Hello from the Texas Panhandle!

Well, I've finally been able to grab a few moments to log on and introduce myself and show off some of Cole's fabulous designs in the process!

My name is Melanie Morales - you will come nearer to recognizing my name in the digiscrap world as bygodsdesign. I am married to Kevin and we have two young children who star in many of my layouts: Kade who is 3 and Maycie who turned one yesterday (Friday)... Hmmm... That birthday sounds familiar! Yes! She shares a birthday with Cole's son who is one year ahead of her! Oh, and for the pet lovers out there - I always get into trouble when I leave the pets out. We have Tabby (he came with the very unoriginal name) - a cat way past his expiration date and then a schnauzer/border collie mix named Chaucer.

I am a stay at home mom and I hire out to do a variety of work on the side. Anyway, I have been digi-scrapping for over 2 years and designing since the fall of 2007. I started designing out of necessity for my Scrap for Hire business since I could not afford licenses for commercial use in the industry at that time. However, I probably love working with other designer's work more than my own. I don't know why. Maybe it's like eating someone else's cooking - it just tastes better because you're not the one who did all the work - hehe. I was so excited to find out I would get to be "green" when Cole contacted me about the CT position.

I grew up in the Texas Panhandle just north of Amarillo in Dumas, TX. I have also lived in Lubbock and Round Rock (Austin) TX. I love Amarillo. I also love the digital scrapbooking community - I feel like you are family. I have made so many wonderful friends in the short amount of time that I've actually been posting in galleries, forums, etc.

So, anyway, time to share my layout with you. The journaling tag line is: "Families can stick together as long as there is Photoshop!" My son does not cooperate with photo sessions much at all. Most of my pictures of him are action shots - he's always on the go. So, when we needed a family picture for a special event this past Spring, we had to stage this picture. I set the tripod up and marked the sofa where we'd sit. I took a picture of Kevin and Kade (and as you can see, he still wasn't still) and then Kevin got the shot of me and Maycie and I merged the pictures in Photoshop. wala! Morales Family Picture!

I am privileged enough to use Nicole's Coffee kit for this layout. I loved working with the textures in her backgrounds and elements. The color combination is so fun! The other credits I have is the bling heart on the photo frame from Kirsty. I did use a glitter action from Atomic Cupcake for the frame. The title is in a font called Guilty. The journaling font is Freestyle Script. I used a style from Mari Liess on the title.

That's all for now - but I should be back soon with more!