Getting Down and Dirty

This was a really fun page to work with! Even though I am covered in ink. I guess it was a bad idea to wear a white tank top while I doing this. I dropped my little Cat's Eye ink pad on my top twice!

This fun challenge came from Crop Suey which was to get down and dirty. Inks, misting, paints....anything to make a mess. I stuck with just using different inks. The doily was inked with 2 different colors. I cut a piece of corrugated paper and swiped a black ink pad across the whole thing. I also added small pieces of Magic Mesh and fibers. The title was a mix of two different sized letters from Basic Grey. I used Tombow markers to change up the colors. The ink splash stickers are from Creative Imaginations. They have been in the stash for quite a while. And these were the last pictures to scrap from last year's Mud Day party at the park. I sure hope they do that again! The sketch I used is from Sketchy Thursdays Guest Designer Challenge.

Christmas in July

The Paper Variety is having a fun challenge! It's called "Christmas in July". It's a fun way to cool things off now that the temperatures have steadily been rising. I decided to scrap a photo card from our cousins.

The sketch is #163 from Creative Scrappers. I loved all the small squares. While I was searching for scraps to use, I ran across a stack from Anna Griffin. She has the most elegant papers! I was trying to figure out how to get all these little squares without chopping up quite a few sheets of 12 x 12 paper. Then it hit me....just use the cover of the stack! The sizes of the sample squares were just perfect!

The chipboard pieces are from K&Company, with a bit of gold cord and some poinsettias stickers. The bottom left corner was embellished with a few Christmas buttons from the stash.

This page really took my mind off of the sunburn...time for more lotion!

Summer Lovin"

I had to take a break from the pool today. I think I spent way too much time in the sun. Even with sunblock, I managed to get a little burned. :(

I am so glad my desk is right near the patio doors so I can still watch everyone else enjoying the pool.

Here is a fun Summer page I made for the challenge #47 from ScrapFit. The challenge was to use a Summertime theme. I really wish I had ordered my pool pictures from last week. This is a picture of my hubby and my little guy at the beach near Navy Pier.

I used Sketch # 227 from Sketch Inspiration.

I also used a kit from American Crafts called Heat Wave. The larger die cuts are from Cloud 9. And I added little sparkly gems from Michael's.

Time to apply some lotion to the burn....ick.

Ageless Beauty

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my Mom. This is her Senior High School picture. I could tell you what year it was, but she threatened me...lol.

Fabulous Friday's Challenge from Frosted Designs was to use a vintage photo on your project. I used Echo Park's For the Record collection. The colors had just enough of a vintage feel that I was quite pleased with the way it turned out. I used a strip of lacey ribbon near the top and added some gorgeous yellow Prima flowers. The small red flowers are from Michael's. All of the butterflies were fun chipboard pieces from Maya Road. I used Tombow markers on them in different colors, then I went over them with some Stickles.

The sketch is the July 1st sketch from My Sketch World. I'm glad I was able to play along. The sketch worked so well with the Echo Park papers. :)

Mom is coming over tomorrow for our 4th of July party...I sure hope she likes what I've done with her picture! :)

MUD DAY!!!

WOOHOO!! I managed to get 2 pages done tonight! I think I found my mojo!!! :):):):)

Here is my take on this week's sketch at Sketchy Thursdays. LOVE multi photo sketches and I had just the right pictures for this one. I used my border punch and a few scraps on paper for the border strips. The title was made with Thickers letters, inked in a dark, muddy brown. I made the splashes of mud using my paisley stamps. I found a really neat set in the dollar section at Michael's a while ago and I really love how versatile it is. I use it for splashes on water pages too. :)

So the theme I chose was a challenge from The Studio Challenges. We were challenged to scrap something that we dislike about our job. I also have a love/hate relationship with my job as a Mom.

We had the most amazing time at the Park District's Mud Day party last year. We stayed and played for almost 2 hours, knee deep in mud. Well, the kids did...I stayed well enough away and just took pictures. I was so happy to see my kids so happy and carefree. Wow! Mom is actually giving us permission to get totally covered in mud!!! Hair, clothes, faces....it. was. everywhere. So now, the part that I REALLY disliked...was the clean up. The supervisors brought in a truck with a hose to try to get most of it off of the kids before they went home. Not. even. close. Thankfully, they handed out plastic sheets to cover the car seats so we could all get home. I took them outside and hosed them off more. Not much better. My only chance of getting them clean was to bring them inside, strip them down and throw them in the shower. Even after I rinsed out the clothes and ran them through the washer, they still have a dingy look to them. What kind of mud was that??!!!

So now I have clean kids. I walked back into the bathroom...big mistake. They put their hands on the walls for balance, leaned on the walls of the shower, clogged the drain with clumps of mud and dirt. ick. I spent the next hour cleaning up after them.

And before we all went to bed....I checked their ears....ick.

So let's just say, Mud Day was fun, but I REALLY don't have to do that again....ever.

Water Park Fun

I managed to stick to my new schedule today...so far! I did another load of laundry, cooked dinner, worked outside on the landscaping and finished a page. Actually, I cheated a bit...things are so slow at work, I brought my sketch, pictures and the Splash collection from Echo Park. So by the time I got home, all I had to do was cut and adhere.

I grabbed sketch #226 from Sketch Inspiration. Lots of fun circles to work with. I used lots of different papers from the Splash kit. I stuck with this kit and the waterpark pictures for the Summer challenge at Crop Suey. Of course, after I had chosen the pictures and worked out the whole page in my head, the new pool pictures were delivered. Oh well, at least I know I won't be short when it comes to summer fun pictures!

Break time is over....darn.....

Getting back in the swing....

I soooo miss scrapbooking! I used to be able to work on a page every night! And my weekends were so productive! Now I just want to be outside. I spend so much time with my family on the weekends, that my weekdays are for catching up on housekeeping and shopping and cleaning....yuck!!

So I am working on time management. I tried making a schedule for myself. Promising to spend 30 minutes cleaning something, at least one load of laundry every night, making shopping lists so I can squeeze it all in one night instead of nightly trips to different stores....I'm making myself tired again.

This will leave me lots of time to relax and actually play with my scrap stash a bit every night.

I managed to complete a whole page tonight! Nothing fancy, but I feel like I accomplished something. And I convinced myself that I CAN do this every night. It is such a fun hobby and I really miss it.

I used this week's sketch from Stuck on U Sketches. I flipped the picture and used some school stickers instead of flowers. The school theme came from Scrapfit Challenge #46. I used a mix of a bunch of goodies I had in the school box.

I'm also using this layout for Scrapfit's Weekend Warmup #8, which is all about the numbers. I used different styles of Thickers for the date and the grade.

And finally, I'm submitting this page to Sketches in Thyme. Challenge #3 for the month of June is an open challenge. As long as you use a sketch and share which one you use, you can play.

I'm feeling pretty good right now and it's early enough that I just might start on another page....before the dryer buzzer goes off! Later gator!! :)