Scrappy: Celebrate the Positive

The second AAM challenge for August is to create a layout about Celebrating the Positive! We are right in the middle of a fantastic crop over on the All About Me forum! There are still prizes up for grabs and challenges to help you find extra inspiration!



I used some more SRM sticker for this project. It didn't turn out how I expected it would, but I'm trying not to be over critical of myself these days!

What do you do when you create something you don't like?

Scrappy: Happiness is a brother

I've been in the mood to scrap childhood pictures recently. Maybe it is because my little (not so little anymore) brother is leaving soon to serve in the Peace Corps in Cameroon. He will be gone for 27 months and he may or may not have the chance to attend my wedding. Caleb and I have been through a lot together as siblings and I am so proud of him and the fabulous person he is!







Who do you admire most? Who inspires you?

AAM Blog Hop Winner!

Happy Monday everyone! I've been hanging out with one of my dear friends and her son today. It has been a wonderful day!

I wanted to make a real quick announcement that the winner of my RAK is Stephanie!

Stephanie said...

Cute layout and card!

My favorite birthday was 2 years ago. Chris proposed to me on a walk in our favorite park :)

August 14, 2010 12:21 PM

Email me at RachLHawkins at gmail dot com with your address and I will ship your prize ASAP!


Thank you each and every one of your comments- I loved reading about your birthday memories!!!

AAM Birthday Blog Hop!!!

I hope you are enjoying your time during this All About Me Challenge Blog Hop! If you didn't arrive via Donna's blog, then go back to the beginning and start the hop there!

I love birthdays- not because of gifts or cake, but because it gives us a reason to celebrate ourselves and those we love! One of my favorite birthday memories is having an annual sleepover party on a Sunday the week of my birthday because it falls on the same week as Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday and we always had a school holiday. All of my friends would come over and we would have a Birthday cheesecake made by my wonderful mother. Most of my slumber parties were interrupted by my adorable little brother- because, well, that's what little brothers are good for!

One of our Birthday Celebration sponsors is SRM Stickers and they were so fabulous to send their amazing product to the AAM Design Team. I have been creating some awesome projects with the stickers and LOVE working with them!

Here are a few projects that feature SRM Stickers:





I will be giving away some fabulous SRM Stickers as a celebration of All About Me Challenge Blog's first birthday!

All you have to do to be eligible is comment on this post sharing your favorite birthday memory! I will draw a name on Monday, August 16th and will announce the winner here!

Our crop officially kicks off on August 15th, but like any great party- we are pre-gaming already! Come and join us on the forum for a week of fabulous challenges and many chances to win some awesome prizes!!!

I guess by now you are ready for the word that you have been sent to find to complete the phrase for the blog hop. My word is:


Now you must hop on to Melissa's blog!

Scrappy: Beach Babes

It's been a while since I have scrapped a childhood photo so I pulled out one that I have been wanting to scrap for a while now- a picture of my childhood friend and me posing on the beach in Pensacola.



I found that the July Kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring Lily Bee's Hello Sunshine was just perfect for this picture. The colors were bright and sunshiny and the kit basically scrapped itself!

Wedding Wednesday: Vol. 2

We have set a date- May 21, 2011.

The colors! I want our colors to represent who we are as a couple and our individual personalities.

The backstory! Ryan and I both graduated from Appalachian State University and had season football tickets. We just happened to have tickets next to each other and got to know each other throughout the 2008 football season. Our first date was to a cold, snowy football playoff game at our Alma Mater. It is only fitting then, that I have found inspiration in Appalachian's colors- black, white, and yellow.

The flowers! At this point I am thinking about using white daisies, yellow gerber daisies, and possibly white and yellow roses. I plan on making the bouquets and centerpieces myself. Both of those are just thoughts at the moment...

The cake! A friend from college, Jessica McGloin, has started a cake business in Durham, NC and I'm so inspired by her cake. I have posted a picture of her cake in my collage and I picture mine with black ribbon and fresh flowers all around.

An inspiration collage I made in Picasa:


Photo Credits
Pictures of us- Family, friends, and self
Cake- Jessicake
Bouquet #1- FTD.com- Vera Wang Hello Sunshine
Bouquet #2- The Bloomery

Something a little bit scrappy: In order to keep up with lists and ideas, and to keep myself on track schedule wise, I created a wedding planner for myself.
I used the cover from an old planner...

Added pages and sections and bound it all together with my my Bind It All...

Printed of checklists from a wedding website...




So this will be where I keep all important things for my wedding- I love the Pink Paislee and how it goes with my wedding colors.

We are planning away and I get more excited each day!!!

Scrappy: Junk Food

It is Monday, and one of my favorite Monday night activities is WING NIGHT! I love hot wings. I could seriously eat them everyday. o I love them so much that I scrapped a layout about my favorite junk food.



I used the July Kit from My Scrapbook Nook featuring Lily Bee papers. I love the bright colors of this line! Perfect for fun summer pictures!!!

Scrappy: AAM Birthday Celebration

As a kick off of the fabulous All About Me Birthday Celebration, the first challenge is to create a project centered around the theme of BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

I just have to say that I love SRM Stickers- they were wonderful enough to not only sponsor a prize for one of our fabulous participants this month, but they also sponsored the Design Team. I had admired the stickers from afar since they began, but hadn't been able to get my hands on any. Now that I have played with these stickers, I want MORE MORE MORE!!!

I used an SRM sticker as part of my title on this layout:



This layout was also my first attempt at digital/hybrid scrapping. I used a background from Jessica Sprague in the corner of the picture and then typed the journaling right onto the picture. I'm trying to understand digital, but I'm a slow learner!

AAM Blog Hop will be August 13-14 and then will be followed by a fabulous crop on the forum! Stay tuned for more FUN!!!!!

Scrappy: Being Engaged

As a part of the CHA Celebration at 2peas, several challenges were issued. I completed this layout for the "_________ make me smile" challenge. I promise this will be the last post about the ring for a while! I chose to journal about how being engaged makes me happy!





I've been going through my stash trying to make room for new releases. I LOVE this Pink Paislee that I got from my monthly kit club- My Scrapbook Nook. This place is a wonderful community and has the best kits I've ever seen.
I had to let my subscription go this spring and summer because of finances, but because the kits are packed so full of goodness, I had plenty of beautiful things to work with!
The August Kit broke me though- I have resubscribed to My Scrapbook Nook. Look and this beauty:


They are having a DT call right now- check it out!

Wedding Wednesday: Vol. 1

You may or may not have heard, but I am officially engaged!
Yes, I'm excited! No, we haven't set a date! Yes, I was surprised!
From now until the wedding I am going to be making posts on occasional Wednesdays that will be about Wedding ideas, inspirations, and projects. I plan to have a mostly DIY wedding and I look forward to many projects along the way!

But first, the ring:




It is more than I ever imagined and I'm in awe of it's beauty. Why the blue stone? I knew that I didn't want a big diamond, it just didn't feel like me. I told Ryan that I would like a blue stone and then from there narrowed it down to a Blue Topaz. Blue Topaz is not only my favorite color, but it is also Ryan's birthstone. Every time I look at my ring I'm filled with joy, not only is it beautiful, but it reminds me of the future that Ryan and I will share.

I'm not promising a wedding post every week, but when I do post something about my upcoming nuptials it will always be on a Wednesday!

Merry Christmas in July!!!

Today is the actual day of my traditional Christmas in July Celebration. Overeating, secret santa gift exchange, and Christmas carols will begin around 6:00pm. I'm looking forward to it, but not nearly as much as I am looking forward to announcing the winners of my giveaway from the Scrap Our Stash Blog Hop!

I am so appreciative of everyone who stopped by, made comments, and became followers of my blog! I hope you all enjoyed the hop and found some inspiration along the way!!! I wrote everyone's name on a piece of paper, turned them over, shuffled them, and drew names for the winners. I usually have help with this part, but I wanted to get these posted sooner rather than later



The winner of the December Daily album and leftover supplies is:

Froggy530

Froggy530 said...
Your mini album is too cute. I really love that line of papers and embellies. thanks for the chance to win!
July 22, 2010 7:44 AM

The winner of the random Christmas RAK from my stash is:

Michele

Michele's Scrapy Creations said...
Just love your Dec Daily. I'm planning to do one this year. I can't wait to get start.
July 22, 2010 6:50 PM

Please contact me via email at RachLHawkins at gmail dot com with your name and mailing address and I will send these out ASAP!!!


Some exciting events are on the horizon here...

On Wednesday I will debut a new topic on my blog and I'm so very excited about new adventures!

The All About Me 1 Year Anniversary Celebration will begin on August 1st

We will have fabulous challenges, a blog hop, and many chances to win some FABULOUS prizes!!!

SOS- Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to the Scrap Our Stash Christmas in July Blog Hop. If you did not come here from Scrap Our Stash go back and follow the blog hop in order. This will allow you to discover the secret phrase which will make you eligible for the grand prize.

One of my favorite traditions is Christmas in July. At Horn in the West, we are only together from June until August, but we are like family and it is tradition to celebrate Christmas in July with a huge meal and a gift exchange. I'm so happy to share this with you all through the Scrap Our Stash Blog Hop.

Last year was my first time participating in Ali Edward's December Daily and I LOVED IT! Christmas is my favorite time of year and it was such a blast creating an entire album for December. Since I loved it so much, I decided I was definitely going to do it again this year. I pulled out last year's Little Yellow Bicycle collection- which I love- and created a mini album for this blog hop!








My word of the secret phrase is : of

Since I'm in the Holiday spirit- I'd like to give away two prizes to anyone who comments on this blog post.

The first prize will be the December Daily featured in this post and the coordinating papers, tags, and stickers that are leftover so that you can put your own finishing touches on the album.

The second prize will be an assortment of Christmas themed goodies from my stash (the challenge blog is called Scrap our STASH!) which includes pretty papers, stickers, chipboard embellishments, ribbons, and who knows what else I'll throw in there!

All you have to do to be eligible for my prizes is comment on this post! I will draw names on Monday morning so, make sure you have commented by Sunday evening- 11:59 EST.

Happy Hopping- your next stop is Angie's blog.

Scrappy: My Demons

The second July challenge at All About Me is all about your demons. This layout has a lot to do with my previous layout about my biggest fear. My demons are cruel voices in my thoughts that tell me that I'm not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough...





The past couple weeks I have been running myself ragged and have realized that that is when my demons come out to play. When I'm tired and emotional, they really seem to ruin things for me. Creating this page was very therapeutic and allowed me to snap out of the funk I've been in for the past couple of weeks.

You can check out the other DT member's take on the challenge and find out how to win this month's prize here!!!

Scrappy: July*4

The July challenge at Scrap Our Stash is to use brads or eyelets on a project. I created this layout about the traditional July 4th celebration that
I participate in each year. I looked EVERYWHERE for brads in my stash,
but didn't find any! I resigned that I wouldn't have any, so I
substituted buttons for brads for this challenge and used them in the
center of my flowers. When I was looking for my cutting blade to cut
the 2 pages apart, I found some brads so I added them to the upper
right corner to add some extra detail!



Pictures are: a dulcimer player, firing shots with each of the 13 toast to the 13 colonies, and hanging King George to be burnt in effigy.


This is my first double page 8.5x11 layout and I really enjoyed creating it. Will I ever go back to 12x12 paper?

July 4th

As the holiday weekend approaches, I look forward to the traditional celebration that we have at Horn In The West each year. On the 4th, we celebrate with a traditional ceremony that includes 13 toasts to the 13 Colonies and a burning of King George. (Sorry George!)

Here is a layout I created last year that show King George being burnt in effigy and shows the toast that I read for the celebration!




I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and if you are in the US that you find a wonderful way to celebrate our country!

Scrappy: My Biggest Fear

I have some wonderful, exciting news for All About Me! Melissa and the Design Team are featured in this month's Scrap Street The current challenge is "My Biggest Fear". What a hard topic! I chose to talk about my inner fear- failure.





What is your biggest fear? Come share with us at AAM for a chance to win a fabulous prize package!

Scrappy: Tiwanaku

The current sketch challenge at Scrap Our Stash was certainly a challenge for me! I don't usually use multiple pictures and the sketch called for FOUR! As I built this page I was uncertain about it, but I think I managaed to pull of the sketch while working within my personal style!



On our last day in Bolivia we went to Tiwanaku, the ancient ruins near La Paz. The site is currently under excavation, which I think is really neat- new things are being discovered daily. I didn't get to see the whole site because I had an asthma attack hiking around the hills. I went to the bus to lie down and regain my breath, but it never came back. It was hard to breathe for the rest of the day at that altitude. I'm so glad I have these gorgeous pictures to remind me of that day because my memory is a little bit foggy now.

The SOS Sketch Challenge is open until July 14th! At least one winner will be chosen and given the opportunity to become a Guest Design Team Member for the following month. Come check it out!

Scrappy: Grandma

The new challenge is up at All About Me! This one was fun, but tough at the same time. The challenge is to create a layout about your idol. I have so many people that I look up to, but I rarely create about someone who is so near and dear to my heart- my Grandma.



The journaling is hidden behind the picture and reads: She is kind and caring and is always the peace maker of the family. She loves everyone equally and makes the best macaroni and cheese in the world!

Once again, I dug into my stash to play with some of the papers that I hoarded. I love this collection and I like using it more than hoarding it! WHO KNEW?!?!

Scrappy: La Cancha

Since I have a lot of new pictures to scrap, I'm finding tons of inspirations through sketches. I love how quickly a layout comes together after I plan it out when I'm in class (don't tell my professors!!). This layout is based off of the Sketchy Thursdays GDT Sketch:

I do not even have the words to describe how WILD our trips to the Cancha were in Cochabamba. It is an open air market where we bought most of our souvenirs and I learned to bargain. I think on our last trip (which is when this picture was taken) I was buying things just to bargain with the vendors. It was such a strange thing for me to get used to- being able to ask for a lower price and then having to walk away if you didn't get it for the price you wanted. Walking away was almost always the way to seal the deal for the price I wanted.



I dug deep into my stash as I'd really like to make room for a few new releases this summer. I loved these Pink Paislee papers, so much so that I hoarded the majority of them. It felt good cutting into brand new papers that have just been sitting around for over a year.

Scrappy: Cristo de la Concordia

This month's challenge at Scrap Our Stash is to stitch on your projects. Luckily for me, faux stitching was included in the challenge! I had a run in with a sewing machine in middle school. My homeroom teacher was the Home Economics teacher and so before school would start she would have me help with some projects. One of the projects was to make a bajillion bean bags for the PE teacher. I must have sewn every morning for two weeks. One morning a boy snuck up behind me and I ran my finger through the machine. It wasn't a terrible injury, but I have pretty much avoided sewing machines ever since.

The journaling reads: "Cristo de la Concordia is one of two "protectors" in Cochabamba. While I enjoyed seeing the statue up close, I really loved looking Him from afar- I felt safe and always protected. 11 Mayo 2010"





I was inspired by this Page Maps sketch by Becky Fleck:


I loved the sketch, but had to modify it to fit with my 8.5x11 style. I like to scrap in 12x12, but a lot of the time I feel overwhelmed by all of that room. I like keeping things simple, which in the long run saves me money and supplies!


Do you have any money saving tips?