~~T.G.I.F. (I think...)~~

Rectangle layout feature: Little Lady Bug

This one caught my eye today and gave me a good laugh! According to Kim, she bribed herDS with a dollar to put the ladybug on nose so she could play around with a new ladybug kit she bought! I like the black background and the way it contrasts with the fun, bright-colored paper strips. The stitching is a great border and don't ya love how she zoomed in closer on the nose? Check out Kim's gallery at RAKScraps.

Credits: Little Lady Bug By Kim Hill, Font: Catharsis Macchiato

Weekend Plans

This weekend is all about family time. My aunt and uncle are visiting from Florida, so I'll be taking the kids over to Mom and Dad's to hang out. Tomorrow Mom is having a lunch for all of the female relatives in town (I think there are 15 total), so it will be a day of acting proper and polite (something I don't really do naturally...LOL).

Hopefully DH will get some serious work done on our bathroom project. We are stripping wallpaper and painting, replacing woodwork, etc...just a little sprucing up. At the rate we work, however, this could take months!!! I suppose I should be taking pictures and scrapping this event, but ya know, I don't really feel like it.







Rainbow CD Album

I just finished a cute little CD album that I will have available at 1HourScrap (hopefully in the next day or so). It's a rainbow color pallette and would make a great gift for graduation.








Well have a great weekend!

~~Happy Wednesday~~

Rectangle layout feature: Building A Swing

This morning I searched the rectangle galleries in my little "network" to find a layout with multiple photos. It didn't take me long to find this one by Deb (DebsAngels23) at RAKScraps. By using 4 photos in a clean, symmetrical layout, Deb is able to tell the story of her DD building a swing. Don't you love the pink/brown color combo? It's one of my favorites. The large title draws your eye to the top and the cute little sunshine element is a nice touch. Great job Deb!

You can check out more of Deb's layouts in her RAKScraps gallery.

Credits: Resolutions kit by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies, Sun element by Christy Heins - March RAK mega kit; Font: Microsoft sans serif


Mom2Mom
I'm off to the year's last meeting of my church Mom's group this morning. I'm supposed to bring the snack AND prepare the lesson today...oh boy...looks like I'm stopping at Panera for some bagels and praying the Spirit will enlighted me with a few nuggets to share.

Happy Wednesday gals!

Pilates, anyone?

Boy am I tired...
I know, I know...this has nothing to do with scrapping, but it affects my general well-being, which affects my scrapping, so I think I'll mention it anyway, 'k? I've been working out for about 6 weeks now and feeling really good. Getting a little cocky even, since I've been running on the treadmill and weight training.

So I tried some Pilates tonight, on a video. Can we say "good ole fashioned ass-whoppin'"? LOL I am SO tired, and didn't even finish the video. Gretchen came down to investigate and decided she was going to dance with me. This kid is going to be a dancer or performer of some sort, but I refuse to put her in any more ballet classes, as I don't want her to turn into a total prissy-snob!

[No offense to anyone who might have a daughter in dance class, but in my neck of the woods, the moms are completely snotty and stand-offish and the girls are just too cute...ugh!].

Rectangle layout pick
I've been totally slacking on highlighting people's excellent layouts on the blog lately, so here is a new one I found today that deserves some recognition.

Credits: Boat House kit by Kathy Moore at DigiScrapDivas

"Red Shirts" by Corinne at RAKScraps caught my attention with its bold primary colors and simple, clean lines. I love layouts that record a quirky, everyday thing that you normally wouldn't think to scrap. Corinne journals about her DS's fondness for wearing red shirts here. Check out her gallery for lots of other great layouts.

That's all for now!

You win some, you lose some...

Disappointment
I knew I shouldn't have tried that contest over at Digiscrappin.biz. I found out last night at the chat that I didn't make the second round. I was majorly bummed last night (doesn't help that I had PMS). I felt sad, disappointed, angry, rejected, defiant...all at once.

But if I'm completely honest with myself, that layout wasn't my best work. Yes, I spent some time on it, but it certainly wasn't my all-time best photo, and not my best compostion.

I guess what makes me sad about this competition is that I know others will feel like I do, and as this thing goes one more and more people will get cut. I wonder if it is a good idea to try competing with other scrappers. I mean, why did I start doing this in the first place? Was it to try to win a contest, or preserve some wonderful memories for my family by creating pages that are fun to look at and journaling that is entertaining to read? I know it's the latter. My kids certainly don't care if my pages are published or win contests.

While I was working out this morning, I was listening to my iPod and "Eye of the Tiger" came on. A line from the song seemed very appropriate to my experience with the contest:

"So many times, it happens too fast...you trade your passion for glory...don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past...you must fight just to keep them alive"

Translation: I can't trade my passion for scrapping for the glory of winning or being recognized publicly. I can't lose my focus...just stay the course...hang out at my scrapping home, RAKScraps, and don't worry about the rest of the sites.

Am I making a federal case out of this? Probably. I'll be totally over it in a couple of days, and then I'll follow the contest, just to see how my RAK friends are doing. I'm still rooting for ya!

And now, something far more meaningful
I went up to the U of Michigan Children's Hospital tonight to visit some friends. Their 2 month old daughter just had her first open heart surgery to correct a birth defect, and will probably have two more surgeries this year. I had the priviledge of seeing little Katherine in the PICU and she is just beautiful. She even opened her eyes for me and seemed to enjoy all my advice for when she gets older ... LOL! I can't tell you what a boost it gave me to see this little miracle girl, and I was overwhelmed with God's grace and tender loving care. My friends are holding up well and they can feel the prayers of our church body. It doesn't get much better than that. I made sure they are taking photos (they are) and maybe when this whole ordeal is over, I'll be able to scrap it for them. Now...that's what scrapping is all about.

'nough said...good night!

Do I Have What It Takes?

What was I thinking...entering that Ultimate DigiScrapper's Contest over at DigiScrappin.biz? The more I look through the beautiful entries for Week 1, the more humbled I become. Here's my entry: Genuine Smile. I tried playing around with some blending, which is not my normal scrapping style, but hey...in this contest you have to be different, right? LOL I guess we'll see what happens!

I am really intrigued with this new site...DigitalArtQuirks.com...which I read about on AmyK's blog. It's a quirky, funky place where you can try out all those experimental layouts you've always wanted to try. I'm particularly interested in the art journal...I'm not really sure if I "get it" yet, but I'm willing to learn. Here is one of Amy's layouts from there, which I just think is WAY cool:

Check out her blog for info on credits!

I've been doing some scrapping of my own. I think I'm addicted to making QuickPages right now! I just put together a Mother's Day 5x7 mini-album and also a Father's Day 8.5x11 album. Both are for sale at 1HourScrap. Now, if I could actually take the next step and put some PHOTOS in them! LOL



Well that's all for now...I'm beat!