MLK Holiday!

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted. My computer was sick with a nasty virus for 2 months but was able to get out of the hospital right before Christmas.
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Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday and I pulled out 2 of my favorite personal memories of Dr. King. He died in 1968 and I was born in 1969... so I have no photos of marching with him, but what I do have is this only authorized version of ...free at last Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. album.

It is by far the most significant album of MLK Jrs's speeches. It includes :
I've Been To The Mountain Top, I Have A Dream and Drum Major Instinct Sermon.

These photos show the album that was recorded in 1968 by Gordy Motown Record Corp. Front cover, middle and back of the album.



PS. I guess you are wondering how did I come to have this collection? My G. Aunt gave it to my mother and I listen to this album while doing a high school essay about Dr. King. Loved it so much I asked my mother if I could keep it, she said yes.

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This is my first scrapbook I did while in high school and in it I gave a tribute to MLK in my own little way. Mind you, this was way before there was a national holiday for him. There was a political newspaper cartoon script that I thought did a wonderful job illustrating the economic gap between blacks and whites at the time. So I recreated it in my scrapbook using my own hand drawing. Hard to see I know because it's in pencils... click on it for a larger view.

The bottom portion of this page was created with cut outs from Ebony articles.

Above is half of the old newspaper script I used as my inspiration.


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Just For Fun!

Here are some more images from this 1983 -1987 high school scrapbook. No laughing... and the condition of the book is bad, but hopeful you can make out these images.

I drew by hand a picture of our high school on the first page. The picture on the right is what the school actually looks like.

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More pages.

I was Essence Affair Junior Princess 1986.

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I received lost of trophies in the 4 years I ran track and cross-country, but my mother didn't keep them after I went away to college. So, as bad as these look, this is all I have left to remember those winning moments with. These are my letters for track and field (never purchased the jackets to attach them to) and 3 metals-- 4 x 100 relay(1st pl), 400 meter ( 4th in state), and 4 x 800 (1st pl).

The newspaper article on the bottom of the page is talking about how the boys cross county team did very well. Margaret Blake was the fastest girl cross country runner in the state and she was on our team yay! She came in first any and every meet, in fact, she was state champion all 4 years ( I wonder how she did in college..humm). The article states that she did not run in this meet and out of 180 girls running I finished 10th place and the rest of the girls on our team finished 16th, 31st, 32nd and 44th place.

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That's me in the middle of the left photo. I am proud to say that all of us in this photo turn out well in life except one who met up with the wrong guy or vise versa and ended up strung out on drugs.
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Mrs. Charolette, as we call her, who presented and signed this 1987 graduation card to me, is the Aunt of one of my friends Charlene.

Years ago Mrs. Charolette's Sister and Brother-in-law where killed in a car accident leaving behind 3 daughters. Mrs. Charolette, a single elementary school teacher, took all 3 girls in with a teachers salary. The youngest of the girls, Charlene, was around 6/7 yrs old when she beginned attending school with me. I am going to keep it real when saying that Charlene gave her sweet Aunt nothing but trouble.

Last year Mrs. Charlette won $1,000,000 dollars (yepper $1 Million Dollars) playing the McDonald's Monopoly Game!!! The first thing out of everyone's mouths who knows her was... she deserves it!!!! I recently saw her on a McDonald's commerical. WTG Mrs. Charolette!!

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I use to love to draw when I was younger! I loved to draw cartoon characters the most. These are a few that I found in this scrapbook.



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This is my all time favorite that I did in my art class 1985. On the back of the page the teacher said "very well done!" grade 13/10 "The highest grade in 4 classes!" I am so happy I still have this.

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Well, that's anoth of 1st scrapbook memory lane. I know I need to do this scrapbook over using acid free products, but I really like it just the way it is... it tells the story just the way it was.

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Oh, one more thing... it snowed not once, but twice last week in Atlanta! WOW!!! Totally unusual.
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Again ... Respectfully saying thanks to MLK Jr. in my own little way Jan. 21st, 2008!

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I've been tagged!

7 Random Things About Me!

Adriann tagged me and here are the rules: I must post the rules, then list 7 random things about me and then tag 7 others to do the same by leaving them a comment.

1. I am a early bird. I wake up every morning between 4:30 - 5:00 a.m. without ever setting a alarm clock. This is my most creative time of the day.

2. I started my first job at age 16.

3. I need to take a photography class. I'm not pleased with the outcome of most of my pictures - but where will I get the time.

4. I was born in Washington D.C, but grew up in West Virginia.

5. I ran track and cross country in high school. I was nick named Cool Breeze by my team mates.

6. I would choose to live in the mountains and not close to the sea.

7. I drive a minivan - that is soooo not my personality - but with 3 kids, it very practical.

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I tag:

1. Latharia
2. Trina
3. Scrappindawn

and any one else who wishes to join in the fun!

I WON!!!!!

Look at all the stuff I won for participating in Latharia's Scavenger Hunt!!!




Thanks!!! I will have fun using so much of this.

Scavenger Hunt Fun!

Latharia challenged us to a scavenger hunt! It was fun! The directions where to take pictures of ALL of the following & link them to your blog. Each person who posts all 10 photos by 8 am Tuesday, Sept 4 will be entered in a random drawing to win a prize! Here is mine..

1. The area underneath a sink - underneath the 1/2 bathroom sink.

2. A mythical creature - I found this creature in my son's toy box.




3. A shovel

4. A business card - ofcourse


5. An elbow - thanks Justin

6. A flower - from my backyard... purple lantana.



7. Something sharp - watch out!

8. A candle

9. Something funny - a chair, a laundry basket and her carseat could not stop Mya from trying to get behind the sofa. At 18 months, she always laughs when mommy catches her doing something she shouldn't be doing. This is funny to me.

10. Something that is half-eaten

Thanks Latharia! This was fun.

Now I am on my way to an Labor Day BBQ! I hope everyone is enjoying their day too!

Color Purple goodies

I hosted THE COLOR PURPLE SWAP on Roots Scrapbooking's message board last month and it was fun. We where to select 3 random purple scrapbook items to send to each person on the list. The items could be store bought or handmade. Here is what I sent, followed by what other swappers sent in.

My three items where 6x6 paper (4 each), die cut flowers and trim.




Karla sent everyone silk flowers, ribbon and tags.



Adriann sent everyone 6x6 paper (4 each), journaling blocks and lots of buttons




Kim sent everyone fabric covered brads, heart shape brads (25 per person) and ribbon



Thanks Everyone! I can't wait to use all of it.

I was hit by a bus

Ok, it is not as bad as it sounds!

I came home from work around 1:30 this afternoon and walk in the house and asked my husband to watch Mya for 15 mins so I could run up to Justin's school (1 mile away) to find out who his teacher will be this year and which room number he will have to report to. School starts tomorrow 8/7 for them and the school waited until the last minute...calling parents on Thursday and saying that the meet and greet was on Friday. I always do the meet and greets with my kids, but worked late Friday.

Anyway, we go in the school, look up his name on the 2nd grade list. It says he is in Mrs. String's class room #107. It also said that there are 17 kids in his class 9 boys and 8 girls. We walk down the hall to room #107. Mrs. String's class. Her jacket and tote are there, but not her. Which was fine, I only wanted Justin to know where to go and what his teacher's name is.

So now I'm happy. Mission complete in 5 minutes. Let's go home. Out the double doors we go. Get in the mini van, start the car, look towards my sideview mirror and noticed that it was snapped backwards... luckily I have one of those that can be snapped backwards without falling off the car ( there is probably a name for the feature, but I sure don't know what it is).

ok, this post is getting long, so quickly I'll say that while we where in the school, one of the school buses pulled into the parking lot and hit my car. It only damaged my drivers sideview mirror. It scratched off my black paint and left school bus yellow paint all scratch on it. It also popped out the mirror and it was hanging by the cables inside the mirror.

The funny part is that the bus driver who hit my car was Justin's bus driver! LOL! Even before she noticed it was our car that she had hit... she was rushing over to let me know that she was the one who had hit my car. I wish I had my camera with me. So, not only did I have to wait and go threw the police report stuff, I also had to wait for the Clayton County Bus System to take there pictures and do their report.

15 minutes of my day turned into 1 hour and 10 minutes! I love Mondays!

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Well, here are a few scrapbook layouts I was able to complete this summer

The first lo is of my mother-in-law. The large photo of her is when she was 21 years old. The 2nd lo is my oldest daughter. The journaling on it reads: Daughters may out grow your lap, but they will never out grow your heart.

The 1st layout is of my nephew Joshua. I created this one using July's monthly challenge on RS. The 2nd lo is my youngest daughter's 1 year old photo.

All 3 of these layouts are from my premade pages on RS. I happened to have a photo of my son laughing for the first premade layout.

This is another one of my Roots Scrapbooking premade pages. I found this purple pattern paper that I love, this poem by Yosef Ben Jochannan that I love and a few large flowers. I loved the way it turned out and was wishing I had a photo to place on it. Then, like magic, Adriann, one of my online scrapping friends, posted her photos from her self portrait challenge she had been working on. Bam! It was a perfect match.

The poem reads:

Dipped in chocolate, bronzed with elegance, enameled with grace, toasted with beauty, my Lord, she is a Black Woman! - Yosef Ben-Jochannan

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Speaking of purple. I am hosting a swap on RS called

The Color Purple - swap

We will swap 3 random purple scrapbook items of your choice.... tags, brads, paper, ribbon, flowers, journal blocks, die cuts, stickers, etc...

1. 3 random scrapbook items of your choice - per person

2. All items in this swap must be 60% purple.

3. The 3 random items can be homemade or store bought.

4. 3 random items should be packaged in plastic baggies with a name tag, so everyone knows who the random items came from.

5. A return envelope - self addressed with extra postage (the same amount of postage it takes you to send your package to me).

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This swap will close on August 20th

Mailing deadline

All items must be in my hands by August 27th

Sign up for this swap by emailing me at info@rootsscrapbooking.com stating what three random items you will be sending per person.

Tagged!!!

I was tagged on RS message board by Adriann:

My roommate and I once: had bootlegged cable installed by one of her male friends. It was never cut off until we moved.

Never in my life have I: traveled outside the US (that was one of my goals before 35... didn't happen).

High school was : the best days of my life. I had many great, loyal friends!

When I'm nervous : I get quiet!

My hair: has bangs that grow like weeds! I cut them just above or even with the top of my eyebrows, and it only takes 3 - 4 weeks and they are touching my lips. The rest of my hair does not grow that fast.

When I was 5 : I remember waking up from a nap, rubbing my burning eyes while 2 of the babysitters teenage kids where standing over me sprinkling black pepper on my eyes and laughing at me. I would love to run into one of them these days...

When I turn my head left : I see my backyard.

By this time next year : I will be taking better pictures!

My favorite aunt is : Aunt Oretha! She has been the historian behind our family (my father's side) for 94 years.

I have a hard time understanding : how anyone can do harm to children!

You know I like you if : I spend time talking to you on the phone or online! I am NOT a talker! I am very friendly, but not a talker!

My ideal breakfast is : coffee, coffee and a toasted bagel with butter and regular cream cheese.

If you visit my home town : you would feel like you are in Italy! It looks like a Italian town... landscape. There are a lot of Italian's living there and the best restaurants are Italian.... atleast 5 of them have been featured on the Food Network and one was visited by Pres. Bill Clinton while he was in office.

If you spend the night at my house : you would enjoy dancing around our living room. I love "grown-folks music" and my husband loves to dance... so we combine the two and would have our guest singing, dancing and having a good time! Even my parents remember dancing at our house over all the other major events that has been hosted here in Atl.

My favorite blonde is : Goldie Hawn or Madonna

My favorite redhead is: Julia Roberts

My favorite brunette is : Sandra Bullock

The animal I would like to see flying besides birds is: a horse. I have been a horseback rider since I was a little girl and now days I always have to beg horse owners to allow me to galloped the horse. To me...I have always felt like I was flying when galloping on the back of a horse. Love it!

I shouldn't have been:

Last night I: had pizza for dinner

A better name for me would be : a Go Getter!

I've been told I look like : my grandmother Rosa Lee.

If I could have any car, it would be: Jaguar XK Convertible

Scrapbook Expo - Atlanta

here's my loot from the Scrapbook Expo I attended last weekend, minus a Lil Davis 4" self-adhesive polka dot flower that I have already attached to a layout...



I was really trying not to buy pattern paper (it was everywhere, but I have so much of it at home) and I did well with passing up the desire to do so.

My oldest daughter is a scrapper who thinks we are all crazy for posting our work on "The World Wide Web"! But she said yes, to me showing what she purchased at the Expo!