KokoScraps

2008-12-29T19:07:00.002-05:00

Its been some time since I;ve been here. Every time I wanted to update my blog something was going on, or I just didn't feel like writing about what was or wasn't going on. I've been down lately, and the closer to Christmas it got, the worse I got. I went through about a month with my blood sugar shooting sky high, and know how hard that is on my insides. Well, I finally got it stopped and now my sugar levels are normal again, but the meds I take have side effects. Nothing I can;t live with. Not complaining, just explaining.

With the melt-down of our economy, I am reminded every day how lucky I am, I needent worry at all, my husbands retired from a goverment agency, and we are secure with his pension. But, so many others are hurting, it so sad... and the oweners of small businesses... how can they stay in business??? I was one before I had to retire, I know how stressfull this time of year is! Not that it hasn't effected me too, I lost half of my savings which , thankfully, we don't need right now, but it still stings. Like I fell into a beehive! Oh well, that's life. I'm still here and that's all that counts.

On to more pleasant things. I'm going through the artwork I've done this year, and I am going to put it in order, for a slideshow about 2008. I may not do as much designing in 2009 (making digital scrapbook pages), I'm instead going to redo some of the things I rushed, and others that need more work. My creative jucies are starting to bubble up, and I can't ignore them. I'm starting to feel to restricted to certian colors. And I've thought about getting a booklet together about how to do some things in the program I use. I've been asked to make tutorials and it is a real stretch for me. I can do the pics but hate the writing part. I thought if I make it a project of mine, I'd put more effort into it. there's about 4 other projects I want to start too. well, maybe. I don't make plans anymore, just take life one day at a time. It lasts so much longer that way.

All for now. Hope I get back sooner than last time. Will be posting some of the pages I did this last year. Come back and take a look!

I'M BACK!

2008-10-30T18:46:00.006-04:00

Oh, you didn't notice I was away, well, I guess I don't get out in public much, maybe that's why nobody noticed. Anyway, I was on another cruise. Just a short trip over to the Bahamas. Only 4 days, or was it 5? It was nice and relaxing. Had great weather, took some pics, ate too much, and was glad to get home. Didn't take my laptop. Fred thought he'd never get me out of the room if I did. He was right too, hehe! I'm trying to write a tutorial for making glitter in Digital Image Pro,

and it's going slow. When it's done it will be at http://www.snlscrappers.com/ Lots of other good tuts there also. Go have a look!

2008-10-11T20:40:00.005-04:00

I really like the way this background turned out! I was also playing with a different technique to use on some of my photos. So I put the two together and this is what I came up with. I will probably do more work on this page, but wanted to put it up on the blog now!
What would be your suggestion to finish it off?
What kind of element should I add?
What would make it a "WOW" page?
Help me out here!
Thanks, Koko

This is for a kit I'm working on for later. I take my time on lots of page kits. It usually takes a lot of tweaking before I'll use it, as this one does.

These backgrounds were made for the SNL scrappers group http://www.snlscrappers.com/.

Another unfinished page. Yep. I do have lots of these!

More Pages!

2008-10-11T20:28:00.001-04:00

Metal Backgrounds by Koko

2008-10-11T20:18:00.002-04:00

These sure turned out great, if I may say so myself! (HeHe!) What do you think?

OUCH!

2008-10-11T19:43:00.002-04:00

I knew I should have gotten out of the market. But I didn't, and now I'm watching my savings slide downhill. Life is tough. So is the stock market. I've lost lots of money, now I just hope the market will recover at least some of my losses. Oh well, it's only money.

Let's change the subject! Here's some of my latest pages.

Another day, just wasting away.

2008-10-02T17:28:00.003-04:00

Here it is Oct. and I feel like I have unfinished things to do. The problem is, I don't know what they are. It's just a feeling like I should hurry and I don't know where it's coming from. Does that make sense? I'm not to sure if it's because my blood sugar is totally out of whack, or if I'm just loseing it. Sugar count has been anywhere from 250 to 450, and that's way high. It makes me spacy and forgetful, thank goodness for Fred to keep an eye on me. I'm not eating any sweets, and watching what I eat, but I can't get my sugar levels down. I need to either go back on byetta, or go on insulin shots now. Yuk. Byetta is shots too, but at least they're pre-measured.

Thank you all!

2008-09-23T20:50:00.004-04:00

Thank you all for your prayers for Noah, my grandson. He came through the surgery with flying colors. His heart is in great condition so that's great news.

But we still don't know why he has the irregular heartbeat. So back to the heart monitor. Thanks again and God bless you all!

Judy (Koko)

(Picture is of my daughter and grandson, Noah.)

Prayer Request

2008-09-23T11:22:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to ask everyone for your prayers today. As some of you know, Noah (my grandson) is having heart surgery/procedure today. For those who do not, Noah is going in to have a procedure done to hopefully pinpoint and correct an irregularity in his heart. They will be going in through his arm to the heart to run tests on his heart (speed it up, slow it down, stress it, etc.) If the Dr finds what he thinks might be there, he will fix it. If he can not do it through the arm he may need to go up through the groin. Noah is not nervous, (he is excited to get to watch Nickelodeon since they only have broadcast channels) but I can not say the same for his Mom or me!

He has one of the best pediatric electro-physio-cardiologists in the country and is having it done at an incredible hospital, Lutheran General Children's hospital. Lutheran General happens to be the same hospital Stephanie (my grandaughter) was at when she was a 3 month premature 2 pound baby!

So, to sum it up, we have faith in everyone involved, but even more, we have faith in God for taking care of our precious Noah! I just ask for your prayers to make the day and healing go smooth and quickly. It could be up to a 6 hour surgery so we will need all the prayers we can get! I will keep you all updated when I get any news.

Thanks for your prayers,
~Judy (Koko)

Another miss!

2008-09-13T23:13:00.002-04:00

We sure have been lucky in missing the hurricanes this year. This one (Ike) was so bad that I felt as if it did hit here. All those poor people who are wiped out. So depressing. But so many homes built right on the water! What were they thinking??? And why did they stay? There was a mandatory evacuation, they were told to stay meant probable death! This was the biggest storm forcasters had seen, it covered the whole gulf! Yet so many stayed. I just dont know what they were thinking. All I can say is... it's sad, really sad.

Another Lousy Day in ...yada yada yada

2008-08-31T11:57:00.007-04:00

Well, here I am again. Just wanted my friends to know, we are not in Gustav's path (whew!). But we are getting some winds from being way on the outer edge. Nothing to write home about though. Yesterday we had rain all day, now sink holes are opening up here in Florida. So what would you rather have happen, drown from a hurricane storm surge, or be sucked up by the earth? Hmmm, or eaten by a shark (19 bitten so far this year!) or gator? Or struck by lightening? (Florida is the capital spot for lightening storms and strikes!) Or dragged out to sea by the rip currents? (Oh why won't they stay out of the water when they're told to by the lifeguards?) Oh well, I still love living here. I just keep on pumping out pages for you scrapbookers! Here's some more I've done lately...

Another Lousy Day In Paradise

2008-08-19T18:51:00.006-04:00

Well, it's been more than a week since my last post. I will get better. Lets see, the huricane that wasn't (Fay) missed us so far. It's just a tropical storm, but has spawned some tornados. We are right on the west edge of the storm and are getting lots of wind, some rain and way too much TV coverage! Then there's the really stupid people, like the guy that decided to wind surf with a kite and got slammed into a building before he could get out of his harness! He's in intensive care and critical. Go figure. My God, what was he thinking!!! I hope the worst of the storm stays to the right of us!

Well got some pages to work on. Will write more later. Have a great day!

Supporting my local doctors! (And Vampires!)

2008-08-05T20:47:00.013-04:00

Yep, I'm still helping to send their kids to collage. Well, it seems like it, when I go from one office to another, they must be making a lot of money! And all those tests I have to do at the lab in the hospital, I'm sure I've paid for that new wing they just built. Well, my insurance did anyway. But it sure gets old, fast!. I hate lab work. They take so much blood from me... I think there's a family of vampires living somewhere on the hospital grounds. Whenever they need a little extra pick me up, they drain vial after vial of my delicious blood! It must taste great, why else would they keep doing it so often? What a racket they have going. Oh yeah, I've got them figured out. Can't pull the wool over my eyes. It's all to feed those dumb vampires! I've even started taking my camera with me when I have to go to the lab. I know I'll get a glimpse of them one day and I'll get some great pictures! I got a feeling I won't see them until around the latter part of October. Yeah, then I can use the pictures for Halloween pages. He-he-he. Just can't wait... can you?

Now what else is cluttering up my desktop? Oh yes, birds!

Lots of them. I can't seem to get enough of them. they just keep popping out of my head. and because I want everybody to have this much fun, I decided to make a tutorial on how to make them. First draft is done. The tut is for a very basic bird, but once you know how to make one, you can keep building them up till you get fancy ones like these...

Here is the link to the tutorial:

http://www.mediafire.com/?oq3bb9owaj4

Where did the week go???

2008-07-29T15:50:00.002-04:00

First off, I've been sick so didn't get much done. And last week was "Christmas In July" Week at DSPlace.com! But then, I'd rather make my own stuff than use something someone else made, anyway. But oh how I love getting freebies! And during "CIJ" they really give out lots of free stuff. It's too hard for me to remember who made what, and you have to give credit for anything you use of theirs, si I just started making my own stuff. But still, I love some of the things the designers make. They are really talented. If I really like something I can almost always make the same thing. But their pages are a great inspiration and get my creative juices flowing. I better get back to what I'm working on now. Before I forget! When they're finished I'll put them in a slideshow. Gonna try slide.com next. Catch you later.

Slideshow? Maybe!

2008-07-22T23:35:00.003-04:00

I'm hopeing this one works! This slideshow was made at webshots.com and seems to work fine! Webshots looks like a great site to host pictures on and so far is very easy to use. I think I'll stick to useing it. The slideshow consists of old pages I made back in 2007, but recolored in fresh soft pastels. Take a look and let me know how it looks to you. You can leave a comment below the slideshow.

Guess I'll get back to some more designing!

Koko

Scrapbook Pages by KokoScraps (SNL30)

Trying it again!

2008-07-21T07:26:00.003-04:00

The flipbook didn't work so I'm trying this again. This time I made a movie (wmv) with PhotoStory 3. This better work! I'm putting it right here instead of trying to post it at the bottom of the page.

Something Old, Something New

2008-07-19T15:56:00.000-04:00

Well, I keep trying to get this blog thing right! I'm going to post a flipbook (slideshow) I made with DIP (Digital Image Pro). It consists of old pages I made back in 2007, but recolored in fresh soft pastels. It's down at the bottom of this page(I hope!) I'm also working on some scrapbook pages for some pages my son sent me from Thailand. will post them when they're done.

New Pages!

2008-07-16T11:24:00.000-04:00

Hey this is the second time I've made it here this month! I guess I'm a slow learner, but that's what happens to you when you start getting old. I'm not done with the set up of this blog, as you can see, but it's getting a little clearer to me just how this is done.

Well I'm adding some of the pages I've designed for you to see. I'd love to see some comments on these.

2008-07-06T17:27:00.000-04:00

Oh dear, has it been that long? I should get here at least once a month! Well, my next thing I will be playing with is making slideshows out of some of my old work. Hmmmm, I think I will, you never know with me... will I get to it ... or not!?! Just haveta come back and see. HeHe