MOC day 30 - Alpha Challenge

The challenge is to use 5 different alphas on one page.  In the page below I extracted a photo of Dillan as well as blended a few others together to make a cool collage of his last football game for 9th grade.  And what is a football layout w/o a quote from Vince Lombardi.  The Alpha credits are below the page... (one more to go, and I need to post it tonight).

Alphas include:
Sahlin Studio, In the city "there is only"
Pink Reptile Designs Take Note alpha "one way", "give"
Pink Reptile Designs Wanderlust alpha "to" "&"
Sahlin Studio, Life as we know it "Succeed", "everything"
Allison Pennington, Sunday girl alpha "in", "to"
Sahlin Studio, Little blacked rim alpha "anything"
Amy Wolff Tiny Alphabits "that is"

SQS - Be Mine for Valentines day

Does this photo look familiar? Suzy came out with a valentines day kit to be revealed ASAP.  I grabbed a template by M Mullens and popped in Suzy's kit ( I will link to this tomorrow).

MOC DAY 29 - CLEAN & SIMPLE

I cant believe the month is almost over - i am down to my last 3 challenge pages.  I LOOVED doing this.  I learned some great new techniques, found some awesome new products, made a few friends, and bonus, got a few freebie templates :).  I highly recommend doing this next January!

here is my clean and simple page - all this winter, I am yearning to head back to the Caribbean.

Kit - Wanderlust by Pink Reptile Designs, and the word art is from One Little Bird, Keynotes

MOC day 28_Detailed Template

With an awesome freebie template from Sara Gleason - I added a kit (50% off right now) by Michelle Godin called My Manly Man.

MOC Day 27 - Color Inspiration

Kit Just Jaime, You make Me Happy.

MOC Imperfect poto

I realize that my pets are great photo ops for me.  One of the prompts for the Capture Your 365 by Katrina Kennedy is to photograph where you stand. I was hoping to ssave this prompt for my scale photo on the last day of the month (and I still may)... but when Syd starting purring up against my feet this am, I needed to grab my camera and shoot... the problem is that he doesn't stay still for a photo, I am not all that steady at 0700, and Gino wanted in on the action.  All that brings me to this challenge of taking an imperfect photo.  After cropping and changing it to b/w to hide some of the blur my final LO is below (and the original photo is underneath it).  Kit is candid by One Little Bird.

MOC 25 Photoless

At this moment.  (I am home with a terrible ear ache today... so while I am medicated and sitting on the couch, why not scrap?)  Kit is from Allison Pennington, Sunday Girl.

MOC 24 - I call it my Rant layout.

Need to get something off your chest without hurting anyone's feelings? That is the theme of the challenge (at least the way I took it, scrap your heart out).  Kit is from Kaye Winiecki- Ordinarily Special, Alphas are from Michele Godin - Blustery Day.

MOC 23_OVERLAY CHALLENGE

I am up a little late for this one, I wanted to have 5 more pages done today and I think I only accomplished 3.  The more I scrap the more and more I like mixed media, artsy pages.  I created a page using 3 of Just Jaime products.  Storyteller Feb 2013 Stamps, Musical Brushes, You make me Happy kit.  The photo is from Sammy's 6th grade chorus concert using the watercolor technique from a few challenges ago, the title font is Pupcat.

MOC 22 All about me.

Challenge 22 is an All About Me page, so I grabbed a kit from one of my fav designers - One Little Bird (So Major - I looooove the colors of this kit!)

MOC 21 This week

The challenge is a layout of the week.  Kit I used is Amy Wolff - A pop of color.
The 4x6 journal card (chalkboard) I created, and you can grab it for free by clicking on the journal card below.

MOC day20. Pinp this page

A quick pages was given out - the challenge to make the page out own.  I was looking for my recent photos of Sammy and her friend Danielle and I couldn't locate them, so I had to revert back to these a few years back...Kit is botanical by Amy Wolff.

MOC 19 - Product Challenge - Flowers

Not a huge fan of flowers...  and even though I love the elegant flowery pages - I am in the mood for something with a bit of a twist and attitude like the photos.  These are also from Indy, I forgot we all took this group pic. The kit is from Little Butterfly Wings One of a Kind. template is from Amy Martin, I think it is retired, but it's called, Fun & Free

MOC 15-18

I have some catching up to do - It's gonna be a weekend of scrapping (yay).

Here are the next 4 challenges and their credits...

Day 15, was a scraplift challenge.  The page I scraplifted is below, The kits I used are both by Michelle Godin, Blustery day and  Love and Light.  i was totally inspired by the die-cut page.

 Day 16 is an Inspiration page.  A piece of art was given as inspiration.  I was inspired by the buildings and the text.  I choose to scrap NY City, and pulled in that alpha style.  I will need to go back and finish a second page to this one, I had so many more photos.

The template is a Suzy Q Scraps, Simple Story Grids #9 and the elements are from J larson, Big Apple.  Amy Wolff, Itsy Bitsy Alpha #1 is what I used for the New York title.

Day 17 is just to scrap a recent photo, I choose to scrap the latest trip we took to Indy for cheer. (the one that put me behind in these challenges...) 

Kit is by Sahlin Studio & Sugarplum Paperie collab called Life as we Know It.  The filmstrip is from M Mullens.

The day 18 challenge is 2013 Year in Review.  A lot happened, I could post a YIR for each kid and still not capture everything. (the kit is another cllab "Take Note" by Studio Basic and Pink Reptile Designs)

Suzy Q Scraps Life stories, emotions

New kit - and I loove it!
Sooo many possibilities with this one, but my first thought was to catch some of those crazy selfies and faces Sammy is always making!

Kit can be found at Scrapbook Graphics - click here... (the template is from Katy the Scrapbook Lady, Snappy - and is also on sale and can be found here).

This second layout uses a template from Amy Martin Designs - whip it up fast 7.

MOC 14 - list of 14 things in 2014

14 things to do in 2014... I had to tie it into my One Little Word... This is my year to focus.
(kit - Allison Pennington's mini kit add-on - The Good Stuff.  word art from CD Muckosky, Ink Pot.

MOC 13 - shadowing technique

Awesome challenge! I love the technique challenges, I feel like I am learning so much.  It's like a free hands on class!  This technique shows how to seperate your shadow layer to allow for 2 shadows on the same item (slight changes, but adds to a more realistic look... it's a no brainer that I never knew how to do.).
Template - Amy Martin Designs  - whip it up fast 7; kit One Little Bird - Sweater Weather

TLP MOC day 12

I have been traveling and I am now playing catch up - I have 8 days to get caught up, so expect a few pages here in the next few days.  Why?  well now it is personal.  I CAN do this!

I love travel kits, I don't know why, maybe because I love to travel, or I just like the colors and vintage style most of them come in.  I don't scrap that way - but I love the look.  "You like old stuff" Sammy tells me when we are shopping.  It's the nostalgia I guess?  Maybe I am getting old.

Here's a page for the challenge (Combining Templates) - I never combined templates before, just never thought about it - I like it!

the challenge in the forum is here (you have to be registered) - you can get the 2 templates from Amy Martin Designs, and play along.  The kit I used in Pink Reptile designs - Wanderlust.  I can't lie I got this kit in the Daily Digi - Digi files.  Best Deal in Digi!

Under Construction

I am getting a little behind in scrapping But I didnt want to miss this release (mini kit) from Suzy Q Scraps, Under Construction.  Last year we remodeled our kitchen.  I will have to post the finished product, but here is a glimpse of the process.  Cute little mini kit to help document all the hard work.  (Also a super kit for boys!)

MOC day 11 - Template Challenge

Easy Peasy - I love templates.  The one for the challenge is from Valorie Wibbens, and I have been dying to use this safari Chic kit by Laurie Ann (see kit here). (Stitching is fro Traci Reed) What was more fun was grabbing a photo from Sammy's ipod of here and her friends out at the mall during a cheer comp near State College.

MOC Challenge day 10 (word of the year)

2 great things happened for me on this page...1. I finally got it done (running behind), and 2. I learned a new technique from one of the girls on Suzy's awesome team.  So thank you Carrie, I hope you do not mind me sharing!
The kit I used for this is OLB candid - I used this kit on day 1of the challenge,  also (scroll down to see).  It's currently 20% off and a very versitile kit.... love the little cameras.  The grunge edge is from Karen Lewis, and the Veneer Buttons are from Gina Cabrera.

(Adobe photoshop CC) First, make your custom shape. I chose Adobe's default arrow. To do this, I clicked on the custom shape tool, then from the top I selected my shape and drew it on the canvas.  Clip the paper of your choosing to the shape. 

- Next, create a seperate layer for your text (I used Cargogate font). Resize & move the text to where you want it on your shape.  Next, select the element.....to do this I left clicked on the image (to the left of the text) in the Layers palette to bring up a sub menu, then click Select Pixels to get the outline of the element (you want the marching ants around the element). Once you have them, hide the element layer (click on the eye for that layer).

- Go back to your shape....specifically the layer with the shape you made (not the paper you clipped to it). Highlight that block's layer, then from the Layers menu (up top), select Layer Mask, then Hide Selection.  There ya have it.

I love my word - It still pops up for me daily...probly because I have a lot to focus on!

MOC day 9 - scrap re-do.

Ok 2 things - 1. I am going to post a few MOC pages today because I got behind... why?  because day nine challenge was a re-do page.  I haven't been digi scrapping for that long, so I needed to find a paper page, and this whole re-doing is just not me.  I may not be 100% happy with all my pages, but done is done and move on.

here is the page I made using "You Make me Happy" kit from Just Jaimee.  Underneath it is the paper page that I re-did..(I admit, it was pretty plain....(I was in a rush to complete her book before graduation, so the page was done... enuf said :))

MOC at The Lilypad Day 8 - Tutorial & Challenge

If you haven't logged in for these challenges yet - you are missing a great time.  I am catching up on pages I have been wanting to do and learning so many tips & tricks.  Today was a great blending tutorial - see what I did with it below.  Kit is One Little Bird - Generations & the word art is from a retired OLB kit - Instinct.

Halls Of Learning - Suzy Q Scraps

In December Suzy Q posted 12 days of freebies.  Great items to add to her current kits (smart marketing too :)).  I created this layout when I applied for her team.  and thought I would give it some new life with the block collegiate style font letters.
NOTE! the tags for each grade are cut out from the tabs that she created for the kit.  Simple enough to do.  Open them, use the magic eraser to highlight the white color; shirt-ctrl-i for the inverse and delete the black out.  (sounds harder than it really is).
You can get this awesome school kit here...

In case you didn't want to mess with the word art - here is a peek what it looked like before...

MOC day 7 - word art challenge

Another day, another fun challenge.  I used another kit from Kim Jensen.  It's the colors of this kit that I adore, and the "art journaly" kinda pages.... The kit is Random Moments.  

MOC day 6 - Cluster Challenge

I found this cute kit by Kim Jensen and I had to scrap Sammy and her friends.  I dug up this photo of sammy & danielle dressing up.  The kit can be found by clicking here, It's called Fashion Friendly (how appropriate).  (not my best clusters, but then again - it sorta matches the girls (hot messes).

MOC day 5 - Inspiration Challenge

Today's challenge was an inspiration challenge - A Book Cover...  Something different.
I went on Pinterest and found this book cover and was immediately inspired by the muddy shoes.

Maybe Dan & Dillan's hobby finally merged with mine...  this is one of my new favorite LO's.

  

The kit is another Amy Wolff designs - this one is called Botanical. A link to the element kit is here. And can you tell I used the tip from the last challenge in my title.  Yeah, I am smart like that :).

The Lilypad's MOC day 3 and 4

I needed to catch up-
day 3:
This challenge came with an awesome tutorial on how to separate paint layers to look more realistic.
The kit is from Amy Wolff Designs - don't harsh my mellow (element kit found here).  I originally got this kit b/c of the keep calm element, I wanted to post it in my office/cube at work.

Day 4 challenge is a 2 page layout.  The template is from Yin Designs, and the kit is a Lilypad Collab Winter Fun.  Being a layout about boys and football, there isn't a lot of frilly elements.  

MOC Page 2 - Art Journal

I love Art Journal Challenges - so freeing and fun.  The Lilypad's day 2 challenge is Art Journaling - The kit is Brothers and Sisters from Little Butterfly Wings and can be found here.  When I saw the kit - I had to go back and grab my fav photo of Jason and Sammy.

Goals & FOCUS

A few things have been on my mind starting the new year - Goals - Resolutions, etc... what do I want to achieve this year?  I have a crazy year ahead with work & family.  And with all that I have happening I needed to participate in Ali Edward's One Little Word project  - and really get my "focus" on this year.  I want to focus on work and my career - with the split of my company I think that focus could possibly determine my future state of employment.  I love scrapping and being on Suzy Q Scraps design team, so of course I need to focus on what she is expecting of me.  I need to focus on our finances, with 2 vacations planned, braces for my daughter, and 2 kids in college... a little more attention to tightening the belt is a necessity that I don't want to lose "focus" of.  I am down 20#, so I cant stop focusing on my weight loss, not now. And I know that I need to focus more on my family needs and my personal spiritual needs.  Focus just seems like this is my mantra for the year - I need to buckle down.... (and yes - get focused).

My pages 1 and 2 of the project are below.  (these will go back-to-back in the same page protector in my book). The kit is (of course) from Suzy Q Scraps- Memory & Moments, I love the colors and how versatile this kit is, and hope to complete whatever the year's project brings with this same kit..  Suzy Q also has a Goals add on kit that matches perfectly and I have pulled a few elements out of there too.  You can grab these kits here and here...

We are headed to St Thomas!

This Christmas our dear Aunt surprised the entire family with a trip to St Thomas.  What a gift! All 9 kids and 8 adults will be taking a trip next December and headed to the Bahamas.  The adults have been there before, in fact Dan and I are headed there again earlier in the year (before we knew this second trip was planned).  I am thrilled that the kids will have the opportunity to see what amazing things God has created in this big world out there.

I want to document the trip from beginning to end, so in collaboration with The Lilypad's month of challenges - this was the best way I could think of to kick it off!  (need some inspiration to get scrapping?  click over here to see what this Month of Challenges is all about).  I know It's day 3, I have 2 more to get done asap... come play along - there are prizes!

My first LO was a blind scrap (follow the rules laid out) - the kit is One Little Bird, Candid (minus the string, that is from OLB, Unstoppable.

2014! Countdown to Midnight

It's been a while since I have posted anything - I have been super busy with December and my first resolution for the new year is to slow down!  But I will get to that in a later post.  Before I forget and most important - lets show off the newest kit by Suzy Q Scraps.  Countdown to Midnight... can you think of better more fun colors to celebrate 2014?  Head on over to Scrapbookgraphics and get those memories on paper!  (the template is also Suzy's, Template set #11) (click on the kit to grab it!)