Happy 9th Birthday | Ruger

Happy Birthday Ruger.

Nine years ago today, I brought this darling little bundle of joy into the world!
Ruger is my baby and my baby is nine!
Gosh, so hard to believe that when he came home with me from the hospital he was surrounded by three older siblings who were babies themselves.
Rodney my oldest, had just turned six.
Riley my second born, had just turned five.
And my daughter, no kidding, had just turned two.

I survived.
You survived.
We survived.
I am here.
Right now.
Typing this.
But.
I am not the same.
I am forever changed.
And wouldn't change a thing!

I love you Ruger,
Mama

Digital Project Life | Week Twenty-Eight + A Freebie


Welcome to the Week of: July 8-14.
Photos: Canon dSLR: (2) iPhone: (3) Instagram: (1) 
Complete Digital Album Spread: 

Highlights: Mostly hanging out around the house.  
A few errands. Which was a well deserved break.
One of my faves... random close-up face shots!
Lowlights: All good this week. Thankful.
Left Side: Week 28 title card is a free download. Find the link at the end of this post.

Insert: I was hoping to plop the word art directly onto the sunset photo. I wasn't a fan.  This was the inspiration behind the transparency. Clever.. yes?


Right side: My weakness. Hello stunning sunset. Worthy of the entire page.

1. *Week 28 calendar title card free blog download  2. *photo templates  3. Karenika  4. *Digital Open Album  5. *Berry Bright Collection  6. Seafoam Collection  7. *Digital Transparency  * Melanie Britt

Tech Stuff:

is a memory keeping system developed by Becky Higgins.  I contributed to her Project Life e-book available here. You can find traditional supplies here and here. The digital aspect of this system is available at AC Digitals.
Looking for the July Week 28 title card?
Click here to download now.
Please leave me a comment and let me know you downloaded it.
This will help me to decide if I should do more free blog downloads.
Thanks so much!

Sorry, download no longer available, and has been downloaded 236 times.
Make sure you don't miss another one by liking my facebook page.
 728 x 90

Digital Project Life | Week Twenty-Seven + free download


Welcome to the Week of: July 1-7.

Photos: Canon dSLR: (12) iPhone: (8) Instagram: (0) I used all originals this week.

Complete Digital Album Spread:

Highlights: Watching Tangled on the lawn at our church.
Spending everyday outside playing with firecrackers and cooling off in the waterhose. (Not at the same time.)
Had fun watching the boys put together our home firework show. (Every year this gets bigger.)
Relaxing at the lake before the firework show.
Capturing the Sunset. Always a favorite.

Lowlights: All good this week.  Thankful for a safe holiday.

Left Side:
July calendar title card free download
Captured the closeups of the kids while they were setting off their day firecrackers.
I made the word art for this photo, after I colored the letters red, white and blue they didn't show up, so I added a piece of masking tape behind my journaling and it became a piece of word art for my Red, White and Blue collection.
I am in love with the way the shots of the fireworks at the lake turned out.  Perfect reflection on the water.  Most photos are a bit on the fuzzy side, but hey, those were taken with my iPhone.  Next year, I am hauling my dSLR to the lake. :)

Insert: I used my template for with 12- 3x4 spaces.

Top: the boys putting on our home firework show and the littles with sparklers.
Middle: red, white & blue journal cards
Bottom: three firework photos taken at the lake with my phone. I split one photo between the middle two 3x4 spaces.

Spread without insert:

Right Side:
Word art added directly to my sunset photo.
Shopping with my big boys at Target. Be still my heart. This is what happens when you become a Mom to teen boys.
Rugers summertime playground... figuring the best way to prop the spray nozzle.
Outdoor movie on the big screen.
1. *July calendar 2013 title card free blog download  2. Heidi Swapp  3. *Red, White and Blue Collection  4. *Digital Open Album  5. Tami Miller  6. *Red, White and Blue Collection  7. Gina Cabrera  8. *Digital Album Template  *Melanie Britt

Tech Stuff:

is a memory keeping system developed by Becky Higgins.  I contributed to her Project Life e-book available here. You can find traditional supplies here and here. The digital aspect of this system is available at AC Digitals.
Looking for the July Week 27 title card?
Click here to download now.
Please leave me a comment and let me know you downloaded it.
This will help me to decide if I should do more free blog downloads.
Thanks so much!

Sorry, download no longer available, and has been downloaded 192 times.
Make sure you don't miss another one by liking my facebook page.

Digital Project Life | Week Twenty-Six + Day in the Life + A Freebie

Welcome to the Week of: June 24-30.
Photos: 
Canon Dslr (2) iPhone (32) Instagram (8)
Highlights:
State baseball tournament.
Day in the Life.
Around the house quiet moments. Love those.
Moon, the cat, on my desk. My morning buddy.
Lowlights:
My cousins wife passed away at the tender age of 31. 
Such a sad week. By far the most beautiful funeral ever!
The funeral was on the 27th, which fell, on A Day in the Life. So you'll see tidbits of my dress, us in the family room waiting and a snapshot of the police escort to the cemetery.
Complete Digital Album Spread:
Day in the Life: July 27, 2013
I used the days app to document. I have a lot of thoughts about how it went. I hope to put together a separate post later this week.
Left Side:
Album spread with Ruger's insert.
Insert 3:
Ruger holding his trophy in the air. Priceless. 
Right Side:
1. week 26 title card, leave a comment here and download for free. 2. my day in the life collection 3. happy place collection 4. my open digital album spread 5. washi tape from my happy place collection 6. my for the love of the game revised collection (coming soon) 7. my digital wood veener clipboard (new) 8. this is what life looks like journal card from the seafoam collection 9. my photo templates (coming soon) 10. my digital album insert 11. my happy place cluster free download.
Tech Stuff:
Day in the Life:
is a concept by Ali Edwards
is a memory keeping system developed by Becky Higgins.  I contributed to her Project Life e-book available here. You can find traditional supplies here and here. The digital aspect of this system is available at AC Digitals.
Looking for the week 26 title card?
Click here to download now.
Please leave me a comment and let me know you downloaded it.
This will help me to decide if I should do more free blog downloads.
Thanks so much!

Sorry, download no longer available, and has been downloaded 346 times.
Make sure you don't miss another one by liking my facebook page.

Digital Project Life | Week Twenty-Five

Welcome to the Week of: June 17 - 23
Photos: 
Canon Dslr (14) iPhone (9) Instagram (4)
Highlights:
Raeleens Monster High Birthday.
Final baseball games.
Super Moon.
Playing at the park.
Monsters University Movie.
Lowlights:
All things were good this week.
O My Goodness, did this week throw me for a loop.  I love the simplicity of project life.  But really, when life really happens and when your life is really full, I mean really full, there are just not enough pages to hold everything.  Not to mention, it seems that almost always 'life' happens all at once. Yep, I'm okay with that.  Makes for a more interesting week and I can now look back and say I am happy with how I captured our memories that week. 
I have started keeping a word document ongoing for each week.  Listing all products I use and tidbits of words I want to journal.  This way I am not scurrying around looking for notes on post its or scrap papers.  I have it saved in the same file as my photos and templates for that specific week.  Works great!
Complete Digital Album Spread:
Left Side:
The photo of Raeleen and I standing at the park is a Katie Periet: 3x4 Arrow Mask Card: Freebie at Designer Digitals. I squared the corners using the mask in the template.
Insert 1:
I used 2 inserts. The Monsters University insert above holds 4 3x4 horizontal cards.
While searching the Monsters University website for the movie poster, I found these Student ID cards.
I added a photo of Raeleen and Ruger. They turned out so cute, don't ya think?  Look below in my products used list for the link so you can make your own.
Photoshop Tips:
I created the ID card to fit a 3x4 horizontal card using a coordinating blue background (use your dropper to get the right blue) so it would fit.. Otherwise the download card is only about 2 1/2 inches, so it's to short.
Photoshop Tips:
To create the white outline on the summer joy overlay: duplicate the overlay layer. use the magic wand tool and click on the word summer. Select the white background layer while the marching ants are still active. Hit the delete key. Now you have a transparent 'overlay'. Deselect. Add new layer as a white background and there ya have it. :)
Insert 2:
What eleven year old girl wouldn't love to have a Monster High birthday?

All she wanted for her birthday was a white cube shelf to hold her Monster High Doll Collection in an ordering manner.  All dolls on stands and a little box to hold the clothes.  Mission accomplished. We, yep, even my not so little Princess was exhausted but happy! The photo frames are from the Monster High camera. Or just a simple google or pinterest search will do the trick.
Right Side:
Baseball. Final baseball games in fact. So happy with the way the single photos turned out.  Give me a good action shot any day.
A sunset. My fave.
And a couple of snapshots of Raeleen and Ruger at the park.
Products Used:

1. 4x6 photo templates  2.baseball elements are from my for the love of the game revised collection (coming soon) 3. Gina Cabrera: sun & shine badges : Digitally Smitten Free Digi Kit: Digital Design Essentials 4. digital open album design by me 2013 5. Title Card June Calendar, Week Twenty Five font: Motel Vacancy (stamped look)  6. Washi Tape from Berry Bright Collection 7. I love cupcakes, birthday sweets by miss tiina 8. monsters university poster and id card  from the movie website 9. Ali Edwards: summer joy overlay 10. ali edwards: so love these moments 11. Jady Day Studio: Park Cluster 12. monster high wallpaper 13. my so happy together journal card, cropped out in a circle.
Tech Stuff:
is a memory keeping system developed by Becky Higgins.  I contributed to her Project Life e-book available here. You can find traditional supplies here and here. The digital aspect of this system is available at AC Digitals.

Fourth of July 2013

Shopping the day before. 
Homemade pizza.
Our home firework show out in our back field.
Yep, using a night lens is bright. :)
Happy with the sparkler photos. These have always been the hardest for me to get clear.
The boys behind the show. 
Sunrise the day of. Happy Independence Day.
At the lake.