Family Photos

My DDs got together and decided we needed to take Family Photos on Saturday after Thanksgiving.  So, in 25 mile an hour wind and a wind chill of 45 degrees, the photographer found a spot next to the Visitor's Center where these could be taken.  Of course, one of my favorite is the one of Papa and Nana with all the grandchildren.  Not shown is LaChelle and Curtis' baby boy due the last of March.  This red background from Helen's Golden memories was perfect for the various shades of red being worn.  And the gold and black background provided a nice contract with the gold and complemented all the black.  Go HERE to preview Helen's Golden Memories and pick up some great freebies, too!

Here's some more of my favorites...catching up on some rest from the fun but busy Thanksgiving, so these aren't yet scrapped.

A Step Back Into Time at the Wild Plum

OMG...this wallpaper looks so similar to Helen's background paper "red lace retro" in her Golden Memories kit.  I just had to scrap it.  This picture shows the furnishings along the banister overlooking the stairway going down to the first floor.  Loved the stain glass window and how awesome is that lamp hang nearby.

Just opposite this landing to the stairway is the elegant dining room on the 2nd floor.  A nice area for guests who don't want to dine in the large open area downstairs.

Don't ever delete a bad photo without first trying to salvage it.  See original photo below.  I was so surprised to see the color that was in the photo once I lightened it, added some contrast, and increased the saturation some.  I probably should have worked on getting the sun glare out of the photo, but in a way it seems to give reason to all the shadows in the photo and the washed out look of the table cloth.  So I left it.  Those gorgeous turquoise pieces would have never been seen nor these antique pieces of furniture had I just deleted the photo!

Two Photos Perfect for "Golden Memories" Kit

Funerals are a part of our life and though sad, they are an occasion to take photos of family members we don't get to see very often.  I was burning a photo CD for a cousin who didn't have her camera with her and came across these photos which were perfect for  Helen's kit "Golden Memories"!

First, this is Sue's oldest son's daughter Hannah who is the oldest of his 3 daughters holding Sue's youngest son's daughter, Clementine who is just a few months old.   This was Sue's first time to see Clementine who live in another state.  This was snapped at a family gathering following the funeral.  Such a precious memory for Sue!

Second, this photo of Luke and Avery with the two older brothers of Clementine and a sister of Hannah was taken in a sitting are at the bed and breakfast where the family gathering was held.  Such an elegant room...thanks goodness for the TV which was a lifesaver keeping the room's elegant touches "safe" from these little cousins! 

Vocabulary Parade

Friday was the Vocabulary Parade at Lawn Elementary.  My DD posted Luke's and Avery's photos on her blog.  "Some the words the students picked to dress up like were awesome and very hard.  For example, when was the last time you heard the word deciduous, metamorphis, osteology, exoskeleton, etc."

"Avery chose dazzle to be her word.  One definition of the dazzle is to shine brilliantly.  She sparkled from head to toe."

"Luke chose fanatic, someone who is very and sometimes overly enthusiatic about a belief, cause or interest.  He chose to be a Texas Rangers fanatic.  The whole school gave a big cheer when he came up to say his word."  Of course, the Rangers were playing in the World Series that night!  Can you tell who Luke's favorite Ranger is?  He got to see them play last summer.

These awesome pumpkins were downloads from the Texas Ranger website which provided a stencil to be used to carve your own Ranger pumpkin!

Retro Designs is featuring her kit "Golden Memories" right now.  Helen's kits are so versatile that I was able to scrap these "kid" pages from this very elegant kit.  Go HERE to preview Golden Memories and pick up a lovely QP, too!

Birthday Memories

Today is Tony's mother's birthday...found this LO to post in remembrance of her today.  This was a CT LO for Ice Princess Scrapz's kit Lacy Days from the DP days!

In Memory of Allie Rae

I printed out as many of the LOs I had made of Allie Rae through the years that I could find in the short time I had before Allie Rae's funeral.  I placed them in a mini-album and gave it to her daughter, Sue.  I'm sure I will find more over time that I can print and add to the album.  Here are the ones I have found so far. 

 I used this QP from Retro Designs Kit "Satin and Lace".  The "young" photo was cropped from the family photo shown in the next LO made using Helen's kit "Victoriana"!

The LO shows some of the Taylor Family early photos and contains a quote of Allie Rae's about these photos.  "This is how it looked every Sunday...old cars and kids everywhere!"

The LO was made using Helen's kit "Scraps of Memories".

This QP was from Helen's "Golden Memories" kit!

The next two pages were made and printed back to back to make a birthday card for Allie Rae's 90th Birthday.  Several of Helen's kits were combined to make this card.

 Front and Back

 Inside of Card

 One of my favorite memories of Luke and Allie Rae made with this wonderful QP from Retro Designs kit "All That Glitters"!  I used the same QP for this photo of Luke giving Sue a "goodbye" hug!

 The next two were made with Retro Designs QPs from the Kit "Purple Passion"!

Most of these LOs of Allie Rae were made using Retro Design kits; however, I found a few that were made using other Deco Pages designers' kits.  This first one is one of my favorite LOs with Avery and Allie Rae.  I used a Deco Chat Attendance reward kit "Mama Loves Roses by Kathie Woolery.

 I'll have to redo this someday as this is Avery's great-great aunt.

The next two were made with Choccy Delight Kit by ShhhScrapz

This LO was made using multiple DP designer kits.  We all celebrated Thanksgiving with Allie Rae in 2009...great memory for these 2nd cousins!  Allie Rae's daughter, Sue, had 4 of her grandchildren present and I had 5 of mine...we are both Nana.  That explains the title used here!

Some More "Pretty Shabby" Pages

Searching through a file titled heritage LOs under Retro Designs, I found the following LOs all of which have a great number of papers and elements from Pretty Shabby but also have a few items from some of Helen's other kits.  Some day when I have more time, I must go on a scavenger hunt and find and label these extra items and kits.  Does make it clear that Helen's kit all work well together. 

The first LO is my Granddaddy sitting in his Dad's lap.  His mother died when he was two and her photo is hanging in the background.  Also note that there are quilts used for the background and on the floor for this photo.  Makes you wonder if the photographer had come to the house to take the picture.

The younger girl in the background is holding a picture of the oldest son, Berry James, who had left home by the time this photo was taken.   This 2nd LO shows some of Berry James' many adventures. 

Found a record of my Grandparents marriage in the church records at the Church's 100 Anniversary Celebration!

How fun to find this LO once again of Granny as a baby sitting in the  "Summer Meadow"  a paper from Helen's Nouveau Summer kit.   The two floral swirls are from "Pretty Shabby" kit.  Go HERE and you will see this baby's great-great granddaughter rolling down a hill in the same meadow!