EZ Sassafras - cattle pictures can be difficult

Cattlemen and women in Texas take their first look at the Lowline Angus and think we are nuts to raise a so called specialty breed. Women especially think the Lowline is cute. Even my husband will only acknowledge to me that they are. But really both of us believe with all our souls they are the future of the cattle industry in the US. This breed is a true Angus just smaller. To give you an idea how big they are I'd like you to think about the length of your inseam when you buy a pair of jeans. Sassy measures about 38 inches. Peyton our Junior Bull measures 44 inches at 2 1/2 years and we will probably get him another inch by the time he is three. Nova our Senior Bull measures about 47-48 inches.

I tell people we don't eat the legs of cattle. I always get a cocked head as they process that statement then always get, 'Ya know your right!' Peyton at 44 inches weighed in at the beginning of the month at 922 lbs and still not quite at full weight. He should reach 1000-1050 by the time he walks in the ring at Houston Livestock Show in Mid March.



The picture of Peyton was taken in May '08, the spring grasses just before going to seed. They would come up just above my knee. Gives a real idea of just what the size of a 18 month old bull. He's about 38 inches in this photo. You might ask why there is a ring in his nose. All bulls shown over the age of nine months must have a ring for control. Peyton hates the ring. The only time he has a line attached to the ring is when we enter the show grounds as he loves arrival and gets excited. The other time is when he is actually in the show ring per the rules. Oh and don't pull on that line, he'll go nuts. He literally gets angry. Lynn is a master of not pulling on his ring when she has a line attached. He just instinctively knows if he behaves it won't hurt. He really hates being angry, too. He'll tell you real quick he's a lover not a fighter.

I have two months a year to take really nice photos of the cattle, when the grass is green and lush, April and May. About 5% are worthy of using in advertising or on the website. I've never had a great picture of Peyton, and so hope this year at Houston we'll get a good show picture. If nothing else I use the pictures for identification purposes as Lowline Angus as a breed are not branded. They tattoo the ears instead. Should they get stolen I need the photos. Also Lowlines are DNA Tested for parentage so there is a way other then pictures and tattoos to identify a stolen animal.

As pictures go I couldn't get Sassy (Sassafras) in a position for a great shot. But I did get two right together that reminded me just a silly noise from the human will bring both ears forward. So Sassy, thank you for paying attention.



Even with the difficulty taking her picture I remind myself at times she lives up to her name, Sassy. Remember we give direction to kids for photos and they don't always do what we want. Try working with a child who has always been told to smile for a photo graph, then you tell him/her you don't want them to smile. Yeah, had that happen recently with a great-nephew and great-niece. I really got some strange, 'Are you NUTS!' looks from both. They loved the pictures in the camera when I showed them. Cattle are worse....LOL. I want to thank Pencil Lines for their Sketch this week, Sketch 123. I think that is why I chose to use a pink background. Sassy you can be cute when she wants to, Miss Prissy!

I really enjoy our Lowline Cattle.

Kim

My Best Friend & Sister

I think my grandmother correct, 'If you can count on one hand five every close friends at the end of your life you are blesses.' My grandmother counted many more, she was truly blessed.

I've had falling outs over the years with friends, close friends we have always patched them up. That's what true friends do. I have two best friends. I'll get around to scrapping a picture of Karen. Karen and I have been friends for a very long time, this year in November will be 39 years. I'm blessed to have Karen in my life.

The other best friend is really what this post is all about. Rebecca was first introduced to me as Reb. My first meeting I remember of Rebecca was Work Week for Formal Rush (ok I know it's now called recruitment, just let me remember my past fondly) during the fall semester of my senior year. I'd only pledged (yeah, I know it's not that any more, too) the semester before. She was the tallest member of our chapter, Zeta Theta of Delta Zeta. Elegant, too! It was the first day of work week. I asked another sister where she came from. She looked at me like I was nuts....sorry I'm just a neophyte (yeah, can't use that either). I'm a month and half from my initiation. The first week of my pledgeship was such a blurr....and Reb left for home due to health problems. She was picking up where she left off as a second semester Freshman.

A couple of evenings later I walked downstairs to find Reb sitting on the floor of all things. I asked something like, Your not a morning person? She replied with a yes. Can I join you. The first of many nights that drag into early morning with my sister. There on the floor of the living room of the very quiet sorority house Rebecca and I got to know each other. Our friendship just continued to grow. We were close, close as real sisters. I'm delighted to say we still are. We place no conditions on each other. We have fun, laugh, cry and share everything. She is my rock at times and I'm hers at times. I thank her for telling me very forcefully, 'Grow up and Get Dressed.' She took me shopping, taught me what would look good on me, did a make over on me, gave me my first perm, taught me how to curl my hair properly. The days of big Farah Faucet hair! Something this jeans and t-shirt gal never had her mother teach her. Gosh why did I have to wait until I was 21 to learn all of that. So I did grow up and get dressed. I'm sure like me she could tell you something about me that made a significant difference in her life.

Our sons, James and Ryan, were born 3 months apart. When she moved to Austin, then Oklahoma, then Reno and now back closer to her parents the boys grew apart. I'm sure they would immediately become the friends they were back then. Lynn and Ryan have reconnected and stay in touch via Facebook. We are blessed with our well adjusted young adult children.

We constantly reaffirm our promise we made in college to each other. When we grow old, out live the men in our lives, we will live together and spend our days on the porch swing deep in discussion as we watch the world go by. I can't think of a better thing to do with Rebecca.


The picture was taken I'm sure during the '83-'84 school year. I'm also pretty sure it was her portrait for the DZ Composite for that year. I know she had given it to me on my visit to the sorority before I left for my first job in Florida. I'd graduated with my Masters in August of 1983. On the back she wrote:

Kim,

My Best Friend,
My Sister,

Love, Reb 1/84

I found the picture just this past Sunday beneath another in one of those key chains that holds pictures. So afraid I'd loose track of it which I'm so good at putting it some place safe that I end up loosing what ever I put in the safe place. So I immediately decided to scrap it. Reb used her pinking shears to the photo....that wasn't me. I love this LO, as Reb has always loved wearing deep rich colors. I felt the paper reflected that. She loves Pearls the best I think, but a little bling never hurt either. Love you, Reb!

I'd like to thank 52 Sketches...52 Weeks for providing the sketch this week (2009 Sketch #8). I so appreciate them letting me remember with such fondness our time in the early years of our friendship as active sisters of Delta Zeta.

Kim

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Last spring while taking pictures of the cattle and moving on to the next pasture a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher flew to the fence we driving along. STOP! I think I scared Larry to death. Need to take the picture of that Scissor-Tail.

My maternal grandmother, Dee-Dee, had a great love of song birds. She fed the birds twice a day, year round for as long as she could. She then insisted her care takers do the same which they gladly did for her. It was a chore I loved while at her house. She purchased bird food by the 25 lb. bags only because she couldn't lift anything larger. When I was at the house she would get 50 lb bags. She taught me all she knew about birds. She had several favorite stories. I think the one she loved the most was on a trip to Houston in the late '40's while Equipment Editor for American Home Magazine she made the point to get to the Port Aransas area to see her first Whooping Cranes. The trip must have been winter because they are only in Texas during the winter. I've lived in Texas 39 years and still haven't been to see them. She told me she had seen Sandhill Cranes, too. I also loved how she told me you could tell a crane in flight. There necks would be outstretched. 'Only cranes fly that way, all others fly with their head tucked,' referring to shore birds.

When me moved to Texas I loved this long tailed bird. Friends told me it was the Scissor-tail. They are fun to watch. Meet the Scissor-tail whose picture I took last spring.


Thank you to Pink Sketches for supplying the sketch I used to do this LO. Sketch #22, do check it out. I rotated the sketch and went straight to my favorite manufacturer, Basic Grey. I also used some buttons I purchased at Hobby Lobby which came in a grab bag. Finally the ribbon and Lace is from the Laundry Line of MME. I love how it all turned out. Now if I can only get either a Nikon or Cannon Rebel to capture a better picture. I'd love to get one of a blue bird, too!

Have a blessed day!

Kim

Reagan

Wow! I loved the sketch from Pink Sketches #21. I love circles! Yet, as I started really thinking about the sketch I found I was thinking curves. I started pulling paper and was thinking how striking Charlie was against white. Well his son would surely be, too. I'd been wanting to try a technique I saw in Scrapbooks, etc. issue Jan. '09 on page 133, titled: Quick Class Woven Together. Lisa Storms used a Square Scalloped piece of card stock and some pastel embroidery thread to creat a woven patten on the paper. I thought the LO she created stunning. In my mind I saw a Circle Scalloped Cardstock done the same way. The result would look like petals on a flower. If the picture was placed just right on the page those lines coming to the center of the cardstock would draw your eyes to the picture. Cool, was my only thought. When I saw this sketch I knew exactly how I would do this LO. I loved the result!





I felt I stayed true to the sketch by using buttons on the flowers to have my circles. Even the ribbon has a circular burst. The circle mat has circles within it and the card stock I used for the title matches the color of one of those small circles in the mat.

Here's what I used. Paper: Basic Grey Paper from the Scarlet's Letter collection (Fate & Among The Ruins) and Quickutz QuickStripz Tropical Yellow. Ribbon: GCD Studios Winter Wonderland. Thread: DMC # 349. Flowers: Buttons Galore and More Fiesta Felt. Assorted Buttons from my stash with DMC Thread White. Pen: Creative Memories Bold Tip Black.

Reagan is a 2008 February calf. He is a striking son of Mr. Double TT 31 aka as Charlie from my last post out of Five Oaks 1/5. 1/5 gives us some striking calves with Reagan's older sister Jillian in our current show string. Reagan always has had that look at me attitude. His pictures so easy to take. Right now he is going through his gain test and if he passes he will be on his way to be sold as a herd bull.

I hope you will check out Pink Sketches site, as their sketches are great to work with.

Kim

Daisy D's Closing & Charlie

I found a blog quite by accident looking for a picture of the new specialty coverset album put out by Creative Memories. The album is called Wishes and Dreams. I must say it is beautiful. I had to order one. The joys of being a hobby consultant. Find a local consultant for the new Spring Catalog and March/April Mini Brochure. It's their semi-annual big release of new product.

Back to the blog I found. The blog is titled is Cake, Cocoa, & Gossip by Becks Fagg. Becks is from the UK as listed on her blog. She is manages "Creativity Life" a magazine I've not heard of so I assume it is only in the UK, maybe Europe, too. Yet I'm not sure of any of that. On her entry for today she annouces the closing of Daisy D's. So I went to Daisy D's website and sure enough they are closing. It was hard for me to know Daisy D's is going belly up. I've never been a big fan of theirs but I know many who are. I do have some of their border tapes and I struggle to get them to apply evenly, yet I LUV LUV the idea. It looks as if you the consumer can buy directly from Daisy D's, as this was the first time I've been to their site. Speaking of Scrapbooking Companies, Creative Memories parent company went into reorganization and has come out with a new plan to restructure which has been approved. Creative Memories was never in danger of folding though as they are very solvent, but they too have seen a down turn in number of consultants which means less income. I'm spending less and have moved to getting the much needed framing done instead of scraping supplies. I'll start buying Christmas Presents for my nieces & MIL within the month. I'm spreading it out over the year to only maintain my consultant hobby status.

Back to Beck's Blog. She had some wonderful photos up on her site of some of the new things at CHA. When I have more time this week I'll return to dive into her writings and maybe become a follower of her blog.

Onto my LO for 52 Sketches...52 Weeks. Sketch 2009 #7. My subject, Charlie. Every time I write his name I think of "Charlie Brown." He's Lynn's Santa Gertrudis Bull and she hates it that I compare him to Charlie Brown. Yet, his personality is both playful and he always wants the attention the girls get. I'll be somewhat sad to see him sold this year after spring breeding. He just has too many daughters on the ranch to justify the cost to keep him. We are moving to maintain only Lowline bulls, and use Artifical Insemination work on our Santa Gertrudis with clean up by our Lowline bulls. This picture I was able to capture of Charlie was the best shot I took of all of the cattle last spring. I was thrilled when I saw it in the camera. I thought, oh if only I'd had the Cannon Rebel at the time. I'm still drooling over that camera. I'm still wishing I had a Rebel.



As for the LO. I rotated the sketch and went to my scraps to find the perfect pieces for the LO. I had fun using my Quickutz Archiver's Exclusive Patterned Bracket's 4x4 die to make my brackets. That die was a purchase I couldn't live without! Has three different brackets that measure 3 3/4" when cut out. LOVE THEM! I also LUV the Bazzill Stitchez templates and used DMC 814 thread, a deep cherry red, as that is the color the Santa Gertrudis are known for. I really love all of the LO's that were done for this week by those who participated and their was overall great compliments on the sketch by the members of the 52 Weeks...52 Sketches community. If you've not jumped over to Julie's site, you really should!

Have a great weekend!

Kim

Ronald Reagan Rose

The color of red. What words do you use to describe red? I use love, desire, anger, laughter, and oh yes passion. Didn't I just do a LO titled "Passion". Sure did....for Pink Sketches #20. This is another LO for Pink Sketches. Sketch #16. I love sketches that give one a lot of layering. I think this one did. I've kept up with the blog for since it started and I can honestly say the sketches are getting better and better. So if you have never checked out this great Sketch site.....by all means do.

The LO is in a 7x7 format, the old small album format for Creative Memories. I have two more albums in that format and then I so look to adding the 15 more square inches when I go to the new 8x8 format. It is amazing how room you have when you add an inch on two sides of the LO. I use the smaller albums as a journal of my love of gardening. My favorite plant to garden with is roses. As I talked about in "The Cottage" I loved my grandfather's flower beds. He had a couple of rose beds. I'm all of a sudden sitting here wondering why I love roses so much. I remember getting a few single roses or corsages from boyfriends in high school. Yet, I remember how touched I was when my first love, George gave me a bouquet. I fell in love with roses right then and there. It's funny, I don't like getting a bouquet now. Give me a rose plant, but make sure you know the cultivar.

Roses really are easy to grow. In all gardening one has to give a little time to the garden. The most time is spent in building a bed and then taking the time to pull the weed you spot as you walk by, watering and fertilizing the plants. The second biggest amount of time you need to take is to prune your roses in the spring. You need food so do the plants in a garden. They need your protection from insects and disease. Takes a few seconds to diagnois and another 15 minutes to treat. If you have never had luck with roses, your not loving them. Roses love to be talked to. To grow roses is a labor of love. The reward is their wonderful flowers.

Meet the rose Jackson Perkins named Ronald Reagan. The picture taken in Spring of 08. These were the first blooms after planting the rose. Apparently President Reagan had a great sense of humor and this rose is the red of laughter.

Info on the Ronald Reagan. Hybridized by Jackson & Perkins in 2004, a double bloom hybrid tea, grows to four to six feet, and the color is a red blend. The rose will grow to Zone 7a, to 0 degrees. Known to grow per Dave's Garden in New York and Ohio. Dave's Garden? The largest garden site on the web. Need info on any plant, it is on that site. Meet Ronald Reagan Rose:




I'd like to again thank Pink Sketches for the inspiration!

Blog Award!

I really became so excited yesterday when my Best New Friend, Monica, left me a note saying she had given me a Blog Award. Now only if I could figure out how to use the html to change the LO of the background pattern to be as pretty as her blog.

Monica honors me and I feel so humble when she gives so encouragement and joy in my scrapping. She encourages and inspires me to keep moving forward to try to better myself with the next LO I attempt! Thank you, Monica! Please visit Monica's blog and see the incredible scraping she does of her family.

I so have a hat at my home like the one in the award. I so need to have a picture done with me in it. My grandmother's red hat. Thinking all that she did to inspire me to reach my dreams, I remember how much she loved my BFF, Karen. I hand this award to Karen's blog.

Oh and oh yes it is handed right back to Monica! Fabulous Just Scrappin!

Kim

Passion - Our Ranch

Thank you Pink Sketches for a great sketch to work with! I loved Sketch #20. It was a sketch I wanted to use very simply with a quote for my journaling.

The most beautiful action in the world is to love.
Bertha Von Suttner

I so loved keeping the LO true to the sketch. I've found myself lately with various sketches changing them up and adding more of me. This one though is how I look at my life...very simple and uncomplicated. Agriculture does that for me. I'm always talking about the continuity of the seasons and how life moves in circles. The cattle, horses, wildlife here at the ranch is what I love and am so passionate about. I think love and passion go hand in hand. One can't get monetarily rich from a farm or ranch, it is a work of love that keeps one close to land.

I thought the pictures of two of our Santa Gertrudis cows were perfect. Both were pregnant at the time, Spr. 2008 The cow in the top picture gave us a gorgeous Half-blood Lowline heifer who is in our show string. The other a sweet Santa Gertrudis heifer who will be staying in the herd to give us her own calves. Spring is early this year. Trees are beginning to bud and some have even popped their buds. The cows hardly look to you as they are busy eating the winter rye that has taken a sudden burst of growth with the recent rain and warmer days. The spring grasses are beginning to poke through the soil.

I'm so passionate about my life!

Kim

The Cottage

I'd like to thank Pencil Lines for helping me know what to do with both the lace paper and corn pattern paper. I'd been looking for the perfect Sketch for about three months. Thank you for the inspiration!

My Dad's Parents, Granpa & Granma, lived in Euclid, OH. In the summers they moved out to their summer cottage on the Geneva River. I loved spending time at "The Cottage," as the family would call it. It meant spending time with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Carol as well as my cousins Lynda and David. Funny how Granpa and Granma were Papa and Nana and David is now Dave. As Lynda, Dave and I reached teenagers the names changed.

I know we spent even more time at The Cottage when we lived in Niagara Falls. Yet I remember, being there when we lived in Delaware for two weeks each summer. There I learned to love my Granpa's garden. There was the main 1 acre vegatable garden, a small raspberry patch, and then smaller flower beds scattered about the lawn. The vegatable garden was off limits to the kids unless we were an adult. Now that I look back on that rule I can understand it would be a diaster if five kids went running down the rows. That one acre garden provided enough vegatables for my grandparents and my Aunt and Uncles family for almost a year. They only bought vegatables four to six weeks out of the year before the vegatables started to come in. My Granpa kept three compost bins. One for the current gardening year, one still a work in progress and one that all the current organic matter was going into. There were wonderful grass paths through the garden kept edged to perfection. Three pound coffee cans with holes punched in the bottom for water to drain strategically placed so if Granpa found a stone it went in the can...and no stone throwing by the kids.

I'd spend about five minutes at a time with Granpa in the garden before leaving to run play somewhere else. During that time he'd show me how to weed, how he cultivated the vegatables, or maybe add some compost. Granma always called me to go out to pick whatever vegatables would be on the table for lunch and dinner. I learned so much from her. She taught me how to tell if an ear of corn was ripe without peeling the husks back. I've in turn have taught my children. She taught me how to tell each vegatable was ripe. She had a rule about cooking corn. Put the pot of water on to boil before going out to the garden. Pick other vegatables first, then the corn. Head straight for the compost pile and shuck the ears right then, then head for the house. She'd rinse the ears and put them in the now boiling water. Less then 5 minutes from picking to the pot. I can still taste the wonderful sweet corn my grandfather grew. I've never had any better. For two weeks we would have corn two meals a day every day. I was in heaven. I found it crazy that my grandparents wouldn't let us have another ear of corn until the cob was very clean. I'd eat two or three ears every meal, and by gosh I cleaned those ears the first go round. It was so ingrained in me my husband commented to me how in the world did I get ears so clean about five years into our marriage. I chuckled....when I actually thought about it. For the first ten years of my life the only time we ate corn on the cob was at Granma and Granpa's. My grandparents were ones who wasted little and expected the rest of the family to conform to that concept. As an adult I understand...1) they were Bohemian and 2) they lived through the Great Depression as a young married couple with young children. To this day I am surpised my Granpa held his job in Cleveland Bank and Trust through the Depression. He must have been a very productive employee. I'm sure he was terrified of loosing the job.

I remember at least twice a week my Granma and Mom would be in the kitchen all afternoon after picking vegatables just after lunch dishes were done. They would be freezing or canning the vegatables. Then once a week they would head for Euclid to their home to put the vegatables up in the freezers or shelves in the basement. If my Aunt was at The Cottage all three would be in the kitchen. We were not allowed in the kitchen while they were working. For the most part it was because there was barely room for one never mind add one or two more in the kitchen. They had the time of their lives in the kitchen. I remember hearing them talking and laughing.

Some of the other fun things to do at The Cottage. Dave and I would see how far we could jump. The favorite thing to jump over was the flower beds. We looked like little deer flying over a six foot round bed. I think our Granma was about to die as she screamed at us. When we made it she disappeared in the house. That evening she told us to show our parents what we could do. They were sitting under the trees near that bed talking while we were running off dinner. I loved the summer evenings falling asleep as the three of us kids always slept on the back porch. What fun to listen to the night sounds as we fell asleep as it would always be quickly. We'd also swim in the Geneva River just out the back door of the cottage. At my Grandparent's place it was a very small meandering river. We would swim across the river and use their neighbors rope swing from a huge tree to drop into the river. The bank was steep and we were never allowed down to the river without the adults. Then each trip my Granma and Mom would take my brothers and I to a local riding stable where I was given the gift of a ride on a pony. I loved that day. Somewhere there is a picture of me on one of those rides.

I always hated to leave and go home. My brothers and I would have to give up space in the Station Wagon for some of those wonderful veggies coming home with us. I never minded because they were so good.

Flooding memories of the my time at "The Cottage" came back when I started scrapping the LO. I didn't name it, "The Cottage," because it was pictures of my Granpa and Granma for my "About Me" album. My love of Agriculture comes honestly through my grandfather. The knowledge of ripe fruit and vegatables comes from my grandmother. I consider those the greatest treasures they gave me. I remember the very moment I told my Granpa I was going to major in Agriculture (by then they were living near us in Texas). There is a picture in my Mother's Wedding Album of my Granpa and Mom dancing with this wonderful huge smile on his face. That smile was the same one he gave me. I became grandchild #1 in an instant. From that point on any time I came home I was required to arrive at his house within 24 hours to let him know what I'd learned since the last time I saw him. He loved it! I always tell Larry my Grandfather is smiling down from his pink cloud and telling me I did good in choosing my husband. Larry loves Agriculture as much as I do.


What wonderful memories this LO has brought back.

Kim

"About Me"

For about a year I wanted to start a album describing who I am. How I think, what I love and where I'm going in life. I finally started back in August. I've done about 10 LO's for the album. I'd picked the photo I wanted for my cover page yet I had no idea how I wanted the page to look. This week that all changed. I read the challenge on Mother's and Daughter's Creation Blog. Talk about a sudden burst of inspiration. PERFECT! Last night I started on the LO.

The picture is of me as a Junior at Sam Houston State University way back when. Yeah, remember the Farah Faucet hair days. A close friend, a photography major, wanted to take a picture of me. He picked a spot on campus and took no telling how many shots. This was the one he chose and had he developed an eight by ten for me. I was thrilled when he told me he got an A on the photo. Over the years and many moves the picture was slightly damage, and I have planned to get it fixed. I haven't yet due to time constraints so I scanned and had it printed in 4x6 for this album. The two best photos taken of me were in college. One a portrait for my Professional Business Fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi and the one I used on the LO.

Three things are a rarity for me in my Scrapbooking, Black and White Photos,the colors of orange, yellow & purple are tough for me, and framing my LO's. The two or three black and white photos I've done before I wasn't real pleased on how the LO's turned out. I'm really not creative and color choice is hard for me. Color choice was interesting for this LO as I chose a color I'm not comfortable working with. I find it interesting two of the three LO's I've done for Mother's and Daughters Creations Challenge are framed LO's. I think this is the third or fourth framed LO in the last year.

I knew right away my journaling would Quotes and short phrases or single words to describe me. I have some wonderful clear sticker quotes and single words. Now to pick the colors to go with the fun cardstock stickers I have. I wanted fun colors....what color to use with the color of the stickers and bring out the photo. Maybe because I'm almost a Halloween Baby and staring at this Black and White Photo I chose Black Card Stock and an orange pattern paper. Then on top of that the same placement of picture as my entry of last week. The photo placement certainly wasn't intended. It just happened in order for me to fit all of the quotes in the way I wanted them to appear. I love the circles on the paper because I'm so into the comfort of an agrarian lifestyle which provides for the circle of life and the continuity of seasons. I ran into a problem as soon as I'd picked the orange paper, the picture didn't look right. I started pulling out paper matching the stickers and it was the green that just set the picture off in the right way. The rest of the LO just fell into place. I wanted the picture a little softer so I rounded the edges but left the mat squared to draw attention. Instead of rounded corners I chose to use a scalloped edge on the orange pattern paper. The green alpha is has a metallic finish which doesn't really look as good in the picture as it does in the LO.



End result.....I'm thrilled with the LO, giving insight through quotes, single words, and short phrase what is so important in my life instead of doing a hand journaling for my list. THANK YOU, Mothers and Daughters Creations for the perfect inspiration for this page.

Kim

I'm Amazed!

This morning I'm busy working on my Garden Album, scrapping a couple of LO's that are easy since the album is in a 7x7 format. I decided to check Mothers and Daughters Creations Blog to see what the challenge was for this week. Since I'm working off an air card everything loads super slow in rural Central Texas.

I look up and OH MY GOSH!!!!! There is my "Rare Snow" LO (Post Jan. 29, 08). I'm stunned and amazed. It's only the second time I have ever won a challenge. Thank you to Mothers and Daughters Creations. I'm thrilled beyond belief since I'm so critical of my work...

I also want to thank my loving daughter who for the last year says, 'Mom, you've become a better scrapper then me.' Funny I don't think so, she is such a excellent scrapper. Lynn has always been such a big supporter of my scrapping and encouraging me in my LO's. Sweetheart, thank you for getting me started in such a great hobby.

Make sure you check out this week's challenge on Mothers and Daughters Creations. You have to do a list journaling. I see the LO in my head as soon as I read the challenge. So jump on over to a great blog of challenges for both scrappers and card makers! Their design team is AWESOME!

Kim

Pencil Lines Sketch #120 - Wildflowers

I've gone from snow to spring in one week. My take on Pencil Lines Sketch #120. I love spring in Texas. Lady Bird Johnson was instramental in the preservation and the awareness of Texas Wildflowers. Our State Flower is the Texas Bluebonnet. Texans love the Bluebonnet. To me the Bluebonnet is on the same level as my roses as my favorite flowers. It is illegal in this state to pick wildflowers. Lynn asked me last year, 'Mom, isn't it the same smashing bluebonnets as picking them when families take pictures in a patch of Bluebonnets.' I replied, 'Lynn it is a right of passage for Texas Children to have a picture sitting in the middle of a Bluebonnet patch.' And it is, every spring you'll see families along the highway taking pictures of their small children sitting in the bluebonnets. I don't think there is a single Texan driving along our highways who doesn't smile when they see children sitting in the flowers.

I love taking pictures each year of the Bluebonnets at the ranch. 2007 we had massive numbers of the beautiful flowers. Last year just a very small amount and no great huge patches of the flowers.

In this LO I wanted to reflect the fact that this is Texas' wildflowers. Wright Designs makes a 12x12 paper with Past Texas License Plates. If I run out of this paper I seem to find it again and I can't resist making sure it is in my stash. I felt this piece made my LO.

Thank you Pencil Lines for the great sketch!

Kim