The Erin Colby Challenge

So I have to admit something that really isn't so much of a secret—that my life has been absolutely richly blessed with the friends that I have made through the scrapbooking world.

Luckily for me, sometimes those friends get to challenge me to create a scrapbook page.

The crazy talented Erin Colby dished out a challenge to a group of ladies called The Little Somethings challenge.

Something Old
Something New
Something Borrowed
Something Blue

Here's what I came up with:

Here's how the "Somethings" dish out.

Something old: The photo of dad

Something new: The glorious Authentique Paper Seasons:Summer collection. (Thanks Sam!)

Something borrowed: I am currently borrowing a We R Memory Keepers Albums Made Easy 3x4 punch, which I used to punch out the cards framing dads photo.

Something blue: Well the paper easily fits into this as does this gorgeous crouched flower that another dear scrappy friend, Cathryn Hanson created and mailed to me. 

Of course you know me and my journaling love. Telling the story. That's what it's all about. 

Thank you Erin for such an great challenge! Oh and for those of you that are in the Mojo Mama's Creative Corner challenge group, this layout will be the sketch for next week!

More Challenges! I just can't get enough!

So you'd think that all I do is sit around and scrapbook these days. I promise that's not entirely true. My front yard is looking fab with all of the flowers that I've planted, and I even spent 2 hours last night chatting with my Tessie-Poo while pulling out dumb Fescue grass from my lawn.  I WILL BEAT YOU YET FESCUE!  And while I'm at it I'd like to beat Adam and Eve a little for ever taking the plunge to leave the garden resulting in God cursing them (us) with weeds.

Then again, if they didn't have weeds, neither would I.

And then I wouldn't have had a lovely 2 hour chat with my daughter who talks SO MUCH that I have a hard time actually listening to her.  Somehow multi-tasking with weeding is a good fit.  Guess it's a good thing I've got those obnixious buggers polluting my pretty green lawn.

Anyhow, I totally got my scrappy on yesterday and completed two sketch challenges.

I've become quite fond of the challenges over on the Lilybee Designs blog. I really love their product. I really need to get more of it, since if I keep up with their challenges either A - my pages will all have the same paper collection(s) on them and my posterity will think I had a crazy addiction to the glorious patterns and colors (which I guess I do), or B - I'll simply run out and wont be able to play along anymore!  Hurry ScrapbookSteals! Have another Lilybee feature!

This particular challenge, was a sketch for a team up on the Lilybee blog with a Kit company called Scrapbook Circle I kind of live under a rock, so truth is I hadn't heard of them before. So yeah, Lilybee, you did your job—you got the word out to at least one scrapper.

So here is the sketch:

I decided to take a break from crying over my layouts and did a page about one of the activities from our Easter Staycation. 

Of course, I had to add a little extra journaling, and loved how the cute Lilybee notecards worked to fill those embellishment spots *and* host my title and journaling. 

After the two hours of pulling weeds I really wanted to scrap some more so I fought off sleep and tackled the Sketch Challenge #3 from The Paper Bakery Kit Club.

This sketch was super easy to pull off in about 30 min. Even after pulling weeds and fighting to stay awake!

I scrapped another page from our Staycation—about my crazy little dude that HATES SHOES. It was too funny that we made it all of the way to the hotel before realizing he was barefoot. Yeah. He got new shoes. I guess that's one way to go about getting them. Maybe I'll give it a go!

I even busted out some of my Kiwi Lane Designer Templates to create some fun whimsical borders for the paper blocks on this page. I mean that little Chuzzard is kind of fun and whimsical himself. 

As much as I should probably take a break from scrapping I don't want to. Next up is creating my Erin Colby challenge in the Mojo Mama's Creative Corner challenge group. 

ScrapbookSteals Peridot 3

You know I kind of feel like my scrappy sister, Sheryl Kloke, having already scrapped a Mid Week Mojo within hours of it being posted on ScrapbookSteals.com.

Today the guest sketcher, Marisa Torp, (another crafty friend) created a fun and simple sketch for the Peridot 3 Mid Week Mojo, which I was able to easily interpret to work with the next batch of photos to be scrapped in my memory album of dad.

Here's her sketch:

And here is my interpretation:

Again I have to thank that sweet Sam at Authentique Paper who sent me the most incredible care package after dad passed. She couldn't have known how in love I would be with everything that she sent and how perfectly the gorgeous collection of fall papers that she sent me—which I don't see listed on their website—and is currently downstairs so I can't even address it's proper name—would be for using on this page.  (Eeesh, how's that for some awful grammar!!  LOL!)  I even dug up some ancient embellies and worked the Tim Holtz Grungeboard into the layout. That stuff smells weird!

Those who know me know my inability to leave out the journaling, and given that I really want to journal about this journey I opted to swap out an embellishment blog to house my hideous handwriting.  Thinking about re-doing it on the computer, but it's not likely. ;)

So while my layout may not be an exact interpretation of the Peridot 3 sketch, it's one more layout done in my album about dad, along with another bucket of tears shed.

Gosh I miss him. 

ScrapbookSteals.com Peridot 2

Well the facelift of the blog is coming along. I really should just convert to WordPress as that is what I use for work, and I'm wayyyy  more familiar with it, but alas, now it's become kind of a personal inner quest to make this one look purdy.

I think for the moment I'm content with the exception of the little green flower doo-hickeys. I want em gone. I'll have to hit up the hunny when he's not quite so frazzled from the boys' incessant whining tonight. I'm already toast. Burnt.

I really love the Peridot 2 sketch at ScrapbookSteals.com. Then again maybe it has something to do with the fact that my dear friend Melodee is the one creating them now. Either way, I've decided to start on the memory album of the last few months of my dads life and think that I'll interpret each sketch each week for the project.

Here's the sketch:

And here is how I've interpreted it:

This wasn't an easy layout to do, but I do love words, and I love journaling. I'm hoping that by the time I'm done with this album that it will be a greatly cherished keepsake that will bring me lots of comfort and joy.

I have to thank my dear friend Sam at Authentique Paper for the lovely Seasons:Summer collection, which from the moment I saw it I knew I wanted it to be a priority in the album that I'm making about dad. 

It's just. so. pretty. <3 p="">

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in the memories of dad with me! 

Oh Snap! 2 Layouts in One Day? ScrapbookSteals Peridot 1

Oyi. I really hope that I can get this scrapping urge out of my system because quite frankly I really need to clean my house! Then again, I guess it's my solace while I'm doing single mommy week.

Anyhow, I started this interpretation of the Peridot 1 Mid Week Mojo sketch at ScrapbookSteals.com. My goal is to get all 10 of this series done! I was the Mojo Mama at ScrapbookSteals for nearly 4 years and never completed an entire series.  Could Melodee finally be my inspiration to do so?

You can find the sketch and Melodee's lovely layout here.

And of course, here is mine.

Now to scrap today's Mid Week Mojo and keep on track!

Moms & Mommihood Lilybee Designs Sketch Challenge

I have to admit! I'm reeeeeeally loving being on the recipient end of the sketch challenges, rather than the one dishing them out each week! I mean not that I didn't love my 4 years at ScrapbookSteals.Com as the Mid Week Mojo mama, but there is certainly something to be said for just not having to over think a project and simply create.

I really loved Monday's sketch challenge design by Wendy Sue Anderson on the Lilybee Designs Blog. In fact when I saw it I immediately thought of the 4 photos that were sitting on my desk (not joking!) waiting to be scrapped.

Here's how my interpretation came out. (Geesh I kind of love the guilt free scrapping nights when hubby is out of town!)

I kind of felt like the 4th photo was overdoing it since they were printed as 4x4's so opted to replace one photo with one of the cute little journaling index cards by Lilybee.

The experience we had last summer helping our community in a time of need was seriously amazing. It was incredible to see so many come together to help others in their severe time of need. Most impressive to me was my daughter Maddi—who is typically a lazy teen when it comes to doing jobs. In fact we wanted her to stay home with the little kids and watch them as her "service".  She proved us wrong as she spent many hours, armpit deep in freezing cold mud, showing us that she really does have what it takes!

So no more complaining when there's laundry to be folded.  M'kay!

PS - Forgive me in the fact that my blog is still so ugly!  One of these days...right. :D

I'm back - Just Kinda

So I haven't blogged forever because I don't like the look of my blog and after blogging all day for work I don't want to be bothered to figure out making this one look nice. Although I really should. Anyhoo, I decided to play along with my first sketch challenge maybe since the days of submitting to the Becky Higgins sketches each month. Let's just say it's been years. I saw this sketch challenge posted on the Paper Bakery Kit Club's blog. It was cute. I knew I wanted to play, especially since I'd just received the day before in the mail the most amazing happy mail from my dear friends at Authentique Paper. So here is my interpretation of the sketch—my beautiful daughter—one of my most bestest creations ever. She makes a mother proud and I'm not just saying that. Believe me—it wasn't easy finding a Prom dress WITH sleeves. (Her requirement—not mine). Enjoy!