Our Crafty Critters Challenge #7 was to make a 3D item that screams SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I really had to think about this one… I can do layouts and mini-albums and even cards without having to brainstorm so much but this 3D item threw me for a loop!!!!!  I signed up for this challenge at the beginning of June and I stuck the info on a post-it (I LOVE POST-ITS!!) and stuck it on my desk and stared at it and stared at it and stared at it some more……. and then a good week and something later i had my “a-ha!” moment.  BEACH BAG!!!   And the great thing about it is that it also qualifies for the Young Scrappers mini-challenge#1 for July… i had joined the group back at its conception and then stuck with them until about a year, which is when life took over! thankfully though, some of the gals are still there and remember me!! so i’m slowly working my way back into the group. lots of new names and faces which is always great, but i have to remember them!! haha.

So here’s my take on both challenges… my bright beautiful beach bag backpack.  haha.  Well, I don’t know that it’s beautiful but I needed another “B” adjective to emphasize my alliteration.  I got the tutorial from someone’s blog (so sorry I was blog hopping and didn’t bookmark it but I’m looking!)… the SCS one seemed more complicated to me mainly because you had to trace and cut… this one was just score and cut and fold… to me, the less work the better!! and again, apologies for the picture, it was almost midnight and i needed to get this done!!

lovies, =o) kel

Our Crafty Critters Challenge #6 was to scrap a page about you to your kiddos.  The catch being that you have to be the main feature of the picture.  We also had to use this sketch from http://www.sketchlover.com:

i had originally intended to flip it upside down and use it that way… but then i realized that i haven’t printed pictures in almost a year and that in the bunch that i do have already printed, i don’t have many of JUST me, which is what i wanted to use. it was hard for me to do this because while i journal almost every day, i don’t usually share it with anyone… and even worse, i don’t have a set journal… i use scraps and notebooks that are in view or in reach and tend to lose them to the kids or the rubbish.  i know i need to make a more permanent journal but i really like the spontaneity and variety of what i have now.  i’ll figure something out and once i do i’ll share.  promise  because i always let J read my stuff – once in a while he’ll find a piece of paper laying around with a whole mess of words on it and ask me if he can read it and i always let him, he just doesn’t always ask

but anywhoo, here’s my take on the sketch and the challenge… it kinda doesn’t look anything like the sketch!! i dropped the photo block down and moved the title/journaling block up… and instead of containing my journaling to the brown piece i did my journaling across the page on strips of scrap paper that i was about to throw in the trash. title stickers by american crafts, actually white mumbo jumbos that i took a sharpie to, but the sharpie streaked like nobody’s business so i ended up adding stickles over it. i also put stickles in the dots on the flowers and completely regret it, but too late now!! i think i would have nixed the stickles, or maybe just white/clear instead of the blue i used.

a close up of the journaling (because the sparkle of the glitter makes the camera not focus correctly)

hope you likey!! 

lovies, =o) kel

just a quickie, i’ve got 2 things to share. J has the day off and we’re going to the pool… its only open for 2 hours (3-5p) because of summer fun so we’re trying to get all our errands done so we can take full advantage of it!

the first thing to share is the composition book i altered for albert… he needed one for summer school just a quickie, took me all of 10 minutes to do. i wanted to keep it as flat as possible, i figured he wouldn’t exactly be gentle with it and the more things that stood off the cover and could snag and rip, would. murphy’s law, or something like it, right??

paper by pebbles inc

the second is a quickie layout i made for a few challenges: Sketch #193 and Inspiration Found #42, both from SCS, as well as Shimelle’s Color Challenge #5 – Use color in a symbolic way. its all about the YELLOW its actually a color i don’t tend to scrap with but i have a hefty handful i actually intended on this being a school themed page but i couldn’t get my printer to print out any pictures in normal colors… my kids aren’t purple and brown… so i went through my picture stash and made it work!! sorry about the weird angle, the background paper is lace paper by KI Memories and wherever you see that white is actually the chipboard backing that’s supporting the page… it wouldn’t stand any other way and i couldn’t shoot it straight on because of the glare. i’ll get better at my pictures i promise!!

journaling talks about how rare it is to catch albert on camera NOT smiling because of his love to play and the energy he exudes all the time, and about how he brightens up the room around him just by being in it.
lace paper by ki memories, PP by american crafts, yellow polka dot paper from DCWV stack, punch by marvy, rubons by heidi grace.

lovies, =o) kel

posting a bit late but here’s my card for the Crafty Critter Challenge #4 hosted by Kelly…  a tad bit late but i couldn’t get the card to upload!!!  i promise i tried multiple times but it didn’t work until now!!

“My challenge for you is to create a card using flowers… you can stamp them… use primas… draw them… flower brads … cut the card out as a flower … whatever you want to do … the possibilities are endless … I just want to see some flowers … ”

stamps by Autumn Leaves, mustard ink by Stazon, PP from KI Memories

my card for the crafty critters challenge #1.  sorry it scanned weird but it’s a full card… it looks square-ish but i promise it’s not!

“create a card of any size that is “critter” related. That is right, use stamps, stickers, embelishments, anything that has a critter or critters on it. the second part of the challenge is to use the colors green and yellow. we are getting in the mood for spring!!!!!”

i hope dogs qualify as critters!!!!!  this also doubles as one set of cards for a pet lovers card swap i’m signed up for too.

lovies, =o) kel

I am in a weight loss group on SCS and we have challenges almost weekly. This week’s challenge was “Discontinued and retired” – use old stuff to make a card.  I kinda cheated (I think… I am new to challenges!!) by using the exact layour, paper and embellies… in essence, using the exact same card as I did for a swap I was in.  I had extra stuff (and it was all still spread out on the floor like usual!) so I just threw another one together.  I hope that’s okay, and if not I really am sorry and let me know the “rules” so I can do it right next time!!!

=o) kel