 precious wig-wams are my brother Gary's grandchildren. He went to be with the Lord 18 years ago, so never got to meet them. I see Gary every time I see these precious little boys.

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Mud-Play!

 credits: Oh! Happy Day kit by 3 Li'l Monsters Designs

font - Century Gothic

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Isaiah 40:31

Swim Lessons

Lots of memories here. We watched Star Wars for the very 1st time after their swim lessons one day... with all 3 boys in a shopping cart at the Navy Exchange... in the TV department... feet hurt after standing for so long, but it was worth it! We now have ALL the episodes... on Blu-Ray! 

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credits: Fresh Start kit and November TemplateGrab Bag "Not Just One" #2 by 3Li'l Monsters Designs
font - Elephants in Cherry Trees

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Isaiah 40:31

Who likes moving?

Here's a mark for every time I've moved:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That's a LOT of experience moving! We've survived this move by almost 8 yrs :-)

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credits: Moving In kit by Milly Dee Designs

font - Myriad Pro

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Isaiah 40:31

Lots of Frames

Love My Man

credits: Oh Love kit by Eirene Designs 

font - CK Terzini

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Beloved Pets

credits: Color Me Happy kit by Eirene Designs

font - CK Terzini

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Isaiah 40:31

Here Fishy, Fishy...

Mags now has Newsletter Freebies... the one AVAILABLE NOW is calle Lake House. It provided the perfect backdrop to scrap some fishing memories (btw, I hold the family 'King Salmon' record (not seen in these layouts).

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credits: Lake House newsletter freebie
SIGN UP NOW! http://eepurl.com/j0Mov
by MagsGraphics
fonts - Ck Newsman, CK Terzini

 

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Isaiah 40:31

I LOVE to Scrap!

Carley recently did a OKC (one-kit-call) on her FB page. I got to use this FABULOUS kit and its GORGEOUS colors to do 2 layouts. The finished design was a 'double-page' spread that I ended up using for my PC desktop (widescreen monitor). The layout says it all :-)

I  ♥  To Scrap

 credits: From the Desk Of kit by Carley's Digi-Scraps

LO by janieinMN featuring Carley's photomask #28

fonts - Chiller, CK Grocery List

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Isaiah 40:31

Cubbie Feet!

I'm a HUGE fan of the North American Bear Center and the Wildlife Research Institute's bear study. The cubbie viewing has been awesome at Black Bear Jewel's Den Cam.

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Jewel's cubbies

Black Bear Jewel's Den Cam

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 credits:screen shot by janieinMN -- Jewel's Black Bear Den Cam

Capture the Moment kit & alpha by Binty Designs (March 2012 grabbag)

font - Space Toaster

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A long-term study of black bear ecology and behavior is being conducted by the Wildlife Research Institute near Ely, Minnesota, less than 30 miles from the Canadian border.

You can visit the Bear Center's website to watch the live cam feeds and learn more about the history of each bear. Please, consider making a donation to help with this incredible research program.

 

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Isaiah 40:31

Scrapping FAVORITES...

My favorite subjects to scrap are our 3 sons (mainly the 'growing up' pics), 2  grandsons (ages 4 1/2 and 2), my puppy (now 7 1/2 months!), my honeybun (of course!!), my 'great'-nephews, and family adventures. Here are a few layouts (using kits by MagsGraphics) that use almost all my 'favorite' subjects :-)

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Keiko-Stylin'!

Keiko Dakota

  credits: Baby It's Cold Outside kit by MagsGraphics, font - Gabriola

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My Babies

credits: Trendy Baby kit by MagsGraphics

fonts - SA-Serif, Segoe Script, Times New Roman

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Snow Wars

 credits: Snow Day kit by MagsGraphics

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Christmas Eve 1991

 credits: Easter Fun kit by MagsGraphics, Template by Simple Kelly Designs

font - Century Gothic

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Digi-Scrapping using TEMPLATES...

There are times when I love using templates... and my favorite template designer is Binty Designs (see the layouts of our SD vacation, and our boy's early year adventures following these few template tips).

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TEMPLATE TIPS: Open up the Template psd 1st. Do a SaveAs and rename it. Then open your photos (edit as desired), then pull them into your template psd. Then pull in your elements & papers, placing them in the layers above the template layer they'll be going in (you can always pull them in any ole' way if you like, but then it takes a lot longer to click & drag them into place because you have to scroll with them to get them in the proper layer). SAVE YOUR FILE.  Then start playing!! FREQUENTLY save your file. You never know when your program might freeze on you... believe me, it's NOT FUN to lose your artwork cuz you forgot to save it since you started!! So, save, Save, SAVE your file!!

Sharing this tip because I began a couple of layouts yesterday (using my 'normal' approach) and decided after pulling in all the papers & ellies that I wanted to use a template. It ended up taking much longer than it usually takes when using a template... so thought I'd pass on what I learned... and HOPEFULLY I'll remember for the next time :-)

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MY NORM: The above is the opposite of how I usually do a layout. I normally create a new file (12x12, 300dpi), open & edit photos (making sure they're also 300dpi and resized accordingly), pull them into the new SB file. Pull in the papers & ellies that I like (sometimes I start with the "entire" kit). SAVE FILE. At this point, I place my cursor on the little check boxes to the left of the layer thumbnails and I click & drag to hide ALL the embellishments (or elements as they're referred to in digi-scrapping). I work on the photo placement (with or without frames/masks). Then I play with placing the ellies... SAVE FILE. Then I play with the papers... layering, blending, etc. SAVE FILE. When everything is in place and I'm happy with the LO, then I give it the finishing touches... the special effects (drop shadows, beveling, strokes, glows... whatever works to make the right things POP). SAVE FILE. Then I merge all the visible layers, delete the hidden if I missed any, resize to 72dpi and SaveAs PNG file. Then I do a SaveForWEB and select JPG and 600px, apply & Save. This gives me a high quality photo for uploading to my FB albums (using the PNG) and the right sized JPG for uploading to my digi-galleries.

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WINDOWS 7: Before we got our new PCs, I was using dual monitors (17") and loved being able to have both file explorer open to the directory of the kit I was using and PSE and drag things across the screens... windows large enough to actually SEE everything. Now, with W7... I have a widescreen monitor (23") and can split my screen lickity-split and do the same thing (dual-monitors using only 1). The way-cool thing about W7 is you don't have to do all the sizing by hand... you just click & hold the windows icon button (usually between control & alt on the lower left of your keyboard) then click the left or right arrow (depending on which side you want the open window to snap to). It's great!!

And now for the layouts using these great templates by Binty -- btw, she's got a fantastic retirement deal going on thru the end of March that includes some of her templates along with several kits that I've used before.... totally worth checking out... it's amazing what she's bundled for only $5!

I did the following layouts using Binty's January, February & March 2012 GrabBags (come with a full kit, set of templates, alpha(s) and usually an extra little goodie or two).

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Love to Read

Be Like Daddy

credits: Everyday Templates Vol3 (March 2012 grab bag) and Home Sweet Home kit  
(Jan 2012 grab bag) by Binty Designs, font - Steamer

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Hospital Adventures

credits: Binty's February 2012 Grab Bag! plus Enjoy Life Everyday Addon (freebie)
font - OCR-A II

Peter's 1st Birthday

credits: Binty's February 2012 Grab Bag! plus Enjoy Life Everyday Addon (freebie)

fonts - problem secretary

Jonathan's 3rd Birthday

credits: Binty's February 2012 Grab Bag! plus Enjoy Life Everyday Addon (freebie)
fonts - Ravie, SBC Love Mom

Andrew's 4th Birthday

credits: Binty's February 2012 Grab Bag! plus Enjoy Life Everyday Addon (freebie),

fonts - SBC Stone Inscription, Schindler

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Smokey and Bear Country USA

credits: Colors of Summer kit by Binty Designs, Everyday Templates vol.1#4 
(Jan2012 Grab Bag) by Binty Designs, font - Gabriola

Black Hills - SD Wildflowers

credits: Colors of Summer kit by Binty Designs, Everyday Templates vol.1#3 
(Jan2012 Grab Bag) by Binty Designs,  
fonts - Gabriola, Geometr231 LtBT, Herald, LokiCola, Jokerman, Mandingo

SD Bear Country USA

credits: Colors of Summer kit by Binty Designs, Everyday Templates vol.1#1 
(Jan2012 Grab Bag) by Binty Designs, font - Gabriola

R-J Photography

credits: Colors of Summer kit by Binty Designs, Everyday Templates vol.1#2 
(Jan2012 Grab Bag) by Binty Designs, font - Gabriola

You can find these wonderful kits & templates of Binty's at

Bits2Bits or DigitalScrapCafe.

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Isaiah 40:31