Summerfest Week 13 - Final Week

This was the final week for Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook. I believe I have a couple of days to do the one challenge that I missed way back when, and then it is over. Patti and Elia have truly keep us hopping with the fabulous challenges they've posted all summer. I don't know where they come up with them all.

I finished the last of this week's challenges on Friday, but I haven't had a chance to post them until now. So on with the show :)

Our colour challenge was a good one. We were given a picture of the beach with lots of colours to choose from. We had to use at least four of them and couldn't use any colour that wasn't in the picture. I started with the American Crafts striped paper (red and white). I added some Dream Street (blue). Then I hand cut the flower from a Pink Paislee paper (red, black) along with some of the leaves (green). I then used my Technique Tuesday stamp and some black ink to stamp the sentiment. 

We were given the opportunity to find inspiration in the beautiful gallery of Deanna's work for the Doing It Like Deanna challenge. I found a really cute Hi card that she had created using apple paper. I immediately thought it would be a great design to use for trees. I hand cut the trees from an American Crafts paper, then cute the brown cardstock to shadow them. The American Crafts ribbon mimics grass. The owl is handcut from a Kaiser Craft paper. The letters are Thickers (and the same ones that Deanna used on her fabulous card). I love this card!!!!

Single and Loving It was a challenge to use only one manufacturer (aside from cardstock). I chose American Crafts. I hand cut the large flower, then hand cut the butterflies. The butterflies are attached to the card so that their wings are folded up. The letters are Thickers by American Crafts.

The Scrapping to the Oldies challenge required us to use five items from our stash that were at least two years old. I found two papers that are at least that old, some stringed beads that are about ten years old, a chipboard happy face and the word wish that are older than my Sara. It isn't my favourite card (what can I say? I was getting pretty tired by the time I got to this challenge), but it has the distinction of being my 100th card that I've made this year. One hundred cards!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!! (Not bad, considering I gave myself a goal of one card a month this year LOL).

For the A Summer to Remember challenge we had to scrapbook something from our summer and use at least two photos. I used a sketch by Karan Gerber for the online crop at Two Scrapbook Friends. Not only did Karan challenge us to use her sketch, but she also wanted to see layering using papers from a single manufacturer. I chose these fabulous papers from K and Company and some pictures from our wonderful vacation to Pennsylvania. It looks a lot better in real life as the photo doesn't do the layout justice.

Our photo challenge this week was yellow. I couldn't resist posting this picture of Big Bird that I took at the Museum of Play. I was so excited that they had a Sesame Street area!!!!! (Can you guess that I'm a Sesame Street fan?)

So just one more challenge to finish (I think it is from way back in week five) and I will have completed all of the Summerfest challenges. I even managed to win Bingo this week!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!

Summerfest Week 12

Being away for a week on vacation meant that I was behind on the challenges for week 12. Actually, it meant that I hadn't even started the challenges for week 12. I honestly didn't think I would get them done. However, by working furiously I managed to complete all five of the challenges posted for Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook.

The Triple Crown challenge required us to use three groupings of three to create a project. I was inspired by the fabulous sketch that my friend Dee posted on the Scrapping Turtle for her challenge this week. Thanks Dee!!!!! My first grouping was 3 pieces of cardstock. My second grouping was three differents stamps (the background on the red piece, the sentiment, and the border). My third grouping was three flowers - created with Prima petals, Doodlebug brads and American Crafts ribbon). 

For the "S" challenge we had to use at least six things that started with S. I wasn't really sure how I was going to manage this one, since we could ONLY use things that started with S. Then I got looking around at the Turtle on Saturday. I found a piece of Sunshine cardstock (by Bazzill) and two Soup Staple papers from Jillibean (Green Pea Pod and White Macaroni). When I finally got to work on it today I pulled out some StazOn ink, a stamp, stickers (of butterflies) and my Stickles to finish it off.

The Cut It Out challenge was one of my favourites. I love hand cutting things from the patterned papers. I put this one together while watching Stargate on DVD with the family. I used two different shades of green cardstock for the background (one is Coredinations). I stamped the Coredinations piece and distressed the edges. I cut the rose from a Pink Paislee paper and cut the butterflies from a Graphic 45 paper. I'm not sure what I will use it for, but I really like this card.

In the Just Like Jillian challenge we were required to scraplift something created by the current Guest Design Team member at the Nook. I selected her cute Deer Christmas card to scraplift. I used my adorable Quickutz deer die, some American Crafts paper, Making Memories stickers, and some Stickles. Thanks Jillian for the inspiration.

The sketch challenge this week was another wonderful one from PageMaps. I had purchased some new Kaiser Craft papers from the Turtle on Saturday, so I chose one of those to be the background for this adorable photo of Sara and Samuel trying out the checkers game outside the Cracker Barrel in Ohio on our vacation last week. They looked so cute in those little rocking chairs. I actually turned the paper sideways so that the design in the corner worked with the sketch. I then took the other Kaiser Craft paper and cut a strip for matting the photo. I added a piece of American Crafts paper at the top and two pieces of American Crafts ribbon. The title uses my newest (and possibly most favourite) Thickers from American Crafts --- love them!!!!! I then handcut a couple of the flowery designs from the leftover piece of Kaiser paper and added them to the design. I finished it off with a few swirly lines and dotted lines above and below the photo mat, along with my journaling.

So amazingly I finished all five challenges just in time. This coming week will be the final week for Summerfest. I wonder what challenges they will have in store for us now.

Summerfest Week 11

I finished up all  of the challenges for week eleven of Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook last night.

Flower Power required us to use five different flowers. I used a metal one, a felt one, a Quickutz one, a chipboard one, and a puffy fabric one, as well as lots of American Crafts ribbon.

The Stash Stew challenge required us to use textured cardstock, die cut patterned paper, bling, dimensional alphas, 7 brads, 2 different ribbon, something metal, and something at least five years old. The ribbon slide is actually something I bought ten or so years ago to make a dream catcher -- I think it is called a conch, but I could be wrong. Oh, and something had to be pop dotted, so I pop dotted the Autumn ribbon. I love these new American Crafts Thickers --- I think they are my favourite ones to date.

An Ode-i to Jodi was a scraplift challenge. I lifted Jodi's very pretty "Thinking of You" card and used my Technique Tuesday stamp. I used up some old paper from my stash that I really didn't like, but I like how it looks on this card. I think this is one of my most favourite cards. Recognize the Treading Water Fiskars punch on this one? I used it to make the mat for the butterfly as well as the base of the card. Thanks for the inspiration Jodi!!!!

The photo challenge this week was "Love". Here's a photo of Gary and Sara :)

Enjoy the rest of your week!!!

Top 10 Challenge

As part of Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook I was challenged to create a project using my top 10 manufacturers. That was a tough one --- I have so many manufacturers that I love (which is part of my problem LOL). I managed to narrow it down to ten and created a card.

The manufacturers?

Bazzill - cardstock

Quickutz - butterflies

Provo Craft - Cuttlebug embossing folder

Ranger - Stickles

Doodlebug - brads

Colorbox - ink

Heidi Swapp - edge distressor

Prima - flowers

Fancy Pants - paper

Coredinations - cardstock

Feel The Difference

I've been very busy recently getting some projects ready that I am unable to reveal at this time, but since those are now done I have been able to tackle the Summerfest challenges for week 11 at The Scrapping Nook. The first one I have completed is for the "Feel The Difference" challenge. We were shown an advertisement and required to use at least three of the colours and take whatever other inspiration we wanted from it. The ad was in a variety of colours and showed some buildings splashed with colour.

I immediately thought of the Dream Street Urban Ink Reflections paper and a suggestion that my friend Lori made while we were looking at the paper at the Scrapping Turtle. She thought it would be a good paper to use the Quickutz Skyline border dies with. I'm not sure this is what she pictured, but here is my creation.

I cut the City Skyline Quickutz border in eight colours (all taken from the ad), then layered them across the bottom of the paper. I actually cut the border in half so that I could change the order of the skyline buildings. I then cut the Suburban Skyline Quickutz border in the same eight colours. I used the black as the base and cut houses out in the other seven colours. The photo was taken at my friend Mellissa's house at her grandchildren's birthday party. Since it had several colours in it I felt it fit my theme perfectly. The alphabet stickers for the top part of the title are unknown stickers from my stash. The coloured stickers are from Piggy Tales.

The journaling reads: Whatever you do, wherever you go, I hope you will always live your life to the fullest and enjoy every moment.

Thanks for the idea Lori -- I hope you like it. Marissa, now you know what I was planning to do with all those skylines I cut out on Monday :)

Week Ten Photo Challenge

Our Summerfest photo challenge for this week was "fun". That's easy peasy with Sara and Sam around. Here they are having fun with their new train set.

Just Like Jen

Our final Summerfest challenge for week ten at The Scrapping Nook involved scraplifting a project by Jen Backler. There are many fabulous projects of Jen's posted in the gallery. It was very hard to choose just one. I decided to scraplift her "Sweet Grace" layout to create my "Sweet Sara" layout.

In Jen's layout she had used paintable paper to create her flowers. I didn't have any of that kind of paper, so I hand cut the flowers from a Pink Paislee paper. There's some brand new Jillibean Soup paper behind the photo --- love Jillibean Soup. I added the stems and things to the paper by doodling --- I'm actually quite impressed with how it turned out. I added Stickles to the title so that it would show up better in the photo -- they look much better in real life. The fabulous photo was taken by my friend Kim Munro. Thanks Kim!!!!!

A Bit Chippy

Challenge #49 for Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook required us to use at least three different pieces of chipboard. Lettering could only count as one piece.

I found the Scenic Route chipboard circle with the word "Always" first. I distressed the edge and inked it. Next I took a Maya Road chipboard heart, inked it with StazOn ink and spritzed it with Glimmer Mist. The letters are American Crafts naked chipboard letters which I inked with Catseye ink. I put it all together on Bazzill Swiss Dot paper. It's a simple card, but I still like it.

A Round Card

Regan posted a fabulous card sketch challenge at the Scrapping Turtle last week. Unlike most card sketches that are square or rectangular, Regan's is round. As soon as I saw it I thought "Wow!!! Great idea!!!" The cards created by the Design Team for Regan's challenge are fabulous (you should go to the forum and check them out). I knew I had to give her challenge a try.

I started thinking about it and looking through my scrap bin. I love to use my scraps for cards whenever I can. I found the Scenic Route paper with the fish on it and then I found some left over Cosmo Cricket Snorkel paper. There was also a piece of blue Bazzill cardstock left over that was big enough to form the base of the card. I even found a left over wave that I'd cut out for another project and didn't use. With the addition of some Making Memories alpha stickers (which happened to be left overs as well) I had a cute little pool invitation.

Since I used only scraps for this card it also fit perfectly for the Summerfest Just Scrap It challenge at The Scrapping Nook. 

I really like this card -- it's cute if you ask me :) Just for the record, the invitation is for a swim in a little inflatable pool -- but you are still welcome to come :)

Thanks for the fabulous sketch Regan!!!!!

For Just A Moment

I've never heard this song, but the lyrics sound beautiful.

For Just a Moment by David Foster 

We laugh until we had to cry And we love right down to our last goodbye 

We were the best, I think we'll ever be 

Just you and me...for just a moment 

We chase that dream we never found 

And sometimes we let one another down 

But the love we made, made everything allright 

We shone so bright...for just a moment 

Time goes on, people touch and they're gone 

And you and I will never love again 

like we did then 

Someday when we both reminisce 

We both say there wasn't too much we missed 

And through the tears, the smile when we recall 

We had it all...for just a moment 

Time goes on, people touch and then they're gone 

But you and I will never really end, 

Will never love again...like we did then 

We laugh until we had to cry 

And we love right down to our last goodbye... 

One of our challenges this week for Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook was to use these lyrics for inspiration for a project. I wasn't sure what I would do at first, then I came up with the idea for this card.

I used some Bazzill cardstock and an unknown paper from my stash. The two lines from the song were printed on cardstock with the space in the middle for the photo. I didn't create it with any specific purpose in mind, but I think it is a sympathy card. I just hope I don't need to use it any time soon.

Don't Distress, Tear It Up

One of my favourite techniques is distressing, although I don't use in on every layout or card. I think it really adds another level to the project when the edges of the papers are a bit 'roughed up'. So when I read the "Don't Distress, Tear It Up" challenge for Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook I was quite happy.

I used some left over Cosmo Cricket Snorkel papers to create "You Are A Lifesaver". The background cardstock is inked, then I tore the edges of the CC paper before inking them. The corrugated cardboard was distressed as was the CC tag, which was also inked. With the corrugated cardboard the card also has a bit more dimension.

Summerfest Week 9

Here are the final two challenges that I did for last week's Summerfest challenges at The Scrapping Nook.

For the Picture Perfect layout we were required to use at least 9 photos for a double page layout. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to scrap the photos we took at the Michael W. Smith concert at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton on May 16, 2009. I wish we'd had a better camera, but we did get some nice photos. The concert promotional poster image is from the internet. The papers are all from the new Bo Bunny Gypsy line. I was inspired by a Sketch Lover's sketch for this layout.

The journaling reads "The power of the Holy Spirit rocked the Coliseum. Smitty was amazing - he delivered the message from our Lord and Saviour. Our God is an awesome God!!! He reigns!!! Praise the Lord!"

Our sketch challenge for this week was from PageMaps. I combined some Bazzill cardstock with the Road Signs line from Reminisce for this layout. The title was done with American Crafts Thickers. 

The journaling reads "Samuel loved the digger when we stopped for corn at Gillespie's. August 15, 2009." I'm pretty sure we are going to have to get him one of these to play with.

Let's Get Krafty

Summerfest challenge # 43 at The Scrapping Nook required us to use our "kraft" items. I thought it was the perfect time to use one of these fabulous Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts, as well as to showcase Sammy with his new haircut. The title is cut using the Quickutz limited edition Zelda font, which I then adhered to stars cut using the Quickutz Nesting Stars die.

I still can't get over how grown up my baby looks with his new hair cut.

A Real Friend

In the last year or so I've been very blessed to have some very special people come into my life. They've all been there while I've travelled this difficult road that I'm on --- offering their love and support unconditionally. They are the ones who've listened, who've called, who've emailed, who've been ready with hugs and shoulders to lean on. They are the ones who've proved to me that true friends --- real friends --- are there for you no matter what. They pick me up when I am down, offer me advice and support, and never once have made me feel guilty for not being the 'strong' person I used to be. Each of them make me feel accepted, appreciated, and supported without question. Some of them are friends I've had for a long time, some are friends I've discovered in the last year or so, some are friends who have grown from acquaintances to dearly loved friends, some are friends from the internet that I've never met, and some are people I've reconnected with after years of having little or no contact. I love and appreciate each and every one of them. The sentiment on this card made me realize just how many real friends I have. I could send this to so many different people. Since it is only one card and I can't send it to all of them, I am posting it here with my love and gratitude to each and every one of my real friends. You all know who you are :)

The quote was assigned as a challenge for Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook. It reads "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out" and was written by Walter Winchell. Cardstock is Bazzill, paper is Basic Grey, and the silhouette was cut on my Cricut using the "A Child's Year" cartridge.

Happy Birthday Colour Card

I am very behind in my birthday cards right now. Actually I'm behind with a lot of cards, but I'm trying to get caught up. But at least I can mark one more off of my list now, thanks to this challenge.

One of the Summerfest challenges at The Scrapping Nook this week is a colour challenge. We were limited to using only blue, red, yellow, black and white on our project --- no other colours were allowed. The first thing I thought when I read that challenge was that those would be great colours for a birthday card. Then I thought of my EK Success border punches and pulled out two of them --- the candles because it is a birthday card and the ABC123 because it is a card for a little boy who turned 2 this year (he is doing a fabulous job of learning his letters and numbers too). Since I'm not mailing this card I decided to try a square card -- 6x6 to be exact. Then I cut different sized squares in the different colours. I punched three with the candle punch and the white one with the other punch. Then I proceeded to layer my squares. The edges are inked with black ink as well. I finished it off with an Inkadinkado stamp from the Humorous Birthday set --- I stamped the Happy part four times and the Birthday part once.

Now I just need to get the card and the present I've had for months delivered -- hopefully before the little guy has his next birthday LOL!!!

Summerfest Week 8 Challenges

I finished all of the challenges for week 8 of Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook with just minutes to spare. The last two that I completed were, for some unknown reason, a bit more of a challenge for me than they should have been. But the important thing is that they are all finished and posted.

I scrambled to have just the right number of items to finish the Fifty is Nifty challenge. I used my kit for the Two Scrapbook Friends product challenge and added a few things. My fifty items were:

1 background paper

2 die cut clouds

1 paper circle

1 journal block

2 tickets

4 pieces ribbon

4 staples

3 waves

1 sticker border

2 stickers

1 ink

3 fish

3 buttons 

5 numbers

17 words

The journaling reads: "Hold all my calls please. I'm spending the day relaxing in the pool!"

For the $3.00 or Less challenge, I used this fabulous die cut paper from K & Company and some Bazzill cardstock (total $2.83). I highlighted with my Zig marker and my Signo white pen. I doodled the 'Before' and 'After', but I'm not thrilled with how they turned out. The photos are of Samuel's first haircut. Can you believe that I finally agreed to cut off his beautiful curls? He doesn't look like a baby anymore --- he's a little man. Sob!!!

One of our challenges was to scraplift something from Tara at the Nook. I found a beautiful card that she had created involving four sections, ribbon and a middle piece with the sentiment. I used Little Yellow Bicycle's Zinnia line, some American Crafts ribbon, and Inkadinkado's Boxed Wishes stamp.

Our sketch this week was a lovely one from the Prima blog. I attempted to combine a Quickutz Flourish border die with a Quickutz Flower (pop up) border die (which is one of the dies being highlighted for Quickutz Korner at the Scrapping Turtle). It was a bit more challenging than I anticipated and I'm not sure I'm totally in love with the end result. You can't tell in the photo, but the flower border was spritzed with Glimmer Mist. There are bling crystals in the centres of the popped up flowers. I also added Prima flowers on the flourish border. I used Bazzill cardstock, Collage Press and Making Memories papers, and Rusty Pickle letters.

Our photo challenge for this week was to take a photo of either a sunrise or a sunset. Here is my sunset:

Get Well Soon

A very very dear and special friend of mine is going through a very challenging time right now. Her health has taken a bad turn and she is facing a rough road. She has a lot of people rooting for her, sending her positive vibes, thoughts and prayers, but she can use all the love and support she can get right now. Please take a moment to say a prayer for my friend. She means a lot to me and to a lot of people, and we all pray that she will get well soon.

I made this card for her, while completing one of the Summerfest challenges at The Scrapping Nook. The "Against All Odds" challenge meant that everything used on the project had to be in odd numbers. 

So here is my list:

1 JustRite stamp

1 Cuttlebug embossing folder (flower)

5 Copic markers (yes I coloured with my Copics)

1 piece of sandpaper

1 corner rounder

1 piece of patterned paper

3 pieces of cardstock (1 of which is Coredinations)

1 Catseye ink

1 ribbon bow (was white, coloured yellow with Copic)

3 words

11 letters

a ton of love, positive thoughts and get well wishes

Get well soon Mel. {{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}

Read All About It

One of the Summerfest week five challenges at The Scrapping Nook was focussed on the 5 W's -- Who, What, When, Where, and Why.

"Slide" came together rather easily. Bo Bunny paper, three photos of Sara showing a progression on the slide, American Crafts Thickers and brads, Doodlebug brads, some doodled stitching, the 5 W's for journaling, and some arrows created using my Quickutz Arrows die. The most time consuming part was piercing the holes in the semi circles for the brads --- thank goodness I only had to follow the pre marked design LOL.

I'm still two challenges behind from week five --- teaches me for not getting them done on time. LOL!!!! But first I should do the challenges for week eight, so they will get in on time and I will get full points. Wish me luck :)

Layout Sketch With a Twist

Awhile back my dear friend Mellissa posted a layout sketch challenge on the Scrapping Turtle pond. It wasn't the usual kind of layout sketch. She calls it a "layout sketch ... with a twist". The sketch was actually two 6x6 sized sketches that then needed to be combined into one 12x12 layout. Since one of the Summerfest week 5 challenges at The Scrapping Nook was "Size Doesn't Matter" and required us to create something that was a different size than we usually did, I thought of Mellissa's challenge. 

I used Mellissa's sketches to create the two 6x6 sized layouts. I used Bazzill cardstock, American Crafts Travel line, EK Success alpha stickers, and Quickutz Scallop border die and Jouraling Tag die.

I then combined them on another piece of Bazzill cardstock and added arrows using my Quickutz Arrows dies (two different ones).

Thanks for the sketches and the twist Mellissa!!!!! I miss you and hope you are feeling better soon {{{{Hugs}}}}

Final Week 7 Challenge

The final challenge for week 7 of Summerfest at The Scrapping Nook was one I had a bit of difficulty with. The "What's Old Is New Again" challenge required us to 'revisit' an old layout or card and enhance it. I honestly didn't want to change any of the layouts I've done, as I am a firm believer in letting them show the progression of my scrapbooking. But then I happened to be going through my card stash looking for a particular card and I came upon this one.

I've never been completely happy with the dark pink background. I also felt that the strip at the bottom needed something more. Overall the card seemed to be calling out for a bit more bling. Of course the biggest issue was the seed beads --- which were falling off!!!! So I had found my project.

I changed the background to green, made the corners fancy and inked the edges of the paper. I took off all the seed beads and replaced them with faux stitching and Stickles. I added a Dew Drop to the flower. I outlined the flower, butterfly and the green patterned paper with my Gelly Roll Clear Star pen. Finally, I added some tiny Prima flowers to the strip at the bottom and added a Dimensional Pearls centre to each flower.

It still isn't perfect and I'm not sure I like this background either, but it is better. At least now I can use it without worrying about all those beads.