I Worry...It's What I Do...

My family thinks I worry too much. And by "family" I really mean my dad, my brother, and my hubby. I admit it...I'm a worrier. But no more than most mothers. Or at least...I don't think I worry more than most mothers. What if I do worry more than most mothers??? Should I be worried about that??!! Anyway, I get that from my mom...thanks, Mom. But she has taken it to new levels. She says things and I swear she is just sitting around trying to find new things to worry about. It's like that Kevin Bacon game for her now...everything leads back to a reason to worry. Like...my brother's house has some pretty steep basement steps but they always keep the door closed. They have a lock on it but it doesn't keep you from opening it from the inside. So my mom is always worried that their soon-to-be three year old is going to open the door and plumet down the stairs. Okay...that's not such a stretch. Here's where it gets a little overboard. She's worried that one of the kids is going to sleep walk and open the door in the middle of the night thinking that they are opening the bathroom door. Neither of the kids has every had any kind of sleepwalking episodes...yet. (They're 6 and 3.) And...Mom & I were taking a little walk through our paths (through the woods but not a deep woods...just close to the house). We had Sydney and Whitney with us and they are both six and getting very independent. They decided that they wanted to walk ahead of us. I said no, of course, because I don't want them out of my sight. My mom, however, says..."No, girls. You need to stay with us. A deer could come running out of the woods and hit right into you and you don't want that." A deer could run into you. She said that. I thought that was hilarious! I mean, I guess technically it could happen but of all the things to worry about when you're in the woods...if you can worry about a deer, how are you able to get past the idea of things like snakes or bears or coyotes. Oh my...my dear, sweet mother. Okay...I think I've rambled enough about that. hehe!!

How about a little sneak peek of one of my design team hybrid layouts??

I had some really gorgeous American Crafts papers to work with and, of course, the Moods cd from Digital Scrapbook Memories. (Did I mention that I'm loving that one??) Oh...and our word for today in the Photo-a-Day challenge at Flickr was "white." I had big plans of snapping a really cool, out-of-the-ordinary shot and...I just didn't have it in me today. So, I snapped a picture of this...

Not so fabulous but...I kind of liked it. And I think I found the picture that I'm going to use for my blog header. Our word for yesterday was "comfort" so I had a few ideas but I settle on...my blue jeans! What's more comfortable than your favorite pair of jeans, right?? And I actually really liked this shot & I think I'm going to use it to make a header...

Whew! That was a long-winded post!! Okay...so that's all for now! I'm heading over to Flickr to see if our word for tomorrow has been posted yet. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!!

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My Computer Misses Me...

I can sure tell it's summer!! I've been outside with the kids and not on the computer nearly as often as I was before school let out! My poor, neglected computer. awww.... But, I hopped on today and did a little digital scrapping. I got my two digital design team layouts finished and I'm going to work on my hybrid one tonight...yay!! I have to say...I'm loving the new cd that Erica sent me. It's Digital Scrapbook Memories "Moods" cd and it is loaded with fun goodies. Here's a little sneaky-peeky of one of my pages...

Oh my goodness...this has nothing to do with anything, it just popped into my head. Yesterday, guess what my mom got in the mail??? The JCPenney Fall/Winter catalog!!! And everywhere I look, there are summer clearance sales! Really??! I have only bought one summer shirt so far this year. I guess I'd better hit some of those sales before the stores are loaded with sweaters and parkas!! Okay...sorry for the random babble...anyway... I've been keeping up with my pic-a-day challenge, too. I haven't posted any pictures in a few days so I thought I'd share some...

Those are my nieces cute little red shoes sitting on the bench waiting for her. I used that one for our free day.

One of my many attempts at the word "bright." My shirt had the little sparkley sequins on it that kept blinding me so I snapped a picture. hehe. And the picture at the top of the post was one of my other bright attempts. I can't wait to see what our word is for tomorrow. I hope it's something I can pull of indoors because I think we're supposed to get storms. Did I mention that Leah is doing a killer job keeping us motivated and organized with this challenge?? She really is...thank you, girl!! Alright...I guess I've done enough rambling for today. Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great evening!!

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"Simple"

That was our inspiration for today..."simple." I had some ideas but I just thought I'd keep the photo uncluttered and easy to look at, maybe even monochromatic...you know, simple. So I started with this one...just some little pieces of gravel in a heart-shape on a wooden step. Pretty simple, right?? And I actually really liked it except for one little thing. That little piece of a shadow in the lower left corner. And since we agreed to no cropping, I just couldn't make myself use it. It just bothered me...isn't that silly??? So, I kept thinking about simple things or sayings about simple things like "easy as pie" or "piece of cake" but I didn't want to do something like that. So I thought about my kids and the simplicity of things through their eyes. Like, things are either right or wrong, no grey areas for kids. And love...the love of a child is so simple and pure. No worrying about whether someone might hurt you or being suspicious of people. They love with all of their heart...completely. So...I cut a little heart out of a piece of felt and asked my daughter to lend a hand, literally. hehe! And here's the shot I chose for my "simple" submission:

I'm pretty happy with that one. And I think I see a scrapbook page in my future, too. So those are my two favorite shots for today. Our word for Saturday is "summer" and Sunday is a free day so we get to upload any photo we want! Should be a fun photo weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!! Don't forget to snap a few shots today!! :-)

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More photo lovin'

I am just lovin' getting to know my camera again!! And taking pictures that are just for me...for no other reason than I like it. How fun is that?!? I was out taking some shots for our photo-a-day challenge word of the day, "go," and I decided to snap a few pictures of my good ol' cowboy boots. I wear them constantly and they certainly help me go places. But I have to tell you...I looked pretty silly leaning over trying to get the angle that I wanted on my own leg. Bizarre little position. But I like the picture that I got.

And I did take a pretty normal shot of my boots that I liked, too...

And then while I was checking out the fabulous Miss Elsie's blog, I saw a link that she had posted to a really cool tutorial for a really fun photoshop process. So I gave it a try!! It's very subtle but I kind of liked it. Whatcha' think??

It's just sort of...dirtier, maybe. Anyway...a couple more pictures and then I'll be all done. hehe. I really wanted my "go" picture to show movement and have some level of blurring so I snapped this one from the passenger seat this morning.

But this is the one that I actually chose to upload for my "go" photo-of-the-day....

So there you have it...some of the things that I've been seeing and capturing today!!! Did I mention how much I'm lovin' this??? Thanks for stopping by!!!

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Today's "smooth" challenge & other pics...

That's just one of the pictures that I snapped today...not for the challenge...just because I wanted to...isn't that the best kind?? Our word for today was "smooth." I have to admit...when I saw the word that Leah posted for our inpiration for today, my first thought was the song by Rob Thomas. Ha! But since I didn't have RT close by to snap a picture of, my second thought was a nice, new jar of peanut butter...you know how nice and smooth it is before you dive in. Love that. But...I didn't have Rob Thomas or a new jar of peanut butter, (wouldn't that have been cool if I had RT holding a new jar of peanut butter....now that would be smooth! hehe), I had to think of something else. I kept leaning toward chrome or the really cool lines of a car or motorcycle but I ended up grabbing some of those decorative glass rocks that people use for vases. My son has had a collection of those since he was little...he used them for his loaders and dump trucks. He'd spend hours loading up dump trucks full of those things, hauling them off, and dumping them in just the right spot. Ahhh...memories. Anyway, I grabbed a handful of those pretty little rocks and snapped a few shots. I wasn't too thrilled with them at first so I grabbed a glass that was my grandmother's...some sort of thick, collectible glass...I'm clueless but it was smooth. But I ended up liking the shots of the little glass rocks once I saw them on the computer. Here's the one I chose to upload for today...

The colors turned out much better than I expected. This is straight from the camera...no adjusting other than sizing down for the web. And here's one of the shots of my grandmother's glass...

I liked the green shadow that the sun was casting through the glass...kind of neat. And I grabbed some shots of my daughter and my niece while we were picking some wild strawberries...yummy...and I was pretty happy with some of those, too.

And finally....my very favorite photo of the day...I just love this one....

Sorry for all of the pictures but I have just been having so much fun rediscovering the manual functions on my camera!! I hope everyone is having a great day and I hope you take the time to snap at least one picture today! Thanks for stopping by!!!

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More pics and a new page...

Our word for the ACB photo-a-day challenge for today was "color." It was hard for me to decide what to photograph and then once I started snapping...it was hard to decide which one to choose. But that's the one that I settled on. I wanted to use leading lines and I wanted it to be pretty strong so that's why I chose that one. But here are a couple more that I liked, too.

And...I actually finished a scrapbook page the other day that wasn't digital! Can you believe it?? The picture doesn't really show the little details like the Stickles that I added here and there but you can get the general idea anyway. I used some Sassafrass Lass papers from the fabulous AC Bailey May Kit of the month!! It is such a wonderful kit!!

I think I dulled my knife with the handcutting on that one! hehe!! But I had fun with that one! It started out on red cardstock but that made it a little girlie so I switched to the brown. So that's some of the fun stuff that I've been dabbling in lately. And did I mention that Tab & I finally got that crazy yearbook finished and it is now in the printing process!! *whew!* Tab really stepped up to the plate and knocked that one out! Thanks, again, Tab for all of your hard work!! I hope everyone is having a great day!!! Thanks for visiting!!

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A Fun New Challenge

My friend, Leah, has started a new challenge for us at AC Bailey!! (Thank you, Leah!!!) I'm really excited about this one! It's a photo-a-day challenge to help all of us sharpen our photography skills. Leah will post a weekly focus...this week's is composition. And then each day she will post a word that we use for inspiration for our photo. The first word was "inspire." I snapped some pictures of my daughter...she inspires me in so many ways. To be more open and free, to not be afraid of being silly, to smile...

Anyway...I had to do some running yesterday so I only had about 10 minutes to snap some shots and get them uploaded. I took about 20 pictures but I settled on this one. We decided to limit the amount of editting so I didn't adjust this one...just resized it for the upload.

Our word for today is "color." I snapped some shots already but I haven't downloaded them yet. I think I want to try a few more options before I settle on just one. You know me...so indecisive!! Oh and...a new template for today, too!! This one will be a little more summery and bright. I'll have to live with it for a day or two and see what I think. I'll be back later with my picture for the day. Thanks for stopping by!!!

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Quick pic!!

Okay...just got back from getting my hair colored for the first time ever! I snapped a couple quick pictures but none of them turned out but I'm still going to post this one until I can get a better one. The fabulous Ms. Brianne Smith, owner of Full Volume Hair & Nails, did this for me today!! Thank you, girl!! (And her birthday is on Saturday...Happy Birthday!!) So here's a little peek...ignore the goofy look on my face!!

I'll post some better ones later...just wanted to get one uploaded!! I actaully have a lot more blonde throughout than the picture shows but you get the idea...hopefully. hehe. Gotta run again...thanks for stopping by!!!

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I Have Been a Bad Blogger!!!

Where have I been??? Goodness...I fell behind. With all of the end-of-the-year activities at school and the kids being home now and all of the sunshine that we've been having, I just haven't been in front of the computer much. And I've been trying to work on the yearbook for my kids' school but it's been slow going for me. Thank goodness our PTO president, Tab, has picked up my slack!! She is going blazing through the pages!! THANK YOU, TAB!!
Anyway...I uploaded my DT pages to AC Bailey so I thought I'd share a couple of them here. I'm not sure why but I think this 8.5x11 digital page of Sydney is my favorite for this month. I just love that green paper!! And I am obsessed with the text/letter brushes that I used on this page. I used them a lot to make overlays for my acrylic album and I just loved the way it looked!





And my second digital DT page is one of my faves, too...just not my absolute favorite. I just can't seem to do a digi page without using some brushes! I guess I'm just addicted...what's a girl to do, right?? But how can you not love some fun star brushes?? They were the perfect finishing touch for this page of my son, Jesse.



So there are a couple of my DT layouts for this month. I also have some hybrid layouts that I'll upload this week. I used some more of the yummy Basic Grey Sultry paper for those...so pretty!! Oh and I go to get my hair colored for the first time ever (other than the do-it-yourself kind) on Thursday so I'll be posting some pictures after I have that done...good or bad, I'll be posting!! hehe. I hope everyone is having a great week!! Bu-bye!!

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Just babbling...

You'll probably see that title quite often on my blog. It's what I do...hehe. You'll have to pop over to the AC Bailey blog and check out the fabulous inspiration that Jess posted!! She made some lovely layouts and a super cute tray with the Basic Grey Sultry papers. I have those papers, too...love 'em!! I wasn't sure if I was going to like actually using them or not. Sometimes, I like to look at my Basic Grey more than use it but I actually chopped them up and played with them!! I have to say...I think my favorite piece was the green houndstooth!! I need to pick up a few more pieces of that...it was the first one to get used. We have a lot more inspiration to come on the blog. I'll be posting my DT projects on the 7th so be sure to check back for those!! Hope you get the chance to check it out!! Have a great day!!

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It's been launched!!

I'm so excited!! The AC Bailey blog has been officially unveiled! Once we really get into the swing of things, it's going to be a fun little place to get inspiration and great tips and techniques. I hope everyone will stop by and check us out at
http://www.acbailey.blogspot.com/
And, we have a winner!! Congratulations to Brandy!! She was our big winner at our Scrap Scouts challenge!! She rocked all of the challenges and earned a whopping 20 badges to make her the winner!! And guess what her prize is.....
a $100 prize package!!! Isn't that amazing!! So congratulations, Brandy!! You did an amazing job!! And it's not completely over yet....we have a scrap-off underway to determine the 2nd and 3rd place winners!! So good luck to the remaining ladies!! This should be fun!!!

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How 'bout this one??

Okay, so something happened with the template that I uploaded yesterday...it looked pretty cool while it was working. Oh well...here's the one that I mentioned yesterday. I think it's pretty fun and cute but I'll need to test drive it for a little bit to see if I'm going to keep it or not. I'm so indecisive so don't be surprised if I keep changing things for a while. I'm digging the redecorating thing. teehee.
Today is the big official unveiling of the AC Bailey blog and don't forget...free shipping on all US orders on the first of every month...like today!! I have to place a little order today. Erica has some of those white Uniball pens in stock and I think I've been hearing them calling my name. Once the blog has been launched, I'll be sure to post a link and I think that today is the big announcement for the winners/scrap-off participants for the Scrap Scouts contest. Can't wait for that!! So I'll be back later with some updates!! Til then....

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