Ups and Downs

Hi all!  Have a few LO's to share tonite made with goodies from July's Sampler Kit from Scrapbooking Supplies R Us.  The kit will be available any day and it is loaded with fabulous goodies!  So get ready to shop!!!

First up is a LO I made for this week's Sketchy Thursday challenge:

And my LO:

Ahhhh fun in the sun!  Love doing layouts of vacation pictures.  Perfect ways to preserve great memories. 

Up next is a LO made for Sketchy Thursdays Guest Designer for August:

Here's another LO:

Logan, my nephew, loved kite flying at the beach.  Such a fun picture opportunity! 

This week has been full of ups and downs at the barn.  My duck Fredda has ducklings!  Yes, after 2 years of infertility she's finally a Momma!  She had 3 little ducklings hatch and now is down to 2.  Hoping and Praying the 2 remaining make it:

My rooster Quagmire, who I've had for at least 3 years, has had a bad foot for a while now.  Today it finally got so bad he couldn't walk or use the foot so we made the difficult decision to put him down.  It just kills me to decide between life and death and weigh the quality of life he had. Here's a LO I did in 2009 featuring Quagmire:

He was a beauty!  The barnyard always has one rooster that steps up to be the ruler.  Quag was our leader and I'm anxious to see who steps up and takes over.  There will never be another Quag!

Pretty In Pink

Anyone else a blog slacker this Summer?  There's just so much to do with my days and so little time!  Here in the country Summer's are the best.  Long days, plenty of sunshine, and watermelon.  We're already getting corn, green beans, cucumbers, and potatoes out of the garden, yummo.  There's nothing like fresh corn on the cob! 

I've got a LO to share tonite that I made using The Sampler kit for June:

I posted this flower picture a few months ago and thought it was scrap worthy.  It was one of the first signs of Spring I saw this year.  I used Adobe Photoshop and made the purple of the flower a little more vibrant.  There's so many different definitions of art - mine is crafting.  Someone else may be drawing.  I love that we can all decide what art means to use and create away. 

There's a new challenge up at If The Shoe Fits - it's a patriotic challenge.  Sign up now if you have a late 4th of July or Patriotic card you'd like to share.

Speaking of art, tonite I purchased a new goodie from Amazon:

I got a Pretty Pink Smashbook from K & Co. and goodies to go with it.  OK, why didn't I think of this book???  I've been keeping diaries and scrapping for years, I'm a pack rat of anything that could some day hold a memory or spark an idea.  I'm so excited to get my Smashbook and found a great Smashbook blog by K & Co. 

I've really found how important it is to keep my memories preserved since Papaw passed away.  I told you I had started a heritage album years ago.  Well I found all my notes and stories Papaw told me that I had already forgot...I was so happy!  And I have been doing a little ancestory research and found when my family originally traveled from Europe to the United States.  Just amazing! 

Got a beach picture to share with you tonite of me and my nephew Logan.  We had such a great time at Ocean Island, NC.  Highly recommend it to everyone who likes to laze on the beach without the crowds:

Logan's almost as tall as me, hehe!  These pretty little sunglasses were lost at see later that week!  I'm sure there's a shark wearing them as we speak. 

Things have been going good at the barns.  My little chicks have been keeping me busy.  We have many chickens that are new Momma's, but most of them only have a couple of chicks so the numbers are easier to deal with.  I showed a picture of my 5 baby ducks a few months ago, we only have 1 left.  We still have Frank and Fredda Quackers and Fredda is sitting on a nest of eggs again.  That duck really needs medication, she's nuts!  So Frank has befriended one of my baby ducks that is definitely a girl and we've named her Daphne.

She's going to look just like Fredda when she grows up, same type of duck.  Aren't the precious?  Daphne loves lounging around the barnyard, eating bread, and taking a dip in our water trough.  She's got the good life!

And last but not least.  You have to visit my friend Annette's Blog and check out the rattlesnake she found in her dog kennels, eek!  Plus you might want to look at her AMAZING cards also : )

Sorry this post skips around everywhere, but I didn't want to miss anything! 

Enjoy!!!