Simply Sisters

I really like this photo of my sisters and me. Unfortunately, the original colored version was really washed out, but with the help of a photographer friend, Brittany Dengerud, the black-and-white/sepia version is much more clear and detailed. Weren't we cute?

Sue

Materials: "Flower Candy", Dinphy; Bubbles Babbles (flower bouquet); Mrs. Mikes (purple paper)
Photo editing assistance: Brittany Dengerud
Programs: GIMP, PSE 6
Font: French Script MT
I submitted this layout for the DSO November Color Challenge.

Bust the Bank

On the day we celebrated Harry’s birthday, Harry and the boys played “Bust the Bank” for five hours. This is the guys' version of Monopoly where all the players work together as a team to try force the Bank into bankruptcy. You can really see them "wheeling and dealing" in these pictures.

I know they enjoyed the game, but five hours seems a bit excessive. However, Steven argued I probably spent five hours making a scrapbook layout of their game. With all the photos, extractions, and photo editing I did for these two pages, he is probably right. But that's not excessive. That's FUN!!

Sue



Credits:
Materials: Template 87, Simply Yin; “Fresh” papers, Stolen Moments & Digi-designs by Nicole; all elements photographed and extracted or designed by me
Programs: GIMP, PSE 6
Fonts: Mistral, Arial, Arial Bold
I submitted this layout for the DSO November Altered Photo Challenge.

Birthday Bowling

To celebrate Harry's birthday, our family and Kristine went bowling. Some of us did quite well, while I firmly held down last place. There was lots of laughter, and we all had a blast!

In the last game, Kristine and John were neck-and-neck the whole game. The photo of the scoreboard shows them tied in the 8th frame. Kristine won in the end, but John is still her friend.

This was a challenging set of pages to make. Can you tell I tried some new things? With the aid of stock photos, I “made” a bowling ball and bowling pin. That was SO COOL! I included talk bubbles for the first time. I think they add a bit of humor. I also experimented with shadows to make the bowling ball and pin at the bottom of the first page appear more 3-D. These are all little things, but they really get me charged up!

There’s still one more layout from Harry’s birthday celebration in the works!

Sue



Credits:
Materials: Template 87, Simply Yin; “Fresh” (some items modified), Stolen Moments & Digi-designs By Nicole; “From the Heart” alpha, Suzy Q Scraps; Talk Bubbles (modified), The Maltese Scrapper; Stock photos by Jeremy Sanders, Sachin Ghodke, diermit, and Bas Driessen, stock.xchng; bowling ball, pin, and lane made by me with the aid of my photos or stock photos
Programs: GIMP, PSE 6
Fonts: Sans, Sans Bold

Talk Bubbles:
- I can’t believe it! Another split!
- Mom’s taking ANOTHER picture! I’ll pretend to be excited.
- Now, what color was my ball?
- I hope I don’t fall on my face!
- A little more to the left …
- We’re still friends even though you’re beating me.

Playing at the Park

We all had a great time when we visited the park close to where we used to live ten years ago. You never outgrow fun. However, you can outgrow the play equipment.

Sue



Credits:
Materials: Template 87, Simply Yin; “Fresh” (some parts modified), Stolen Moments & Digi-designs by Nicole; “Picnic” grass (re-colored), Joni Gray Digi-Scrap Freebies; “Bruissements d'Ailleurs” sun - Mihiana (modified), Au coin de l’objectif
Programs: GIMP, PSE 6
Fonts: Boopee Bold, Minya Nouvelle Bold

The phrases printed on the green ribbons include:
.... SHOUT .... CHORTLE .... SMILE .... LAUGH .... GIGGLE .... PLAY TAG .... RUN FAST .... SPIN AROUND .... ACT SILLY .... JUMP UP .... SWING HIGH .... DIG DIRT .... CLIMB TREES .....

Belated Birthday Bash

We celebrated Harry's birthday a couple of weeks late, but we sure had fun! Kristine joined our family for the day as we went bowling, played in the park, ate pizza and cake, and watched a movie. Kristine and I bowed out of the 5-hour Monopoly game, but Harry and the boys seemed to enjoy it. Maybe it's a guy thing.

It truly was a day to remember! This is the second layout I've made about this wonderful family time; the first was "Big Boys, Little Toys", the last post. I have three more double pages in the works, so watch for them in the coming days.

Sue

Credits:
Materials: “ Fresh”, Stolen Moments & Digi-designs by Nicole; CU party hat (modified “Fresh” papers) & “Birthday Cow” cupcake candle (modified), Kim B’s Designs; Template 12, Sugarplum Shanty
Programs: GIMP, PSE 6
Fonts: Shark Random Funnyness; Arial Bold

Big Boys, Little Toys

We went back to see the house we owned ten years ago (1997-1999). Afterward, the boys tried the play equipment at the park nearby, but somehow everything seemed smaller.

It was a riot to see these four guys try to cram into a dinky car on a spring! Balancing the load without dumping over was a big challenge. Notice David is literally pulling Steven's leg, John is grimacing in the back, and Steven is falling out of the car. In one of the photos you can't even see Harry, but be assured he was buried somewhere in there!

Sue



Credits:
Materials: “Funky Flowers” black paper, Joni Gray’s Digiscrap Freebies; “My Guy” alpha, Ziggle Designs; alphabet blocks, Gunhild Storeide; “Little Man” car (re-colored), Scrappyweiss Designs; CU grosgrain ribbons, Shazbutt Digi-Scrapz
Programs: GIMP, PSE 6
Font: Huxtable

Puppy Love

My sister and her family just adopted a puppy. Bred from a 20-pound male miniature poodle and a 60-pound female golden retriever, this miniature golden doodle is non-shedding and hypoallergenic. I didn’t know dogs could be hypoallergenic. As you can see from the photos below, there were smiles all around when Riley came home. Isn’t he cute?

Sue



Credits:
Materials: Template 2, Jenn Murphy Scraps; “Best Friend” elements (re-colored & modified), Digi-Designs By Nicole; DSO October 2009 Color Challenge (papers, modified), Light Mistress; “Falling For You” alpha, Scraps N Pieces (Lori Nielsen & Heidi Marchant); “Love & Joy” (“Love” wordart, re-colored), Stolen Moments; chrome heart (modified), Delicious Scraps; Gunhild Storeide CU jeans texture & my texture (photo, title and journal mats)
Programs: GIMP, PSE 6; Font: Arial Bold
I submitted these pages to the DSO October Color and Animal Kingdom Challenges.