Scavenger Hunt Sunday 9-1-13

What's that?! Yes, that's right, I'm joining back in on the scavenger hunt.  It has been a crazy summer of moving, but we are finally getting settled and I thought it would be a good time to get back into taking photos!  This week's prompts were pretty open, so I was able to pull together some shots.

Beyond

The wildebeest are beyond the addax.  We took a trip to the zoo this week.  One of the exhibits that is ending after Monday is the African animal exhibit.  These are two of the animals seen there.

Down

The children are walking down the stream.  We also went to a local park this week that has streams and fountains for the kids to play in.  It is a beautiful park, so it was fun to capture some shots of the kids enjoying the water.

Flow
Another shot from the park.  This is of my youngest.  He loves playing in the water and he was mesmerized by this fish fountain.

Shadow
I didn't have any "cool" shadow shots from the week, but this is of my younger daughter laying in the water and the shadow from the wall covers half of her.

Tip
Another exhibit at the zoo that is ending Monday is the Butterfly Garden.  The butterflies like to land on the tip of the flowers.

Well, that was fun!  I hope to get back into this more consistently!  Have a great week!

I Feel the Love Project- August

I have my card for the I Feel the Love Project to share today.  This month the project was to make blank birthday cards for women and children who are staying at Safehome.

I was inspired by this week's Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamps: Dotty.  I used a Studio Calico mask, distress ink in Salty Ocean, and a blending tool for the background.  The transparency pieces were leftover from previous projects and were actually my starting point.  I have been doing some rearranging of my scrapbooking supplies and I found these and decided to make a card with them.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on vellum.

I even added some dots to the inside, using the mask again and my Stamping Gear and circles stamp.

NAS #280- Frosty Fun

It's Monday, which means a new sketch at Nuts About Sketches!  It is the last one of the term and it is a great one for getting lots of photos on one page!  

I decided to scrap some photos of my younger daughter playing in the snow a few years ago.  I used Recollections Peppermint Twist papers.  The large snowflake behind my focal point photo was cut for another project, but it ended up not working, so I pulled it out and used it here.  I cut the smaller snowflakes with my Cricut and the "Doodlecharms" cartridge.  I fussy cut the snowmen from a sheet of patterned paper and used them in the place of the banner elements.  I added a little sparkle with some glitter glue on my snowflake elements.

Materials-
Cardstock- American Crafts
Patterned Paper- Michael's
Tape- My Mind's Eye
Letters- Creative Memories
Gems- Mark Richards
Trim- Michael's
Brads- Bo Bunny Press
Pen- Creative Memories
Die Cutter- Provo Craft
Cartridges- Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2; Doodlecharms

Wedding Card

We are attending my cousin's wedding tomorrow, so I made this card to celebrate the occasion.  I wanted to use just black and white and I really wanted to use the bride and groom from "Stretch Your Imagination." so I went in search of a sketch that would allow me to do just that.  I found this great sketch at Unscripted Sketches and went on my way.  

I started with a black cardstock card base.  I cut the white cardstock 1/4" smaller in both dimensions and dry embossed it.  I cut the bride and groom using the "silhouette" feature.  I originally attached that to my card front, but decided it needed to be grounded somehow so I cut and tore the piece of vellum to go behind it.  The glowers were Martha Stewart stickers and I used some sheer black ribbon as the "stems."

NAS #278

It's Monday, which means a new sketch at Nuts About Sketches.  This week is a two pager, so I used it for my monthly calendar page.  

I used the Simple Stories "Vintage Bliss" collection for this layout.  The colors and patterns are so pretty!  I recently bought a Crafter's Workshop polka dot mask and put that to use on this layout.  I laid it on the background cardstock and sprayed it with white and grey mists. 

Instead of having part of my title on the right-hand page, I used a transparency quote.  For the embellishment cluster below it, I used a rub on, a flower, and a rubber charm.  

For the title, I cut a banner using the chevron stripe strip from the strip sheet and cut a banner.  I decided it needed a bit more to stand out from the background so I matted it on the blue and white polka dot paper.  To make the flowers stand out against the pattern, I smeared some white paint across the paper.  Once it was dry, I stuck on my letter stickers.  I used a couple different flowers to draw attention to the title.

Materials-
Cardstock- Bazzill
Patterned Paper, stickers, transparency- Simple Stories
Mask- The Crafter's Workshop
Ink- Studio Calico, October Afternoon
Pen- Zig
Paint- Liquitex
Flowers- Kaiser Craft, Prima
Felt- Basic Grey
Rub ons- Autumn Leaves
Pearls- Michael's
Rubber Charm- October Afternoon

Unscripted Sketches #27- Birthday Card

My nephew's 5th birthday is coming up at the end of the week so I made a card for him using the sketch posted last week on Unscripted Sketches.

I used a K and Company mat stack for the papers.  The alien was cut using the "Boys Will Be Boys" Cricut cartridge.  Once I had it attached to my background, it blended in too much, so I outlined it with red gel pen to make it pop.  

The button brads were pink, but I colored them with a red Sharpie to match.  I was chatting with my husband while I was doing it and he said I was crazy!  I said, "Hey, I'm saving you money and using what I have instead of buying it in every color!!"  But seriously, if you don't have the color you want, look at what you have around and see if you can change the color of something you already have to make it work on your project.

Scrapping Everyday Miracles August Main Challenge

It is the first Monday of the month and Cara has a new challenge for us at Scrapping Everyday Miracles.  The challenge is called "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me."  Here is what she had to say:

God created us to do great things and gives us the strength, courage and perseverance to do them!  He also delights in us and with us when we do---isn't that cool? So this month I want to you to create a project about an accomplishment...it can be your own or a loved ones.

The LORD your God is with you, 
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love, 
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

So, you can choose anything that you consider an accomplishment---completing a degree, finishing a race, beating an illness, weight loss, etc. Can't wait to see what God is doing in your lives.

Oh, and don't forget the Scrap Twist...use metal or something metallic on your project.

I chose to make a layout about the three 5Ks I ran two summers ago.  I have never been much of a runner, in fact, I avoided it at all costs in high school.  As an adult, though, I have come to enjoy running shorter distances (there are no marathons in my future!).  I am not very fast, but I am a competitive person, so I need to set personal goals to keep myself motivated.  The summer of 2011 I set a goal of running a 5K in under 30 minutes.  I ran the first two races in just over 30 minutes, but the last one I finally broke the 30 minute mark and finished in 28:36!  

I started this page with a sheet of craft cardstock.  I added the strips on patterned paper and my bib numbers from each of the races.  I then sprayed and splattered the page with white and red ink.  

I matted a photo of my sister and I after we finished one of the races.  I lined up some arrows and stickers down the side.  I mimicked that column of embellishments with my column of journaling spots that contain my somewhat lengthy journaling.  

After I initially finished this layout, I had photographed it and put it in an album.  Then I realized I forgot the scrap twist!!  I pulled it back out and added the metallic gromlets to make a visual triangle.

I hope you will check out what the rest of the team did and join us for the challenge!

Materials:
Cardstock- Bazzill
Patterned Paper- My Mind's Eye, Pink Paislee
Stickers- Little Yellow Bicycle, October Afternoon
Chipboard- Heidi Swapp, Creative Imaginations, Jillibean Soup
Stamps- Creative Imaginations
Ink- October Afternoon, Studio Calico, Clearsnap, Ranger
Pen- Zig, Creative Memories