Hope in the Lord

Nicole's Young Wings of Hope kits are so beautiful and I had fun playing with them. Thanks to Miriam and her self-portrait, this layout turned out beautifully and was honored by being placed in the Hall of Fame Gallery at DSP. It's my first reward of this kind.

Credits:

Wings Of Hope Page Kit by Nicole Young
Wings Of Hope 2 Page Kit by Nicole Young

Font: 1942 report

More Christmas Layouts

Here are a few more that I made in the past week (between working on the Christmas presents):

My grandfather died in 2005 at age 81 just before Christmas. I have three siblings, but just the youngest brother was living here at the time (tall guy in black =)
Journaling: Starenka with Nata and Tim and Nata’s children Mimi, Tabi, Debi, Eli and Beni just a few weeks after Dedo Jozef’s death.

Credits: A Christmas to Remember VC by Lauren Bavin
Fonts: Garamond and Crunchy Taco

Meryl's kit has such beautiful browns that it I thought it would be great for a heritage photo. I had a tiny little faded photo of my husband's father when he was a little boy. I managed to enhance it a bit. It's really visible very well, but he is standing next to a decorated Christmas tree outside in the yard (I am not sure why). I am guessing he must be 4-5 years old, but will have to find out next time I see him. My Beni does look a bit like him =).

Credits:

All I Want for Christmas Page Kit 1 by Meryl Bartho

Vintage Memoirs Wordart by Nicole Young

Font: Garamond

 

I have waited for a while to scrap these photos with Christmas lights, but traditional Christmas kits just didn't go with Abi's clothing. Nicole's Coffeehouse Kit goes perfectly!

Credits: Coffeehouse Christmas VC by Nicole Young

Font: Marcelle Script

Elizabet decorating the Christmas tree.

Credits:
Yule Time Cheer Kit by Heidi Kuester

Christmas Greetings

What's Cooking? Potatoes

It has been snowing for a few days and now it even got icy, so there is no way I am driving anywhere =). My dear husband is busy distributing Samaritan's Purse packages in local schools, so I am trying to cook with the ingredients I have at home. Today it was a very simple meal. Potatoes are the cheapest ingredients and are very filling. They can be cooked and baked in many many versions. Today we had them in both courses.

Course #1: Potato carrot soup with dumplings. There is no recipe for this, it just happened to be what I found in the refrigerator. It can be made with any vegetables. I just browned some finely chopped onions and leeks, added the carrots and potatoes, sauted a bit, just barely covered wiht boiing water, seasoned wiht salt and pepper. Whe the vegetables were soft, I mixed an egg with some flour and milk and made some dumplings by dipping a teaspoon in the simmering soup, taking a bit of the batter and lowering it into the soup. I repeated this till all the dumplings were made. The dumplings cook in 5-7 minutes and the soup is done!

Course #2: Potato pancakes with homemade applesauce. I peeled and grated the potatoes, added two eggs, some flour and a tiny bit of milk and salt. The I fried the batter up in oil. I had made the applesauce in the summer and had it frozen in a plastic container, so I just thawed it. The kids loved the meal!

Where has my laundry room gone?

I't s been a busy week. We got some used clothes for the family, which after beeing tried on - all ended up in the laundry room either to be washed or passed along. I was finishing Abi's jumper still on the day of the birthday and the chidlren just dumped the vacuum cleaner wherever. Just before the birthday party we shut the door on the room (I am so thankful to have that door!) and this morning I knew I had to tackle it before I could go on with my regular duties.



I managed to do 5 loads of laundry, pack the things to be given away, put away my sewing things, sort the remaining loads of laundry to be in the next tw0-three days and vacuumed the room - now isn't that better? It literally makes me smile, because it means that tommorrow I can sew again =). I need to make a blouse to match the jumper for Abi and make the smaller girls some PJ's.

For more tackles visit 5MinutesforMom

It's snowing!

We are getting our first snow and it's coming down heavy. It has only been snowing since last evening and is supposed to continue to , snow for three days! The children are excited.

Digital Layout - Abigail's First Christmas

Most of our babies are born in the beginning of the year, so by Christmas they are almost walking. Abigail though is born on December 13th (on the day we moved into our new unfinished home) and so she was only 10 days old.

Kim's kit was great for these pictures, since it has blues and reds and such great papers.

Credits:
Satin Silhouettes VC by Kim Liddiard

Abigail turned 2

My youngest turned 2 today. We had a small birthday party with the grandparents yesterday. Oldest sister Miriam made George the Monkey cake and the main present from the whole family is an aquarium with fishes. Happy birthday sweetheart!

Some Christmas Album Pages

As Christmas time is approaching, I am trying to catch up on some older Christmas pictures for our albums before we make new ones:

Holiday Fancy Page Kit by Heidi Kuester

 Made with a kit I created for a kit exchange at DSP called SNL

Made with a combination of elements from other participants of SNL56

You were always fascinated with grandpa’s stereo, although you knew you were not allowed to touch it. Yet, whenever you had the chance, you run there and quickly turned the knob to the loudest setting!

Credits:
Bits of Christmas Fun Kit by Teresa Loman
Bits of Chrstmas Fun AOP by Teresa Loman

Candlelight Carol Kit by Carole Harden

December Club Digital at DSP

This month's Club Digital features some nature friendly kits. I had fun making three layouts (all pictures taken by Miriam and Tabita):

 

 

 Credits:  Club Digital December 2009 by DSP Designers

Mix'N'Match December Challenge at DSP

This month's theme for the Mix'N'Match Challenge is the color Purple. For more details on the challenge visit the DSP forum.
Imade this purple layout for inspiration using papers and elements form several kits:

  Credits:

Papers from
All Green Kit by Meryl Bartho from Club Digital November 2009 by DSP Designers
Positively Peacock Kit by Heidi Kuester
(these two papers are actually blue and green, but blended together they give purple =)

Overlays from Tussy Mussy Overlay Stack by Suzanne C. Walker

Mask from Dotted with Grunge Large Masks by Heidi Kuester
Flower (recolored) from Gracee Mae 2 Kit by Heidi Kuester
Hearts (recolored) from Big Dreams Kit by Elizabeth Weaver
Hanging gems from Autumn's Afterlight Value Collection by Tina Chambers
Alpha (recolored) from Azul Value Collection by Kim Liddiard

November Digital layouts

Life has been busy a bit and I somehow didn't have time to post recent digital layouts. I have have a bit time this Sunday morning to catch up, so here are some of my favorite layouts made in November:

This is another "dress-up" photo my oldest daughter did of her younger siblings. I think this was supposed to be Little Red Ridinghood. I thought the colors of Christine's Alizarin kit went great with.

Credits:
Alizarin Moments 2 Kit by Christine Gundersen
All Kinds of Faces Deluxe Worart by Christine Gundersen

Abi was watching one day some cartoons and playing with a plastic box at the same time. One of the older girls snapped a series of pictures while observing her.

Credits:
Runaway Dream Kit by Elizabeth Weaver
DSP Frumpy Font by Suzanne C. Walker

Journaling:
Abigail being cheerful and posing for her older sisters, completely oblivious to the fact that she has jelly all over her face!

Credits: papers from Way Up High 2 Kit by Nicole Young

My only son was born exactly on my oldest daughter's 10th birthday. It was her best birthday present. When I saw their recent self-portraits on my computer (that happens to me all the time - I turn the computer on and there are new pictures!) I knew I had to scrap them and this style was suitable for both boys and girls!!!!

Journaling: I'ts Amazing that the two of you were born exactly 10 years apart

Credits: Artifacts by Elizabeth Weaver

This is another layout in the "dressup" series my older girls did of the little ones.

Credits:
black paper Beyond the Moon 2 by Nicole Young
red paper (recolored) Love Falls 2 Kit by Nicole Young
Checkered overlay and hearts Rocker Chic 2 Page Kit by Nicole Young
pearls from Party Time Kit available on CD Scraps of Life: Birthdays by DSP Designers

My oldest shot a few pictures of Abigail on a recent short walk to the Canal near to us. Although this kit doesn't completely match the colors of her outfit (a bit too colorful =), but it's a beautiful kit and was so easy to work with.

Credits: A Harvest Hello Kit by Heidi Kuester

Deborar is trying to get some one-on-one time with our camera like her older sisters. A while ago she did some autoportraits in my bedroom and I really love this one (after I managed to delete our bed from the picture, LOL). Nicole's Antiquated Dreams is so wonderful and I was able to use her Photographer's Toolbox Clipping masks not just for the photo, but also the papers in the background.

Credits:
Antiquated Dreams Kit by Nicole Young
The Photographers Toolbox Clipping Masks by Nicole Young

When I was looking through older pictures to find some that would go with Suzanne's Hallie kit's colors, I stumbled upon these pictures of Abigail, which were taken last spring. She is much older now and I just love that sparkle in her eyes and that pure joy of a little child. Miriam was holding her in the window, while some other children were outside and she wanted to join them.

Credits:
Hallie Page Kit by Suzanne C. Walker
Inky Edges Set by Suzanne C. Walker