Found . . . Family Heirloom

It felt like Christmas came early this evening. As I unpacked boxes that have been packed since 2005 (we had planned to move 4 years ago) I found this family heirloom. This glass belonged to my maternal grandmother, who passed away a few years before I was even born. It was part of a set and my mom gave both my sister and I a glass as well as the one she kept for herself. As Christmas approached every year since I can remember my mom has made Jell-O Cookies and used this glass to imprint the starburst design on the cookie. I’m sure at some point I will pass this glass onto Ryleigh and this recipe. I thought I would share the recipe for one of our favorite cookies with everyone.

Pastel Jell-O Cookie

¾ C. soft butter
½ C. sugar
2 eggs
1 – 3 ounce package of Jell-O (we like to use Raspberry and Lime flavors)
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 ½ C. flour

Mix butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Roll into balls and flattened with a sugared (spray with PAM) glass. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes.

Smiles

Just what I needed on a Monday morning. Talking about doing something different and standing out this is it. This couple has awesome friends to go along with such a unique entrance. Like I recently told my daughter Ryleigh, sometimes you can't be afraid to be the rebel and standalone. Hope this brings a smile to your day too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0&feature=player_embedded

Day 05 - Project 03 {Texture & Frames}

Lovin' this! A little texture, soft light, frame and ta da I have photographic artwork. While in the garden at the Henry Ford Estate I couldn't resist shooting a photo of this pretty pink rose, just perfect. I added three layers of grungy texture, soft light on each layer and added this frame. The frame is actually flipped upside down, I thought it looked better. The possiblities are endless with what can be done to alter photos and make them art!

1st Family Portrait

Last evening was my 1st Family Portrait and I had a blast with the "First Family." Everyone looked great and was ready to play. Cynthia and Stephanie are planning a 60th birthday party for their Mom and as a surprise they got their families together for this photo shoot, lets hope little Bryce doesn't spill the beans. We met at the Henry Ford Estate which is just a beautiful setting. The gardens, river, meadows and home provided a fabulous backdrop for our shoot. Even though we had to fight off those pesty mosquitoes and dodge the goose poop we all had fun. What can you say, we tried everything to get little Bryce to give his mom Stephanie a kiss, bribes just didn't work and the same went for Aleea, she wasn't dishing out any lovin' to Cynthia either. Cynthia's son Kenneth was a trouper, playing with the kids, knoodling with mom and Aunt Stephanie. As we chatted last night, I mentioned to Cynthia that we have known each other 10 years; how time flies. Cynthia was my daughter's daycare teacher. Aleea, Cynthia's daughter also attended the same daycare and our girls became fast friends, this past year they were even soccer teammates. I was tickled to be able to spend the evening with them; here are some of my favorites and I hope Grandma is thrill with her "surprise." Shhhhh!

Day 05 - Textures

I am so excited, today was texture day. It is really amazing how adding texture to a photo can change the whole feel. In fact, photographing texture has become a recent obsession with me, even my 10 year old daughter points out textures and suggests that I take a photograph of it; you just never know when you will be able to use it. What I have done is added a folder to my ACDsee program and I have all my textures organized under that folder, so if I ever need texture I can easily find it.

Day 04 - Clipping Masks

Wow, this is so easy! Actually, I think it would be alot of fun to make my own grungy clipping masks. With the clipping mask you open a new document, your photo and clipping mask. Then by sizing your photo to the desired size, overlay the clipping mask so that the edge of your photo is overlapping the mask. Your photo will now take on the shape of your mask when you hover between the two layers and merge them to become one. You can also move your photo layer around to achieve the effect/placement you want. Ta-da! Don't you love the grungy edges?

Day 03 - Colors and Tints

I just love what we learned on Day 03's lesson, colors and tints. Jessica showed us that by using the hue/saturation function that you can adjust the colors of your photo and add sepia tones to grunge it up a bit. As soon as I completed this lesson I sent this photo over to Costco for printing. In fact, I already have this photo framed and hanging on my living room wall. What do you think?