A few days ago I posted a few digital scrapbook “book” templates that I made with Heritage Makers software. Today I have a couple of cute 5×7 invitation templates I designed.
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I have two boys and one girl, and I’m not sure WHICH design I like better!
I’m not sure how it happened… or when… but my baby girl is turning three today. In the last few months she’s been evolving from toddler girl to BIG girl, and we are trying to keep up!
Over the weekend, we kept talking about lasts… “this is the last Saturday you’ll be a two year old”…. “this is the last time you’ll go to the Museum as a two year old”…. “this is the last time you’ll go to church as a two year old”. (Yes, her dad and I are slightly sentimental.)
Martha (age THREE) At the Museum, playing with the sand (her FAVORITE activity)
When I was a girl, I always expected that I’d have a girl FIRST… and then a boy… and be done. Life didn’t turn out that way. I adopted my first child (a boy), and because of health issues, I didn’t expect to have any more. But, God’s plans for me included THREE children, and I was able to have one more boy… and my baby girl.
Even though I talk (and write) a lot, I can’t ever put into words what this girl really means to me. (You know I’m going to try, right? Here goes!)
Martha Maysielen is my “mini-me”, an almost mirror-reflection of the me that was. She grins at me and it takes my breath away because she looks JUST LIKE the pictures of me at her age. (Except I think she is even cuter, especially when she has her hair in two pig-tails.)
Temperamentally, she is very much like me too. My mother used to say that from the time I came out of the womb I wanted to be bigger and older than I was. I would get frustrated, even as a baby, because I couldn’t do something I wanted to do. I always kind of laughed when mom said it… but then I met my Martha. Turns out… she’s exactly the same way. She threw screaming fits when she wanted to roll over but couldn’t. Crawling made her mad as could be, because she wasn’t running with her big brothers. Yes, she is my daughter, thru and thru.
Thankfully, she has a bit of her Daddy in her too. It’s an interesting mix… Mommy’s Type A personality with Daddy’s laid back, “what are clocks for again” personality. Unfortunately for Martha, she got stubborn-ness from BOTH of us, so we’ll be working on that trait over the next few several years.
I love that she is the youngest… and has two big brothers to look up to. She is just as comfortable with trucks and dinosaurs and tools as she is with baby dolls and stuffed animals. (She often “rocks” the trucks LIKE a baby.) She is tough and determined and not knocked down easily. And when she IS knocked down (she has two big brothers, after all), she gets right back up again. She is the easiest to re-direct of the three (so far), and is also the most exasperating.
I just love my sweet, tough, stubborn, fiesty, talkative, expressive, beautiful girl.
Can you tell?
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled a couple of scrapbooks out of a box that hadn’t been unpacked yet (you know, because we’ve only been in our house for almost 3 years now!!). One book was Samuel’s (his first 3 years) and the other was Allan’s (his first year). Martha looked around after we finished looking at them both and wondered aloud (and annoyed) where HER book was. OOPS! Mommy needs to finish it, sweetie! Every day since, she has asked me where HER book is. I think I have some digi-scrappin’ to do!
There are a few layouts done with her photos and story… I just checked, and I have most of her first year done, so I’m only about a year behind! I’m going to post a few of those “first year” layouts below, just for her. (She likes to see herself on my computer, and I’ll show her this post when she wakes up.)
(And maybe I’ll be in LESS trouble about the “book”, if she sees these.)
(Or not!)
Happy Birthday, Princess!
(And Mommy will get busy right away on all the second year layouts for your book… I promise!!)
I can distinctly remember the first time I realized there was a “digital scrapbooking” industry. It was around 2004 or so, and I had already been a web designer for several years. At that time, I enjoyed my own form of digi- scrapping, mostly through personal websites – you know… a blog, before blogs were “cool”.
I was often frustrated with the limitations though. Quality graphics were hard to come by, and I could visualize what I wanted a website to look like, or a cute photo enhancement to look like, but creating that with “pixels” was time consuming and difficult (and often impossible – mostly because my imagination is better than my digital artistry skills!)
The day I found “digi kits” for sale was a happy, happy day. Finally there were other people just like me out there, trying to design, create, and SCRAPBOOK on their computers. I suddenly didn’t feel “weird” anymore for trying to do something others did with paper and glue.
In the last 5 or 6 years since I found OTHER digital scrapbookers, the industry has exploded beyond belief. And I have been very, very lucky to find my own little niche within that industry. I realized fairly quickly that I am not a digital KIT designer, but I’m rather a layout designer … a layout artist… a digital scrapbooker-for-hire. Or, if you want to keep it a little more simple for non-digi folks, I’m a graphic designer… using the designs of OTHER graphic designers to create something new.
I could not… could NOT do what I do without the fabulous (and very generous) digital KIT designers. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to offer up a Sunday Shout-Out to some of my favorites. Now that I think about it, it might take a year (or two), since I’ll do it just once a week… and I have SO many favorites.
I’m going to start with Miki Ferkul aka Microferk Designs. She sells her designs at Scrapbook-Elements. I’m starting with her because I’m using one of her graphics in my header here on this blog… and because a great many of my current samples and designs, in both etsy shops, were created using her products.
I have always loved her designs and her style. The day she changed her TOU to allow for crafting/designing for hire, I literally did a dance in my house. (Really, I did… and I told her so too!) I have a rather large section of my external hard-drive filled with her kits and products. She has designed so many lovely kits… and she puts out something new nearly EVERY week. I would tell her to slow down a bit, so I can catch up with purchasing all her designs, but I love, LOVE to see her new stuff every week.
A few of her latest designs that you really need to see (and buy…and use!):
SEE! I told you she was amazing!
Thank you, Miki, for being inspiring… and encouraging and generous to digi-scrappers/artists like me.
Over the next few weeks, I hope to add a variety of “portfolio” type items to this blog. Today’s post includes a few sample book templates I designed using the Heritage Makers software. These were all designed in both 8×8 book size and in 12×12 book size.
Doodle Whimsy:
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Christmas Album:
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Baby Girl Album:
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Baby Boy Album:
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If you are interested in custom digital scrapbook layouts or book design, please check out my Delight Design etsy shop, or send me a note!
