Thoughtful

Thoughtful
Journaling: "Thoughtful - I love to watch you as you try and figure things out around you. I can see the wheels turning in your head. You study things in earnest, and you remember with ease. I hope this love for learning follows you forever."

Font is St. Charles

Everything except the inked edge on the photo from Absolutely by Lauren Grier at Elemental Scraps

Inked Edge from Edges Pack by Lauren Bavin at Digital Scrapbook Place

Scraplifted from Jumping in the Grass by serenasmom at Digital Freebies

Created for the Bannerwoman Weekly Scraplift Challenge for August 2006 Week 3 at Digital Freebies

Completed August 20, 2006

My Dad

Not the most stellar layout, I admit. Certainly doesn't do justice to all the things my dad means to me. But I realized at about 1:30 AM this morning that the new challenges go up at Scrap Mommies on the 15th, which means that all challenge entries for the previous time period (and the kit I am after) have to be done before then! So I needed stuff done before the new challenges go up the morning of the 15th, which cuts off a day more than I thought I had. ACK! So I whipped this up, and it covers two challenges, which means I am now done done done! WHEW!!



My Dad

Paper strips read: "teacher, friend, grandfather, leader, supporter"
* Font is SNC Script
* Everything from Sophistication by Lauren Grier at Elemental Scraps
* Based on a sketch by Gina Miller
* Created for the All About Me and Element Challenges for Early August 2006 at Scrap Mommies
* Completed August 15, 2006

Erin Dislikes....

Someone made the observation that we often scrap about stuff we like, but almost never about stuff we don't, so that was this challenge. And before anyone gets really impressed, I did not make all those little strips. I just combined a plain cream paper with the joined circles on it with a paper that came with the strips and star circles. I was planning to use strips to hold each word anyway, and when I saw this paper, I figured I'd let it do the work for me!



Erin Dislikes....

Journaling: "Erin dislikes.... broccoli, high heels, rudeness, bugs, heartache, crude humor, lies, alochol, intolerance, horror movies, hate, make-up, spicy food, UGA, illness, walnuts, sweat, ham, bickering, skirts, acne, Dr. Pepper, surgery, ignorance, coffee, bigotry, aging, war"

Font is Blown Deadline

Everything from All Stars by Robin Cabana at Scrapdish

Created for the Journaling Challenge for Early August 2006 at Scrap Mommies

Completed August 14, 2006

Moonlight Monument

I actually finished this one before Painted Tranquility, but I had to wait for permission from my aunt to post it, since it is her photograph. (Technically, I shouldn't have even used it without asking, but I had a hunch she wouldn't mind, and I'm on a deadline.)

This leaves me with only three challenges left to complete for the Scrap Mommies kit for Early August, which I can hopefully manage with just two more layouts. Gotta get it done by midnight tomorrow! Wish me luck.



Moonlight Monument

Photograph by Denise Carlson, used with permission

Solid black paper and Light Gray Matte from Intensity Add-On by Lauren Grier at Digital Freebies

Center background paper and dark gray matte from Romance at Dusk by Gina Miller at Scrapbook-Bytes, altered by me

Ribbon from Antique Floral by April Bern at RAK Scraps

Silver dots from Lavendar Fields by Melany Violette at Simply Clean Digi Scraps

Scraplifted from Sand-Sational by Amber1279 at Scrap Mommies

Created for the Scraplift Challenge and the Alter Challenge for Early August 2006 at Scrap Mommies

Completed August 12, 2006

Painted Tranquility

As soon as I saw the inspiration painting, I immediately started thinking about calm and peacefulness and tranquility. I thought it would be cool to incorporate the words into the brush strokes that feature so prominently in the original painting (5th one down), but I couldn't figure out how to do them. Then I stumbled across a painted brush strokes brush set this weekend, and I knew it was meant to be.



Painted Tranquility

Font is Amerika Sans

Painted Brush Strokes by Peppermint Creative

Brush strokes recolored with papers from To My Mother, For My Father, Blue Lavendar, and Honeydew Lemon, all by Peppermint Creative

Inspired by the painting Summer Lock by Frank Ettenberg (5th one down)

Created for the Inspiration Challenge for Early August 2006 at Scrap Mommies

Completed August 13, 2006

Luke's Favorite Kitty

Ever since he became mobile, most of our four cats avoid Luke as much as possible, and I can't say that I really blame them. He was rather prone to the classic pulling of tails and ears and whiskers for many months. Cleo is the only kitty who has given him a second chance, and she is definitely his favorite, since she doesn't mind the now-occasional roughness so much.



Luke's Favorite Kitty

Journaling: "Luke's Favorite Kitty - Cleo"

Font is Apple Butter

Everything except circle stitches from Lil Dude and Friends by Robin Carlton at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Circle stitches from Karen Hunt's Sewing Box Freebie Set Three, from her blog

Sketcy by Traci Reed for the Early August 2006 Scrap Mommies Sketch Challenge

Completed August 12, 2006

Glynn Academy

Two more Scrap Mommies challenges managed with this one layout, Scrap Therapy and Font. Five complete; still seven to go. The photos are of my beloved high school, one for each of the 9 buildings on campus, and one of the bell that sits out front. And yes, despite the name, this is a *public* high school.



Glynn Academy

Journaling: "That's me. Glynn Academy Class of 1994. Has it really been that long? Like everyone else, I certainly had my awful high school moments, but overall, I really liked it. I graduated 5th in my class. I had lots of friends, some of which I still know. I moved in many circles, though I was a band geek and proud of it. I had one boyfriend, but we won't talk about him! (That was probably the worst part of high school for me.) I was thin (well, after 9th grade) and proud and confident. I knew what I wanted and I went for it. I was, and am still, extremely proud to be a Glynn Academy Red Terror, just like my father. That may not seem amazing to some, but given that we had moved 8 times by then, to end up at the same high school as my father is pretty wild. I love the old buildings and the history; GA is the second oldest public school in Georgia, and most buildings date from the 1920s. It was just a great time for me. I enjoyed learning, I enjoyed the people, I enjoyed the experiences (well, most of them). I just enjoyed life. Long live the Red and White."

Fonts are Harrington and Inkburrow

Everything from A Fresh View - Flair by Trish Jones at Scrapbook-Bytes

Based on a sketch by Jen Caputo (I just used the idea, not the template)

Created for the Scrap Therapy and Font Challenges for Early August 2006 at Scrap Mommies

Completed August 10, 2006

New Haircut

Wow, two layouts for me today! (Three, actually, if you count my progressive layout for The Scrapping Garden (you post your progress each week as pieces of the daily kit are added), but I only post the final on the blogs, so you don't get to see it yet.)

This photo is actually the "after" shot for his very first haircuit, but since I still have a series of "in progress" photos of that event that I have not scrapped yet, I am saving that title.



New Haircut

Font is Harrington

Everything from Journey by Bannerwoman Designs from Digital Freebies

Scraplifted from Madalyn by Trevorsmommy2004 at Digital Freebies

Created for the Bannerwoman Weekly Scraplift Challenge for August 7-13, 2006 at Digital Freebies

Completed August 9, 2006

Birthday Pout

Another for Scrap Mommies, but it is not a combined one, so that still leaves me 9 to go, and only six days. Not sure if I'll make it or not, but I'll sure try. This challenge was to scrap your child pouting. I actually don't have many pouting photos. When he was little, the pout was your "five second warning" that he was about to explode, so one was prone to drop the camera (figuratively) and run to comfort him!



Birthday Pout

Journaling: "Birthday Pout - Your very first birthday. What could be more fun than that? We worked hard, Nana made you a beautiful Nemo cake, and everyone was standing by with cameras to capture the classic "make a mess" cakephotos. But you were having none of it. You hated the feel of the icing on your fingers, and when I finally managed to get a little in your mouth, you still wouldn't eat any. You even threw the cake off your tray at one point. What a picutre to commemorate your first birthday cake!"

Fonts are Pea Leigh Leigh from Fonts for Peas and Delta Hey Max Nine

Everything from Oceanography by Roberta D'Achilee at Rendered Memories

Based on a sketch by Jen Caputo (I did not actually use the template, only the idea)

Created for the Baby Book Challenge for Early August 2006 at Scrap Mommies

Completed August 9, 2006

First Disney Vacation

One down, covering two challenges (Theme and Quote). Only 10 challenges left to cover. And yes, I realize I have used the Mouse Ears photo already, but I love it so!



First Disney Vacation

Quote: "Find what brings you joy and go there"

Journaling: "Disney 2005 - This was your first trip to Disney World. I was so excited to get to show you my most favorite place on Earth and to buy you your first set of Mouse Ears, with your name on the back, of course. Unfortunately, the trip did not go as well as I would have liked. No one slept very well at the hotel, least of all you. It rained the entire day, so you didn't spend much time in the stroller. Finally, the weather broke, with just two hours before park close. I've never done so much in so little time in my life! But you sure seemed to enjoy it, so that is ultimately the most important thing. I cannot wait for this year's trip!"

Fonts are Walter, Wild Ride, and Arial

Photos by Rita Warren and Erin Gaston

Blue Green Paper at lower left from Puzzled by Roberta D'Achille

Sketch Template by Jen Caputo

Created for both the Theme Challenge and the Quote Challenge at Scrap Mommies for Early August 2006

Completed August 8, 2006

Growing Like a Weed

This was my first ever ad challenge. Lots of sites will post an ad of some sort (billboard, magazine ad spread, etc) that you can then use for inspiration. It is much more ambiguous than a scraplift or a sketch challenge, because the idea is to simply be inspired, not necessarily to copy. You can use the structure, the colors, the subject, or just however it happens to "click" with you. Being the engineering type that I am, this is much harder for me, but I was immediately struck with the idea for this layout when I saw the ad (there were actually two, and you could pick). Want to see the original ad? Click me! This was also my first ever use of the bevel function in PSP. Clearly, I need to work on it a bit more, but I love the dimension it added to the flowers instead of them being "flat" around the photos.

Growing Like a Weed

Background paper from Outer Banks Bonus Mini Kit by Eva Kipler at Digital Freebies

Doodle stems by Fernlili, recolored by me

Flower shape made with Flower Frame Paper Shaper from Free Digital Scrapbooking

Flower papers all from Summer SUNsations at Scrapdish, specifically:
* Red by Krista Mettler
* Orange by Jeanine Baechtold
* Aqua by Krista Mettler
* Blue by Krista Mettler
* Purple by Jen Reed

Created for Erica's August 2006 Ad Challenge at Digital Freebies

Completed August 5, 2006

On the Go

I had a really hard time with this challenge. The steep angle of all of the elements made it difficult for me to find a photo that I was happy with the final look. I did take advantage of the fact that it made drop shadows difficult (thus losing definition between the papers and appearing very flat), so I decided to try the "stitched together" look, and I'm fairly happy with it.

On the Go

Font is ActionIs

All papers from Beep Beep by Janel Kretschman at The Digi Boutique

Stitches from the June 2006 RAK Scraps Mega Kit by Jeannie Papai

Inspiration sketch by Maria LaFrance

Created for Maria's Weekly Sketch Challenge for 7/31-8/6/2006 at Digital Freebies

Completed August 3, 2006

Baby Blues

Will you look at that! A *recent* photo of Luke, taken July 2006, wearing his new favorite shirt from his Nana no less. I had been wanting to try this technique of using multiple rotated copies of the photo instead of a traditional "matting" type thing, and this challenge was the perfect opportunity.

Baby Blues

Font is Quill Oblique

Background paper from Aidan by Tracy Collins at Digital Freebies

Scraplifted from Beautiful Blue Eyes by melc at Digital Freebies

Created for the Bannerwoman Weekly Scraplift Challenge for 7/31-8/6/2006 at Digital Freebies

Completed August 3, 2006