Jan 31, 2008

Learning SO Much





I am learning SO much with my online class! I am so glad that I decided to take this class. This week I learned about the burn tool. WOW! It is just like using chalk or ink when I paper-scrap. It will also add subtle shadowing (look at the letters that are woven with the ribbon).
Each day a new challenge... what more could I ask?

The only problem is that many of my pages are about the Vegas 2006 Girls' Getaway so I decided just to link each entry back to the original.

Jan 29, 2008

Book of Mormon Panel

I went to my friend Vicki’s house today and in her front room is the most beautiful carved wooden panel I think I have ever seen. She allowed me take photos of it. She also told me the story about its origin.



Panel- Full view


Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receive the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist



Joseph Smith receives the Melchizdek Priesthood from Peter, James and John



The Salt Lake Temple



Joseph Smith sees God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ in the sacred grove.



Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life and the Iron Rod



The ocean voyage to the Promised Land (America)

Christ appears, as promised, to the people of the America after His resurrection

Her father, Samuel Wilson Black, was raised in a home of strong anti-Mormons. They believe that all Mormons were riff-raff and needed to be driven out. His predecessors bragged they had driven Joseph Smith and his followers from Missouri. As luck would have it, he met Vicki’s mom, Dora Boyce, an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (she was waiting for a missionary), swept her off her feet and the eloped! Dora immediately became inactive to avoid contention in her marriage. Nearly 20 years later when Vicki was about 8-years old her little brother was killed. It rocked Dora’s world to its foundations. She remembered she had a church once. They lived in Sun Valley, California (in the San Fernando Valley). The only church building Dora knew of was in Burbank so she and Vicki went off to church. They found out what ward they really belonged to and started attending that ward. Samuel was none too happy with this turn of events. He didn’t want Dora to go to church nor take the children with her. But that didn’t stop them from going. He remained unsupportive for quite some time and wouldn’t let the children be baptized. Vicki wasn’t baptized until she was 16-years old. Only then it was with the proviso that she couldn’t go to BYU (and marry one of those d___ Mormons). As you have guessed, she not only ended up going to BYU but met her husband there. But by the time this happened though, Samuel had softened and liked Vicki’s new husband. At about this same time that Vicki left for BYU Samuel and Dora moved to Corning, New York to work for Corning Glass. It was there that they ultimately meet Elder John Bailey (say BY-lee) from Sydney, Australia. He was just the latest in a long line of missionaries whom had been fed and entertained by the Blacks. One evening after a wonderful dinner Elder Bailey looked at Samuel and said, “Brother Black, you will never know the hardship you have caused your family by your stiffneckedness! Then Elder Bailey was absolutely mortified that he had said such a thing to this man who had just fed him dinner! But that was what it took for him to admit that he’d known the church was true, but having driven so many stakes, he didn’t know how to back down. He was baptized in 1963 by his new son-in-law. But a bond had been formed between Bro Black and Elder Bailey. Now Brother Black became as adamantly for the church as he had been against it. As part of this whole process Samuel felt he needed to make a penance for his anti- Mormon years. He was a gifted wood worker and carved this beautiful wooden panel. Each pane is carved from a single piece of wood and then set into the larger frame. The detail is exquisite. The tree limbs that surround many of the panes have been carved so the separate from the background. I was so moved by this labor of love. As an aside, Elder Black was introduced the H&R Block company while on his mission in New York. They didn’t have anything like that in Australia. So he went back home and started a similar company. Today he is a millionaire. He saw this beautiful panel and asked Brother Black to make one for him and he would pay him (between $20,000-25,000). The Black then used that money to finance their own mission to Baton Rogue, Louisiana.

With love for President Hinckley




I knew this day would come... the day when we had to let President Hinckley go. But that doesn't always make the letting go any easier. How grateful I am for the Gospel of Jesus Christ! How grateful I am to know that we are led by His Prophet. How grateful I am to say that I knew and loved Gordon B. Hinckley.

No, I don't know him personally or have a daily interaction with him... but that is not important in my knowing with all my heart and soul that he was the Lord's prophet! He has made such a profound impact in my life.

The first strong impact President Hinckley had in my life came in the spring of 1993. He came to Los Angeles for an Area Conference. The Saturday night meeting was held in our Palmdale Stake Center. (In preparation for this meeting we got a whole new pulpit and A NEW ORGAN. Hooray, the old one was a nightmare to play!) Sunday's session was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was at this conference that President Hinckley challenged us all to read the Book of Mormon - 4 (four) times in the coming year.

This was a pivotal time in our lives. Our little children, Stuart, Camille and Spencer, were only 8 & 9. Stuart had already shown that he too had dyslexia like is Mama. We accepted President Hinckley's challenge. I made cool bookmarks, each with a different little DJ Inkers clipart to suit our individual personalities, to keep us on track for reading the Book of Mormon not once, but four times in the coming year. What a wonderful blessing in our lives! I can testify to the power of that great book and the blessings that come from following the Lord's Prophet. Through our daily reading together, not only did we reap the spiritual blessings, but there was a hidden blessing in that Stuart was able, at a very young age, to get a handle on coping with dyslexia. It made a world of difference for him!

The second pivotal moment came when President Hinckley spoke to the Relief Society in September 2000. He stated, "We--the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve--have taken the position, and I quote, that "the Church discourages tattoos. It also discourages the piercing of the body for other than medical purposes, although it takes no position on the minimal piercing of the ears by women for one pair of earrings." " ( From Your Greatest Challenge, Mother ) I can still see his characteristic mannerism of waving his arm to emphasize each word (and for me there is a memory of him saying, "...one pair of earring, only one." but that doesn't appear in this text).

I had multiple earrings (as you can see in the 1999 photo with my friend Jaquelle). I was the YW President in my ward. These earrings defined who I was! I was hip... I was Joanie... JB! I am ashamed to admit that I didn't immediately take out my extra earrings. It took getting the November Ensign and reading that address again. I had to ask myself, "What has the Prophet asked me to do?"

With tears of sadness (hmmm... pride that I was losing this identity) and repentance (what took me so long?), I asked Camille, then 14, to help me get out the top hoop because I couldn't do it myself. I told her why I was taking out my top earrings. She said, "Mom what should I do?" (She too had top piercings). I told her we knew what the Prophet had asked, but it was her choice. Sweet, sweet girl... with no trouble at all she removed her earring as well.

Because I had set the example of cartilage piecing in our ward, I felt that it was my responsibility to share my experience with the YW and other members of our ward. I told them that I didn't think the Lord really cares how many earrings I have, but he does care about me being obedient to the counsels of his Prophet. I have since come to realize that that this was a line in the sand, so to speak. It was a dividing line between being obedient and drawing our selves away from worldly practices and joining in.


So much has already been said by so many writers who can express it so much better than me. But I loved him for his wit, his candor, his courage (He did not take counsel from his fears).
What a marvelous man... a man raised up by the Lord to carry out His great latter-day work here on the earth during this last dispensation. To use a quote I have heard about Joseph Smith, "I want to shout hooray that I ever knew such a man as Gordon Bintner Hinckley!)

President Hinckley "knighting" Pres. Eyring after his call to the First Presidency in Oct 2007

Jan 28, 2008

Monday- new lesson

Today is Monday which means that I am on to lesson 2 at JessicaSprague.com. I felt a little more adventurous this week and change out the paper and fonts to make the LO my own. (It is interesting to look at the online gallery and see scads of LOs all the same!)



Since this particular layout is from the 2006 Vegas trip it should probably be in the following post, but hey, scroll down or click the link to see the other pages!


This is the companion page done the following week. Lots of learning fun.

Jan 26, 2008

Vegas 2006 - a work in progress

I am finally digi-scrapping our Oct 2006 girls' getaway in Vegas. As I get more pages I will continue to post them here... so check back often...

I am such a lucky girl to have such good friends!!

(Isn't it about time for another girls' get together?)


I'm glad we all got the memo that this was PINK day!

Serious OCD/Addiction

This is the Saturday- Today- Start to Finish Challenge.

  1. You'll take a photo of the assigned topic (this is the start part)
  2. You'll edit your photo, and create a page with your photo using the prompts.
  3. You'll save your layout and upload it to the gallery (this is the finish part).

The trick? From start-to-finish (well, I'll let you have your photo taken and open, and your papers chosen and open), you've only got 30 minutes. :D I want you to get out your timer, and you can have your paper open and your photo all ready to go, and even have your font installed and ready to use, but from the Start of your layout to the Finish, challenge yourself to 30 minutes or less. P.S. This layout must be from scratch - no templates...

I find that since I am in MT and JS is in ET I get my emails about 11-12 at night. I thought I would just glance at it last night so I could gear up for today.

Well... this is where the OCD comes in. I HAD to do the LO right then! It was fun, but I don't like having to work within a 30 min time limit.

" It is only an addiction if you are trying to quit!"

I saw this quote on someone else's post for this assignment.


Jan 25, 2008

Wednesday Challenge #1

The Wednesday Challenge for NWR was to do a layout about ourself using elements from a wonderful kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs. It is a great kit. It took me a couple of days to complete mine since I am gone all day on Wednesdays to the Temple. It was fun to think about who I am and locate photos of myself. At first I was going to document the whole hair saga, but decided to take this avenue instead.




The challenge was this-
Challenge #1:

* Use at least two patterned papers from our new Carnival kit
* Use a photo that contains an area you've selectively recolored
* Use at least 4 photos on the layout
* Make the layout about yourself
* Use column journaling
* Install and stamp a new brush you've downloaded (try Googling "free photoshop
brushes", or pick some up from your favorite digi store).
* Round at least two corners of an element on your page using the corner rounder
eraser from Lesson 1

Challenging enough? If you're up for it, give it a try! :D

I am thoroughly enjoying this class!

Jan 22, 2008

Back in Class

I decided I was going to take an online digital scrapbooking class at JessicaSprague.com. I'm in a four week class - Now We're Rockin' with Photoshop. It is an intermediate class... just right for me. I am excited about all the things I am going to learn. Of course there is the huge learning curve when I first get started.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening doing this layout about Harley and Roxie. They came over for 3rd Sunday dinner. Roxie was so cute. She wasn't afraid of Harley, but blinked each time he came in for more doggie kisses. Sadly she is allergic to dog-slime and started breaking out in hives. A quick face wash took care of that problem.



One of the things I learned was how to use saturation/hue to make a sepia-tone photo and then add back in the color. I was very pleased with how easy it was. I just wish that Harley's tongue had shown up more.


I did my second layout in half the time it took for the first one. This time I manipulated the layers and added some more "torn" paper for this layout of little Riley. I am always amazed at how much he looks like Spencer.




But then I uploaded this photo of Spencer when he was 8 months old and I see how little Riley looks like his Mama too. He is so lucky to have two such good-looking parents... how could he not be cute?

The best part about scrapbooking is I have some of my favorite subjects to scrapbook about. Family is the greatest!

Jan 18, 2008

"Grammie... you live in a freakin' forest!"


Last Thursday our friend Shan dropped for a visit. When she was ready to leave at about 6:30pm we walked out the front door to find the "swine-deer" all over my yard and eating the ivy!! Shan exclaimed, "Grammie... you live in a freakin' forest!"

Most mornings I will come outside to find that the deer have been having a night-time snack and have dragged much of the snow off the ivy and onto the sidewalk. They don't seem to like the stems, but love the leaves. I guess it is a good thing that you almost can't kill ivy!

This is not the first time they have come down from the very close mountain to raid my front yard for food. (Fortunately, the backyard is fences and they don't know they could jump over!!)

They are not a bit shy about coming right up onto porches to get a better grazing spot.

We have a whole herd of resident deer that live here with us on Spring Cove Drive (aka 975 South). They are very adept at adapting to all of us humans that have moved into their neighborhood.
So yesterday I looked out my work room window and here they were by daylight. I sneaked outside with my camera to get some photographic evidence of their blatant activities.

I have to laugh just a little when I look across my front yard and see that they have worn a trough in the snow, their little highway to the ivy and treats beyond.

Sadly, this means that they will in all likelihood be back this spring to eat all of my tulips... oh well, isn't that what photographs are for?

I can't think of a more lovely place to live... so close to nature and more of God's little creatures.

Jan 17, 2008

Meet Harley

After 10 months of grieving and healing over the loss of our Buddi we decided that we were ready for another dog. We've been looking for a dog for a couple of months now. We went and looked at a couple of American Cockers but things just didn't click. We even seriously considered a miniature Schnauzer, but decided against that as well. Buddi was just such a good little poster-child dog for American Cockers we decided we wanted to stick with that breed.
ordon started looking on KSL's online classified for Cockers. He sent me several links of cute little dogs. One of the links was broken, so I looked at the KSL ads and saw that they were having a pet adoption event at the American Fork Pet's Mart. We decided that it was worth a trip up there to see who was there and if any of those little friends needed to come to our house.

We are almost immediately drawn to the cage with Harley in it. The Lost Paws lady came and took him out on a leash so we could get better acquainted. I won't say it was love at first sight... but I knew immediately that this little boy needed to come home with us. He showed right away that he had some training and I had to ask myself again, "How did someone let this wonderful little dog get away from them?"
So we filled out the adoption request, had him micro-chipped, paid our adoption fee and brought him home.
Harley is parti-colored (in his case, brown, carmel and white) American Cocker. He, like Buddi, is small for his breed, only 18 pounds. He is longer legged and longer in the torso than Buddi and (sorry Buddi) smarter! We don't know how old he is. The LP people had him listed at 7-9 months, but his teeth had so much tartar build up that the Vet thinks is likely closer to 4 years.

His first night in his new home he showed quick learning skills on how to use the pet-door (remember this is a cat-sized door) and when it was bed time he went right into the crate when I tapped it and told him to go in. We have been on several walks (on our warmer days, you know, the ones in the 20's!!) and he walks quite well on the leash. He comes when called and let's see... loves to harass Simba. And Simba likes him just about as much as the last little interloper who decided to invade his territory!!

One of the happy things about Harley is that his previous people didn't introduce him to the pleasures of human food so his is not a begger-dog. We are so pleased with this lack of interest that we will not spoil him with table treats and hand-outs. And the other thing that I DEFINITELY won't teach him is how to jump up on the bar stools and eat at the counter with us. (Can you say Buddi-the-bread-snatchin'-dog??)

We are looking forward to many happy years with our newest little family member.