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

I hosted the SBPS (scrapbook photo swap) round #14 with the theme “circle of love”.  This is a secret sister swap where you submit pictures in the round’s theme and someone scraps them for you, and you do the same for someone else.  It was a combination of a theme and a challenge – the pictures you chose had to be of things and/or people that surround you, with the challenge of using a circle somewhere on your page, be it cropping, a journaling block, a circle embellishment… the choice was yours!

This page was for my friend Pattie and it was a TON of fun to play with… we don’t exactly experience snow on any kind of basis here so it’s always fun to get to see and scrap these kinds of pictures.  It was also a plus that the pictures she sent in were GORGEOUS to begin with!!

This second set was a mistake… but in a good way!!  I accidentally printed out pictures for Melanie (mnewby) and figured I’d scrap them since I had them….

ta ta for now!!  I will be back with a post all about my craft room… I tried taking pictures with the built-in camera on the laptop but everything came out mirror-imaged… so once I dig a digi-cam out of the mess that is the stuff we brought home from the party, I can take some real pictures.  And bonus!  I’ll have birthday pictures to share too

lovies, =o) kel

ETA: CAN SOMEONE HELP ME CUSTOMIZE THIS PAGE??  THE LAST THEME I HAD (THAT I ACTUALLY LIKED!) DIDN’T WORK SO NICELY WITH THE LAYOUT AND PLUG-INS… WHICH ALSO REMINDS ME I NEED A MUSIC/VIDEO PLAYER FOR MY SIDEBAR!

This round of the ScrapBook Photo Swap (hence, SBPS) on SCS I had two sisters to send to and it was a lot of fun to work with someone else’s pictures  The idea behind the SBPS is that the hostess chooses a theme, and you send photos to her.  She swaps out the photos and gives you someone else’s photos to scrap… it’s such a neat way to get pages done and see everyone’s style and see what they do with your photos.  Everyone scraps a little differently and the pages are NEVER the way I envision them in my head… but in a good way!!

First up is one of my Crafty Critters blog-mates, Moira.  I pictured the journaling going around the pages in the white space (like a border) but the story behind her pictures was so beautiful… I didn’t want to mess it up so I left it for her to do.

Second one was from Terria.  Her boys are SO cute and they look like they’re having so much fun being brothers… I hope my kiddos look the same in their pictures if not in real life!!  And please don’t mind the rug… like I said, I’m really new to keeping up with a blog so I’m working on finding the perfect spot to take those pictures!!

I’m hosting round 14 and we’re limited to 30 spots (and max 2 spots per participant) so if you’re interested look for it soon!!

=o) kel