Deb Ammerman's Blog

www.debammerman.com - New Blog

2008-12-07T22:25:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone, I am starting a new blog today! I am not sure if I will keep this one or not, my new blog address is http://www.debammerman.com/ I am not very good about updating, as you know, but I will try to do better. Here is a page I did yesterday from my son’s martial arts class.

I am so proud of Matthew for continuing on with his classes. He started this many years ago, he was in the first or second grade, and now he is in 7th grade! Part of his requirements for this semester was that he had to help his instructor in the classes before his own. The first class has little kids in it, about the age Matthew was when he first started, as I watched, I remembered… He started this when he was this little! WOW! They grow up so fast, it seemed like only yesterday!

I used my Martial Arts kit for this page, it can be found in the store at Deco-Pages.

I don't know if you have heard about the photography challenge at Deco-Pages, but I would love it if you would come and check it out! This month we are doing a photo a day challenge. Every day you have to take at least one photo, and create a page with it. Because December is such a busy month for everyone, I am extending the dead-line for submission of your pages until January 15th, but by that date, you have to have 31 pages done.

If you hear about this challenge and have not been taking photos all month, I will allow you to play catch-up... but you must post to the thread in the forum on the day you intend to start, so that I can watch for your pages to come in. Here is a link to the Photography Challenge at http://www.deco-pages.com/ ,

Here are a couple of the pages I have done for the challenge so far...

We love to tease Matthew, and always tell him we are going to get him Barbie Dolls for Christmas... Today there was one on the kitchen table when we got home, and Matthew saw it, and I think his heart skipped a beat! LOL! He is so much fun to tease! Jeff picked these things up to give to the Toys for Tots program tomorrow.I used the December Color Challenge Starter kit by Lori Staton for this page, I thought it was just perfect! I love the way the page came out, Thank you so much Lori!

Now that Matthew is getting older, I have desided that he needs to learn how to do some things, so it was time to pass along the secret recipe for our family meat balls and sauce... some day, his future wife will thank me! LOL!

I used the quick page by Burkhart Scrapzone from the Cabin Fever Mega Kit for Club Deco, which is available for download all through December for our Club Deco Members. If you are not a member yet, this is just one great reason to join! Michaele, thank you so much for the Quick Page, it worked out great for this page... I did rotate it.

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Twist! Yummy

2008-12-01T22:54:00.009-05:00

December 1st ALREADY! Can you believe it! I don't know where all the time has gone, or that it has been two months since I last wrote in here. There just are not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do!

I have been doing alot of scrapbooking and have even created a couple of new kits for my collection since I last wrote here... Today, I have one of my favorites to share with you... I really love the way this color challenge page turned out! Doesn't that look yummy!

I used the starter kit for the Color Challenge at http://www.deco-pages.com/ by Lori Staton for this page. This kit is only $1.99 for the month of December! And you can earn add on kits for it if you do the color challenge! So be sure to check it out!

Here is a link to purchase the starter kit:

http://www.deco-pages.com/product.php?productid=18060&cat=0&page=1

And here is a link for more details on the Color Challenge:

http://board.deco-pages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4524

I am hosting the Photography Challenge at Deco-Pages this month, we are doing 31 photos and pages for this month. I am extending the dead-line for the challenge until January 15th to give a little extra time to complete your pages, because I know this month is very busy for everyone... Here is the page I created today...

The reward for completing the photography challenge for December is that you will get to choose any one kit from my collection that you would like to have, and I will give it to you for free, AND I am going to create a new kit before the end of the month that I will give to you in addition to the kit of your choice! This is a wonderful way to get that camera out on a daily basis and capture the moments of your life, to concentrate on what the Season means to you, what traditions you treasure... and to look back on in the years to come! So please do join us for the challenge! :)

I am also having a sale on my newest kit - Shimmery Holiday, which is available in the store at http://www.deco-pages.com/ now. You can get this kit for 50% Off, between now and December 31st. The coupon code is: HoHoHoMC

Here is a preview of the kit...

As a bonus, I have included a sheet of the Angel gift tags you can print out on your 8.5 x 11 printer on card stock and use as gift tags under the tree! :)

2008-10-01T16:56:00.005-04:00

It's been forever since I last updated this blog! oh well... I am here now... Today was a fun day, I met Carol Rupley for lunch, we had a great conversation, and fabulous soup & salad from the Olive Garden!

Because I am hosting the October Photography Challenge at Deco-Pages, I brought along my prop for the challenge, and Carol was a good sport and posed with it. She is such a card, she was dancing with him, and being silly! She always makes me laugh!

If you have not heard about the Photography Challenge at http://www.deco-pages.com/ please do check it out! This month, I am giving away this kit for participation... It is called Early Autumn and it will be in the store soon. The image below shows just a small part of the kit you can earn if you complete the challenge.

This weekend I am going to Long Island for a long weekend. I am really looking forward to the trip! September was a really LONG month at work. I am so glad it is over, and I am getting this little mini-vacation! I really need it!

2008-06-17T21:27:00.002-04:00

I have not given away a freebie on my blog before, so I thought I would start off by offering you this birthday card, I hope you all enjoy it!

Click here to download the greeting card.

Even More New Pages

2008-06-17T15:17:00.003-04:00

This is part of a two page spread I did of my Dads side of the family from my brothers wedding. Again, I used the June Color Challenge kits. Thank you again Marcee, this is turning out to be a wonderful mini-album from my brother's wedding.

Here is a photo of me and Matthew at my brother's wedding.Again, I used the starter kit for the June 2008 Color Challenge by Rose Made Designs... Thank you Marcee! Love the way this turned out.

I took this photo while I was on a break from work at FMA I love looking around at the different textures everywhere. I had no idea what I was going to do with this until I started playing around in photoshop. I love applying the different effects and filters and watching as my photo is transformed into a work of art. Sometimes, the pages end up in the trash, other times, I keep them. My paint brush may have been replaced by a mouse, but I sure do love what I can do with it.I used elements from my contribution to the Feb. 2008 Club Deco Mega Kit - Totally Grungy

As I was working on this page for the Photography Challenge, I asked Jeff what the names were of the plants in our yard... when I asked him to spell one of them, Matthew spelled it for me, I asked him how he knew that, and he told me he learned it on Runescape, I told him to go tell those things to his Dad... At least the child REALLY IS learning something while he plays games on the computer!The big arguement around here most of the time is about Matthew playing games on the computer... but at least now we know that he really is learning something! This page shows lots of different textures of the leaves in our yard. It really amazes me how many different textures there are in nature... don't think I could photograph them all in a life time if I tried! I really am having fun with this challenge! This page was created with a new kit I am working on called Down Right Grungy. The paper was created from a texture photo I took, with lots of different effects applied. You wouldn't even know there is a bird's nest in there somewhere! LOL!

More new scrapbook pages :)

2008-06-17T14:50:00.004-04:00

Oh! I had to laugh when I saw my reflection inthe back of the mirror of Jeff’s Old Ford Pickup truck! What a hoot!

Some times you feel like a nut... some times you don't... I guess I was feeling a little nutty tonight! This just tickled me! This was my texture photo for today by the way!

I have to give a great big shout out to Kathie Woolery for this wonderful Quick Page from her Totally Grungy Contribution to the Club Deco Mega Kit from Feb. 2008! Was this perfect for my photo or what! LOL! Thanks so much Kathie!

Some photographers take reality...and impose the domination of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation. - Ansel Adams This is a quick page that I created using my new kit ... Quilted With Love... it will be in the store soon. The quick page is showing some photos of texture I took for the June Photography Challenge. We are having so much fun with this challenge, if you have not joined us yet, please come to the forum to see what it's all about!

Well, it happened again... Every time, I tell myself I won't let it... but here I am again... in need of some serious attention! Time to break out the bottle of hair color that has been sitting in my hall closet for weeks, and then head over to the salon to get my hair cut!

I was playing around with a new technique I found in a book at the library to make photos have a soft focus Effect... believe me... you ARE VERY happy I applied it to this photo! You would have run from the screen in fear had you seen how bad I really look! LOL! After I get my hair colored and cut, I will take another photo, and share a tutorial on how to do this effect if you are interested.

I used the Quick Page by Mary Ridgeway from the Mother's Day Mega Kit for Club Deco Members, May 2008. Thank you for the wonderful page Mary!

I love the textures in the Angel I have in my back yard. I used a frame by Carol Rupley from the Totally Grungy kit for Club Deco Feb 2008. I love the way this turned out.

I took these photos of Matthew on his last day of school for the 7th grade. How this year went by really fast!

I used the Quick Page by Theta from the Totally Grungy Mega Kit for Club Deco Members Feb. 2008 Check the store ... Did you know that our designers sell their contributions to the Club Kits! So once they are not a featured kit for the Club, they go on sale by the individual designer!

Today was a very special day for you Matthew! Not only was it your last day of school for the 7th grade, but it was also your CAST-AWAY party at the doctors office! I know you could not wait to get your cast off! You were so lucky that you only had to wear your cast for three weeks! But I know it seemed like a long time when it was sweaty and itchy! Boy did that ever smell bad when they took it off!

ok, I am pulling your leg... but it looked like snow!This is a quick page by CAZ from the Totally Grungy kit! It was just perfect for this!

Yesterday, I had to be back at the office at 2pm to meet with a guy coming to look at the computers for an upgrade, but I was done with my work their at noon, so I went to the library to take up some time... on the way there I had my eye out for some texture, when I saw this entrance way! I could not believe my luck, the brick with the black iron was just fantatic... and what a piece of art! I think this building should be an art studio, not a dental implant center!Paris Designs Quick Page from the Totally Grungy kit was just perfect for this page! I love the way it turned out!

After seeing the photo my Mom had taken and printed when she was in college, I was inspired to host the photography challenge at Deco-Pages again this month. I have been having so much fun taking photos of all kinds of things, from the bottom of the bird-bath in the back yard, to the broken stone work on the front of the house. I can hardly wait to see what will catch my eye tomorrow! I used the Totally Grungy Kit Contribution by Kathie Woolery for this page. Thank you Kathie, your contribution to the Totally Grungy kit was just perfect for all these grungy textures I took photos of today!

I walked around the yard today looking for textures for the new Photography Challenge at Deco-Pages. As I was taking photos, I was amazed to see flowers that I had not seen just the day before. I know they are just weeds... but God put them here, and I realized that I was very blessed to see them.

I think it is important to stop and look around once in a while. I am far too busy these days. I try to fit so much into the day, and although I am busy all the time, I sometimes feel like I have not gotten a single thing accomplished. Is it really going to matter in 100 years if I got that ad done, or folded the laundry, or dropped off that payment at the gas company? The flowers don’t care... they just keep blooming and wanting to be seen and admired.I am so happy that I got to see these little beauties today. What a gift I was given.

I used this wonderful Quick Page by Michaele Burkhart from the Club Deco Mega Kit - Garden Party for my page... I love the way it turned out! Thank you so much Michaele!

This is one of the photos my Mom took several years ago when she was taking photography classes in college that inspired the June 2008 Photography Challenge... Please come and participate in the challenge, you can find out all about it in the forum....http://board.deco-pages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3855

This is what I did with the Quick Page I created for you all with the Garden Party kit for Club Deco Members. If you are a Club Deco Member, you can download this Quick Page in the download area of the forum. If you are not a Club Deco Member, there are several options now for joining that Club. You can join for 1 month, 3 months or the Annual Membership! All great deals! Please join us! You will love the Club!

Here is the recipe for the Strawberry Cream Trifle. Sorry, I am too lazy to type it today, but if you can't read it, you can visit it in the gallery at Deco-Pages and read it without problem... Here is the link to the page...

http://board.deco-pages.com/showphoto.php/photo/21459/cat/500/ppuser/3/sl/d

My friend Andi and her Mom hosted a Pampered Chef Party today and invited me. It was really fun, and we had very YUMMY Treats! The Pampered Chef Consultant is in the photo with the dessert, and my friend Andi and her Mom are in the other photo.I am going to do another page with the recipe for the dessert on it. I used the Quick Page by Mary Ridgeway from Totally Grungy Mega Kit for Club Deco Members Feb. 2008

2008-05-31T10:31:00.004-04:00

Here are the photos I took last night after I finished my Coffee Tumbler (Travel Cup) from Starbucks. I love the way it came out!

Again, I used Marcee's (RoseMadeDesigns) Contribution to the Feb. 2008 Totally Grungy Mega Kit for Club Deco.

Well, I thought it would be fun to do a page about the Photography Challenge itself for my Starbucks Coffee Tumbler for my first insert

Again, I chose to use Rose Made Designs Contribution to the Totally Grungy kit, and I added some little hearts in the corners from Carol Rupley... I love the way this turned out...

Every once in a while, I like to get myself a little present, and I just could not resist this one... it is a coffee tumbler I saw at the Starbucks in our grocery store. I can change out the scrapbook page in it when ever I want to... this of course will be a two page spread, once I deside what page I want to put in it first!

I used Marcee RoseMadeDesigns Quick Page from the Totally Grungy Mega Kit for Club Deco Members for this! It was the kit from Feb. 2008. Thanks Marcee! I love the way this page turned out!

This little guy was out in the back yardthis morning, and when he saw me, hestarted puffing himself up, like he wassome big tough strong guy! Then the song“Bad” by Michael Jackson started playingin my head, and I was glad I had my camerahandy! I had to laugh ... this little guy was smaller than my foot!

The photos are not the greatest, because I had the zoom up as high as I could get it, because I knew if I took one more step toward the little guy he would high tail it for the woods... but you get the picture!

I used Jen Hanson's Quick Page from the Wild Thing Mega Kit for Club Deco for this... Thank you Jen... the page was just what I needed for this bad boy!

Several Months ago, Matthew and I were out and about, and we decided to go and visit Grammy... however, I am so horrible with directions, and I even called hubby to ask him where the grave site was, and we still did not find it, so, on Memorial Day, when we went to visit and put some silk flowers and a flag on her grave, I took these photos to help me remember next time we want to stop by for a surprise visit. I also thought this might be something good for future generations... as long as JC Penny doesn't go out of business, or leave the Mall!

I thought Michaele Burkharts Quick Page from the Totally Grungy Mega Kit for Club Deco Members was just perfect for this! Thank you Michaele!

Found these two hangin out in the park yesterday! This is the Quick Page by Mary Ridgeway from the Feb. 2008 Club Deco Mega Kit Totally Grungy!! I love this page Mary! Thank you so much!

I took these photos today at the parade. We picked up my FIL and DH, DS and I went to watch the parade. I don't think Matthew was as impressed with the parade as he was when he was younger, but it was a nice family time.

I used Celebrate Freedom by Kathie Woolery for this page. I love her new kit... it is just fantastic! If you have not taken a look at this one in the store, please do... it is going to come in really handy for 4th of July too!

I was out on the back deck, waiting to turn the hambergers on the grill, when I saw this little guy hitch a ride on my lawn ornament color wheel... it was really something the way he hung on and it spun around like a ferris wheel.... I think I was able to get this photo, because he got dizzy! LOL!

I used elements and a background from Inner Spirit Light Extra and Add On kits to create this page... thank you so much Marcee... for the chat, which was lots of fun, and the fantastic presents!

This is a card I created with my new kit, Paisley Glitter...

I love making greeting cards! I really like the way this one turned out!

The little flowers opened up today... they do smell pretty... not as potent as the big lilacs I love, but pretty none the less.

The background and weaves are from a new kit I am working on called Quilted With Love, and I used a couple of goodies from Cathie Woolery - Feb. 2008 Totally Grungy contribution for Club Deco (The flower in the clip, and the paper clip), and my tacks from the same kit.

Tonight we took Matthew out to dinner and to a movie. Ironman was pretty good... I enjoyed it, and I think the guys did too.

I used the Quick Page by Lorene Hill from her contribution to totally grungy mega kit for Club Deco for Feb. 2008... thanks Lorene... I think the page worked out great for my evening out!

I just released a new Personal or Commercial Use kit in the store called Doodle All The Day!

Doodle All The Day! By Deb Ammerman

Personal Use - Commercial Use OK

Doodle All The Day is a series of doodles created 100% digitally in Illustrator and imported into Photoshop for crisp, clean edges and great vector quality. Each doodle has been drawn by me to create a fun and whimsical element for your scrapbooking needs.

Use Doodle All The Day! to create embellishments, frames, backgrounds or tags. Use them in whole or in part. Combine them for even more fun. Make stickers or glitters, patterns or fun little hand drawn elements. Color them in or leave them as line art...it’s all up to you!

I applied some glitter to the elements shown here on my scrapbook page example. This photo was taken in my yard earlier this month... I love my little bug don't you!

Last weeks photos and pages

2008-05-24T10:28:00.003-04:00

My new kit is out, it is called Paisley Glitter and these are just a few of the goodies you will find in the kit. If you are participating in the Photography Challenge for May... you will get this kit if take your photos every day and get all your pages done for the Challenge!

Journaling reads: Matthew, What a fun time you had with your Uncle Gary when he came for a visit from Seattle. He loves to goof around, so he brought plenty of goodies with him, and was the hit of the party! You had fun with the rubber poop, plastic cockroaches on the dinner plates, envelopes with baby rattlesnake eggs, and so much more. It’s no wonder you enjoy your Uncle so much... he’s just a great big kid!

Here is a link to the new kit in the store at Deco-Pages:
http://www.deco-pages.com/product.php?productid=17573&cat=0&page=1

Well, I actually had to pay $3.99 a gallonfor fuel today. How frustrating! I don’tknow what the answer is... hybrid cars thatrun on less fuel and electricity... drivingmuch smaller vehicles that get more mileageto the gallon of gas. But it really doesmake me mad that the oil company profitshave quadrupled at the expense of so many people having to do without. People on a fixed budget are really hurting now and they are saying that it is only going to get worse. I heard on the news last night that fuel could go as high as $6 per gallon!

Quick Page by Deb Ammerman Totally Grungy Club Deco Contribution Feb. 2008 recolored

I waited for you with anticipation to see what you would look like. I enjoyed your beauty and you brought me great joy my little tulips... I will wait and watch for your next year to come and dazzle me with your beauty once more... Your time was too short.

My poor tulips petals are all falling on the ground... the time I had with them, short but sweet... I will miss them until next year...

I used the Quick Page by Becky Smith from the Totally Grungy kit for Club Deco, Feb. 2008 ... if you missed this wonderful kit from Club Deco, you can order the designers contributions individually in our store. Thank you for the wonderful Quick Page Becky!

Matthew came up with this little idea all on his own, and I thought it was so cute, I ran to get my camera.

I used Jen Hanson's Quick Page from the Feb. 2008 Club Deco Mega Kit - Totally Grungy! Did a little color alteration on it to go better with the spegetti... Love the way it came out! Thanks Jen!

On my way home from the office yesterday, I stopped by the dam to take a photo. This is actually 4 photos that I spliced together to create the big picture... I do not have a wide angle lense... had to do some cloning and color adjustments on the photos. I am really happy with the way it turned out.

Driving home from the office this afternoon, I saw these pretty wild flowers on the side of the road. I see them every Spring, and wish they grew in the woods by my house. Soon the day lilies will start to show up. I do love the Springtime flowers.

I used Dragons Lair Designs Quick Page for this, again I did a little color alteration to match my photo... I love this quick page from the May 2008 Club Deco Mega Kit - Mother's Day.

Growing Tomato Plants

2008-05-18T21:37:00.002-04:00

This is photo of one of the tomato plants I repotted last week, I think they are growing pretty well!

I have to tell you what happened when I was creating this page... it was way cool... I pasted in the bow by RMD from her Mother's Day Kit for Club Deco members, and it landed on the stalk of the plant! I thought it was so cool there, I recolored and left it! Isn't it cool when things like that happen! Thank you for the wonderful kit Marcee! I love the way this page turned out!

More New Pages...

2008-05-18T11:38:00.003-04:00

I just loved the page "Colour Brightens My Day" by ACountryRose, which can be found in the gallery at Deco-Pages... http://board.deco-pages.com/showphoto.php/photo/20816 I had to use it as a guide for this page for the Gallery Hunt Challenge. I used RMD Cozy Comfort kit recolored and altered frame with my flourish and butterfly from the Mother's Day Mega Kit for Club Deco Members ... I also altered the color and opacity of the elements.

Randy Travis - Angels

Me and some of the boys

Were sitting around the other night

Started talking about politics, religion

Love of life

And what a shame it was about 9-11

And what about Hell

And what about Heaven

And is there or isn't there

Angels here on earth

And then one guy said

Well, you can take that for what it's worth

If it's something I can see or something I can touch

Hell, I might believe in all that stuff.

So, I just had to say to him

Are you telling me

You've never seen an angel

Never felt the presence

Of one standing by

No robe of white

No halo in sight

Well, you missed the most obvious thing

Man are you blind

Just look in your mother's eyes.

And then I said

Who went through the pain

And smiled through the tears on the day of your birth

She counted your fingers and toes

And thanked God you were whole

Son, you oughta know who loved you first.

That's right.

And who always came runnin'

Everytime you cried out

And how many more things have you forgotten about

And who tried their best

To teach you wrong from right

And how many nights

Did she leave on the light

While she waited and prayed

Till you came in?

And who'll be there for ya

Right up to the end.

Think about it man.

Are you telling me

You've never seen an angel

Never felt the presence

of one standing by

No robe of white

No halo in sight

Well. you missed the most obvious thing

Ah, man are you blind

Just look in your mother's eyes.

Ah, man are you blind

Just look in your mother's eyes.

That's right...

This page was done for a Lyrics Callenge hosted by our Creative Team at http://www.deco-pages.com/ please join us for the challenges... you will have so much fun, get a page done, and receive a reward!

My Mom loved her family. Blood was thicker than water... and no matter what you had, you always had enough for family if they needed you. I remember cousins living with us when we were younger. I remember spending hours driving from Indiana to New York to be with family for the holidays. My poor Mom and three brats (my brothers and I) fighting all the way. She was not perfect, but she was my Mom, and I loved her very much. I wish I had been a better Daughter to her... but I know she loved me, and forgave me my shortcoming. I remember when Matthew was born, she drove all night from New York so she could be here to see him the next day. She was so excited to see her first Grandchild. I wish she had had more time with him, and he had gotten to know her better. I miss you.... MomNo matter how small or how blurry, any photo I have of my Mom is a treasure to me. This is one of the few photos I have of her. It was taken in the 1970s when we lived in Texas.

I decided to take a peak and see if anyone was at home... I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Momma Robin in her nest. I had seen the Daddy out in the yard, so I guess I did not expect her to be on the nest... but here she was... just as quiet as could be. I was a little surprised she didn’t attack me... but she let me try to take several photos... this was the best one I got... I didnot want to get to close... I did not want to overstay my welcome or scare her.

2008-05-17T14:39:00.002-04:00

I happened to glance out the window of my office here at home as I was working on my computer today... grabbed my camera and ran out the door. The clouds in the sky looked like balls of cotton! I just had to save the moment! I used Roxanna Parkers contribution to the Mother's Day Mega Kit for Club Deco Members for this page... I just loved the flowers... did a little change on the colors for the papers to match my photos... Thank You Roxanna!

It was really good news that you did not have to have surgery on your finger... the Orthopedic Surgeon said that the line up on the bones was very good, and he put you in a cast for the next three weeks. You are a very lucky kid! Some people have to wear casts for months... and as you discovered last night, as cool as it is too have a cast, it gets sweaty and it itches....I used my EMT kit and the staples and photo holders are from my Grungie Day kit.

This has definately been a year of injuryfor you Matthew. Earlier this yearyou fell getting off the busand scraped up your forhead,cheek, lip and mouth, thena few weeks later you spraigned your ankle ingym class, now, today,you broke your littlefinger. They say bad thingshappen in 3s I hopethis is it for you! Papa is going to try to get you anappointment with the ortho-pedic surgeon tomorrow. The E.R. Doctors showed me your x-rays, and although they did a pretty good job when they set the bones, they were not able to get them lined up straight. This is definately not the page I wanted to do today... I would have much rather taken lovely photos of flowers in my yard... but at least Matthew is resting comfortably now, and will hopefully get a good nights sleep.

Our tradition on Mother’s Day is that Jeff and Matthew take me shopping to pick out flowers to put by the front door of the house. We have done this every year since Matthew was 2 years old and we were living in this house. I love the purple and yellow flowers that were in this potted plant. Now... if I can just remember to water it . . . or pray for light morning showers and sunny afternoons!! It was a rainy day today, but the sun did come out this afternoon, and I was able to get these photos of the potted plant Matthew and Jeff got me for Mother's Day. I used Lorene Hill's Quick Page from the Mother's Day Mega Kit for Club Deco for this page. I did alter the colors... Thank you so much Lorene... I love the way this page turned out!

Tonight, after DH got home from work, it was time for some yard work... I had finished potting my tomato plants, and was inside starting dinner, when I heard a very loud... NOW WHAT! I grabbed my camera and headed out the door! Matthew had been helping his Dad in the yard, and his Dad was mowing, so Matthew was yelling at his Dad asking him what he wanted him to do next... but from my end... it sounded kinda frantic! LOL! This will be the first year that Matthew will get to drive the tractor... I am not ready for it... I am way too overly protective... and worry all the time... he is an only child... I know he has to learn to do these things... but some times, I wish he was 2 years old and I didn't have to worry about lawn mowers and blades, and ... I know... I know... I have to let him grow up.

I just had to do this page today because it makes me giggle to think of how silly Lori (the other designer at FMA) and I were being...On the way back to the office from our “field trip” today, Lori and I saw these cows out in the pasture. I pulled off to the side of the road so I could take a photo. Well... this cow looked right at me until I got the camera out... then it refused to look at me... must be camera shy! Lori and I made all kinds of noises to try to get her to look back over at the car... finally, Lori barked like a dog, andthe cow looked at the car! So... if you ever want to get a cows attention, you must bark at it!I used the butterfly element from CAZ\'s contribution to the Mother\'s Day Mega Kit for Club Deco Members for this, the rest of the page is photoshop created from photos I have taken, and stroking the layers to create borders on them.

Grown-upsget to takeField Tripstoo....Ilona's contribution to the Mother's Day Mega Kit for Club Deco Members May 2008 was just perfect for this page. I added the flowers from photos I took today at the nursery, but eveything else used is from Ilona's kit. Thank you Ilona! I love the way this page came out! May 12,2008Every Monday morning I attend the breakfast meeting for Full Moon Advertising. Usually wemeet at a local restaurant, and the owner goes overthings with the sales team and the office staff. Today, we took a field trip and went to Phil Deruiter’s Green House. Phil is a salesman on staff at FMA during the winter time, but in the Spring, Summer, and Early Fall, he wears a different hat, and runs his greenhouse. I took lots of photos of the flowers, and Phil let us each pick out some plants to take home, which he so kindly gave us for FREE! Thanks a million Phil... I will think of you all summer as I eat my tomatoes, and look at the pretty perennial flowering plants you gave me to plant by my Mother’s Angel! It was a fun field trip!

My Father-in-law turned 88 years old last week, so we went out for dinner tonight to celebrate Mother's Day and his birthday. I used backgrounds from Paris Designs contribution to the May 2008 Mega Kit Mother's Day for club deco (Colors altered), ... I also used the template by Burkhart Scrapzone (Michaele) altered to use only two photos.

2008-05-10T22:33:00.002-04:00

I took some photos of the Dogwood Blossoms today. I really liked a page I saw by one of the participants in the photography challenge at Deco-Pages, so I used it as inspiration. This is the inspiration page...

by BansGran posted at www.deco-pages.com

2008-05-10T14:47:00.002-04:00

I am so excited, because I am hosting another Photography challenge for the month of May at Deco-Pages.com (http://www.deco-page.com/) and we are having such a good time. I have created a page every day along with the other participants... it's been so much fun to see all the beautiful Spring flowers and more... If you are not a Club Deco Member, these are 8 wonderful reasons why you should join the Club! All of the pages (except for the Martial Arts page) were created with Quick Pages from the Mother's Day - May 2008 - Mega Kit for Club Deco Members. Every Month our Design Team gets together and creates a HUGE kit for our Club Deco Members... we choose a color pallet and a theme, and then every designer creates a mini kit and Quick Pages for our members! I am telling you, this is the deal of a lifetime! You can now try the Club for one month for just $7.99 ... One Club Deco kit is worth way more than $20.00! You can also buy a 3 month trial membership for $15.00 or the Annual Membership is just $36.00 for a full year of Club Deco! If you are a registered user in our forum, you can order your subscription by coming to our forum... http://board.deco-pages.com/forums/payments.php

Here are my pages I have created for the Photography Challenge to date:

T.G.I.F.!!!! It was a very busy week for me, and I am so glad it is over and the weekend is here. On my break at work today I saw these dandelion seeds and I remembered when I was a child, how much I used to love to blow on them and watch the little seeds drift away. This little ball of fun reminded me of the days when my Mom would have the neighbors up in arms because we always had so many dandelions in our yard, and to them, they all wanted a rich green lawn, with no pretty little yellow flowers in it. Mom could never seem to get them under control. I created this page with one of CAZ Quick Pages from the Mother's Day Mega Kit for Club Deco Members for the month of May. This is such a beautiful page to work with! I love the way this came out! Thank you so much Carol!

Before I raked the leaves away this afternoon I took these photos. My Mom told me that she wanted to go home to Long Island and be put to rest in the cemetery where her family is, so we did as she asked. The first Spring after she was gone, I felt bad that I was so far away. So I purchased this Angel and put it in my back yard. I plant flowers for her here, and I sit and talk to her... I think of her and the times we had together.I think of the times when I held her hand, or we just sat and watched some old movie on TV that she loved. I think about cups of tea with sugar and milk, Macaroni's on Sunday, the smell of her perfume... all bring me quiet moments of gratitude.Mary Ridgeway's Quick Page was just perfect for these photos and the journaling I wanted to do. Mary created this Quick Page with her contribution to the Mother's Day Mega Kit for Club Deco Members. Thank you so much Mary!

I saw my scarecrow peaking out behind the bookcase today and decided he had to be moved out where I could see him... Thank you so much Marcee (RoseMade Designs) for your wonderful quick page from the Club Deco - May 2008 Mega Kit - Mother's Day! With a little color change, it was just perfect for what I wanted to do. Gotta love the ability to change colors with digital... not so easy to do with traditional scrapbooking supplies!

It was a beautiful day yesterday, and I had an errand to run for work... who would NOT volunteer to go pick up printer paper on such a perfect day, esp. if one has a digital camera in her purse! LOL!I used one of Dragons Lair Designs Quick pages from the May 2008 Mega Kit for Club Deco Members - Mother's Day for this. I did change the colors to match my photo, added a flower from the kit, and a jounaling area with rounded corners. Thank you so much for the Quick Page! I love the way this turned out!

It was another beautiful day today, so I was able to take a walk by the river again.My breakroom at work is grand when the sun is shining and mother nature fills it with beautiful flowers for all to enjoy! I was taking photos up by a tree, when the shutter went off on the camera, a woman walking on the path gasped and said I scared her. I guess she did not see me up there taking photos. Maybe next time I am on a photo shoot, I should wear a bell around my neck. Do you think that is why cows wear bells? I used Carol Rupley's Quick Page for this! I just love Carol's page... it really worked out great for my photo! Thanks Carol!

All winter long as I look out our living room window at the barren tree with the nest still sitting in it, I wondered if in the spring the Robins would use it again... well they have been rebuilding... And the tree is in bloom and looks so pretty.I used a Quick Page by Carol Rupley from the Mother's Day kit for Club Deco for this page! I just loved it! Thanks Carol!

Today was a very exciting day for Matthew, he was awarded a Black Belt in his Martial Arts Class. This is the first time in 10 years that Mr. Josh has given out a Black Belt, and Matthew and Dwight (not pictured) were the first to get them. This is a new kit I am working on that will be available in our store very soon at www.deco-pages.com

Before work today, the sun was out for just a little bit, and I saw this pretty little weed and had to get a shot! It's fun how this challenge makes me look for things I might not have taken the time to see before! These little flowers are much smaller in real life than they are in the photo! I used one of the quick pages I created for the May 2008 Club Deco Mega Kit - Mother's Day!

I took this photo yesterday on a little break from designing ads for my day-job. This sculpture caught my eye. Club Deco - Mother's Day - Quick Page by Burkhart Scrapzone

WILD THING

2008-03-01T20:48:00.003-05:00

This months kit for Club Deco Members is WILD THING! Oh what a fun kit! The contributing designers did an excellent job on this kit! I loved working on it! Deco-Pages is now offering three ways to join the club... you can join for 1 year for $36.00, 3 months for $15.00, and now we are also offering a 1 month trial for just $7.99! So why not try the club for a month and see what a great deal it is! You get the equivelent of 12 - 14 kits from the designers every month! You also get the Color Challenge Starter Kit, and so much more from our Design Team! Please join us today, you now sign up for Club Deco in the forum... here is a link to find out how...

http://board.deco-pages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3355

This is my contribution to the WILD THING KIT....

2008-02-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

I am so excited! Candie has joined me as a Guest CT Member,

and has a couple of Quick Pages she created to share with you.

You can pick up the Freebies at her blog... http://www.candiescreations.blogspot.com/

This is the page I created using her Quick Page. She created the

quick page with my Grungie Day kit, which is available at

http://www.deco-pages.com/ The photos I used are of Jeff

when he was just a little guy. I showed him the photos and then

took the words out of his mouth for the quote on the scrapbook page.

Now, I want you to know that you cannot DATE me by the date on

this page... I was not even born yet! He sure was a little cutie!

2008-02-01T11:40:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, I have a very important announcement to make! The Deco-Pages Designers and http://www.printmykeepsake.com/ have joined forces to bring you an exciting and fun new contest! The winner of the contest will get 5 free 12 x 12 printed pages of their choice from their scrapbooks from http://www.printmykeepsake.com/ and will also get a 3 month membership to Club Deco for FREE! Please take a moment to visit our sponsor, I will tell you personally, that I think they do an excellent job with the printing! I have a page that they printed for me framed and sitting on my mantle in the living room.

Your scrapbook pages will be voted on in the gallery, and the top 5 runners-up by votes will also get the page they submit to the contest printed for FREE by www.printmykeepsake.com. In addition to that, ANYONE that participates in the contest will get a 1 month FREE TRIAL to Club Deco!

The Deco-Pages Designers have been working away on a wonderful new kit, which you will use to create your page for the contest. This Mega Kit is a steal at only $7.99 in the store, and don’t forget, if you purchase this kit, and participate in the contest, you will automatically be given a 1 Month FREE TRIAL to CLUB DECO! (This months Digital Mega Kit for Club Deco Members is called Totally Grungy, and you are going to love it!) The contest kit is called My Favorite Things… and you are going to love adding this kit to your Digital Scrapbooking Collection!

Click here to go to the store to purchase the My Favorite Things Digital Scrapbook Mega Kit.

Here are the rules of the contest.

You have the entire month of February to complete your scrapbook page using the new kit, My Favorite Things from the Deco-Pages Designers. You must use at least 2 elements and/or backgrounds from the My Favorite Things Digital Scrapbook Mega Kit by the Deco-Pages Design Team in your scrapbook page. The Theme for your scrapbook page must be "My Favorite Things!"

Your page must be submitted to the gallery no later than February 29th, 2008.

You may submit as many pages as you like, but you must use the My Favorite Things kit. You will submit your pages and post them to a special area of the gallery (I will include a link to it here for your convenience).

We will then set up a voting area in the forum, where anyone can vote for his or her favorite page.

The Voting will take place for one week, beginning on March 1, 2008. The winner being the top voted for scrapbook page on March 7, 2008.

If you are already a Club Deco Member, and purchase the My Favorite Things kit, and submit a scrapbook page for the contest, your membership will be extended for one month, or 3 should you win the contest!

Good luck to you all, and we are really looking forward to seeing your pages!

2008-01-08T18:38:00.000-05:00

Oh! I just love the new Snow Much Fun Brag Book that is now available at www.deco-pages.com ! These pages are so easy to use... they are .png formats, you open then up in your graphics programs, and then open your photo, copy and paste it, then in your layers palett, move the photo under the Quick Page, position it where you want it, add a little journaling if you so desire, and you are finished! How quick is that for creating a really cool brag book you can print out and share with your family and friends!

Visit Deco-Pages today and purchase this wonderful Brag Book!

2008-01-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

Here is the page I did today for my 31 days of photos. As you can see, I came back to it after dinner and left myself a note to self! THAT is NOT the same thing as Chilli Powder! LOL

2008-01-03T21:22:00.000-05:00

It finally stopped snowing today... the sun was shining, and the pine trees were beautiful in their frocks of snow. This is day three of my 31 days of photos. I loved working with a Quick Page by CAZ from the January 2008 Club Deco Mega Kit - Snow Much Fun! There are so many wonderful winter backgrounds, elements, papers and quick pages in the kit! Club Deco is a fantastic program at www.deco-pages.com!

I went to the surgeon for my first follow up visit since my surgery on Dec. 20th. I had to have sinus glands removed from both of my underarms last year. Then on Dec. 27th, I was working on Layout for my day-job at FMA and fell and broke my left arm in the parking lot at the office. The parking lot is blacktop, and it was dark out, and I did not see the ice... This is the second time I have fallen in that stupid parking lot! I fell there last winter too... The most recent surgery was on my right underarm, so I have two "bad" arms right now! I am just glad it is all over with in 2007... hopefully that means 2008 will be much better! Anyway, the Surgeon said that the right arm is healing ok, that I need to keep using the anti-biotic cream on it, and she is not worried about the infections that are still there. I have to go back in two weeks.

2008-01-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I am so impressed with the new Mega Kit for Club Deco Members that our Design Team has put together! Every month I sound like a broken record... I keep saying that they outdo themselves, well, this month is no exception! This kit is just beautiful!

I have two different challenges going on at Deco-Pages right now. I have a Photography Challenge... 31 days of photos. The Challenge is to take a photo every day in the month of Jan. Then to create at least 5 scrapbook pages with your photos. I have already created two pages with my two photos so far this month... here there are...

and here is the one from today...

If you participate in the 31 days of photos challenge, you get to choose any one of my kits from the store for free! So get those cameras out!

Every month Deco-Pages sends out a newsletter. In the newsletter I have posted a little note. In that note is another challenge. If you do not get our newsletter, you can sign up for it on the homepage at www.deco-pages.com or you can check the newsletters which can always be found at the site... here is a link to view them...

http://www.deco-pages.com/pages.php?pageid=7

The reward for participating in my newsletter challenge is my new kit Panache! Please visit the store at www.deco-pages.com to see it.... I had so much fun creating it!

http://www.deco-pages.com/product.php?productid=17139&cat=0&page=1

2007-11-03T20:35:00.000-04:00

Today is Digital Scrapbooking Day, and I have created this little freebie for you! You will find it in the forum at www.deco-pages.com. Here is a direct link to the thread in the forum where you can download my little gift... I hope you had a wonderful Digital Scrapbooking Day!

http://board.deco-pages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2780

2007-10-18T07:58:00.000-04:00

My new kit, Fancy Fringes 2 has been released in the store at http://www.deco-pages.com/ I had so much fun with this kit! This is a scrapbook page I created with it...

This page was created for my son Matthew's Scrapbook, so the journaling reads:

Joseph Bifulco

Your Great-Grandpa

Matthew, this is my Grandpa. He was my Mother’s Father. His name was Joseph Bifulco. He was born in the United States, but when he was a young boy, his Mother and Father took him to Italy. His Sister Julia told me that their Grandmother hid him and when it was time for his parents to come home, he was left to spend his childhood and early adolescence with this Grand-- parents. When he was 17 years old, he was sent back to the United States to his parents.

My Great-Aunt Julia told me that she remembered the day they went to pick him up on Ellis Island from “the boat”. She said he was so handsome!

The memories I have of my Grandpa were that he loved my Grandma very much. I remember them kissing and hugging. He would sing to her. They would cook together. My Grandma was very affectionate to us too. I remember big gatherings of all the family at Christmas time. My Mother was one of 8 children. We would all come together at the Christmas Holiday.

My Grandma passed away on Christmas Eve when I was in the 5th grade. My Grandpa passed away, two years later, on the day before Thanksgiving. I remember, after that, the Holidays were always bittersweet for my Mom.

I remember Grandpa & Grandma used to speak in Italian when ever they did not want us to know what they were talking about. I don’t know if my Grandma spoke Italian because her parents did, or if she learned it from my Grandpa.

This photo was taken at the front door of my Grandparents house.

Another page I recently did was with a photo of my Mom and Me that I recently found. It was taken around 1977!

I love this photo of me and my Mom. It was taken in 1977, so I would have been about 13 years old. I loved using Little Sister by Lorene Hill for this page. Believe it or not, people were always asking my Mom if I was her little sister! (Ha! Bet it was a man too! She was so beautiful, all the men went ga-ga over her!) I also did a little Scraplifting on this page, hope you don't mind Lorene, but the page you did of your daughter and the kitty worked so well for this photo too, I just couldn't resist a little copy cat action!

Here is a link to the Little Sister kit by Lorene Hill in our store...
http://www.deco-pages.com/product.php?productid=16773&cat=0&page=1

Club Deco Mega Kit - Art Nouveau Surprise!

2007-10-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

The October Club Deco Mega Kit - Art Nouveau Surprise has been released! If you are a Club Deco Member, you can download this kit in the private area of the forum at http://www.deco-pages.com/ Above is my contribution to this months kit.

This is the Quick Page that you will also get from me:

and this is an example of what it looks like in action:

This kit was so much fun to create, and although the colors are a little too brass to be true Art Nouveau, the creative licence taken is what makes this kit a surprise and so much fun! This kit can be used for so many digital scrapbooking page themes! I think the whole Design Team did an excellent job on it... here are a few more of the designers contributions...

By Dana Conditt:

And this contribution is from Designs by CAZ:

That's all I have time to show you right now, I will be back later to show you more of this fantastic kit! If you are not a Club Deco Member yet, or your membership has expired... do you really need more of a reason that this to join? LOL...

Susan G. Homen For The Cure

2007-10-04T17:38:00.000-04:00

For the entire month of October, 100% of the profits from the sale of "Little Sister" kit by Lorene Hill will go to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Lorene will donate the profits of all the purchases of this kit on Oct. 31, 2007, You will also get the APR07 Sweet Beginnings (Shown: Top Right Corner) Designer Release by Lorene Hill for free and the Think Pink (preview above) mini will by e-mailed to after your purchase. You can help researchers and get a cool kit, too! Just add Little Sister and APR07 Club-Deco Sweet Beginnings ~ Lorene Hill to your cart. I will e-mail you your free Think Pink mini shortly after your purchase is complete!

A Note From Deb Ammerman:

I believe that this charity is a worthy cause. I don't know off the top of my head exactly how many women I know personally who have been touched by this disease, every year the number goes up. I think this is a fantastic way to help out your sisters and you get a wonderful kit
created by Lorene Hill too! Deco-Pages will be donating it's share of the profits from the sale of these kits too, and I have personally purchased a kit already! I hope that you will all join me in supporting this cause.

Best Regards,

Deb Ammerman

Co-Owner

www.deco-pages.com

deb@deco-pages.com

2007-09-08T19:51:00.000-04:00

Last month, Jeff and I cellebrated our 21st Wedding Anniversary! WOW... time sure flys! I think the roses he brought me were very pretty. They reminded me of our days living in the Married Housing apartments on the campus of MSU... Jeff was studying Horticulture, and worked part time in the greenhouses on campus. Frequently he would bring me home big beautiful bouquets like this one from the nursery.

2007-09-08T01:16:00.000-04:00

I had a great day today... my car broke down, and I was here all day, so not only did I get some work done on the October PTP kit for Club Deco... which I can't tell you about yet, but it is going to be outstanding!... but I also got these three scrapbook pages done! I had to do some serious photo restoration on my Dad's ID card, but I think it turned out pretty good... and I love the way the scrapbook pages turned out... I used Dana Conditt's new kit... The Way Things Were, which is available at www.deco-pages.com for both of the pages I did of my Dad. Then I did some colorization work on the photo of my Mom and my brother... I think it turned out really cute! I used Carol Rupley's Haunted Houses kit for that page... which is also available at www.deco-pages.com

The Medical School page I did for my Dad was also based on a Template by Michaele Burhhart of Burkhart Designs at www.deco-pages.com ... the template is free and can be found in the forum for the September Template Challenge! If you have not stopped by and got a copy of this template yet... you will be happy you did ... if you go get it!

2007-08-29T08:31:00.000-04:00

The "Day-Job" has been extremely time consuming these past few months, and now that it is off to press, I can breath a heavy sigh of relief. Now I have a week to get caught up on some digital scrapbook designs!

I have a new kit that I will be releasing to the store at http://www.deco-pages.com/ in the next few days. It is called Gotta Have Friends. Here is a preview of what it looks like.

This is a digital scrapbook page I created with it. Jeff, Matthew and I went for a ride in a canoe... It was the first time Matthew had ever gone, and only my second! I was so sure we were going to end up tipping the thing over, but wet feet was about the worst of it. Next time we do this, I am going to bring a zip lock baggie to keep my camera in for just in case!

The big news is that Deco-Pages will be turning 2 years old in September, so we will be having lots of fun! Club Deco Members will also have big fun, because the Club will be 1 year old in September too! What a fun Month! Be sure to stop bye and visit us! www.deco-pages.com

2007-05-10T15:57:00.000-04:00

Oh have I got exciting news for you! Our May 2007 Club Deco kit has been released for Club Deco Members, and it is simply a fantastic kit! I LOVE it! Our Designers have done a wonderful job... if you are not a Club Deco Member yet... Join Today! Not sure it's worth it? Then try us out for three months for only $15! That's $5 a month! Believe you me... once you try it, you are gonna love it! This month's kit is wedding based... but let me tell you, I have seen some awesome pages in the gallery created with this kit that have nothing to do with weddings... this kit has so many versatile backgrounds and elements... you gotta check it out! Click Here to see the contributions to the kit at a larger size.

ATC (Artist Trading Cards) Challenge at www.deco-pages.com

2007-04-07T00:18:00.000-04:00

Oh, I am so excited. I recently found out about ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) and tonight I made my first one! I decided to create a new challenge for you... if you want my card... you may have it... but you are at your honor to create one to share with everyone! Lets see how many cards we can collect! Please share a high resolution image so that people can print them out if they want to! Oh this is going to be so much fun! Please go to Deco-Pages to download the high res. image for FREE from me, and share one of your own! Here is a link to the gallery:

http://board.deco-pages.com/showphoto.php/photo/7677/cat/706

2007-04-06T14:55:00.000-04:00

The April Mega Kit - Sweet Beginnings is now available for download to Club Deco Members at http://www.deco-pages.com/ This kit is full of so many adorable items for those baby pages just waiting to be created for your scrapbooks. The page I did of my son uses photos from when he was just a tiny baby... ok, so it's been a few years in the making... but it's still cute as can be! That is one of the things I love about scrapbooking... there are no rules... you can scrap a page with photos you took yesterday, last year, or ten years ago... not to mention if you are working on a heritage book, then you could be talking decades or longer! I just love Digital Scrapbooking and all the fun I am having creating scrapbooks.

Michaele Burkhart has a wonderful FREE template at www.deco-pages.com in the gallery that you can use to create wonderful pages for your scrapbooks. The page above is one created with her template as a guide. I really love the way it turned out! So come on over and create a page today, share it with us in the gallery, and Michaele says she has a suprise for you! Check out this thread in our forum to find out more:
http://board.deco-pages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1595

My American Idol

2007-04-05T18:44:00.000-04:00

This is the first year we have watched American Idol on tv... so I thought, just for fun, I would do up a page for Matthew ... If you didn't know, my son is an Elvis Presley Tribute Artist, he has been singing in public since he was in the 2nd Grade and we have had lots of fun with it. This page is about my hopes for Matthew... I don't care if he ever goes on that show... I just want him to have fun, and to continue to make people happy when he sings... he will always be my American Idol!

2007-03-23T17:52:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally finished my Southwest Art kit. It is now available to www.deco-pages.com in the store. Here is a direct link for your convienience.

http://www.deco-pages.com/Deb_Ammerman_SouthWest_Art_P714.cfm

I've also been working on some photo restoration recently. This is a photo of my husband's grandfather....

I found this photo out in the garage. It was badly water damaged, had a streak going from top to bottom right through his right eye, but I think it turned out pretty good. And this next photo is of my Father-in-law Howard and his big brother Cecil.

I plan to do a scrapbook page with them very soon.

Moms Art

2007-02-18T10:09:00.000-05:00

The other day I found the still life drawing by my Mother (shown in the layout above). As I was looking at the drawing, I realized that I have the vase she drew on the mantle above our fireplace. I am pretty sure that she created this drawing when she was going to college when I was in Jr. High School. I went to look at it, and also realized that the vase was one she did... with her Signature "Ro" at the bottom. I have already done a few page layouts with her drawings on them for Matthew, so I thought this would make a great addition. The photo of my Mom used in this layout was taken at my brother Brian's Wedding. The backgrounds used on these pages were created by me for the layouts, eventually I plan to create a Southwest Kit with them. It's on my never-ending list of things to do! :)

Wildlife Wonders

2007-02-12T19:15:00.000-05:00

This is a new kit I just finished. It will be available at www.deco-pages.com very soon. This kit can be used for all kinds of pages, both for boys and girls. Here is just one example of what you can do with this kit.

This is a photo of my son when he was going to a day care center a few years back. This is what the journaling says:

Matthew, when you were 3 years old, you started going to Starz Academy for a part of the day so you could spend time with other children. Before that, you stayed with your Grammy whenI was at work. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done was leave you alone at theday care with “strangers”. You cried, I cried all the way to work that first day. But you had your Winne the Pooh bear with you, and for the first few months that you went there, you HAD to have him with you. One day, we forgot him at home, and I had to go and get him and bring him to you because you were so upset. But eventually you didn’t need Pooh any more. But I have him hidden away for you.
Font: Birch Standard

Greatest Wish for 2007

2007-01-05T22:25:00.000-05:00

Tami Davis is hosting a very interesting challenge at www.deco-pages.com for the New Year. You can read all about the challenge if you go to our January Newsletter and read her Article. This is what I came up with for the challenge. No words or photos could be used, and it was supposed to show what we really want 2007 to be like. Thanks for a very interesting Challenge Tami!

A Very Special Gift

2006-12-30T15:38:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful and very Merry Christmas! It was a very busy week
and New Years day is just around the corner! Where does the time go?!

I have been meaning to do a layout of a very special gift I got a few years back, and I finally had a little time to do that today. I created this page with Backgrounds from my contribution to the Holiday Hunt kit which is still going on at www.deco-pages.com I also used the dancing girl from Carol Rupley and the Frame is from Caz... I did alter the color of that a little bit.

If you have not come and gotten the Free kit from Deco-Pages you can still do the Holiday Hunt until January 1st.

2006-12-12T20:28:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone. http://www.deco-pages.com/ is proud to announce our Holiday Fund Raiser for Charity. The proceeds from this sale will go to charity, to either the Make a Child Smile organization http://www.makeachildsmile.org/ or the Sparrow Foundation http://www.sparrowfoundation.org/ The image shown are the contributions to the Holiday Hunt and the Charity Fund Raiser Add-on kit from: Deb Ammerman, Carol Rupley, Dana Conditt, Becky Casey, Caz, Rose Made Designs, Jen Hanson, Kiki Scraps, Mary Ridgeway, Rumi Georgieva and Michaele Burkhart! Our Designers created this digital scrapbooking and greetings kit with love and hope that we can make a difference in the lives of children in need this holiday season. Please come to the site today and make a donation.

Our Design Team has worked together to create a wonderful digital kit full of Greeting Cards (Just print and trim), Scrapbook Quick Pages (Plop your photos in, print and you are done) and there are even some Gift Tags you can print, cut out and use for those gifts soon to appear under your tree. The reason we created greeting cards to include in our Charity Fund Raiser kit is that we hope that contributors will print them out and send them to a child from the "Make a Child Smile" organization, in addition to any money raised for the cause. Please visit the Make A Child Smile Organization website for more details. Our Design Team created this kit as our way of saying thank you for your donations to these wonderful causes... Lets all work together to make the difference... Let's Make A Child Smile!

In addition to the Charity kit, we also have a Holiday Hunt at our site, where you can get wonderful Christmas themed items for FREE. See my note in the forum for more details. http://board.deco-pages.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1140 The Scavenger Hunt and Charity Fund Raiser will be available at http://www.deco-pages.com/ until the end of the year, so please come see what we have in store for you!

Thank you all, and we hope you have a Wonderful and Happy Holiday Season!

Best Regards,
Deb Ammerman
Co-Owner
www.deco-pages.com
deb@deco-pages.com

Holiday Fund Raiser

2006-12-05T17:17:00.000-05:00

Be sure to check back frequently with http://www.deco-pages.com/ in mid-December because we will be having another scavenger hunt! This time we will feature holiday papers and elements. In addition to free items scattered all throughout the store, there will be a matching pass-the-pixel kit containing quick pages and cards for sale. The proceeds from this sale will go to charity, to either the Make a Child Smile organization http://www.makeachildsmile.org/ or the Sparrow Foundation http://www.sparrowfoundation.org/ . So check back for these wonderful items. Not only are there many free items but the companion kit is for a good cause!

I will also be including this page of gift tags in the Fund Raiser Kit. People who purchase this fund raiser kit can print them out at home, cut them out and use them this year for presents under the tree.

December is just around the corner!

2006-11-30T00:07:00.000-05:00

Well, December is just a few days away, and I can't wait any longer! This new kit that is going to be released for Club Deco Members is just too much fun! I created the page shown here with my contribution to the kit. I found these old photos and just had to do a page for Matthew. Look at how young we all were! I think I was only 14 or 15 years old when these photos were taken! What a hoot! I can't wait until the Club Deco Members see this kit! All of the designers have done an awesome job on it! If you have not joined Club Deco... you can still get $5.00 off the price of a years membership! What an awesome deal! And what a great gift club membership would be for a friend or family member! A gift that would keep giving for a whole year! So head on over to www.deco-pages.com and join today!

Play Time

2006-11-11T20:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally took some time for myself today and did a couple of pages just for fun. I really needed a day to just play... and so I did it! Here are two pages I created .... You can click on the images below to be taken to the Deco-Pages Gallery to see them at a larger size.

I created the page above with Dana Conditt's November Color Challenge Starter kit from www.deco-pages.com and I used a free template from AmyW's blog http://Scrap-a-lot.blogspot.com The templates are fun to work with and give a great foundation for creating wonderful pages.

This next page was created using a Template from Michaele Burkhart, one of our designers at www.deco-pages.com you can get her template at her blog for a limited time... http://burkhartscrapzone.blogspot.com/ This is a photo of Matthew from when he was just a little guy! For the "Let it snow" layout, I used Bobby Wilkes Contribution to the November PTP kit "Winter Decorations" for Club Deco Members at www.deco-pages.com I also used items from Michaele Burkhart (jburkhart) contribution to the same kit.

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

2006-10-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

Oh something exciting is coming to Deco-Pages! Check this out! Come see us on Halloween! Don't miss out on all the fun!

Shhhhh..... don't tell anyone I showed you this!

2006-10-18T21:16:00.000-04:00

I am so excited about the new PTP kit that is coming out for our Club Deco Members for November, I just had to spill the beans! This is a layout I did with my contribution to the kit.

My Contribution has 14 Backgrounds, 4 Frames, 3 Cracked Paint Snowflakes, 1 Gold Lr. Snowflake Brad, 1 Gold Bottle Cap, 1 journalling box, 1 Quilled paper snowflake (Thanks Andi for letting me use your quilled snowflake... I think it turned out really cool), and a quick page...

Club Deco is so cool! We have so many designers who all contribute a mini kit to form one awesome kit each month! These kits are not just Mega kits... they are SUPER MEGA kits!

Right now, Membership fees are still in the introductory price range... Members get 12 Mega Kits (One per month for a year) and a whole bunch more, for just $20.00! Talk about a deal! If you are interested in joining the club, here is a link to find out more...

http://www.deco-pages.com/Club_Membership_P441.cfm

Happy Birthday Dad!

2006-09-22T22:01:00.000-04:00

Today was my Dad's birthday. We are going to go out for lunch tomorrow to celebrate.

I have been so busy, and I still have a million and ten things I should be doing, but it's been so long since I have written anything in here, that I decided to spend a little time.

I am so excited about the heritage layouts I have been doing. I love looking at all the old photos of family. This is a layout I did of my Grandparents wedding -- my Mom's parents. I used my Roses for Mom kit to create it. I have done several pages with this kit now, and each time I use it I am amazed at how wonderful they look! I hope that some day future generations will look at these photos and be glad that I created them. When I saw this photo, I did not even know it was my Grandparents wedding photo. Aunt Hope told me that it was them, or I would not have known.

Things are really getting exciting at Deco-Pages! We are going to have the Chat hooked up very soon. Dana is working on getting it ready, and it should be live this weekend! I think that is going to add a whole new fun side to the site!

The Club is going really well... we are getting new members just about every day! It really is a great bargain at only $15! ... of course it will be going up to $20. next month, but even so, that is a really good deal for all our members get!

Oh, we finally got rid of the old black geo prism yesterday. They came and towed her away ... the poor thing! She was falling apart! She was a good little car... we brought Matthew home from the hospital in her. I drove Matthew to the day-care hundreds of times... it was sad to see her go.

Well, I guess I should get back to the things I need to be doing... ttyl :)

2006-09-02T00:22:00.000-04:00

Oh, what a fun day at Deco-Pages today! We launched out new Membership Club and the site was jumpin! I am so excited about this new program we are offering! Our Design Team did a wonderful job in creating the first kit for our Members, and it turned out beautifully!

Click Here and you will be taken to the section in the gallery where you can
see the contributions by our Design Team at a larger size.

It was so exciting to see all the people come to the site to learn about the Club. We are having a contest too! To name the Club! I hope that you will stop by the site and learn all about it!

One of the wonderful things about helping to create this kit for me is that I got to do some scrapbooking of my own! I did a few layouts last month, and it felt so good to get creative and have some fun again! Here is one that I did with the Creative Endeavors Kit...

Click on the image to see a larger version of the layout.

I found the photos when I was going through my Mom's belongings. They were taken at my Brother Brian's wedding. We were staying at a hotel, and my Mom had given Matthew some Tootsie Rolls. After a few, she told him he could not have any more. Several minutes passed, and all the adults were visiting with each other, when we realized we didn't know where Matthew was. Well, My Mom found him... in the closet... with the bag of Tootsie Rolls! Rather than scold him, she said "Oh I have got to get my camera!" and she took a photo of him... everyone started laughing, and so did Matthew! It was so cute! I was so happy when I found the photos, and that finding them brought back this wonderful memory of My Mom and Matthew.

Matthew wasn't feeling well tonight. He has a little bit of a temperature, so I am trying to stay awake to keep an eye on him. I guess he must have caught a little bug. He said... "Oh, why did this have to happen before I went back to school!" I guess kids think they should only be sick if they can get a day off of school! He cracks me up!

Roses For Mom

2006-08-20T14:27:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally finished up my Roses for Mom kit. I am in the process of setting up the product in the Shopping cart. It should be available before the day is over. I really love the way this kit turned out. Being that the kit is a dedication to my Mom, I feel really good about it. I even created a couple of Quick Pages to go with the kit. I hope you will all enjoy them. I plan to make a freebie Quick Page with the kit this week. Here is the link to the image above at our web site if you want to see it larger. http://board.deco-pages.com/showphoto.php/photo/1810/cat/526

RiverFest with Irv Cass

2006-08-07T00:52:00.000-04:00

Matthew sang at RiverFest in Niles today (when Irv Cass took his break). Matthew did a great job. The crowd really seemed to enjoy his singing. He sang 5 songs, His fans included his Poppie, Myra, and a couple of other friends from the Waterford, where Poppie lives, Papa, and of course his Mom and Dad! I think a teacher or two from Brandywine Elementary School was spotted in the crowd! Thank goodness the show was today and not last week... it was in the 80s today, but as you can tell from the photo, those jumpsuits are still pretty warm!

Catching up

2006-07-19T09:12:00.000-04:00

Oh, it has been a LONG time since I have posted anything in here!
Well, lets see.... what has happened since MARCH! LOL

Most recently, we had to put our cat (Gus) to sleep. I miss the little guy so much! He was almost 15 years old, he started serious weight loss over the past few months and the day we lost him, he was down to 6 lbs... (a year before that, he was more than twice that weight). It was one of the hardest things I have had to do, but I know it was the kind thing to do, he was suffering, and this was a peaceful way for him to go. I held him when the vet injected the medication, and he just went to sleep and was gone... no pain... very quick. He was a good cat, because our house is surrounded by woods, we get the occasional mouse, and he always got rid of them for us! He was very loving, and he even kissed the tears off my face when I said good-bye to him. We brought Gus home to live with us when he was about 8 weeks old, so he was a part of the family for a long time. I will miss him...

On to happier things... www.deco-pages.com is really starting to bloom. We have new designers coming on board, the forum and gallery are fully functioning, and people are starting to use them. We hope to have the chat installed this week! I am very excited about that! If you have not stopped by recently, I hope that you will!

Matthew is enjoying his summer. He will get to sing next month at the RiverFest in Niles. He spent the night at a friends house last night, and called me at 7am to come home because he had been up all night and was tired and wanted to come home and go to bed!

Jeff has been workin hard, doing the landscaping, piano tuning, side jobs, and now he is taking a computer class at a local college. I hope he learns how to fix computers so he can take care of mine! I did get a new computer this past month. It's great! I love it! FAST! Has enough RAM so I can work in my Adobe products! And it doesn't crash every 5 minutes!

I have been working on a new kit since Mother's Day... lol... how long ago is that now! There just are not enough hours in the day! This is a layout I did with it of my Mom and my brother Scott, it was taken a year or so before she passed away. I think it is a wonderful photo of her, she looked so happy. I hope to have this kit finished and available at www.deco-pages.com very soon.

Well, I guess that is about it for now. I will try to post in here more often... but I am not promising anything!

St. Patty's Day Kit

2006-03-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

This is a layout I did with my newest kit -- St. Patty's Day which is available in our store.
Here is a link to the kit:
http://www.deco-pages.com/Deb_Ammerman_-_St_Pattys_Day_P310C38.cfm

I took the photo of the shamrock last fall. It is my husband's work. Isn't it beautiful?

A Carrot, An Egg and a Cup of Coffee

2006-03-01T09:48:00.000-05:00

I did not write the story below... it was something a good friend of mine sent me in an email. I thought it was a wonderful, and that this would be a great place to put the story... Hope you enjoy it, and share it with others too.

A Carrot, An Egg and a Cup of Coffee.

This is too good of a life lesson not to pass on! A carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee..
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water andplaced each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.

She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?""Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.

The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, Mum?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however.

After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

Which are you?" she asked her daughter."When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this:

Which am I?

Am I the carrot? That seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg? That starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break-up, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean?

The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you...

Love Letters

2006-02-12T09:09:00.000-05:00

This is a layout I created with my "Love Letters" Digital Scrapbook Kit. It is available to http://www.deco-pages.com I love this photo of my Mother-In-Law when she was a young woman. It was taken the day she graduated from High School. Her brother (Bud) Frank Long, was away serving in the military, and he sent her the flowers she is holding. This kit is great for a Valentines Day Layout, and so much more!

Our first contest went really well at Deco-Pages! Here is a link to the three winner's layouts in our Community Section:
http://board.deco-pages.com/showgallery.php/cat/533

I wish we could have made everyone who participated a "winner" in the contest! Our designers had a very difficult time choosing! As far as I am concerned, they were all "winners"!

Our newest contest has been announced... Here is a link to the Valentines Day Contest:
http://board.deco-pages.com/showphoto.php/photo/297/cat/531
We hope that you will submit a layout or two, you can win a gift certificate good in our store, and an assortment of kits (to be announced as the contest dead-line approaches) from our designers!

Hugs & Kisses

2006-01-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Don't cha just love those lips! This is a layout I did with my new
"Hugs & Kisses" Digital Scrapbook Kit, which
is available at http://www.deco-pages.com Here is a link that will take you
directly to the kit.
http://www.deco-pages.com/Deb_Ammerman_-_Hugs_And_Kissse_P266C38.cfm

It's been a while...

2005-12-29T10:56:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a while since I have written in here! So much has been going on, and with Christmas, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!

I finished a new kit a few days ago called "Starry Night"... you can see it at:
http://www.deco-pages.com/Deb_Ammerman_-_Starry_Night_P257C38.cfm
The layout above was created with the kit. I had a lot of fun creating this kit... I have always loved using Stars and Moon, this kit is an "Any Occasion" kit, and can be used for so many things. Please let me know what you think of it.

http://board.deco-pages.com Our new community section of the web site is great! You can leave comments for our designers about their layouts and kits, you can also post your layouts to share with family and friends. This community section will continue to grow with the implementation of a message board, and a place to Chat. Coming soon... Don't forget to check out our Christmas and Winter Layout Contest, where you can win some really wonderful prizes from our sponsors! http://board.deco-pages.com/showphoto.php/photo/7/cat/506

New Community Section and Contest

2005-12-06T19:33:00.000-05:00

It was an exciting day at http://www.deco-pages.com today! Our new Community Section is finally live, and we launched our first contest! Please stop by our web site to check it out! Now people can upload their layouts to share with family and friends! I can't wait to see what our customers create with our kits! The contest is really exciting... we have really cool prizes to give away!

2005-11-18T14:50:00.000-05:00

When you spend just $10.00 (Combined order) on the Digital Scrapbook Kits found in our store at http://www.deco-pages.com/ (excluding Fund Raising Items) You will receive an email from deb@deco-pages.com after your completed purchase. The email I will send you will provide
a special code to use to get My "Christmas Joy" kit FREE!

http://www.deco-pages.com/Deb_Ammerman_-_Christmas_Joy_P192C38.cfm

This sale ends on December 1, 2005, so please hurry to take advantage of this offer.

2005-11-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

This is a new layout I just finished of Matthew from Christmas 2001!
To see the New "Christmas Joy" Kit I created Please Click Here!

Halloween Sale

2005-10-29T02:43:00.000-04:00

We're having a big sale to celebrate Halloween by offering 25% off on most of the digital scrapbook kits at http://www.deco-pages.com but hurry, because when the goblins are gone, so will the sale be!

Autumn Clean Up

2005-10-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

I just finished this digital scrapbook layout of Matthew and Jeff from 2001! Matthew was still too little at the time to hold the leaf blower on his back himself, so Jeff had to help him hold it up! Matthew was so cute, he thought the leaf blower was the coolest thing!... he still does. Just the other day, he told us that he would blow all the leaves off the yard this year as part of his chores to get his allowance! I think his Dad is going to let him do it! This layout was created with a new kit I just uploaded to the store today... to see the kit, please click here.

Well... the Chicago White Sox are in the World Series, and tonight is the first game. Jeff is watching the game so I got to come in here and play on the computer! Jeff and I took Matthew to see his first major league game over the summer, we went to a White Sox game in Chicago. It was a very exciting game... and the White Sox won the game. It was a fun experience for Matthew. Matthew is also watching the game, now that he has been to a game, he has started to watch it on TV.

Finally Friday

2005-10-07T19:39:00.000-04:00

It's been a long week. My father-in-law fell and broke his hip. I have spent allot of time at the hospital. But he is doing very well.

Today I finally finished my "Birthday Kit". It is available at http://www.deco-pages.com

Here is the layout I created using the kit. I love the layout! Matthew was not too thrilled... but who cares! I like it! Of course, the photo was taken over 10 years ago, but it is priceless don't cha think?!

A Nice Quiet Evening....

2005-10-01T21:35:00.000-04:00

Matthew and Jeff went to the Apple Festival, I didn't feel like going, so they went off on a "Male Bonding" evening, and I am enjoying the peace and quiet here at home. Jeff called me on his cell phone so I could hear the "Beatles" tribute artist group... they are really good... but I have seen them a couple of times before. It's an "Elvis meets the Beatles Night"! What a hoot! But they performed at the Elvis Festival when we went to that last year, and we had also seen them at the Morris Civic in South Bend. Sometimes it's nice just to spend a quiet evening at home alone!

I started watching some movies today on TV. I don't usually watch TV too much. Matthew usually has the cartoon network on, and I would just as soon be doing almost anything than watch that! I watched the end of Steel Magnolias this afternoon... Good ole' tear-jerker chick flick! One of my favorites! Then Zorro came on, and I was sorting socks, so I watched that, then Gladiator came on, and I watched part of that... that is the most TV I have watched in ages!

I've been working on a Birthday Celebration kit the past couple of days. I will post a layout here when I am finished with the kit, so check back soon.

Have a good night...

2005-09-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

Matthew has a field trip at school today. It will be interesting to hear what it was all about when he gets home this afternoon. It is some kind of history reenactment thing.

Yesterday was Jeff's Birthday... the big 47! But he is still a youngin! Matthew, Jeff and I went out for pizza last night to celebrate. We had to go to Pollitos... Matthew doesn't like any other kind of pizza but that any more! PICKY... PICKY... Picky! It is pretty good pizza though... Rossini's and Polittos are about the closest thing to New York Style pizza around here. We will get together with Jeff's Dad this weekend to celebrate.

(Irv Cass)

The Apple Festival started yesterday, so we are planning on going some time this weekend. Probably the night that Irv Cass is going to be singing. My son Matthew is an Elvis Tribute Artist too... Here is a layout I did from his performance at the school talent show the last day of school last spring. Matthew has performed during Irv Cass's breaks at the RiverFest in Niles two years in a row now...

The scrapbook kit I used to create this layout is called "Any Occasion" and if you would like to see the kit please click here. Sorry, the Elvis pics and silhouette are not included in the kit!

2005-09-28T08:23:00.000-04:00

Well, it's Wednesday, Matthew is off to school, Jeff is off to work, and I am ready to get creative! I am so close to being done with my "Friendship" Kit. I will post a collage later today when I have it put together. I really like the flowers... you will have to wait and see!

One of Matthew's fish is not well. We do not know what happened, but it's eye is missing! Poor thing! Matthew was so upset. I know it is just a fish... but you can't help but feel sorry for it. Hopefully nature will take it's course before Matthew gets home, and I can get rid of it.

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. It's a little chilly, but the sun is shining, and Fall is definitely in the air! The Apple Festival starts this week, Jeff said something about going tomorrow night, if the weather is good.

I joined a digital scrapbooking group on Yahoo about a week ago. It is so cool to see all they layouts these ladies are doing! I even "met" someone who lives in the area! Talk about a small world! Here is the URL if you are looking for a digital scrapbook group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/computer-scrapping/

Ok... I'm back, this is a layout I created today with my "Friendship" Kit. You can see the kit at: http://www.deco-pages.com/Deb_Ammerman_-_Friendship_P152C38.cfm. The Layout above is me and Marsha, way back in 1989! Wow... it seems like a long time ago! I showed the layout to Marsha.. we both think the photo is a hoot! I met Marsha when Jeff and I were living in Colorado, (That was 19 years ago!) ... Then Jeff and I moved to Lansing, where he went to MSU, and shortly afterward, Marsha, Randy and the Girls moved to another part of Michigan! We stay in touch, send Christmas cards... talk on the phone once-in-a-blue-moon. The layout is about being friends for years ... even though we are so far apart!

A+ Weekend

2005-09-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

Well, it was a "Homework Weekend". Because Matthew was off school on Friday, we had to make up all the work from that day! So Matthew spent a good part of his weekend working on school work! But he got it all done!

Jeff had a piano to tune on Saturday, and then Sunday he had to do a landscape side-job. Of course it started to rain when he was working on Sunday, so he came home wet and unhappy.

Saturday Night Live

2005-09-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

Nothing really exciting happened today. I did get my hair cut this morning! I live such an exciting life! But that is just fine with me.

Matthew wanted to take some photos of Gus tonight, so we tried to get a couple of shots... Gus is like me, he doesn't like to have his photo taken! Gus turned 14 years old last month!

Brownies are in the oven. I'm telling you, not a very exciting day!

TGIF

2005-09-23T16:39:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been quite the Friday! Matthew woke up at 2am with an unpleasant surprise for me! His Mussels from dinner did not agree with him! I won't go into the gory details, but it was smelly, messy, and not a lot of fun at 2am!

So the boy stayed home from school today. We have a ton of homework to make up over the weekend. It will be lots of fun.

I spent the day working on print work for a client. I am exhausted, but I didn't want it to turn into a week long process, so the whole day was dedicated to getting her work done. Just some printing to be done, and it is all complete, and ready to ship.

Dad's birthday dinner was very nice. We went to this restaurant we had never been to before. It is called Fishbone Seafood Bar & Grill. The food was really good... just shouldn't let 10 year old boys eat mussels so close to bedtime I guess! It was a pleasant evening.

Thursday

2005-09-22T10:42:00.000-04:00

Well, instead of lighting a candle for ambiance this morning, I thought I was going to have to light them out of necessity... but the power came back on only moments after it went out! Now the sun is shining, and it looks like things are going to clear up. If you don't like the weather in Michigan, just wait an hour or two!

Today is my Dad's birthday! Happy Birthday Dad! Here is a photo of him taken last month (He's the one with the white hair!) -- (Paybacks Dad! for the laughs about the tribune telling the whole world that I am 40!). He was honored with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Osteopathic Medical Foundation of Michiana at "Celebrate the D.O. Difference -- An evening of Baseball and Barbecue!" held at "Cove" where the SilverHawks play baseball in South Bend Indiana. http://www.silverhawks.com/

Well, lot of creative stuff to do today, not to mention laundry... better get at it!

Day Two...

2005-09-21T09:23:00.000-04:00

The candle is lit, there is a soft jazz CD playing on the stereo, Matthew is off to school, Jeff is off to work, and I am ready to spend another day in creative mode. I am working on a Friendship Kit for the web site. I already created a QuickPage, but now I need to work on finishing up a full kit. I donated the QuickPage, where all sales from the site will go to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina victims. Here is a link if you want to take a peak... http://www.deco-pages.com/Deb_Ammerman_-_A_Friend_Quick__P147C73.cfm Below is the QuickPage Gallery Example with photo and journaling.

I just love the fall, and all the colors that are starting to appear in the woods behind my house. I guess today is officially the first day of fall... So, happy fall ya'all!

This is so cool, I just found this... go to http://www.colorstrology.com/ ... here is what it says for my birthday. I really do like the colors it chose for me!

My First Blog!

2005-09-20T14:20:00.000-04:00

http://www.deco-pages.com

Hi, Welcome to my Blog! Everyone is talking about Blogs! so... of course... I had to check it out! Well, now I have one too! Guess ya gotta jump on the bandwagon!

I hope you will check out our new web site. My friend and business partner, Diana and I started www.deco-pages.com about a year ago. A lot has happened since then! Recently we decided to "go digital"! This has been quite a fun ride! I love what we are doing now! We have a design team now! A whole bunch of graphic designers who are designing digital scrapbook kits and selling them at www.deco-pages.com! I love working with the designers! They are all very talented! We also have a writer who has joined our team, and she is the greatest! I am so excited about this new venture! We have a wonderful gallery where you will find ideas on how to use the elements and backgrounds in the kits, and we also have a tutorials and tips section.

We have lots of plans for the site. More changes to come, including a message board and maybe even a chat room... lots of great stuff to come!