Okblues Designs Blog

I know, I'm a really terrible blogger. :( I've just been busy. We acquired 2 new weanling quarter horses last weekend and here is a layout with some photos of them. Please ignore hubby's boat with the bright blue tarp in the background.

The kit used is Vino d'Annata, with the brads from Punk Boy, both by Miki Ferkul. Both kits are available at Scrapbook-Elements. The fiber is mine. Fonts are CK Dandy and Abrazo Script Bold.

And I have found a home to sell my designs. I will announce the site in a few days. Yes, I'm going to keep you in suspense. I will be out of town tomorrow & return early Saturday, so I should have news for you then.

I guess Best Sharing is up to it's old tricks again. The links work fine for most, but not at all for some. I uploaded the files to YouSendIt and updated the links below the kit preview. Thanks for all the wonderful comments you have left!

It's been a hectic week and weekend here. I have been buried in quarterly farm paperwork in addition to the usual. All of our record keeping is done on the computer. I will be so happy when we can afford the handheld computers and specialized software to enter the data as the task is done. It will make it much easier for all involved. And probably more accurate, lol.

Doris was baptized last Sunday evening. She was a little nervous, but happy at the same time. I was extremely proud of her! She is maturing so fast. I'm off to bed now & hope to have some time to scrap tomorrow.

I started this kit to scrap some photos of our miniature horse Precious and finally have it finished. I reworked the papers a little from my originals, to add a little grunge and distressing. I hope you enjoy it! Click on the preview to get a larger view. All papers and elements are 300 dpi and there are no dropshadows on the actual elements.

Kit Contents:

16 papers (12 patterned & 4 solid)
1 torn paper border
2 twill ribbons & 2 twill bows
2 fuzzy fibers
1 png of straight stitches
2 buttons & 1 button stitch
1 journaling paper
2 journaling tags
6 pebbles
1 paperclip, 1 photoprong, 1 brad & 1 staple
1 alpha (complete upper & lower case, numbers & punctuation)

Download papers with BestSharing or with YouSendIt
Download elements with BestSharing or with YouSendIt
Download alpha with BestSharing or with YouSendIt

As always, I would appreciate a comment if you download. Also, if you use this kit for any layouts, please send me a link. I would love to see some of my work in use.

Some of you may already know that I didn't make it to the next round of the ScrapArtist Apprentice Challenge. I was a little discouraged at first, although the competition was fierce. I plan to continue to develop my designing skills and hope to sell my designs in the future. Thanks to all who gave me encouragement and left such nice comments at ScrapArtist. And I wish the very best of luck to all the challenge participants. The entries were amazing!

Today has been a glorious day for our family. I want to shout the news from the rooftops. Our baby girl Doris has just accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior! She will be baptised next Sunday at our church. If Randy & I never accomplish another thing in this life, we have succeeding in leading all three of our children to Christ. And that is so very important to both of us. Now our mission is to continue to help them grow as Christians and develop their relationship with God. I only pray we can set a living example for them to follow.

I am creating new rules for our house. I plan to print these and post them conspicuously around the house and the farm office.

• It isn't nice, or acceptable, to empty my new bottle of clear, clarifying shampoo into your bath water as bubble bath, and then refill the bottle with water so it appears as though it is still full.
• Leaving umpteen pairs of shoes by the door is no longer allowed. I mean, really, how many pairs can you wear at once???
• Please refrain from leaving a glass of _________ uncovered and teetering on the edge of the refrigerator shelf so that when unsuspecting Mom opens the door, it comes showering out.
• Nail polish is not allowed to be used without parental guidance from this time forward. Did you think I wouldn't notice the artwork on the bathroom vanity???
• Please don't let the dog in the bathroom when I am in the shower. There is a reason I shut the doors. I promise I won't escape through some secret exit.
  
• The hallway is not a racetrack. You don't get extra points for how fast you can get from your bedroom to the living room.
• To the dog: It isn't necessary to guard my _________ from me!
  
• Please be aware that I have ordered the fingerprint kit and surveillance cameras to catch "not me".

I will probably add to this list from time to time. These are just a few things that got under my skin in the last few days. I sometimes wonder how my mother survived. Hope you are all enjoying a great weekend!

I had some free time this evening & completed a couple of new layouts. The first is A Kiss for Grandma. It brings her such joy to spend time with her grandchildren.

Credits: Nicolette, a new kit by Miki Ferkul (Microferk Designs) that will be available Sunday at Scrapbook-Elements. (Hue and saturation adjusted on some papers and elements.) Just a lovely soft kit to work with. Fonts: GE Coterie Script, LD Scriptive.

The next is using some photos I shot of the hummingbirds at my MIL's house. I may have 3 or 4 hummers at my feeder. She always has a flock of them fighting over her feeders. I guess hers just tastes better.

Credits: Tranquility by Denise Bailey Designs, a beautiful and versatile kit; Brushes from Art and Soul by MaryAnn Wise available at Designer Digitals. Fonts: Papyrus.

A couple of years ago we had the opportunity to live in northern West Virginia while dh was working on a project there. The company rented a house for us in Canaan Valley. We were on our way to town one morning and had the pleasure of seeing this doe with her newborn fawn. Luckily I had the camera with us & got a couple of nice shots of the new arrival.

Credits: Scrapey papers by Christy Sturm at Butternug Squash Designs; Ribbon and rivets from Amazing Nature by Heather Roselli at DigiChick; Bookplate and screws from Gina's Garden available at Scrapbook-Bytes (altered); Photo corners by me using an action from Atomic Cupcake; Doodles from Fit To Be Flouished by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals. Fonts: Palatino SmallCaps, Palatino Linotype.

I just received Park's email newsletter and they have the most gorgeous landscape roses on sale. Now, these are my kind of roses. Hardy, carefree, drought and disease resistant. I love beautiful gardens and flowers but I just don't have what it takes to be a successful gardener. I lack that proverbial "green thumb". My first choice is Fourth of July, described as a climbing rose with apple scented blooms.

Next in my lineup is Rockin Robin. It is a shrublet rose, larger than a miniature, and perfect for borders or containers. It also boasts a rich apple scent.

Last but not least is Blushing Knock Out, a gorgeous rose with clusters of 3 inch pink bubblegum blooms. It is shade tolerant and loves humidity, so it will be perfect. Oh, and I can get this one free with the email coupon from their newsletter.

Now, I just have to convince dh that these are necessary, lol.

This freebie is to thank all of you who left such nice comments over at the ScrapArtist Apprentice gallery for my kit submission. This alpha coordinates with the Timeless Romance kit, but could be used with many others.

Zipfile contains:
1 Uppercase Alpha
1 Lowercase Alpha
1 Set of Numbers
1 Set of Punctuation
This is all on one sheet, not individual files.
No dropshadows included on alpha.

Download zipfile from Best Sharing
or
Download zipfile from YouSendIt
As always, please leave a comment if you download.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It's been a working weekend here with no hired help. I did find the time to scrap a layout using a unique and creative kit by Miki Ferkul. Doris loves music and she loves to sing.

Credits: It's Showtime by Michaela Ferkul of Microferk Designs, available at Scrapbook-Elements. (Altered: Tag colorized and music notes added to background paper.) Fonts: Occidental, LucidaSans, Notes Normal. Thanks for looking!