Remember to Thank a Veteran Today

We are so lucky to live in the United States- even in the worst of times, I would rather be here than anywhere else in the world. I found this photo online of Pinelawn National Cemetery - the boy scouts put flags on every grave. So thanks to all the Veterans whose sacrifices have kept us free.

A 3 Day Weekend!!!!

I just love Memorial Day weekend! I love a 3 day-er any time but this one kicks off the summer for me, signals that work is nearly through and I will be getting some well-deserved free time. The Air Show at Jone's Beach is this weekend and I always go with Jami and the boys - it's like the annual weekend kick off. Shane, who is 5 and a half now, has gone from screaming blue murder when he sees the paratroopers (thinking that it was the Green Goblin with Pumpkin Bombs, going to kill us all!) to spotting them in the sky and saying that's what he wants to do when he is grown up - either that or fly one of the jets! We were truly blessed with the weather, which was supposed to be overcast and rainy - a last minute wind shift and it was sunny and gorgeous, but very cool and windy as heck. I have the sunburn to prove it. The ocean was so cold that your feet cramped the minute they touched the water - even Aidan only jumped in and out for a minute - the sea was so rough because of the wind and I bet it was 45 degrees at most!

Along with others, the Thunderbirds performed (they alternate with the Blue Angels) and they were incredible but I think that the Canadian Snow Birds stole the show this year. It's really good knowing we have such wonderful allies to the north. I am off to church and then to a BBQ, but I'll leave you with this very cool photo.

Some Layouts with the ACBailey May Kit of the Month

This kit was so pretty - and not the usual paper style for me, so I really had some fun with it. I love cutting the designs from papers and using the cutouts as embellishments. This first layout is a picture of Dana and Ken coming off the altar at their wedding. It was in a frame, which was knocked over and the glass broke...it's tough to scrap professional photos and especially an 8x10, but this Marks paper was a perfect combination of elegance and style. I cut the paper an used it as a mat and embellied cut outs around it in the place where the photo was a bit too small. Some Stickles to glitz it up a bit and voila`- perfect!

I was really getting into cutting and the colors of the paper went perfectly with some photos Jami took of me and some of the grands on my birthday last year. I rarely scrap photos of me, although I have been trying to do so more often - I am usually the one behind the camera. Because these papers are so rich and beautifully printed, it was easy to just use cut out work for the main focus - pop on some photos add some additional cut out embellies and then a Thickers title - a quick layout that look like to took hours to do.
The June Kit of the Month will be released on the first - the only hint I can give you is to think "the beginning of the summer" and that it will be perfect for the BBQ and parade photos that you'll be taking the next few weeks! You can sneak a peek of it on the ACBailey estore :)

Ahhhhh Finally Friday!!

What a crazy two weeks - Cameron turned nine and Brennan turned one, Mother's Day, Graduation dinners, doctor's appointments ! Classes ending, finals to give and grade, papers to collect and grade, grades to be calculated (love Excel!!) and then submitted. But whew - it's all done. Work will slow down until I need to do the stat report for the entire student body in our program - about 90 kids. I am so used to doing it, I have everything ready to go and I just need to plug in the 360 individual grades - cake :)

I did accomplish a bit of scrapbooking though - I made a set of cards for a card swap over at AC Bailey. I used October Afternoon papers - I just love their stuff!This card is so versatile and can be adapted for any holiday or occasion. It's also a great design to use for masculine cards because the embellishment can be changed to suit whatever you need. Actually sold a set of cards as well - I never think about selling my cards, but someone requested a set and it was fun to sit and relax doing them.
I am hoping you had a great Mother's Day. It sure was a lovely day. I participated in a 1K "run" to raise money for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. Actually, Cailyn and Cameron ran - I walked fast. And Ken was impressed at the speed that I actually did walk - Thank goodness for long legs!! I was glad to see this sign too, just in case!! Although 1 K is not all as far as it sounds.
Colson, Dana and Ken actually ran in the 5K, with Ken racing off to finish the 5K after he ran the 1 K - and Colson beat his parents coming in 11th in his division of 18 years and younger - not bad for a 10 year old!! By the time I got to the finish line with the camera, it looked like Dana was pulling Ken across - his first run after knee surgery - and he said he was hurting. Layouts to follow. We tried to go have breakfast together for Mother's Day, but every place was packed with people doing the same.

And the Blog Hop Winner is.....................................

Hayley!!!!
Congratulations and thanks for playing - please email me your address so Erica can send out your prize....and tell your friends!!

AC Bailey National Scrapbooking Day Blog Hop Stop

Just feast your eyes on the ACBailey Goodies Kit of the Month for May and Welcome to AC Bailey's FIRST ever blog hop! Do we have a treat for YOU! This is an awesome opportunity for you to meet all the AC Bailey Design Team members, learn lots of (hopefully) new ideas and techniques, gain some inspiration and maybe even win some prizes along the way! Here is how this works, if you are already on my site via a link you already know this, but for those of you popping in here mid-stream, let me explain.
The FIRST post or START to this Blog Hop is on the AC Bailey blog . There you will find the instructions, along with all the "fine print" details. Starting with that post, proceed to the next DT member's blog whose link will be at the end of the post. Be sure to leave a comment on each blog you visit, because at every site there will be a random name drawn from all who post and one lucky gal on EACH blog will win a SUPER prize. Once you have visited the designer's blog , click on the link in her post to take you to the next designer and so on and so on. Then, when you are finished visiting all the blogs, maybe learning a new technique or two, and you want to win even more prizes, create a layout or project using three or more of the ideas you saw demo'd on the blogs and post that layout in the gallery in the NSD layout folder (under Scrap Stimulus Contest) section and then post how much fun you had and a link to your layout on the special NSD thread in the Scrap Stimulus Contest section of the forum! We will then draw one lucky winner form all those posting qualifying layouts and THAT lucky "rabbit" will win that gorgeous May AC Bailey Goodies KOTM, which has Marks Paper, Chatterbox, Prima Butterflies and Flower, and Maya Road ribbons - plus more !! It COULD be you, all you need to do is PLAY! It is a lot easier than this sound, try it! You will enjoy it and don't worry- we will have instructions for you all the way through this and we will be available off and on all weekend on the forum so if you get stuck yell out and we can help you-easy and FUN - and PRIZES! What more could you ask for??? Layouts and project needs to be uploaded to the AC Bailey site by midnight May 3rd.

First, a bit about me.. My name is Dee and I have been a member of the Design Team since September of 2008. I live on beautiful Long Island, in New York. In "real life" I am a counselor and college professor, but the job I love most is being on the Design Team. It's wonderful being a included in such a fun and talented bunch of ladies. I have been a member of the AC Bailey forum since June of 2007 and I became a Consultant in August 2008, leaving a previous company because AC Bailey was so fantastic I had to be part of it. I love the forum - it is chock full of wonderful ideas, support, great gals and fun without the drama of many scrapbooking forums out there. The products that are selected for the e-store are the latest and greatest and every first of the month is FREE shipping day - just doesn't get better than that! Since I love to alter, I adore the Kaiser products although there has probably never been a paper line that I didn't love, love BoBunny...oh! and I love Stickles....and Prima flowers....I could go on and on!

I recently got into Ranger Distress paints - at first because I always need to have all the new stuff, but then because I just loved using it. Using paint is a great way to frame a photo , tone down a busy background paper, and custom color your chipboard alphas, especially if you have different colors. I am showing you two layouts because after I put one together, thinking I could kill two birds with one stone, it seemed to be overkill with Distressed Alphas alongside the Distress Paint, so I pulled the photos off and created another using the same design but then, I hated to waste that yummy October Afternoon paper, so I improvised and created another layout changing the design just enough :). One of the very cool things with the Distress Paint is that it crackles when it dries leaving a really nice dimensional distressed crackled finish. On the first layout, "Aunt J" I painted the chipboard with pink and when dry I painted them again with yellow - after the paint crackled, you could see the pink though the cracks. The thicker you apply the paint, the more cracks you will get! A wonderful way to add dimension to your layouts! This is a layout of my daughter Jami with her nieces and nephews.....I used Basic Grey Urban Prairie papers and die cuts, along with some matching chipboard and undressed alphas. I blinged up the butterflies with Stickles and also used the Fiskars Threading Water punch to create a scalloped edge on one of the papers. On the second layout, I used the Distress Crackle Paint as a frame - this is a great way to be able to use patterned paper as a background and give the page dimension too. On the second layout I used paint as part of the background color - this can give your page some dimension and interest and is a great way to be able to use a really patterned paper for your background without losing your photo. Sometimes paint can buckle your paper a bit, but all you need to do is mist the back of the paper with plain water and cover with a heavy object and let it dry - paper will come out smooth as the day you bought it. I also used ink over this paint when it dried to really accentuate the cracks. You can use ink that is the same color as the paint or can used a coordinating color and change the look completely!
This second layout, Tri Swim is a photo of another one of my daughters coming out of the water after doing the swim leg of a
Triathlon. This layout didn't come out too badly considering I basically tore it to pieces and salvaged it and by adding the circle and a vertical photo, you hardly even know it is virtually the same design!
I'm hoping that you'll take some time and try using some Distress Paints when you design your next layout - it's alot of fun and easy to do and very rewarding as you watch the paint dry and crackle before your eyes! Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about Distress Paint and will stop by often. I'd love for you to hop on over to my friend Connie's blog and see what she's got going on over there. Don't forget to post a comment here first so I know you were here and you'll be eligible for the drawing.
Just click the link http://craftygoodies.blogspot.com/
Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!