Sunday, September 27, 2015

Layout Artist Week 3- At the Farm

For this week, we got to play with the September 2015 Mega Kit- Fall Colors!


Kit: Fall Colors Sept. 2015 Mega Kit by the designers at theStudio available here
Font: Freestyle Script

And in the 8.5x11 format I use to print-

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Layout Artist Week 2- Shutterbug

This week we had a fabulous Collab to showcase!

Kit: All About Me Collab by Jilbert's Bits of Bytes, Nibbles Skribbles, and WendyP Designs available here 

Font: Pristina

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Layout Artist Week 1- Just Play!

I'm participating in the annual Layout Artist contest over at theStudio

Here's my week one entry! :)


and in my usual LTR format-

Credits-
Template- LOA Week 1 White Space Template by Heartstrings Scrap Art available here
Kit- Adam Plays Outside by Nibbles Skribbles available here 
Fonts: Papyrus and Nueva Std

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Moved by Ignorance

Something Father Dan said during the homily today really struck a cord with me. Today's reading from Mark chapter 6 verses 30-34-

The apostles gathered together with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught. 
He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” 
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat. 
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. 
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. 
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.

Often  times in the Gospels Jesus is moved by pity, compassion, or the faith of the people around him. In many of those cases he performs miracles of healing. When you think about it, the time and energy for Jesus to heal some one is generally seen as something that happens instantaneously and with minimal effort of Jesus' part. 

But in today's Gospel, Jesus and the disciples were tired, hungry, and just needed to rest in quiet a bit. But when he saw the crowds he was moved with pity for them. Not because they were in need of physical healing, but because they were lost. He was moved by their ignorance and desire to learn, to be shepherded. This is not some instant fix, but something that required Jesus to spend his time and energy (of which he was running low, remember? He hadn't eaten, and was physically tired BEFORE getting into the boat!). But this was important, he saw the people's need to learn, to be led, and he took the time to meet their need. 

Father Dan this morning quoted St. Jose Maria Escriva on this- "Jesus is moved by hunger and sorrow, but what moves him most is ignorance."  

Lord, help me to recognize my ignorance and lead me to You and Your understanding. Thank you for being willing to spend time with me, to teach me an lead me to greater understanding.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Praying with Scripture

I heard a great episode of The Inner Life on Relevant Radio today, all about various ways to incorporate scripture into our prayer life. It struck me as something I wanted to remember and go back to, so I'm posting the podcast link here-

The Inner Life - Jun 22, 2015 

I think my favorite show on Relevant Radio is The Inner Life. If you want to check it out, here's a link to the show page, and to the audio archives

If you download the Relevant Radio app, you can get podcast version of the shows there too.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Round Robin week 4- Musical Love

Kit: Sounds of Spring Collab by Wendy P Designs and Designs by Brigit
Available here
Font: Sanvito Pro
#studioroundrobin

Sunday, May 3, 2015

My Dad in Plaid

When I saw the plaid paper in this kit I immediately thought of my Dad. Looking back, for about as long as I can remember, Dad has always had at least one plaid shirt. It was great fun going through photos to find ones of him in plaid over the years!

Kit: Spring into Time Collab by Wendy P Designs and Lara's Digiworld
available here
Font: Plantagenet Cherokee
#studioroundrobin

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Some pretties for April

It's been a crazy month at work, but I do have some pretties to share with you!

Made with April Showers Collab by Wendy P Designs and
Jilbert's Bits of Bytes



Made with April Showers Collab by Wendy P Designs and
Jilbert's Bits of Bytes


Made with Market Fresh by Jilbert's Bits of Bytes as part of the Coordinated Collection 
at theStudio


Made with the April Mega Kit- He is Risen by the designers at
theStudio

All of these kits are available at the BRAND NEW store for theStudio here. Go check them out, and please be patient. Like anything new in this digital age, they are working through a few bugs!

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Cherished Bits Freebie!

Alright gang, here goes!

I have created by first freebie! :)

It's a Quick Page using Jilbert's Bits of Bytes new kit- Cherished Bits. This beautiful kit has the right touch of vintage and elegance and I love the colors she chose for it!

You can get Cherished bits over at theStudio here. You really need to go check it out! :)

Here's the QP-


You can download it here

Thanks for checking it out, and I'd love to see what you do with it!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Cherished Bits

Here's a page I made with Jilbert's Bits of Bytes newest kit- Cherished Bits. It's my Aunt Wanda and Uncle Hank, on their wedding day and at a nephew's wedding last year.


 I made it in 12x12 as part of Jill's Creative Team and then redid it as an 8.5x11 for my scrapbook. I love kits that make it easy to work both ways!


You can get Cherished Bits over at theStudio here. Go check it out, it's gorgeous!

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

March Round Robin Week 2

Last October, Mom and I went out to the Forest Preserve across the highway to photograph the grandeur of Autumn. So much beauty in the Fall, and this scene intrigued me. It's almost like if I squint just right I'll see the magical gateway to another world. :)


Kit: Garden Gate Collab by Snickerdoodle Designs and Mel Designs
Available here
Font: CK Bella

#studioroundrobin

Friday, March 6, 2015

March Round Robin 1

This month the Round Robin designer is Snickerdoodle Designs. I adore Karen's kits, they are fun, eclectic, and stretch how I scrap. For her week 1 collab with Just So Scrappy we have Fly Away Home. You can read more about her choice of kit on theStudio blog here.

I'm trying to finish up my 2014 pics, and chose my Mom's dog Buddy as the subject of this page-

Kit: Fly Away Home Collab by Snickerdoodle Designs and Just So Scrappy available here
Fonts: Chaparral Pro and Bickley Script
#studioroundrobin

Saturday, February 28, 2015

February Round Robin Week 4- Sweet Sisters

Week four, and I got to play with the kit ahead of time as part of Jilbert's CT. I knew with the bright, fun colors in the kit that I wanted to pair it with a vintage black and white photo. I found this one of my mom and her sister, my Aunt Wanda, as kids and it's perfect!

I created the page in two sizes, 12x12 for the CT, and 8.5x11 for my album. I always find it interesting to see how the same papers and elements translate into the different sizes!

Kit: Sweet on You Collab by Nibbles Skribbles and Jilbert's Bits of Bytes
available here
Fonts: Fancypants and Freestyle Script
#studioroundrobin


Saturday, February 21, 2015

Round Robin February Week 3- 16 Years

My parents aren't the only ones celebrating an anniversary this month, in fact there are at least THREE couples in my family with February anniversaries, including me! :)

Here's the page I made for the Round Robin this week, I asked the host as the German restaurant we went to for supper to get our picture before we braved the cold once more! Oh, and was that food outstanding! I couldn't do it every day, but it makes for a marvelous treat! I'll be 'food blogging' our dinners later! :)

Kit: Be Mine Collab by Nibbles Skribbles and Vero- The French Touch available here
Font: Dancing Script
#studioRoundRobin

February Progressive Scrap

For the Progressive Scrap at theStudio this month, I used the beautiful Vintage Valentine Mega Kit to commemorate my parent's 42nd wedding anniversary. I was traveling that week, so used only my tablet with PS Touch. As I think I've mentioned before, that can be tricky because you can only have FIVE active layers! That's tough enough in ordinary circumstances, but with a Progressive Scrap where you have no idea what's coming up later in the week, it was a true challenge! :)

Monday, February 16, 2015

Round Robin- Moments

This Round Robin entry is a rare selfie that I took with Kristin after having lunch at Souper Salad in Phoenix before I flew back to Chicago. Our lives are made up of so very many such 'moments'!
Kit: Capturing the Moment collab by Nibbles Skribbles and Lou Cee designs available here
Font: Dancing Script
#studioroundrobin

Friday, February 6, 2015

February Round Robin!

Two months in a row, I'm loving this! :)

I'm traveling this week and next, so I'm 'making do' with my tablet and Photoshop Touch. It's a bit rough as I have yet to figure out how to make easy drop shadows, and I can only have 5 layers before I have to start flattening things. FIVE, do you hear me?! ONLY FIVE!! What were they thinking?! :)

So, here's what I put together for the lovely kit by Nibbles Skribbles and ADB Designs- Music In Me~

Kit: Music in Me by Nibbles Skribbles and ADB Designs available here
#studioroundrobin

Friday, January 30, 2015

Round Robin Week 4

I have so much fun with the Round Robin challenges at theStudio! It gives me a chance to see a designer I may not have looked at before, and they are ALL so good that it's just fun to play with all the kits! :)

This week I used a picture taken at the Baxendale-Blakemore gathering. It was so much fun to get to see some of the cousins and other family that I haven't talked to in ages. Jeff's absence was keenly missed, but we had a marvelous time in his honor. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Kit: Smitten Collab by Carin Grobe Design and Just So Scrappy
Font: Dancing Script
#studioroundrobin
Kit available here

Monday, January 26, 2015

Round Robin Week 3

I am fortunate to be able to work as part of the Creative Team for Jilbert's Bits of Bytes and when she collaborates on one of the Round Robin events I get to play with even more toys! :)

Here's the page I made as part of the CT-


Kit: Sea Cruise Collab Carin Grobe Disign and Jilbert's Bits of Bytes
Fonts: Postino STD and Segoe Print
#studioroundrobin
available here
Here's the same page done for my scrapbook-


I love a kit that I can use in both 12x12 and 8.5x11 for scrapping!

The photo is of my Grandfather, Karl Eckhardt at the beach in Atlantic City in 1962. My parents were living in...Philadelphia...I think. Either there or in New Jersey, and Grandma and Grandpa came out to see them. This was a couple of years before I was born. I just love the deckled edge on the photo, and had to work to get my scanner to recognize it. I finally had to put a dark piece of paper behind it to get it to scan correctly, and then outline and delete the excess. I also played with making a custom drop shadow for it. Most of the time I'm content to use the standard drop shadow in PSE. But such a special photo deserved special treatment! I used this video to learn more about creating the custom shadow. I had a great time working on this page!

Saturday, January 17, 2015

January Round Robin Week 2!

This could have been a throwback Thursday if I'd gotten it done earlier! :)

Brian and I just hanging out at Jeff's apartment with the kitties, circa 1994. Brian looks THRILLED to be having his picture taken, and I'm not even the one taking it!
Kit: Excuse the Mess Collab by Carin Grobe Design and Nibbles Skribbles
Fonts: Dancing Script and geodesic
Kit is available at theStudio here
#studioroundrobin

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

New Year, New Round Robin!

I love this challenge from theStudio,

Kit: The Midnight Hour collab by Carin Grobe Design and ADB Designs
Font: Blackadder
The Midnight Hour is available here
#StudioRoundRobin

We spent New Year's Eve with friends of mine, both old and new and had a fabulous time playing games, enjoying good food and watching Dr. Who!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Bible Study Links

This site has just tones of great information and articles, and I'm hoping to do this study on my own this year. I may even recommend one of these for my bible study group when we finish the Gospel of Mark.

Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God

Speaking of Mark, Fr. Robert Barron has a You Tube channel with a video on the Gospel of Mark.




There's a TON of other great videos on his You Tube channel, and his website Word on Fire is chock full of additional great information.

Happy New Year!

What a wild ride 2014 was! Here's to a simpler, more peace-filled 2015 with good friends, loving family, and enjoying the moment!

Let's start the year off with a video~

This is Simply Three, a musical trio I saw with the folks when they came through last fall. They are AMAZING!

If there had been more cellists like this when I was growing up, I think I may have stuck with it! :)