Thankful for... My Sis!

Created using "So Thankful" DSD Blog Train Products by: Craft-astrophic, Eva Kipler, Laura Banasiak, Sweet Digi Scraps by Leilani, Litabells Designs, Memory Scraps (Che Yang Designs, Berrysweet Designs, BusyBee Designs, Pixie Perfect Designs, Yoshiko Designs, Designs by Tracy Little), Michelle Batton, Pixel Queens (Laura Burger Designs), Suzy-Q Scraps (alpha), Traci Reed, and Trixie Scraps. Template by BusyBee Designs.

Journaling reads:

We were never friends growing up... we were barely sisters. But after more than twenty years, we agreed to start over and learn to be friends. As a natural progression from that, however, I looked up one day and saw my sister - so much more than a friend. And, for the first time in my life, I know what it is like to have that person - my blood - with whom I can talk about anything. What a wonderful feeling...

This (above) is a layout I created last month on "Digital Scrapbooking Day". Digiscrapaddicts.com sponsored a "blog train" and this was created with several of the free goodies I picked up along the route. One of the hardest things to do (yet I find myself doing it often, these days) is to create a layout before knowing what pictures are going to be used. lol Then again, it's not always easy the other way, either.

When I was first starting this digi-scrapping thing (waaaay back in August, lol), it was rather easy to match photos with a kit or vice-versa. Such as this layout here:

As I was browsing thousands of photos on my computer, I only had ten or so digital kits to work with. One was hot pink and blue - I ran across the photos from H's 5th birthday and.... Ah-HA! Perfect match!

Now, however, I have nearly 200 kits and it's hard to keep up with what I have, much less think of exactly the right one when I see a photo. So, these days, I end up finding a kit I want to play with and then start digging for photos that will match.

So, back to the first layout, above... I traveled through the blog train picking up all the coordinating freebies (or most of them, at least), then used them to put together the "thankful for you" layout. When I switched over to my photos to find what to use, it was a little easier having a "theme" to work with... What/who was I thankful for? Then I saw the pics of my sis & me from my visit, last year. From there, I just needed a little honest journaling and it was done!

My Lil' Girl & Santa...

Kit: Make the Time by Connie Prince; Additional elements: "believe" wordart - My Inspiration/TDC collab,

journal tag - Life Snippets by Meg Mullens, paint splatter - Raining on Sunday by Jennifer Fox Designs

My little girl... I'm not going to be able to call her that for long! But she'll always be my baby.

The Memory Keeper

my layout using Memory Keeper kit by Jennifer Fox Designs

I am the memory keeper. And I LOVE this new kit by Jennifer Fox.

It released today at TheDigiChick.com*.

While on vacation for Thanksgiving, I was playing with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone trying to get some different pics of myself... because who else is going to do it, ya' know? So before we went to the family gathering, I sat out on the front porch and snapped photos. lol And, of course, I tried to hide what I was doing when someone walked out - I mean, who sits around and does that, right? (Of course, I know that, in reality, we all do it - but I don't know yet if that means we're all normal or if we're all just the same kind of weird.)

So, anyway, I had these pics and posted one as my FB profile pic. Then I got back home and checked in on my CT forums. And, lo & behold, THIS kit was waiting on me at Jennifer Fox Designs:

How perfect was this?? Every now and then, the stars line up just right and - *POW* - you end up with a great thing. All that was left once I got my design in place was the journaling. And, with the photos and those thoughts about who takes the pictures around here... the journaling practically wrote itself. For those of you without super-human vision, here is my wording enlarged: 

I am the memory-keeper. I am the picture-taker. I am the person charged with preserving those moments that mean so much. Those moments that are not to be forgotten. Those moments that take our breath away. Those that make us laugh. Those moments that break our hearts with sweetness and bring tears to our eyes. There is a downside to this charge, however. In between these moments - I am still the one holding the camera, so it is up to me to get pictures of myself if there are any to be had. Just as not every photo of the kids or other family comes together in one shot, photos of myself are rarely worth using. But, then again, there is no one watching the viewfinder when the camera is pointed at me. So, while no one is around, I try to get a good one. Otherwise, who will take those shots to remember me? Because, I am the... Memory Keeper.

*Update: This designer has retired from designing, so her products are, unfortunately, no longer available.