Tuesday, June 21, 2016

06/21/16 - June "Ugly Paper" Challenge

 
It's "Ugly Paper Time" again!
(A Scrapbook.com Monthly Challenge)
 
A reminder of how the challenge works:
1. After signing up, the host gives your name and address to another participant
2. The other participant sends you 2 "ugly" papers and at least one ugly embellishment
3. You MUST use both papers; the embellishment(s) is optional
4. You are allowed to use other items as well, as long as the 2 "ugly" papers are included in the layout
5. You are allowed to alter the papers and, if used, the embellishment(s) but they must still be recognizable
 
 
 
Here are my June "ugly" papers and embellishments (sorry about the awful photo):
 
 (BTW - I actually like these ones!!!!)
 
 
 
 
What I created w/ them: 
"Puppy Love"
Journaling: "My 2 'sons' spending quality time together".
 

I call our dog Spotty 'my son' also.
Just like I have 2 daughters: Madison and our dog Ivanna.
And 2 grandchildren: Madison's cat, Panini, and her pig, Hamlet.
 
 
Although the papers aren't really "ugly" or "difficult", what made the challenge even easier is
the fact that I had just taken the perfect photos for my papers 2 days before getting them!
When I took the photos I was planning on saving them for next month's SB.com "Scrap Your Pet" challenge, since I had already entered a layout for this month, but the papers were made for these photos so I used them!
I have plenty of pet photos to pick from for next month, anyway!
 
What I love about this particular "ugly paper" layout is, except for the journaling block, I used nothing else but the papers that were sent to me!
 
 
 
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Also entered in the following SB.com June Challenges:

>Music Challenge - Category #2: Song Title
I used "Puppy Love" by Paul Anka
*NO TWIST

>Sticker Challenge
I used 3 stickers - the happy face stickers
*NO TWIST

>Hoarders Challenge
1 item - The PL card (cut) for journaling
*NO TWIST

Monday, June 20, 2016

06/20/16 - Jo Koy 06.17.16

 
This past Friday night David and I went w/ 2 other friends to see comedian Jo Koy perform.
It was mine and David's second time seeing him live.
We are huge fans of Jo Koy (obviously) and were excited to see him and share him w/ our friends who had not only never seen him live but didn't even know who he was!
 
"Jo Koy 06.17.16"
Journaling (Top):
"Jo Koy - Ontario Improv
June 17th W/ Greg and Peng"

Journaling (side):
"Mine and David's second time seeing Jo Koy live"


(David and I got there early to get good seats while our friends, who have little ones, came a bit later. While we waited David and I took "selfies"!)
 
As usual Jo did not disappoint!
We all had a blast; we were all laughing so hard we were "crying"!
Needless to say we REALLY loved the show!
I also loved the photos we took that night so much I scrapped them the next day!
The layout came together fast and easy (love when that happens)!
The BG paper I used had just come in the mail the morning of the day I decided to scrap these photos and it was PERFECT!!


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For the following SB.com June Challenges:

>Four Categories Challenge
Category Three ~ Technique: Scraps
I used 4 scraps:
-Blue Stars PP (also fussy cut a star out of it)
-Red & Cream polka dotted PP
-Black paper
-White paper the "Fun Times" is stamped on
*INCLUDES TWIST of "Use scraps from 3 or more different manufacturers"
- Target $1 Bin
- DCWV
- Bazzill Basics

>Scrap w/ Your Scraps
4 Scraps
(See above description)
*NO TWIST

>Sticker Challenge
Only used one this time:
-"laugh"
*NO TWIST

> Hoarders Challenge-
The scraps have been in my scrap stash for years!
Also the "laugh" sticker
*NO TWIST

>Use Your Stamps
The phrase "Fun Times" on the side was stamped onto the white scrap of paper
*NO TWIST


Thursday, June 16, 2016

06/16/16 - Getting "Messy" Again

I took a break from "Get Messy" for a couple of reasons:
 1. I wasn't feeling motivated to create outside of scrapbooking
     - as an artist I feel I'm a better scrapbooker than art journaler

2. The last Season of "Get Messy" wasn't really 'my cup of tea'
    - it was the "Season of Lists"
And to me, making lists sounds more like work than fun.

So I took a break.
I continued to create through scrapbooking, but although I was enjoying concentrating on the one art form, I really started to miss "Get Messy" and art journaling in general (despite the fact that I'm not very good at it).

Last week the new Season began: the "Season of Introspection"
And despite the fact that I am already a week behind I am determined to join in!

I created my first 2 pages yesterday -

Here they are together:




And here they are separately:

-Page One: "Who Am I"-


(Page one) was inspired by the first "Art Journal" prompt for Week1 and the quote I used is the quote that was shared with us with the prompts for Week 2...so basically I combined a little of both from the 2 separate weeks. Whatever works, right?
Funny thing about this page is I used a list format to include all the things "I am..."
Didn't I just say I hated lists?!? LOL
Which makes me think I may be able to go back to the "Season of Lists" and create few pages after all.

My list, in case you can't read it on the page, is as follows:

- Wife
-Mother
-Animal Lover
-Coffee Addict
-Artist
-Foodie
-Fitness Enthusiast
-Book Lover
-Selfie Taker
-Netflix Junkie
-Introvert
-Music Lover
-Memory Keeper
-Over thinker
-Snoopy Lover
-Queen (of useless information)




-Page Two: "Bitch" -


(Page two) was inspired by my page one.
As I was thinking of things to list I kept saying in my head "I am a/an..." and that reminded me of a song that came out in 1997 that I loved (and still love) and I decided it would be fun to go down memory lane and include the (chorus) lyrics on an art journal page.
It's nothing fancy but I like it, and I totally relate, LOL!  I am both sides of the coin, going from one extreme to the next w/ no warning (my poor husband)... so when I read the lyrics/sing the song I'm like "YUP"!

Lyrics (because my handwriting isn't always legible):

"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a child, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed
I'm your hell, I'm your dream
I'm nothing in between
You know you wouldn't want it any other way

I'm a bitch, I'm a tease
I'm a goddess on my knees
When you hurt, when you suffer
I'm your angel undercover
I've been numb, I'm revived
Can't say I'm not alive
You know I wouldn't want it any other way"



Do you know the song?
Here's the link to the You Tube video - be kind, remember this is from 1997:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ivt_N2Zcts

That's all for today.
Hope to be sharing more pages w/ you soon!

Monday, June 13, 2016

06/13/16 - MIM #62

 
 
Good Morning! 
Today I am sharing the latest The Memory Nest sketch; the second sketch for June 2016.
You have until the end of June to link up your project.
 
Make It Monday sketch #62: 
 
 
                                                                  




"Saturday- May 14th, 2016"
 Journaling: "My favorite days are days when I can look like this:
Messy bun, no make-up, tank, hoodie and PJ pants (not pictured).
Happy Saturday!"
 
 
Not much more explanation needed; I think the journaling pretty much says it all.
I love "selfies" and "lazy" days so I captured both in this photo.
 
 
I made a few changes to the sketch as my creativity was not flowing w/ the original look...
but the basic elements are still there.
I just did some flipping (the scalloped circle) and stretching (the layering).
That's what great about sketches they don't have to be followed exactly in order to inspire!
And I have a tendency to fill-up my pages even when using just one photo.
 
 
 
This layout also marks a first; the first time I used my Sizzix Big Shot -
 
I bought it a little less than a month ago and 1 die-set and I've played w/ it but never used for a layout.
The scallop in the sketch was perfect for using the die-set I bought:

 
 
I never thought I'd own a die cutting machine but I fell in love w/ a particular die-set that made me do some research on the machine and since it was on sale and their was free shipping at SB.com I decided to take the plunge.
It took me a week to open it because I was scared.
I usually do that when I buy a new scrapbooking item: I wait to open it or I open it but wait to use it for a while... it's a weird quirk I have; like I'm afraid to make it "not new" anymore.
#Weirdo
 
Anyway I have it and now and it came in handy when it came to this sketch but now I have a die-cut wish list a mile long! Yikes!
 
Oh and this is the set that started the ball rolling (which I haven't yet bought BTW):
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cuz...piggy!
:0)
 
 
 
 
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Included in the following June SB.com Challenges:

>Four Categories Challenge
Category One ~ Product Denim
The Polka Dots on the BG paper are denim colored/Styled
*No Twist


>Scrap With Your Scraps
2 Scraps
-Black and white striped paper
-Black paper (Scalloped Circle)


>Sticker Challenge - Used 14
- "Today" (upper right corner)
-Arrows (3)
-Pink flower/scallop border
-"Saturday"
-Black scalloped border (going up the side)
-Camera
-Numbers (4)
-"Capture Life"
-Self Adhesive button
*Twist Included: Layer two or more stickers

Friday, June 10, 2016

06/10/16 - "Hey Mama"

Well, "when it rains it pours"...
first no posts from me and now I "can't stop, won't stop"!
 
 
 
"Hey Mama"
Journaling: "Mother's Day Photos:
Top: 2016
Bottom right: 2013
Bottom left: 2015"
 
 
These are 3 years worth of Mother's Day photos of me w/ my kids.
I'm not sure what made me start this tradition other than it had dawned on me I didn't have a whole lot of photos w/ my kids and a great way to rectify this is by taking a photo w/ them every Mother's Day!
The reason I chose Mother's Day isn't the obvious reason (cuz it's Mother's Day, duh!)...
The reason is because my daughter hates having her photo taken, but she will not refuse my request to do so on Mother's Day; pretty sneaky, huh?

Hmmm... maybe I should try it on my birthday too! ::light bulb moment::
 
The other thing I'm not sure of is why I didn't take one in 2014?
 
 
 
My design idea for this layout came from the fact that I have a difficult time using up my embellishments. Whenever I get a kit I always seem to have tons of embellishments left over once I'm done w/ the papers!  So I challenged myself to create this page using mostly embellishments.
 
The title idea came from a SB.com May Challenge:
>Music Challenge -Category #4 -Song
- Song Chosen for us was "Hey Mama" by Kanye West
*Includes twist of flower
 
I do not like Kanye (like.. AT ALL), but the title of the song worked perfect for the layout!
 

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Also included in the following SB.com Challenges:
 
>Hoarders Challenge -7 hoarded items:
-Alphas/Title
-Polka Paper
-Flower sticker
-"Remember This" sticker
-"Moments" sticker
-"These are the Days" PL card
-Buttons
No Twist

>Sticker Challenge - Used 12
-Alphas/Title (7)
-Flower sticker
-"Remember This" sticker
-"Moments" sticker
-White/Gold self-adhesive heart
-"So Grateful"
*Include twist of flower

Thursday, June 9, 2016

06/09/16 - Pumpkin Juice

Hi!
Still playing catch up!
Created this in May:
 
 
 
"Pumpkin Juice"
Journaling: "Joseph and I taking "selfies" while trying Pumpkin Juice for the first time.
I was the only one, out of all of us, who liked it.
5.8.16"
 
 
Since I created and shared a layout about trying "Butter Beer"of course I had to do the same when we tried "Pumpkin Juice".
 
While visiting Harry Potter World (again) my son decide to try the Pumpkin Juice.
I love pumpkin flavored everything (except pie... I know, I'm a weirdo) so I definitely wanted to try it. I even told my son to buy me one... but then we both decided maybe we should share this one just in case we didn't like it.
Well, I wound up loving it!!! Him not-so-much!
 
How to describe it?  Well, it's juice w/ a slight pumpkin spice flavor and VERY sweet!
That's why he didn't like it. Personally the sweeter the better is my motto so I thought it was
de-licious!
David and Madison tried it too and Madison hated it! David thought it was "alright" (but then again it takes a lot to impress him, LOL)
 
So in the end, I was the only one who could actually say they liked it!
 
For inquiring minds here are the ingredients: Water, Apple Juice Concentrate, Pumpkin Puree, Apricot Puree, Sugar, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Citric Acid, Acesulfame Potassium, Sodium Benzoate.
 
 
BTW there is a story behind the silly "selfies"....
(I tell ya, I always have "stories"!)
I told my son to take a "selfie" of us w/ the Pumpkin Juice to commemorate the occasion... but he was so stiff in the first couple of photos; that tends to be his "selfie" style: STIFF!
So I proceeded to show him how a really "selfie" should be taken and started hamming it up for the camera as he snapped photos.
He finally got into it and 8 "selfies" later these wound up being my faves!
 

I had so much fun making this layout and everything seemed to just come together so effortlessly! 
 
I wound up entering this in the SB.com "May Hoarders Challenge" because all of the items on here, except the "I Solemnly Swear..." sticker, are hoarded items ranging from at least a year-in -a-half old to approximately 12 years old.
 
 
 
 

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Also entered in the following SB.com Challenges:
 
"May Sticker challenge":
13 total
-Alphas/Title (12)
-"I Solemnly Swear..."

And the "Scrap with your Scraps" challenge:
The pumpkin paper (circle) is from my scrap stash.
It was already cut and outlined that way so apparently it was rejected from a prior layout.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

06/08/16 - May "Ugly Paper" Challenge

It's "Ugly Paper Time"!
(A Scrapbook.com Monthly Challenge)
 
A reminder of how the challenge works:
1. After signing up, the host gives your name and address to another participant
2. The other participant sends you 2 "ugly" papers and at least one ugly embellishment
3. You MUST use both papers; the embellishment(s) is optional
4. You are allowed to use other items as well, as long as the 2 "ugly" papers are included in the layout
5. You are allowed to alter the papers and, if used, the embellishment(s) but they must still be recognizable
 
 
Here are my May "ugly" papers (and embellishments):
 


 
 
and what I created w/ them:
 
 
 
Journaling: "While getting construction done in our backyard, we would often have a
tractor parked in the front of our house. Madi 2 yrs old - Jan 2004"
 
 
FYI - I know that's not technically a "tractor" but that's what I call it, LOL
 
 
 
As is usually the case I had no idea what to do with the papers when I first received them.
Then I remembered these pictures I had taken...way, way back!
It's funny how stuff just pops into your brain out of no where!
 
That's my little girl, my Madi, 12 years ago at 2...
::Sigh:: time sure does fly!

To make my layout I actually cut a circle out of the BG paper and them layered it, slightly skewed, over the yellow "hello" PP (which is covering the hole I created in the BG paper when I cut out the circle). I like the effect it gave of using the entire piece of paper but not as one "whole" sheet.
And since the "baby" PP doesn't really go w/ the "truck" PP and/or the theme of the page, I covered most of it up w/ my photos and the title.
I didn't think I'd get the roses to work, but after adding the butterfly stickers, which have been in my stash FOR-EVER and  I just happened to come across while looking for something else,  I thought the roses fit; helping to make the layout a bit more "girly".
 
 
This is still one of my favorite challenges!
 
 
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Also entering in the following SB.com May: challenges:

>"Four Categories" Challenge
This is for Category #2 ~ Color: Daffodil
'Take a cue from beautiful spring daffodils and choose from their shades of yellow, orange, and white to create a page this month.'
Includes twist of a flower embellishment ( I used 4 rose stickers).

>"Sticker" Challenge
Used 22 stickers:
-Alpha stickers (16)
- Rose stickers (4)*
-Butterfly stickers (2)
Includes twist of flower sticker

>"Hoarded Items" Challenge - 2 items
The butterfly stickers
No Twist

and

>"Scrap w/ Your Scraps" Challenge
I used 2 scraps from my stash:
-The yellow "hello" PP
-The white photo BG strip
No Twist

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

06/07/16 - "Cuddles With Spotty"

(Insert whiny voice here):  You guuuyyyyssss... I'm so behind on blogging!
 
(Okay regular voice from here on out):
I have been scrapping but I'm behind on blogging.
Well, at least that's the better problem to have, right?
 
My problem is I don't know how to just share a layout w/ a brief description...
I always feel like I have to tell "a story" or at least explain my layout/why I created it...
And that always seems to become such a lengthy process....which is fine, usually, but when I go through my 'bouts of  'low energy' (my energy cycles go up and down and sometimes will stay down for quite a while before going up again...) it becomes exhausting!
Blogging shouldn't be "exhausting" so I just stop altogether.
 
It's funny cuz as an introvert you'd think a 'brief description' is what I'd be all about... you know, the less talking the better...
And when I actually 'talk' that's pretty much how I am, but when I 'write' it's the opposite.
Anyway enough about that...
I'll try to keep (the rest of) this brief:
 
I need to catch up on my blogging and to (hopefully) make this easier on myself I'm going to start w/ my most recent layout and go backwards until I'm caught up!
 
My first (errr..last/most current) layout is this one:
 
 
"Cuddles With Spotty"
Journaling: With so many fur babies sometimes Spotty doesn't get enough attention so today was time for some Cuddles With Spotty 6.4.2016"
 


Created (mostly) for the SB.com
"Scrap Your Pet/Animal" Challenge
*No Twist
 didn't realize it until after I was finished but I used the exact same dog tag PP on the last layout of Spotty I created: Such a Good Boy
 
I guess it was made for him!
 
 
 
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Also included I the following June SB.com Challenges:
>HOARDERS Challenge
9 items:
Everything on this page (including the BG), except the file buttons, is over a year-and-a-half old (the dark blue paper is approximately 15 years old)
*NO TWIST

>Sticker Challenge
23 stickers:
-Alphas (17)
-Camera
-"With Love"
-Self Adhesive Buttons (3)
-Self Adhesive dog-head banner
*No Twist

>Scrap with Your Scraps
2 Scraps:
-The blue and white polka dotted PP
-The blue and white graph PP (Circle)
 
 

Monday, June 6, 2016

06/06/16 - MIM #61

Good Morning! 
Today I am sharing the latest The Memory Nest sketch; the first sketch for June 2016.
Make It Monday sketch #61:



"I Can't Feel My Face..."
Journaling: Vegas - 3.23.16


(Sorry about the shadow. I couldn't get a good scan of the layout because of the bow and the sun wasn't cooperating when I took a photo).

These are just a couple of photos from last March's Spring Break Getaway w/ David.
I went super simple this time:
I used my computer to print out the title which I then cut into a circle shape and outlined w/ a fine-point Sharpie. I placed my photos on a strip of PP, and wound up using an embellishment, the burlap ribbon, that I thought I would be using on a girls-only page, but wound up being a cute little addition to this one!
Besides that I just added a few stickers and wah-lah! Done!

The title is the title and partial lyric of a song by "The Weeknd".
I love this song:

  and I love the sketch!
Hope you love it too!
You have until June 30th to submit a layout.
Good Luck!

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Also submitted for the following June SB.com challenges:

> Music Challenge
Category = Song Lyrics
"I Can't Feel My Face" - The Weekend
No Twist

>Sticker Challenge
Used 3 stickers -
- "LOVE"
-"so happy TOGETHER"
- Self-adhesive "love" heart
No Twist



03/27/23 Planning with Urban Journal Season Ink

My printer was having issues and I fixed it but during the interim I was not scrapping and lost my mojo ::le sigh:: But I've still been ...