Spooky Layouts

I've been really enjoying the Spooktacular over at DSM the last couple of days!  Here's a couple layouts I did for the challenges.  Make sure to check the last pic, it cracks me up!!

Spooktacular Recipe Challenge

 Kit: October Build-a-kit from DSM

Spooktacular Speed Scrap October 25

Kit: Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun - Scrap maniac

And finally, we were supposed to "spook up" our avatars.  I thought this revealed my true form nicely.  At least that's what the Hub says.  ;)  Some of the avatars were fabulous! I can't get over how good some people are with photoshop.

LoL!! Ya know, the wings are a nuisance, but the horns are useful now and then. 

Green Acres--second edition

We've been really digging (ha, that's a pun!) around for information to decide what to do about the well.  As I said before, we're trying to decide whether to do a drilled or a bored well.   Our nearest neighbor, several acres to the west (are they neighbors if neither of us have built a house yet?) knows "a guy" at the  University of Illinois in an office that deals with local geological surveys and stuff.  So our neighbor, whom I will refer to as "Gifford" since that's from whence he's moving, called the geological guy and had him look at the water tables and do his mojo to see if he could tell us where the water can be found.  He said there's most definitely water and lots of it.  The problem is that we are a little higher and the land slopes pretty significantly (over a couple miles) toward the strip mine ponds in the Kickapoo area.  Since water wants to level itself out, it COULD be hiding low on our property to be in line with the water draining (read "being sucked") into the ponds.  He thinks the problem might be that people are just doing bored wells because the water is so deep.  If they don't drill deep enough to hit it, then they come up dry.  If this happened once or twice many years ago, people just start doing the bored wells.  Then when new builders come asking, it looks like there's no ground water.  Since you're paying by the foot for drilling, the bored wells are cheaper, too.

I'm sure you're all wondering the same thing that popped to my mind at this point.  How deep?  He says probably, maybe around 300 feet.  Whew.  That's a deep well.

So, do you drill, being fairly sure, there's water in them thar hills?  What if you come up dry at 300 feet?  Then you have to do a bored well anyway.  BUT, if you do hit, you have a better, safer well, that will be less susceptible to run-off and drought.  

The Hub, Gifford and Gillman (the neighbor to the east, who comes from, guess where?) have decided they should probably drill, but who gets to go first?  So, now we're all trying to wait out the others and let someone else be the guinea pig!  Ha.  

Small Pieces of You

I was cruising through town a few days ago playing my ipod with my new tune stick (WHY, oh why, didn't someone tell me about this gadget before? This thing is awesome! It's a tiny, little FM transmitter that sends my ipod music to my car radio so I can hear it through my speakers.  Cool, but even cooler is this one has no wires and it's made specially to fit my ipod and only makes it about an inch and a half longer.  Awesome! And I can take it in my bathroom and use it to play through the stereo in there when I take a nice, hot bath...Now, that's a good idea! See you guys later....J/K.)

I digress.  So, anyway, I was cruising through town listening to my ipod when Sara Groves' song A Small Piece of You played.  Oh, my goodness! I was in tears in about three seconds.  I've been thinking a lot lately about how grown up my babies are getting and Jordan will be leaving soon (probably with me hanging onto her legs and begging her to stay, but I'll try to be graceful about it.)

It made me think about using the song in a layout.  I had this sweet picture of her that I hadn't used yet that I thought would be perfect for it.  What do you think? Is the right side of the layout too plain?

Click image to see a larger view

Click arrow to hear Sara Groves sing Small Piece of You

Credits:

Joni Gray Designs

Greenfield Original Freebies

Kim B at DSO

Gunhild Storeide (File Tab and torn edges)

Scrappin Cop (Worn Sanded Overlay)

The swan I did myself...a swan in flight seemed perfect.

My Angel

I was stalking around my daughter's facebook and discovered some of her friends had tagged her in some really cute pictures.  (I have a terrible time gettting anything decent of her because she HIDES) Anyway, I lifted the pics off their profiles and scrapped this with a few of them.  I got these from Joey and Megan.  I have another really cute idea I'm planning to upload soon.  This one was scrapped using bits and pieces from the September Color Challenge at DSO.  I LOVE the stuff I get from that challenge...I'm always in awe of the great quality, creative stuff people who aren't designers, just regular scrappers, come up with!  AND, I'm very thankful they let me in on it!

Click image for larger view

Credits to: 

Sky's the Limit Scraps

Wendy Tunison

Freesia Scraps

Thanks, Ladies, you rock!!

Halloween Kit

I wanted to play around with some elements I've been collecting for a while.  I figure if I use them I can get them out of my way and stop searching around them all the time!  So here's the preview with download links below.  Have a good one!

Mediafire: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

4Shared: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

October 2010 DSO Color Challenge

Here I am back again for the October edition of Kim B's color challenge at DSO.  I got my part done a little earlier this month!  The color swatch this month made me think of my son's bedroom.  It's done in camouflage with touches of red, so I called this month's mini "Austin's Room."  I hope y'all like it and find something in it useful! Catch ya later.

Part 1 at 4shared

Part 2 at 4shared

Part 1 at Mediafire

Part 2 at Mediafire
I downloaded all the files and they work fine for me (which means nothing we discovered last month), so if you have any issues, email me and I'll fix it if I can ;)

Conference and Competition

For several weeks the Hub and I have been agonizing over a business trip to Orlando.  Neither of us wanted to go...well, that's not true.  I would love to go...fabulous hotel, great food, entertainment...these trips can be a lot of fun if you just ignore the kissing, er...schmoozing and have a good time together.  The last time we were in Orlando we had a wonderful time.  But this is really bad timing.  There's so much going on at home we really needed to stay home.  We finally registered and made arrangements for someone to stay with the kids, but it didn't feel right.  At the last minute we decided to stay home and cancelled all our plans. Then a "big shot" decided the Hub just HAD to be there (add some strong words and arm twisting).  So, in the end, He left this morning and I stayed behind.  He is driving 13 or so hours today and 4 or 5 tomorrow to get there by the noon registration and meet up with the others who flew out yesterday. Poor guy.  Well, I guess there's nothing for it.  It's just the way it is, I suppose.

Child number 4 began mandatory practices for cheer competition today.  The girls know their cheer and dance pretty well, they just have to clean up the little mistakes and get the timing down.  There are still two weeks left and they always shock me at competition.  It's amazing how they sparkle in front of a crowd, the little hams!

Life is good!  Catch y'all later.