A Photo Challenge!

What better way to test drive my NEW CAMERA (yay, me!) that by participating in a photo challenge?!

I came across a challenge by Abby from A Feathered Nest, while catching up on blog posts in my Google Reader late Sunday night.

Actually, I was visiting The Crafters File Box and saw these adorable decorations that were linked from Abby's blog:

[source]

Oh.  My. Heck.  I am so doing that in my backyard, with candles, the next time we have a party!!

Anyhoo... back to the challenge!   I thought that this would be the kick in the pants I needed to get taking more photos.

Like my new camera won't do that, right?

At any rate, with working full time, the family stuff, and the magazine and design team commitments, my photography can easily slip through the cracks.  And since I've been so dissatisfied with my camera's quality of photos lately, it's easy to make excuses not to take a photo.

Now I'm a firm believer in the theory that it takes 21 days to create a habit so I think that this photo challenge will encourage the habit of taking more photos.  Daily, hopefully!

Who wants to play along with me?  You can find the challenge here, along with a cool printable list that Abby posted to print out and post somewhere handy so it will be easy!  Grab your camera and start today!

Sketchabilities Reveal > Sketch 48

Another great sketch by Karan Gerber was revealed today on the Sketchabilities blog!

I used the WeScrap Whimsy kit for my project for the sketch this month.  While this kit looks very feminine and pink, I found that many of the papers' reverse sides were pretty neutral or masculine!

Here's my layout:

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Girls' Paperie patterned papers; Jenni Bowlin calendar card (as template); Martha Stewart Crafts and Marvy Uchida punches; Maya Road chipboard banners and heart; Basic Grey alpha stickers; Jillibean Soup Journaling Sprouts; Happy Tape; myStamp Box stamps (Funky Flowers); Tsukineko and Tim Holtz Distress inks; Glossy Accents; white gift card (We Scrap kit); American Crafts Memory Marker; Glue Dots; The Twinery twine; unknown ribbon.  Photo by Gary Sykes.

After tracing the Jenni Bowlin calendar card on the reverse side of my paper, I hand cut them out, inked the edges and doodled.  Using a ruler, I also drew a running stitch around my page border, once punched.

I matted my photo and tied a wide satin ribbon around it.  Using a subtle Vanilla ink, I stamped the swirl from the Funky Flowers stamp all over the white gift tag and inked the edges.  I fussy cut the birdcage and covered it with Glossy Accents for an epoxy-like finish, and then added it to a cluster of embellishments: 

The chipboard banners were covered with cardstock and inked.  I threaded twine through the holes (not easy!!) and added the letter stickers.  I looped and curled the ribbon to my liking and then stapled it down, keeping with the masculine theme.

To create the pink accents (who says boys pages can't have a little pink on them??), I used my Happy Tape and covered a scrap piece of white cardstock, and then punched out two hearts.  For the open heart on the title, I covered the Maya Road chipboard heart with tape and then used my craft blade to remove the excess.

Thanks for looking!  Be sure to add your page to the Sketchabilities Gallery for a chance to be a Guest Designer!

Seven Sunday Blessings

This week, I am thankful:

1. That we had a beautiful Victoria Day weekend, except for the rain storm on Monday!  I had to work a long day on Saturday but we celebrated with a yummy dinner with our neighbours on Monday.  It's been a while since we've been able to connect so it was nice to just get together and "be"...

2.  That we made plans with our aforementioned neighbours for a regular night of cards.  Euchre, girls vs. boys.  Excited to start - especially since the girls tromped all over the boys on Monday... :)  Looking forward to every other Saturday - may even plan for a baby sitter and do dinner first!

3.  that my increased work hours and Gary's new job has given me to option to be able to think about hiring a housekeeper!  Yay - here's to a sparkling house!  Well, at least until the kids get home... :)

4.  that Connor's swim meet was in Guelph this weekend.  Close enough to stay and spend time with Gary's mom and dad.  He did very well, considering it was a long course race (50m pool, compared to a 25m pool that he practices and normally races in).  At time of posting today, his official results are:  3rd in 50m Freestyle, 6th in 50m Backstroke, 6th in 200m Freestyle and 14th in 100m Breaststroke.  He swims his 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke today, and his coach informed him yesterday that he'll be swimming on the 200m Medley relay today as well.  Go WEST! :)

5.  for rain?  It's been raining nearly non-stop since Monday... and while my grass is green and my flowers bursting with blooms, I'm getting tired of the gray skies!

6.  that it was season's finale week!  Maybe now, I won't be so distracted and will be more productive around the house! LOL!

7.  that my new camera has FINALLY been ordered and arrived on Thursday!  Or at least I think it did... Purolator Man came by while we were at work.  Then there was a mixup and the delivery driver left the WRONG depot card so I now have to wait until Monday... :( 

What are YOU thankful for this week?

It's Hump Day Again!

It's been a crazy week around here.

Well, crazier than normal.

I started at my third store this week, but with a statutory holiday on Monday and Connor's upcoming swim meet on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I've been trying to cram in 38 hours of work into three days!  And with Gary starting work at his new job, I have to be home by 3:45pm when the kids get home!

Did I mention it was my quarter end at work?  For THREE stores?

[Sigh]

The good news is that I am LOVING my new store, and still love my job.  Ask me again in a few months, when the honeymoon is over and I'm pining for my Thursdays and Fridays off again! LOL!

The bonus is, of course, the extra spending money!  We have lived quite comfortably for the last five years with me just working part time, and now it's nice to have some extra funds to put into making our house more of a home.

I mentioned that Gary and I went across the border a few weeks ago to pick up our bedding for our new king-size bed.  Here's a photo of it, taken from the website:

Isn't it pretty??!!  It looks a bit washed out in the photo - it's more of a dark chocolatey brown background and the gold/steel blue is a shimmery pattern that turns different colours depending on the light.  

Of course, it doesn't go with my dark red walls, so we'll have to paint.  But I want to paint our main floor (kitchen/dining room/living room) first.  We have an open concept ranch so if we paint one room, we have to paint all three!  I have my eye on a gorgeous couch/loveseat set with tables so that's the first thing on our "Home Project" list.

Then comes the hard part trying to coordinate paint colours to match the living room furniture with the existing kitchen counters/cupboards!

Of course, the easy solution would be to renovate the kitchen, right? :)  Somehow, I think I'd have a hard time convincing Gary of that...

Anyhow, just wanted to share a couple of somethings with you before I hit the hay... a sneak peek from my project for Sketchabilities Sketch #48, set to reveal on Tuesday:

And a sneak peek of my layout for Round 1 of ScrapLift Tag at WeScrap:

This one was "old school" for me - it may actually even LAY FLAT in my album! *gasp*

Shocking, I know.... ;)

Baby Needs a New Home...

Maybe something like this?

Pink Clover by Epiphanie Bags

I actually like the turquoise one better... but for $184.00 USD?  Plus shipping/handling?  Well, I think I'd rather put the money towards a new 50mm f/1.4 lens...

What do you have for a camera bag?  I have a Slingshot 100 right now:

I love it, but quite honestly, I hate lugging it to parties and weddings because it's so "tech-y" looking...

Then while surfing I came across this on the Jen and Steve dot Com site:

LOVE IT!! And am so going to search for a purse to make my own...

The above site gives a tutorial but I found more detailed tutorials here and here...

Now to find a colour... Maybe RED like this one!!

Better get crackin'... my baby's supposed to be here next week!!

Sketchy Saturday > May 21st

Today's Sketchy Saturday at WeScrap and I got to work with a great card sketch from fellow iTeam member, Victoria!

Still going strong on my Scrap More, Shop Less pledge and using up some old Autumn Leaves papers, I created this card:

Supplies:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Autumn Leaves patterned paper; myStamp BOX stamps (No Place Like Home, Border Lines); Martha Stewart Crafts and Fiskars punches; Tsukineko inks; Ranger embossing powder; Marvy Uchida pen; ribbon from my stash.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment inside the card and then cut a slit in the card's crease.  Using my X-acto blade, I slipped the ribbon through and wrapped it right around the card, knotting it in the front:

The solid house was stamped in green ink and then using a brush marker, I inked up the outline stamp and stamped right over it.  Sprinkled it with embossing powder, used my heat gun and called it a day!

Thanks for looking!

Leave Your Legacy: Young Love

Welcome to a new Leave Your Legacy challenge! If you're new to my blog, welcome! You can learn more about my Leave Your Legacy challenge here.

Okay - ready for this week's LYL challenge?

In searching for a photo for a particular design team commitment, I came across some photos from my high school years. I stopped at one in particular and smiled to myself. I remember having a secret crush on one of the boys in our circle of friends. He, of course, just considered me a close friend - ah, unrequited love!

I can remember exactly why everyone, from Grade 9 through to Grade 13, fancied themselves in love with him. He was cute, had a great smile, was kind to everyone - and was one heck of a mean soccer player! We parted ways after Grade 12, when I went to a private school for my final year, and have not seen him since, but oh, the memories one photo can evoke...

So, who was your highschool heartthrob? Here's your challenge this week:

Create a layout, using a photo, if available, of the heartthrob at your high school (Dig out your old yearbooks and scan a photo if necessary!). Describe the reasons you considered he/she to be the school's sweetheart and what memories you have of him/her.

PS If you married the high school heartthrob, more power to you, sister! :D

Here's my layout:

Supplies:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Crate Paper patterned paper and stickers; McGill and EK Success punches; October Afternoon and Basic Grey letter stickers; Pea Sarah font (by Sarah Nolan - download it for FREE here!); American Crafts Slick Writer.

This layout was a direct lift of a this layout by Sarah Nolan, for a ScrapLift Tag Challenge at WeScrap.  I not only lifted the layout, AND her handwriting, but I also included some eye candy!  Albeit 1980's eye candy... :)

I hand cut some scallops after haphazardly sketching them on the back of my cardstock.  I added the doodling, to add to the whimsical feel.

Journaling reads:  Gary Klemens.  In high school, most of the girls in my grade (and other grades!) were in love with him.  Funny, kind, smart, a heck of a soccer player - and cute to boot!  We became good friends in Grade 10 when I tutored him in math, but I'll admit - I harboured a huge crush on him for a while!  Ah, unrequited love...

The label sticker was cut in half and anchored on both the top and bottom opposite corners and layered with punches and more stickers.

If you'd like to participate in this year long challenge, please share your layout below, using Linky Tools, by 11:59pm EST on December 31st, 2011. Please see the Leave Your Legacy page for guidelines, before linking here. Winners will be announced on January 1st, 2012.

Scented Embossing Powder Video Tutorial

Today, my very first video tutorial revealed on the myStamp BOX blog!

It's actually a first on two counts - my first video tutorial AND the first video tutorial that has been featured on the myStamp BOX blog!  It's on creating scented embossing powders - perfect for adding a fun "scratch & sniff" element on your projects!

It was actually pretty fun - despite the fact that I sound kinda dorky! :)  Big props to my hubby - he used to have his own videography business so he knows all about great angles and editing and continuity, etc.  Plus, he edited the whole thing together, once I had made the title graphics in Photoshop!

You can see my video here on the myStamp BOX blog, or on YouTube, under my username, sugarskyes. Here's the card I made, using the tutorial's finished product:

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; The Girls Paperie patterned paper and letter stickers, Martha Stewart Crafts border/corner punch; scented embossing powder (see above for link); Glue Dots; Maya Road trinket pin, miscellaneous ribbon.

Thanks for watching my video - and I'd love to hear your ideas on other video tutorials you'd like to see... maybe some photography ones??

Witty Wednesday

Thanks to my friend, Amanda, for sharing this on Facebook:

Except in my case, it would look more like this:

Yep, a Nikon girl, through and through... :)

Speaking of Nikon, guess what is coming to live with me very, very soon!?!?!

Oh, baby... come to Mama!!

I have been waiting for this day since last summer when my Nikon contact sent me a D300s to play with over our summer holidays to the Jersey Shore & Pennsylvania!

Not THAT Jersey Shore... the other, more tasteful side!

Anyhow, I decided to finally just ordered the darn thing.  I was debating, because technology changes so fast and I didn't want to get it, only to realize that they came out with a bigger/faster/better camera a few months later!  I also wanted to see if the price would come down a bit.  But everything that we've read about it has said that the prices have remained stable, or HAVE INCREASED on the D300s because they are actually increasing in value, due to their superior quality.  Not to mention the devastation in Japan, which destroyed the Nikon manufacturing plant - the laws of supply and demand, demonstrated!

So I can't wait to get that baby in my hands!!!!

I've also ordered a new Speedlight.  Mine is nearly 10 years old and while it still practically in mint condition, I want a flash that can rotate not only 90 degrees up, but that can swivel 180 degrees.  Here's what I've ordered:

Because of limited availability, I asked the camera store to hold it for me until Friday when I'll be in town - hopefully my camera will come sooner than later so I can play with both this weekend!

Tuesday Sneak Peek

Well, it's late, once again so it will just be a quick note tonight...

Spent a good part of the night re-taping my tutorial for myStamp Box that will be posted this Thursday, and figuring out how to get it to work on the blog.  Be sure to check that out on the myStamp BOX blog this Thursday!

I also photographed my project for the WeScrap Sketchy Saturday this weekend and I thought I'd share a little sneak peek, because it's so bright and cheery - and it's so rainy and gloomy around here... :(

I'm happily using up more of my older stash, as per my commitment to the Scrap More, Shop Less Facebook event, started by the one and only Barb Riley.

But it's so hard not to buy anything new...  I did break down and buy a new punch set, but I figured that tools don't count, because they're not consumable...

Right?  Am I right?

Sketchabilities Reveal > Sketch 47

Today, Sketch #47 revealed on the Sketchabilities blog!

As always, another fantastic sketch to work with from Karan made it easy!  I was already working with the Fun House kit from WeScrap and the colours worked perfectly for this photo of Connor that I snapped last Thanksgiving.

Here's my layout:

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Echo Park patterned papers; myStamp BOX stamps (Tree for All Seasons); Martha Stewart Crafts scoring board; EK Success and Marvy Uchida punches, JilliBean Soup kraft journal tags; Tsukineko ink and Fantastix; Glossy Accents.

I found the Martha Stewart scoring board on a trip across the border with Gary a few weeks ago.  We stopped in at Michael's (because I had a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my purse...).  I came across this gorgeous card by Kristina Werner and instantly wanted a scoring board so I thought I'd peek while in the U.S.  Turns out that it was only $19.99, compared to its' $39.99 Canadian counterpart!  Plus another 40% off and well, I just couldn't resist.  I used it to create an asymmetrical diamond pattern on the cardstock before designing the rest of the layout.

I stamped the tree trunk and leaves on white cardstock in brown and green, respectively.  After fussy-cutting both, I added touches of orange to the leaves using my Fantastix (brush tip).  I then covered each of the leaves in Glossy Accents.

I wanted to use a JilliBean Soup scalloped journaling tag, but the only scalloped one I had left was one with a brown border, which clashed with the black.  So I layered a square notebook printed one over top and added the handwritten quote:

"There is always music amongst trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it."  

~ Minnie Aumonier

Be sure to add your layout to the Sketchabilities gallery for a chance to win a Guest Designer spot!  And if you're so inclined, there's also a call for a new Sketchabilities Design Team - deadline is June 10th!

Seven Sunday Blessings

[source]

This week, I am thankful:

1.  for my thoughtful hubby and fabulous kids.  They gave me a beautiful Mother's Day present and we had a wonderful day together.

2.  that Gary had a successful second interview with a company.  So successful that they made him a job offer!

3.  that the stars aligned and not only did Gary find a job, but I interviewed for and was offered a position with a third store!  It will be a big adjustment to going from a family with only 12 working hours to one of 76, but I think if we work out a schedule and stick to it, nothing will have to slide...

4.  for trips to the hair salon.  Nothing like a colour, highlights and a cut to brighten your day, right?

5.  for the chip truck.  Salty, crispy, skin-on French fries - so bad for the healthy eating, but oh... sooooo good!

6.  that we finally had to break out the summer clothes!  Aili and I spent all morning on Saturday, packing away her winter clothes that will make it through another season, and trying on summer clothes to see what still fits!  The girl must have grown three inches this year, because all of her dresses are a lot shorter!

7.  for family game night.  The kids have discovered the joys of Crazy Eights and it gets pretty competitive around the dining room table sometimes!

What are you thankful for this week?

Webisode #17 > Metallic Transparency

** If you are here for the WeScrap blog hop, please click HERE!! **

I love that Canadian Scrapbooker is doing these videos - what a great bonus to an already great magazine!

Yes, I'm biased - why do you ask? :)

But even if I didn't write for them, I'd still love them - so informative and fun... it's perfect for my little "Jackie" fix when I need it!  She always makes me smile!

So click HERE for a link to Webisode #17 and join her as she walks you through creating metallic transparencies to use for your cards and other projects!

And not only do you get to learn something new, but if you leave a comment, you'll also get a chance to win this great prize, consisting of all the goodies used in the video:

You can read more details here on Jackie's blog, and feel free to leave her a comment, commending her on her great video, but to be eligible for the prize, you MUST leave a comment on the video page.  It's easy - just click the pinkish-orange Comments button to the right of the video and leave your comment!!

Good luck - and enjoy!

Friday the 13th

** If you are here for the WeScrap blog hop, please click HERE!! **

Blogger's been acting persickety lately, not letting me log on so I haven't been able to share any news... and got some more good news today!  Who said Friday the 13th was unlucky?!?

But I promised myself I would go to bed earlier and so, I will update tomorrow!!  Thanks for your prayers, though - they are working!!

The Gift

** If you are here for the WeScrap blog hop, please click HERE!! **

Yesterday morning, I was awakened by the sweetest little voice, whispering in my ear, "Happy Mother's Day, Mama - I love you"...

I drifted back to sleep and woke up around 9:30am, heading into the kitchen to see why it was so quiet... The kids popped out of their hiding spots to shriek, "Happy Mother's Day!!" and to lead me to the table laden with gifts and cards.

The kids both created a scrapbook page for me - I will definitely have to photograph them later, to share!  I also received a beautiful keychain and bookmark from Aili, and a card from Connor with a letter inside that brought a tear to my eye.

From inside a little bag on the table peeked a new pair of slippers (the only thing I asked for!), but there was more!

A little box, wrapped in shiny silver paper and a satin bow.  And what was inside that box, you ask?

A lovely new charm for my Pandora bracelet!!  Isn't it beautifully displayed?  It's a bucket of flowers with a  little gold tag that says "Love"...  so cute!

We had a lazy day, too, just hanging out and went to Kelsey for dinner.  I even turned into bed early!!

Well, early for me! :D

Seven Sunday Blessings

** If you are here for the WeScrap blog hop, please click HERE!! **

[source]

But first, I want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms I know.  You know who you are.  You are my mother, my mother-in-law, my sisters, my aunts, my friends, my cousins, my blog readers, my not-yet-met friends.  Wishing you a full and wonderful day...

This week, I am thankful:

1.  For design team work.  If it weren't for my deadlines, I don't think I would make the time to sit down and scrapbook, as much as I love to create.

2.  For spring weather.  Not the wet, rainy kind, thankyouverymuch.  Instead, for the glimpses of sunny weather; for perennials poking through the damp earth; for the smell of freshly cut grass.

3.  For Mexican cuisine, in honour of Cinco de Mayo.

4.  That my mother-in-law is now out of the hospital and home.  Sending positive healing vibes your way...

5.  For my munchkins.  As much as they try my patience, they are both good kids and I am blessed to have them in my life.

6.  For schools dances, because they encourage my son to hone his social skills and enforce his courage and self-esteem.

7.  For my friend, Barb Riley, for inviting me to her Scrap More, Spend Less 100-day Pledge.  It's just the kick in the butt that I need to get me to USE some of the stuff that I've been hoarding!  If you're interested in joining, leave me a comment with your FB name and I will invite you!

What are YOU thankful for this week?

Fun House Projects!

** If you are here for the WeScrap blog hop, please click HERE!! **

I had a lot of fun working with the WeScrap kit, Fun House, this month!

Here are my projects:

First, I created a quick and easy mini album, using the adorable little chunky chipboard book from Bare Elements:

Supplies used:  Bare Elements mini chipboard book; Bazzill Basic cardstock; Crate Paper and Echo Park patterned papers; Echo Park letter and border stickers; EK Success, Marvy Uchida, Fiskars and Creative Memories punches; Sakura Pigma Micron pen.

In it, I used some of the photos I had laying around that Connor's SK teacher had given me at the end of the year.  I just picked my favourites, trimmed them to 3"x 3" and stuck them in!  A few scraps of patterned paper and voila!

Another layout uses this adorable photo from Aili's "graduation" from the LatchKey daycare program that she and Connor attended:

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Echo Park patterned paper; myStamp BOX stamps (Mini Pennants); Versamark ink; Ranger embossing powder; Echo Park letter stickers; Martha Stewart, EK Success, Creative Memories and Marvy Uchida punches; Glue Dots; twine, brad.

The banner was stamped with myStamp BOX's Mini Pennants on patterned paper and wet embossed.  I didn't think the brown rim on the black letters matched my layout so using my circle punch, I punched out the letters, after affixing them to scrap cardstock.  I then attached them to the pennants with dimensional foam.

The flower was handmade.  I created it by punching 3 circles (2 large, 1 smaller) from patterned paper.  Then using my mister, I saturated the paper with water and scrunched them up.  I left them to dry and then punched a hole through the middle of all three and stacked them, using a brad as my centre.

This layout was done for the NSD sketch that we featured on the WeScrap blog.

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Echo Park patterned paper and stickers; Martha Steward and Marvy Uchida punches; Sakura Pigma Micron pen; Glue Dots; misc buttons; ric rac.

Taken during a visit  to my parents' home, on the way home from the hospital with Aili, these photos were hard for me to scrap.  I still miss my mother, daily.  Especially when I see photos like this and realize that my children never really got a chance to know their grandmother.

Here's some details:

And my last layout, created for the Leave Your Legacy Challenge posted on Friday:

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Echo Park patterned paper, border and letter stickers; Jenni Bowlin label stickers; Martha Stewart Crafts, Marvy Uchida, McGill and Fiskars punches; Making Memories Slice machine and Just Chillin' design card; VersaMark ink; Embossing Powder Candy Store powder (Transparent Liquid Glass); Glue Dots; toothpick.  Photo by Stacey Witherspoon.

The flowers were handmade.  The yellow one was made as described in my Bye LatchKey layout above.  The small green/red one is simply a circle, cut in a spiral and rolled.  You can see many tutorials on You Tube like this one.  The large red flower are patterns cut from the EchoPark paper, inked and layered.  For my flower centre, I punched two small retro flower shapes, curled the petals with a skewer and layered them, along with a button:

The "20" was die cut with the Slice from cardstock.  I then inked the numbers with VersaMark and heat embossed three times with the Transparent Liquid Glass, for a glossy, epoxy-like finish.

If you enjoyed these layouts, you can purchase your Fun House kit in the Etsy store - and check out the blog hop post below for a coupon to save 25% off your purchase TODAY ONLY!

WeScrap NSD celebration!!

Welcome to the WeScrap's celebration of National Scrapbooking Day! In celebration of this wonderful event, we would like to share some of our FAVORITE THINGS with you today! So join us on our blog hop where you'll get inspired by some exciting challenges, cool prizes and you'll have LOTS of fun too.

As you hop along, each of our Inspiration Team members will each have a word for you to collect. Collect all 6 words and hop on back to the Favorite Thing Crop Forum for your chance to WIN our GRAND PRIZE!  See the Favorite Things Crop forum for details.

Another way to WIN is by leaving a comment on each challenge posting you see! Leave a comment for the challenge author and we'll give ONE lucky person a prize just for leaving a comment!

Here's our Favorite Things Blog Hop rotation:

WeScrap Kits blog

Sarah Nolan

Victoria Lau

Bev Code

Sue Sykes  <-- you are here!

Jennifer Benoit

Allison Cope

If you are starting this hop here, please go to the WeScrap Kits blog and begin there to ensure you visit everyone's blog!

To participate in our fun challenges, please create a NEW project following each of the challenges according to their creator and then post them in the WeScrap Gallery in your personal gallery and link them to the appropriate challenge thread listed in the Favorite Things Crop forum.

Please note that you must be logged in to post in our gallery and forum, but it's quick, easy and FREE!  Click here to register NOW!

All challenge projects are due by Saturday May 14th at 11:59pm EST.

Now onto MY challenge!

Today I want you to document some of your favourite things right now,  at this point in your life.  It may be something as sentimental as your wedding rings or as trivial as a Vanilla Bean Frappacino from Starbucks.  Or it could be both!  Use this layout to capture a little piece of your personality right now!

Here's my layout:

Supplies used:  WeScrap Fun House kit (Bazzill Basics cardstock; Crate Paper patterned papers and border stickers; Echo Park patterned papers and letter stickers; Tim Holtz ticket) EK Success, Creative Memories and Martha Stewart Crafts punches; Glue Dots.

These are some of my favourite things right now:

a little yellow bird who sits on my kitchen window sill, making me happy;
my Tassimo coffeemaker;
my BlackBerry, for keeping me in touch without being chained to a computer;
Vanilla Bean Frappacinos, from Starbucks;
and Lola - my convertible Mustang!

As an added bonus, I have a coupon, valid for today only, for 25% off everything in the WeScrap shop!

And, if that wasn't enough, I will also offer up a prize for some lucky person who leaves a comment here on my blog!  Just tell me what your plans are for NSD and you'll be entered into a random draw!

Lastly, my special word for you today is.... NEW.  More details on what to do with all of the words you collect will be posted on the final blog on the hop - Ally's.

Good luck with the challenges and Happy National Scrapbooking Day!  Your next stop will be Jen's blog!

Leave Your Legacy: 20 Years and Counting...

Welcome to a new Leave Your Legacy challenge! If you're new to my blog, welcome! You can learn more about my Leave Your Legacy challenge here.

Okay - ready for this week's LYL challenge?

I came across a photo yesterday.  As I started to think back to the time it was taken, I surprised myself when I realized that it had been taken twenty years ago!  A friend of mine was studying photography and needed a model for her resume.  She asked me to pose for her, because I had "glamorous hair".  Her words, not mine!  Let's remember that it was the early nineties so it was at the tail end of the "big hair" era.  It was funny to see me, so young at 23, with entirely different priorities and goals.

So, what were you like 20 years ago? Here's your challenge this week:

Create a layout, using a photo of you taken 20 years ago. Describe the circumstances around the photo and what your priorities and challenges were at the time.


Here's my layout:

For detailed photos and supply list, please see my Fun House kit reveal post here.

If you'd like to participate in this year long challenge, please share your layout below, using Linky Tools, by 11:59pm EST on December 31st, 2011. Please see the Leave Your Legacy page for guidelines, before linking here. Winners will be announced on January 1st, 2012.