New { To Me }

My Stampin' Up! order came in yesterday- it actually came EARLY. Love That. In the brown cardboard box of delights was my new digital scrap booking system. Now, I'm a little picky ( okay, a lot ) and I prefer scrapping the old fashioned way- you know, with PAPER, cutter, buttons, flowers and sewing. However, this system is surprisingly easy to use { though, I know I still have a lot to learn- HUGE learning curve for me!} and I can see how practical having one on your computer can be. There will be times that I want to do some scrapping and I don't have my "goodies" with me. It can be such a bother trying to pack up scrappy things and ULTIMATELY I end up forgetting one or MORE things that I need in order to complete my project(s). I really hate it when I realize I can't go any further on a project because I have forgotten my glue dots, or the right color of paper.

The brown polka dot layout above is the most recent one I've done. I made it for my sister Rae for my new niece's bedroom. A welcome to our family layout. I used the brown "paper" because she's wearing a brown outfit in several of the pictures ( and also because my sister hates pink).

This green one is actually my very first attempt at digital scarp booking. It was a little frustrating at first- mostly because it took a little time ( HUGE learning curve, remember) for me to figure out how to delete items that I didn't like. All in all, not bad for my first attempt.

These pictures were taken with my cell phone camera. They turned out better than I expected. Especially since the camera only has 3 mega pixels. We left the house early one morning before school to stop at Starbucks for a special before school treat. Since we don't do things like that very often I made sure to take pictures to commemorate our time together. Also, it's good to have them for when the kids say - "you never do anything with us"...I can whip out these pictures and show them!

This is my beautiful niece Kalea. This layout is a Mother's Day gift for her mom ( my sister ). It's going to be so much easier framing this. Those nice $6 Michael's frames will work perfectly. I have to use a shadow box if I want to add layers to my paper scrapping layouts. Which looks good but can be very spency.

I did this last layout to commemorate my brother's return from Afghanistan. He had been away from his family for 7 months- and I know it was hard on him as well as my sister and Kalea. Thank you for serving and protecting our way of life! I love this photo my sister took. Both of them look so happy being together. Kalea's smile tells me that all is finally right with her world! I'm very glad. Welcome home JR. You were missed.

Now that my cupcakes have finally cooled- I need to wrap them up and put them away ( to be frosted tomorrow). We are celebrating my daughter's 16TH birthday at the park tomorrow- I made all the decorations - so hopefully everything turns out the way I see it in my head! I'll share photos tomorrow. Have a great night and a fabulous weekend! -Katherine