Our NYLO Experience

In an effort to find a hypoallergenic hotel, we found NYLO of Plano.  This was a very unique hotel and was a very interesting experience!  Features of all floors included:    Exposed Duct Work & Plumbing; Concrete Floors, Walls & Ceilings; Bricked Accent Wall - Bed on Raised; Platform & Glow Lighting Underneath; All Natural Woven Floor Mats.  We stayed on a floor that was totally hypoallergenic which meant we had all natural products without fragrances added.  There was even hypoallergenic tissues and toilet paper. 

The background papers in Tracy's "Yestersay" kit reminded of the room where we stayed.  This first page shows the lobby and gameroom.

And this page shows the hallway, sitting area, and bed.

You can purchase Yestersay at any of Horsedreamn Designs Stores
Tagging Angels
Polka Dot Plum Element Pack
Polka Dot Plum Paper Pack

Nostalgic Scrapbook by Retro Designs

Retro Designs newest release is Nostalgic Scrapbook.  Actually, now that I think about it, I actually named this kit for Helen.  It is very unique and a one of a kind kit.  Loved using it to scrap a few of my Great-Aunt Mattie's studio photos.  I have such mixed emotions on paper versus digital scrapping.  I love digital, but all these heritage photos deserve to be in an album.  Another project to add to the list.  These will be placed into the album in the photo holders and still on the photo cards as these are as unique as the old photos. 

 Journaling:  It is going to take way more than one cup of coffee to get my grandfather’s family pictures into an album. There are about 100 photos which include many of his mother’s family photos.

Even though these interesting Texas Pioneer Girls are unidentified and known only as some of Com's kinfolks, this photo still deserves to be in an album for future generations of  the Commadore M. Thomas family.  The Thomas family album will be so thick that these may perhaps end up in a separate album.  It's been about 5 years since I gone through all of the photos and have pulled a few from time to time to scrap, but someday I must get them placed in albums. Right now I think they look wonderful in the vintage scrapbook from Helen's Nostalgic Scrapbook.

Journaling:  Many of the photos found in Granny Thomas’ trunk belonged to Granddaddy’s two sisters.  Since Granny couldn’t identify them, she referred to them as “Some of Com’s Kinfolks”.    Someday they will find their way into an album by the same name!"

You can find Nostalic Scrapbook in Retro Designs STORE and also be sure and check out Helen's  BLOG!  You'll find some more pages using this kit and might even find a freebie or two!

Happy Birthday from Traci

Received a Happy Birthday greeting from Traci of Horsedreamn Designs on FB the other day.  We visited through FB messenger and caught up on all that has been going on in our lives.  Neither could believe it when we realized that it has been almost 2 years since I had taken a break from doing CT LOs for her.  So, I'm back to working with some of Traci's kits ever so often.  Here's two LOs using one of  Traci most recent kits "Yestersay"!
 

 

We were surprised when our DD decided to name the baby boy she was expecting "Miller" which is our last name. Turns out it was almost an omen. Though Mom and Dad both have a deep olive completion and sandy blonde and brown hair, Miller is very fair and has red hair...just like his Papa Miller. Love this photo series of Miller taken with Papa even feeding and burping Miller at 5 months.

Papa with Miller at 9 months. Even though this was a brand new hat, you can see who talked Papa into letting him wear it!

You can purchase Yestersay at any of  Horsedreamn Designs Stores

Tagging Angels

Polka Dot Plum Element Pack 

Polka Dot Plum Paper Pack

Just got a birthday wish from Debbie Abbe on Facebook.  Reminded me of this LO I did several years ago using her kit Birthday Girl.  I kept Luke and Avery on my birthday since summer club hadn't started yet.  LaChelle came by for lunch and brought some cupcakes so we had a birthday party after lunch.  They called today and sang Happy Birthday and it was awesome.  They added cha, cha, cha at the end and eat more chicken.  These two are quite a pair!

 

Love looking through scrapbook pages of years past...such great memories!

 

Thoughtful Moment Using Vintage Whimsy QP Freebie

I love this QP freebie made from Helen's Vintage Whimsy kit.  I also love this photo of Reese...would love to know what her thoughts were at this moment.  She and Dad were on a bike ride when they spotted this vacant lot full of bluebonnets.  Luckily Dad had the camera along and took so many wonderful photos that it was hard to narrow it down to just one to use here.  Reese's "thoughtful" look reminded me of the thoughtful little girl shown at the top of this QP so I chose this picture.  Obviously, by the the next photo, this thoughtful moment only lasted for just a moment!

Vintage Whimsy and it´s now available in Retro Designs Online store. And you´ll find more info about  Vintage Whimsy and this QP freebie HERE.

Helen's new kit "Vintage Whimsy" was released just as my DD's sent pictures of my grandchildren in the lovely clusters of bluebonnets celebrating spring all over parts of Texas.  The bluebonnets were a great reward of all the recent rains.

You can find previews of Vintage Whimsy and more layouts at  Retro Designs Online Store.

Thoughtful Eyes made using Simply Serene

Thankfully, I always save my program's PNG Plus file with all layers still available so all I had to do was correct the name from Avery to Reese.  Interestingly, in my program even if I convert a LO to jpg, the layers are available until I close the file. This was my original LO...I added the background when I had posted it to Retro Designs' Blog and it didn't show up very well against the blog background.  Since I hadn't closed the file I had only added the background in the jpg view and didn't go back and change the original PNG Plus view.  Decided to post the original LO w/o the background this time.  OK, Nana...next time get the grandkid's name right and you won't need to make any changes...LOL!

I knew when I first saw Helen's restoration of her mother's childhood photo that I had seen those eyes before.  My first thought was what sad eyes.  I quickly search through photos and came up with these two.  Fortunately for me I know the story behind these somewhat sad looking eyes.  Tonia was observing lots of activity outside the nursery viewing window during family time as many parents, grandparents and siblings were there to see the newborns.  Moments before she was smiling and pointing to her new baby sister.  Avery was helping mom by holding Miller's bottle while mom changed Miller's diaper.  Moments before she was smiling at Papa telling her what a good girl she was for helping Mom.  Seems that sometimes the camera captures a split second of deep thought that we may never know what comes to mind between the smiles.    Retro Designs kit, "Simply Serene" used for this LO may give another insight...the camera captured a simply serene moment.  Previews of "Simply Serene" and additional LO samples can be found at Retro Designs Online Store.