Summer Vacation DIES HARD

Took a break when things got busy in the summer, but that's over, in a big way!  Let the fall begin, I present to you... six challenges!  :)

Color Me Scrappy #10

The color scheme this time around was a unique garden-cactus-inspired one.

We had just taken these photos of the Bean, and they worked perfectly, and even better, I was able to shop my own stash for most of the supplies:

My husband called me out when I got home: I spelled Mijita wrong!  Sorry, my Spanish spelling isn't so great.  

Scrapfit #73

The ladies at Scrapfit challenged us to use the words "I remember".  I began with my new best friend, Picasa, and blurred the edges of the photo, to ramp up that old memory feel.

The colors are more purple than brown in real life, but you get the idea.  I LOVE this ribbon, I now own it in two colors, as this page was the perfect excuse to buy more.  What I don't love: glitter.  The letters are the kind that are sticky on both sides, so you can add any color glitter, and then stick them on your page.  I used "holographic" glitter (I guess that crafty for clear? white? silver?).  And now that glitter is EVERYWHERE: my clothes, my bag, my scrapbook.  I have no choice with the unused portion of the letters, they will have to be holographic because it's all over the place.  I used a paint brush to get as much off of the page as possible for this picture.  When I was complaining about it, a friend told me about this post on Pinterest:

Amen to that.

ScrapFit #74

A challenge to work with this sketch:

And this is my contribution:

My journaling is barely visible in the scan... ah well, the better to hide my despicable handwriting!

Another Freakin Scrappy Challenge Aug 1

The challenge for the beginning of the month was to scrap a pet; really quite serendipitous, since my 10 year old pug was just recently diagnosed with cancer and given a couple months to live.  So I've been taking lots of pictures of him, the sweet old thing.  Here he is:

Love this bandana paper!  And I played with a little distressing ink around the borders, which I never do.  Now I want the little distressing tool to artfully tear the edges of paper.  Weaseled my way into another purchase.  :)

Another Freakin Scrappy Aug 15

And for their next one, this sketch!

My take:

Isn't she Hardcore!  And so fresh and clean.  

Punky Scraps #50

My fav for the week, a challenge to use this picture as inspiration:

I loved being pushed out of my comfort zone with this, and am really excited about the result.

Not to mention it's a sentiment I hope the Bean really takes with her.  

Til next time...

Color-Me-Scrappy #7

WOW, what a weekend: just got home from a two-day crop with a bunch of great ladies, including the indomitable scrapper Star.  I'm simultaneously creatively charged and exhausted!  I'll show off an array of my pages tomorrow, but for now, my Color-Me-Scrappy entry:

I loved these candy-inspired colors!  For me, working in an all-neutral palette is more challenging, even than this, where the colors may not instinctively seem to "go" together.  My favorite piece was finding the perfect little tag in my stash (AKA, mountainous pile of scrapping crud) to complete the title.  Is this why I should never throw anything away?

Found another great challenge blog: Another Freakin' Scrappy Challenge!  Realized the deadline for their June challenge is, um, tonight, so I threw together this entry. 

They're having a Design Team call, at which I think I might throw my hat... in that spirit, I'll also post this page that I made for a DT call awhile back! 

OK, Wonderful Hubby being very patient and playing iphone games while I work, so I better go to bed! 

ScrapFit #70

Thank you, ScrapFit Challenge blog.  You make me feel like I worked out, when I haven't come within a mile of my gym for two weeks. 

I did work out though.  I flexed my imagination muscle.  HA.  (rimshot, ba-dum CHING)

Here's what I came up with for their 70th challenge:

I was pumped about this one, because I've been looking for an opportunity to use the "Polaroid" function on Picasa for awhile!  I loved Polaroids; I'm a junkie for instant gratifcation (and blurry tiny plastic-paper shots?). 

I guess Polaroids are hip now?  They just stopped selling the stuff in 2009.  If only they had known!  Ah, the irony of Polaroid going bankrupt because of the digital photography movement only to have people use their computers to edit their pictures to look like Polaroids. 

OH MY GOD it's HOT.  Guess the summer is HERE!  Which means, for the Nugget, two things: he gets to wear his swimsuit to day camp any day he wants, and he gets to wear nothing when it rains!

This layout was for a challenge at My Creative Sketches, whose sketch of the month looked like this:

My Scrapfriend Star was glad I substituted stars for the butterflies and flowers, because I LOVE butterflies and flowers and she HATES when I put them on my son's pages.  :)  Hey, I'd love if he eventually likes the scrapbooks that I've put together, but let's face it, they're probably for me.  At least until he's 30-something or has kids of his own.  And I like flowers. 

My other layout is for Color-Me-Scrappy's Sixth Challenge.  I loved this color scheme; you could go kind of punk rock/80's pop with it if you wanted. 

When I saw this picture, then this paper, this song popped into my head, and it all came together!

So delish!  Now, how long before that damn song is out of my head?

Sadness!  Scrapbook Calls & Challenges, my go-to spot to find, well... scrapbook calls and challenges... is closing!  Nooooo!  Where will I get my fix.  Guess I need to maniacally follow as many of my favs as possible. 

Anyway, this week, two challenges.  Color-Me-Scrappy #5, which I was excited about because the palette was heavy on neutrals, and I am more, shall we say, colorful?  (Refer to blog header)  Here's what I came up with.

Best parts of creating this page:
* tried to shop my own supplies before raiding Archivers.  That enabled me to use this awesome fence paper I've had around and loved but wasn't sure what to do with.
* Used Picasa to edit the picture colors to better match the theme
* Love the tiny keys from Tim Holtz. 

Second page for today was an entry for My Creative Sketches.  The sketch they're working from this month is:

I was looking for an excuse to scrap my daughter wearing my latest yard sale purchase, and this was just the time.  My take:

ARGH!  Bask in her adorableness!  I do. 

A little less scrappy than normal this week, with my Hubby out of town.  Just me and the kids holding down the fort, so my weekly Archiver's crop was postponed.  I did get out there to pick up a couple things (ah, the ever-present siren's call of Archiver's), and of course, an hour after I left, I got their weekly coupon in the mail!  How dastardly of them!  Impeccable timing.

Speaking of the siren's call...  here's one of my much-photographed Bean.  I had to decide between a bunch of shots for the smaller picture, and I had better ones of her smiling and such, but I just love her little expression in this one, I couldn't pass it up. 

And wow, doesn't my carpet make a lovely background?

Oh, I should holla at the sketch source, from The Big Book of Scrapbook Pages, which I have had checked out from the library now for at least three months.  Thrifty (cheap?) scrapbookers of Durham who also fulfill your inspiration needs at the public library, my apologies.  I promise I'll buy it.  With my coupon, even!