Cheyenne Frontier Days

(Kit: As We Know It by Sweet Digi Scraps; fonts: Bleeding Cowboys and Century)

It's that time of year, when thousands of people descend on Cheyenne from around the country to participate in the Frontier festivities.  This is our third summer living here, and so far we had managed to be out of town for all but a few days, and as such have avoided the crowds, the food, and the fuss.  Since we will be moving before next year's CFD, I decided to take Maggie (and John, though he won't remember) down to see what it was all about. She has asked to go every year, and every year we've found some way to convince her to wait until next year.  This year, I relented, and we headed to Frontier Park yesterday.  We spent most of the afternoon walking from the Indian Village, to Wild Horse Gulch (where there are a lot of vendors), and back to the Indian Village. We didn't actually go in to the park, but don't tell Maggie that means we didn't see everything there was to see!  Not knowing how long John was going to last in the heat and the stroller, I didn't feel like paying to get into the park only to turn around and leave. But we did see several neat performances at the Indian Village -- traditional dancers, storytellers, song-makers, drummers, and a flute maker.  It was a fun, exhausting day. And I was the only one who ended up sunburned.  Guess I need to practice applying the sunscreen more thoroughly to myself! 

Is summer over yet?

No, I don't really wish for summer to be over. I am enjoying the time with both my kiddos home and the freedom to do as much or as little as I want on any given day. I ask if summer is over yet because for a change, the weather outside is comfortable -- which means I can stand to have the laptop burning into my legs, rather than it being too hot without adding the extra heat.  I have a few layouts from our recent trip. Three are from our stop in Washington, and one is from the stop in Idaho. 

First up, this layout from the beach.  I used to play at this beach when I was my daughter's age, so it was fun to see her playing at the same place.  Only the kids are brave enough to actually swim in the water though...it is the Puget Sound, so it's always colder than it looks! (Kit: Lazy Summer Days by Tempus fugit)

Next is one about my grandparent's 60th Wedding Anniversary.  I will have more layouts from this party later...this was just a quick overview page. (And if any of my family is reading this, check my math on the number of family members...I always get lost when I'm counting. :)  (Kit: Polar Opposites blog train by the designers at My Life and Scrap)

This quick layout uses pictures my mom took on the morning after the 4th of July.  She and Maggie had spent the night on the boat, and this was during their morning puttering, before my dad, John and I got there later in the morning. (Kit: Moment in the Sun by Connie Prince, Word art by Jennifer at World Art World)

Finally, from our Idaho trip, a layout about Johnny falling asleep so quickly we weren't prepared for it.  (Kit: Blue Night by Z Pink Boudoir, template by Kate's Digital Designs)

Hopefully soon, I will get to more of the Idaho layouts, but most of those pictures are still on my camera. I also have some pictures of the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's trick planes, flying over our neighborhood that I hope to scrap soon. 

After working on that last layout, I realized it had been a while since I had told a story completely on a layout.  In August, I am challenging myself to remember to focus on the story as much as I can, even if it means I don't use all the pictures I've taken.  It has been fun using so many different pictures, but the story behind those pictures are what will matter later.  Part of this was inspired by a new site I found this week (well, it's new to me anyway) called Log Your Memory.  The focus at LYM is to focus on the stories about real life.  I have great celebration pages with stories, but sometimes forget to scrap the everyday moments.  So in to August we go -- Maggie goes back to school, we'll begin to prep the house for our move, and I will focus on the stories. 

More summer layouts

I have three more layouts that I've put together in the last few days.  I've noticed I have a lot of layouts lately with Johnny, and not so many with Maggie, and the same goes for the photos I've taken. It's a lot easier to make Johnny sit for pictures than Maggie, and she's often out playing at friends' houses so I can't say, "Hey, let me take your picture!"  I'll have to try to catch her when I can. :)

Perfect Summer Day (Kit: Nonaddictive Opposite by jusmedigital)

U and Me (Kit: Glorious Mess by Z Pink Boudoir, blue flower and button (recolored) from Funky Fresh by Z Pink Boudoir)

Manzanita Beach (Kit: Lazy Summer Days by Tempus fugit)

Catch-up Day

Part of me loves vacation -- the chance to ignore reality for a few days (or weeks) and just play, visit, and play some more.  The other part of me isn't as fond of vacations -- the piles of laundry, empty fridge, and task of getting everyone back on schedule that faces me at the end of a vacation is enough to make me wish to never leave Real Life again.  But, despite the few days of increased workload on the return, we had a great time visiting family and friends over the last two weeks.  We packed the last 19 days with as much play as we could, and saw as many people as we could. We ran out of time in a few instances, which just means we have to go back again soon!  I brought my laptop and EHD with me so I could continue to scrap, even if I didn't get a chance to upload those layout. The best part of having everything with me is that I could scrap pictures of our trip as they happened if I wanted!  The layout above is a perfect example of that.  I snapped a few shots of Maggie playing in the pool and a few days later had a completed layout, without ever returning home. 
(Summer Fun supplies: Polar Opposites Blog Train Summer kit by Z Pink Boudoir)

Here a a few other layout I created while I was away:

Splish Splash (Kit: Mizzen Mixture by jusme digital)

Grandma & Me (Kit: Sunshiney Day by jusme digital)

Happy Girl (Kit: Sunshiney Day by jusme digital)

Grand Ol' Fourth

Looking at my 4th of July photos this year, I wanted papers and elements that were full of stars, but didn't really want to go buy another kit (which always turns in to buying multiple kits), since I had just paid the bills the previous night and was feeling the pressure!  Since I wanted to use a lot of stars, and I knew Photoshop had some star shapes and brushes loaded as standard shapes, I decided to see what I could create.  I ended up with 5 papers and several elements that I was very happy with, and then used those items to create this layout. It took me a couple hours to put it all together, and some things still need a little tweaking to get the way I envision, but it was fun.  Fun in a "I'll do it once" kind of way. I'm not sure its something I want to do often, but every so often, when a color scheme hits me, or other such inspiration hits, it was kind of fun.  (It might also make it easier to justify a full version of Photoshop, since there were a few things I wanted to create but couldn't do in Elements.) So for  change, there are no credits on this layout, all elements were created by ME!

Two MLAS layouts

Kit: Birthday Poem by Z Pink Boudoir Designs

Kit: Panda Parade by Jaime Dell Scraps

These are a few of my latest layouts.  I haven't been creating as much this week, since I am on vacation, but have gotten a little bit of work done!  I have another layout I'll post shortly using papers and elements I created myself, and another couple layouts by my designers of the month at My Life & Scrap.  Enjoy your day!

A week worth of layouts

I started my vacation this week, but haven't stopped scrapping!  The computer and EHD were some of the first items added to the list of things to pack. I had the opportunity to work with a couple kits before they were released at MLAS last week: Panda Parade by Jaime Dell Scraps and Roses are Red by @Jacquies.

I have also started working with the kits from my July designers, Z Pink Boudoir Designs and Karen Wallace Designs.  This is the layout I created with Funky Fresh by Z Pink Boudoir Designs.  I love the bright colors and the contrasting orange and blue. It worked very well with the photos of Johnny "eating" oatmeal. :)

The last layout I have today is one I created after I found my son flipped around in his bed one night. I had to stifle a laugh when I walked back in his room and found him turned opposite of how I put him in his crib. (Template by Litabell Designs. Kit: Why Don't We by Sweet Digi Scraps and ribbon from As We Know It by Sweet Digi Scraps, Word Art by Jennifer at Word Art World)