Memorial Day!

Chris and I started out this cloudy morning at the Laguna Hills Half Marathon. The 5K and half-marathon started together with around 6000 runners. It got a little crowded going through Leisure World, but the crowd thinned out quite a bit after the 5K broke away towards the finish line and Chris and I continued on with the half-marathon group. I use the term "Chris and I" very loosly, since the only time I saw Chris after the start was when he was looping back. Our unoffical times are: Chris 1:40, and me 1:58.

After that we had Memorial Day lunch at my mom and dad's house... and Memorial Day means Pool Setup Day! Everyone is hard at work. This year we managed not to make any mistakes!

Of course, it's not just the pool... the life guard tower needs assembly too!

It's not all work... the nieces and nephews are taking some time out for play.

Chris is being a little optomistic... it will take three days to fill the pool with enough water for swimming.

Cheryl and Chris are taking time out to try the tandem bike. Cheryl seems to be having some trouble getting on the front.

Okay, change in plans... Chris is going to do the driving...

My little niece racing Chris and Cheryl... looks like she's winning! When Cheryl got back she commented, "Do you know you can't steer from the back?"

Saddle on up! Time to go home!





WAIT FOR PAPA!!!

We hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day Holiday!

A Simple Card Share

I joined a challenge at Croppin' Paradise to make two simple cards with different sentiments. It took me two evenings to create the first card, but once I finally figured out what I wanted to do, they went fast!

In fact they went so fast, I made a few more:

polka dot background and sentiment stamps are from PTI.

Great Photos with Any Camera - Week 2

Whew two classes is keeping me busy. This week in Great Photos, we learned about composition. Here are my two favorite photos from the week:

The first photo was taken from above to take advantage of lighting, tilted to add interest, and zoomed in to see Cheryl's eyes.

The second photo (this is not Chris, BTW), is taken using the RULE OF THIRDS. Also the way his body is angled, it forms a visual triangle (which is supposed to be pleasing to the eye).

There is a lot to remember when framing a GREAT photo! I need to write these all down to remember them all... Okay, everyone look at the camera and freeze while I check my list! LOL!

Dimensional Details - Week 8

This week the class focused on PAINT! I wasn't as intimidated by painting on my layout as I was a few weeks ago. I WENT FOR IT!

There is no pretty patterned paper in this layout at all. I used watered down blue and green acrylic with orange splatters for the background. It looks like a thrown together MESS but it took me DAYS to finish!

I'm not quite sure I like it, but it won layout of the week at Croppin' Paradise, so I must have done something right!

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

Welcome PTI Blog Hoppers! This month we were asked to use felt. I used to have tons of felt from my sewing days, but I can't find any of it... not a single sheet! So instead, I got out some cute felt flowers that have been sitting in my stash for over a year. Those flowers made up quick into a cute card set.

I used the Around and About Sentiments from PTI. This is my favorite card making stamp set! I also used the Rickrack border die and the die for Fillable Frames #4.

I also made matching envelopes. I always try to make the envelopes when I make the cards, or else I won't do it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 52nd Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my Mom and Dad... 52 YEARS!!!

Congratulations Mom and Dad! We LOVE you!

Card Share and BIG NEWS!

First the BIG NEWS! I WON the scrapbook design contest over at Scrappin' Mojo using the layout in the previous post! I'll get a guest spot on the Scrappin' Mojo design team, and a sponsor kit to work with for June! I don't know who the sponsor is yet... This is so exciting!!!

I have some cards to share too. I'm enjoying rebuilding my card stash after the fun of giving the cards packs out for Mother's Day.

This card uses the Blooming Button Bits stamp set from PTI.

This card uses another stamp set from PTI called Cupcake Collection. I'm completely hooked on their stamps!!!

No stamps on this last one... no fancy die cutters... Nothing but scissors and an Xacto knife! I cut out the letter and glued them to a card front. Then I cut around each of the letters, leaving a border with the Xacto knife. I did the entire thing while watching the Dancing with the Stars results show. I can't believe the season is over already!

That's all I have to share today! Have a great weekend everyone!

Dimensional Details - week 7

Week 7's assignment was sewing on a layout. My layout has holes punched along the edge with a sewing machine (no thread), a stitched photo corner, and sting tied through buttons:

I also spent a long time editing this photo to give it a more dramatic look. I like the way it came out!

Great Photos with Any Camera - Week 1

I joined a new class starting this week. This class, as it's title implies, is supposed to teach us how to take GREAT PHOTOS even with a little point and shoot like I have. Here is my camera:

Yeah, it's new... Since I gave one of my cameras to my niece for her birthday, I'm feeling lost with only two cameras, lol! Not really... It's going to be a replacement for my big Olympus. It has the long zoom like the Olympus, but instead of being 3MP, it's 10MP! Plus the video has sound!!! I got a great deal on it. I work for Panasonic, and I won a coupon to the company store during the Spring Fever raffle! I'm looking forward to using this class to learn this camera better.

Our first assignment is on lighting. We are supposed to take a photo of the same item outdoors, in the same location, at 4 different times during the day and pick our favorite. Here are my photos. I used Chris as my subject (Cheryl is a pain because she has to keep fixing her hair and makeup, lol). The only photoshopping I did was to crop them so that they would fit on my screen. My favorite photo is the one at sunset. The shadows are softer and the color is nice and warm. My second favorite is sunrise-11am. The morning here was overcast, and the lighting in the photo is flat.

This was a pretty basic assignment. I'm hoping for more content this week!

Wild Weekend!

Hey, look! It's Jim's new friend...

Jim was out surfing this morning and felt a sharp pain in his foot. He surfed for about an hour before his foot started hurting so bad that he couldn't stand it. He went straight to the hospital. His foot was painful, black and swollen by then... They did tests and x-rays and they were in conclusive. The doctor thought it could be a nail/trash, sea urchin, or stingray. He started by soaking Jim's foot in hot water (the treatment for a sting from a stingray). Jim's relief was immediate. After x-rays to determine that the barb wasn't still in his foot, we got a perscription for pain killers/antibiotic, and went home.

When we got home, Cheryl asked if the hot water didn't work, would they have poured vinegar on his foot next for the sea urchin? "No vinegar is for jellyfish stings" You have to pee on his foot for a sea urchin! Ewwww....

After I picked up Jim's perscriptions, I took Chris to the passport office to convince them that they should still process his passport even though we were 3 hours late for our appointment. They were very accommodating... certainly NOT what I expected from a government agency. YAHOO! Both the kids are processed and should receive new passports in 6-weeks. I was talking to Cheryl... the next time she will have to renew her passport is when she's 30yrs, AND I'll be 60yrs!

Jim's foot is still sore, but better than it was... unfortunately he spent all afternoon throwing up from the pain killers. He still felt bad (stomach-wise) and missed going to the Galaxy game this evening. I went with the kids. Galaxy tied Toronto tonight 0-0. That means Galaxy is still undefeated! GO GALAXY!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Dimensional Details - week 6

This week at Dimensional Details we learned about titles... altering letters and mixing fonts. I used both of those techniques in my layout of the week:

It's not my best work, but I LOVE the photo of Chris. Tomorrow is a new week for Dimensional Details, AND the first week of a my new class "Get Great Photos With Any Camera." I'm so excited to learn how to use all those settings on my camera! YAHOO!

I'm following the directions that came with my Mother's Day flower bouquet. It says that today, I'm supposed to change the water and clip 1" off the bottom of the stems. Don't they look GREAT?!!