Compass-Themed 2014 Family Photo Book

       Our trips for this year are pretty much settled onto the calendar now. And one of them will be a Cruise to the Bahmamas to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary. With the arrival of my Passport (my ChiefHubby already had his from a previous missions trip), it got me to thinking what kind of photo book to do for 2014. Since I already used the 'Clock Theme' for the 2013 book, I decided on a 'Compass Theme', and it came together really easily- and quickly. Believe it or not; it's done!

       Since this project is another one of those many-paged deals, I've included another video for you. Hopefully, I've answered any Qs that might come up, as you look through it, as to how I crafted it and what I used. The camera is shooting a bit lower than I wanted, but I was trying to allow time to see the entire page of each- without my fingers in the way, too.
Thanks for watching. Happy Blogging, all !

Tragedy at PURDUE UNIVERSITY

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      Breaking news from WLFItv18 out of Lafayette this afternoon brought some sad, and frightening news from the PURDUE UNIVERSITY campus where two of our children attend classes. Although they now live as newlyweds in an off-campus apartment on the other side of the bridge into Lafayette, they still attend classes via walking. I turned on the news just as I woke up from another all-nighter up till early morning. To say it was shocking- is put very mildly! They're both just at the last of their education and right when I thought they'd missed just about every bad thing that could happen....

        Of course, the "Mom" in me just about freaks, and starts msging everyone to make sure they are all ok- both our own couple and also their friends. Seeing we are only 45 mins away and alot of them come from out of Indiana- esp those in Engineering with Brett.  Since this is the place where almost all of his classes are for his Nuclear Honors Engineering...well, you'd probably freak also. Getting a text msg back from Brett & Holli put me at ease- for a minute. Then I began looking up all his friends in Engineering (kids who've shared an apartment with him the past three years and then came to B&H's wedding in August) just to make sure. I was glad Brett put out a note on his FB page (shared above). But, our hearts are heavy for the two families- of the victim, Andrew Boldt, and of the shooter. May they find peace and comfort from our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, and may HE keep their hearts open to forgiveness. I thank HIM for watching over our couple, and know that HIS timing and every plan HE makes- all things of this world and in the Heavens that HE alone is in control of- is perfect even when we think or feel it's not. Amen.

JANUARY TAG - The 12 Tags of 2014

  

                    I absolutely LOVED this first Tag for the 2014 year by Tim Holtz! He really couldn't have chosen a better design...or die, for that matter. I just happened to find that very die for my 2013 Family Photo Books (just recently posted on this blog also).  While Tim's techniques are all very cool to at least TRY, and I enjoy employing several to my own makings on a regular basis, they can be hard to replicate if you don't have exactly the same tools he uses. So when he makes a tag that just happens to match with all the items you own...it can make a person craft-happy! The "time" theme is one I adore using, and since it has so many meanings, it can easily be applied as a gift for anyone. I made two of the January Tags and chose one of my Chickstas (the word we use describing a very close friend whom you consider to be a Sister- both as relation to blood bond through birth or in CHRIST) to recieve one. (Esp since I missed her Birthday in September! Oops! Sorry!) I really LOVE using foil in my BigShot, & it was a well-spent afternoon of everyone else's first day back after Holiday on January 3rd.



The 12 Tags of 2013: ALL 12 of Tim's & Mine

This year, unlike 2012, I was able to create every Tag for every month after Tim Holtz's posting of his 12 Tags of 2013. I'd missed one tag in 2012 completely, and a posting deadline -by a mere 3 hours- of another tag. It wasn't as easy to make one per month as I thought it would be once he changed from doing all 12 just in December every year. He likes to use the newest items he's designed, but they take forever to get to Indiana. So I came up with scanning off the card drawings my brother Gordon had done for us years ago. Then used the b&w copies to color them as per the technique Tim showed for that month!

And,not only did I attain the goal I set to make all 12 for 2013, but I also WON for FEBRUARY!! I was SO EXCITED to get a prize Mario Rossi (Tim Holtz's Behind The Scenes photographer and helper) sent in the mail! I immediately showed it off to the Chickstas and one of them borrowed it right away for a project. :) When I got it back, the first one I used, of course, was the CAMERA stamp. So far, I haven't seen a posting from Tim on his Blog if he is choosing 12 out of the 144 for a Grand Prize. But if he still holds for one, I AM holding MY breath!!!! Oh, LOVE all the new Alterations dies and stamps he's designed...especially THESE CHA'13!

GVFD Fire Training Burnout Shoot- My Fave Shots of My 2 FFs

These photos were all taken during the Saturday; December 28, Georgetown Volunteer Fire Department-hosted Burnout Training. It took place at an old house prepped for the event in GVFD's former small drive-through town of Georgetown, alonside the Wabash River in the southwest part of Cass County, Indiana. In the photo at the left, I'd just gotten there after their full morning of inside training. That part can be a bit boring for a photographer who does not wish to get in the way by going inside with a full set of FFgear on. The trainer (in this case, our FFCaptSon, Brian) sets up deliberately set fires and they are allowed to 'grow' either in certain set patterns or wildly as the Beast (the appropriate name given by most FFs to fire itself)pleases, and then the other Firefighters- new and old alike- whomever is willing to keep in practice as an already-established and trained FF, or a 'newbie' Rookie FF. But to a photographer, this kind of burn is very different from the emotions that are played out during a real toned-out fire call. So when my ChiefHubby or FFCaptSon see me, they end up POSING (as in the pic of the two of them side-by-side together... therefore NOT REALLY 'posing' as an action photographer would like...you know; the real stuff. And in the picture at the top left, you see my ChiefHubby letting me know he's still MY#1. :)

Having explained all the above, you now have a 'correct' perspective on this particular shoot and why the fire itself seems to be 'ignored' when in reality it is being paid VERY close attention to. The type of training this was for was specifically in using airpacks, and other main equipment regularly used in a real tone-out to help a few of the newer FFs from 2 different Depts.(there are some events where many Depts. have several FFs needing more training). 

So, please.take a few mins to view through them in this post. :) 

If you're interested in seeing more, I posted 98 of

what I thought were my best shots of the entire 500+ taken.

You can find them by clicking this link to GVFD on FaceBook:  

https://www.facebook.com/GVFD.343

2013 Family Photo Books

             I'll be doing alot of jumping back to things made prior to 2014, just to give you a glimpse into other crafts, photo shoots, etc. that I've enjoyed doing.                       The photo here, shows the Family Photo Books I made for the 2013 shoot. The books were made using Tim Holtz's Pocket Watch Movers&Shapers die #658571 and the coordinating repositional Circles dies #658566. I used a thicker, stiff cardboard and then painted with Distress Paints- Picket Fence and Gold. With some TH Ideology pieces (Swivel Clasps, Long Fasteners, Time Pieces, clear Fragments painted and stamped with date stamper) and a some layers of BIBLE pages (an old one bought for 25cents at rummage just for cutting fave verses into flowers like this or

other items) and some Grungepaper cut into small pieces made to look like hinges (just by folding into small sqares and then placed onto the TH Hardware Findings die #656632 with the fold not getting cut; gives you an hourglass-shape when unfolded after cut is made), and of course, old trash turned into stash- plastics cut with the Pocket Watch die.....and the final touch of some filmy ribbon....all put together with Glossy Accents. It made a very NICE sturdy album for the August 10 wedding of our PURDUE couple ! Momma kept the gold one for herself since it was the old-looking one. That's why it had more 'pages' unfolding out of it- I had to have room for all three sets plus some old pics of our own 1984 wedding, our renewed vows (I actually got into my wedding dress for that- at 17 yrs behind us!), etc. The longer you've been alive; the more photos you end up with.  This entire project took about one day. It really IS pretty simple to do as long as you can visualize how thick you want it to be (according to how many circles you want fit inside it and how thick those cuts will be, so do those first).

                     I hope you enjoy this and give it a try yourself ! I got the idea from a photo off Sizzix blogs, and knew this die was a KEEPER! Loved it at first sight, and I can't wait to get some more time to use it- perhaps with a compass theme for our July 2014 Anniversary Cruise. Of course, since the other four couples also got the same scrapbook that I picked up, I will have to make them some also. The more= the MERRIER!  ;)

WELCOME To Year 2014!

                                 The end of 2013 has come, just when I got used to the odd number. Thankfully, I'm pretty situated into using the 20 prefix. But that actually took the better part of the first decade before I stopped using the old number 19. I'm so situated, in fact, that a paper I'd dated and signed was returned to me for correction of the right century where my birth date was entered. So here we go into another year- but this one's a year I am definitely looking forward to! The ChiefHubby & I will celebrate our 30th Anniversary on July 14th...in 2014! Bahamas are waiting for us with a total of 10 booked to go....and we're planning all the stuff we did when we were younger; jetski, riding (horses...like, WHAT ELSE??), swimming, skiing, and coral-reefing. A new thing we haven't done is parasail. THAT oughtta be vewwwy interwesting, to be sure!
              But, it's not just the cruise I can look forward to...but rather the continuing JOURNEY of LIFE itself. After all the illness that struck at 39, I can finally say that I can not only handle what life hit me with, but also feel as if it BLESSED me in the long run afterward. I feel like I have more to look forward to than ever before. Not that I didn't, mind you. But when you get hit with one thing after another, sooner or later; you break. It's how you handle that breakdown, and WHO you ask to help you handle it. JESUS has been there every step of the way- even when I kicked, screamed, and protested....allllll the way. HE stayed near me and helped me keep seeing a little light whenever the tunnel seemed to get too dark for me to see the way. HE never let go of my hand, and HE even sent me a ton of WONDERFUL people for me to be humbly honored to call FAMILY. As this year moves on, like all of them, it will likely move on faster than I want it to. My goal will be to just make the most of each day- even if it seems nothing at all happened. Just being ALIVE is a GIFT. A precious gift that is not meant to be taken for granted. Let's be thankful for the little things, be generous with all the big things, and learn to let the unimportant things go where they belong: into the past.

                          HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
                       ~2014~

         Every year, our group of peeps - the bunch of Besties we do so many things with, share so much of our time with, and that we love so dearly that we are proud to call them FAMILY- gather together on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year, and take a group shot that is always the first photo of that year. So here it is: 2014.....