Scrappy: December Daily

I know! I know! It's almost March- why am I just now posting my finished December Daily? Because I JUST finished it! Every couple of weeks I make a Scrappy To-Do list of sketches I want to work on, DT assignments, and new ideas. Scrappy time is not very frequent with grad school, so I try to make the time I do have effective by knowing what I want to work on! I've been meaning to finish my December Daily, but needed to heal from our Christmas loss. On Christmas Eve our dear dog Pepper went to the vet and was diagnosed with pancreatitis. She spent two days in an emergency vet's office 45 minutes away. We saw her on Christmas and then she took a turn for the worse the next day. We were able to see her right before she died and it was one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life. I just put Christmas away for a while, but this week I felt inspired to finish the album.
Pages 1 & 2
Pages 4, 5, 6 & 7
Pages 7 & 8







This last page is what inspired me to finish the album. The Starbucks coffee sleeve will always remind me of the trips to see Pepper. On Christmas after seeing Pepper, the only thing open was Starbucks, so we stopped for some White Chocolate Mochas. This week's challenge at Handmade Love was to incorporate something non-scrapbooking related on a layout. I knew that I had this sleeve and wanted to use it as a pocket. I put a well-worn copy of the song I sang on Christmas Eve in the pocket.


Please join us for this week's challenge and stop by to see the other DT members take on the challenge!!

Scrappy: My Life Is My Message

This is for one of the challenges on the All About Me Message Board - check out this post for more details. This is the first time I've ever used misting on a page, and let me tell you what a blast I had! My hands were bluer than the page and I could have spitzed all night!!

Supplies: Bazill Cardstock, Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink, American Crafts and October Afternoon Alphas, Prima Flower, BIC Pen

What is your message? What do you want your life to say?

Scrappy: I'm a finalist!

I've been meaning to post about this all week long, but with being a bit under the weather (literally by being UNDER the snow and figuratively by being sick with an allergic reaction to some sort of trigger). This week I was announced as a finalist for the Valentines Challenge at Scrap Our Stash. I'm so honored to be a finalist for this challenge and I hope you'll check out their blog-it is full of inspiration!



I'm so happy because I've seen THE SUN for three days in a row. It is amazing and I'm feeling fully recharged after full month (or more) of continuous winter weather.

What are you happy about today?

Scrappy: 1985

This week's challenge is up at the All About Me Challenge Blog- The Year You Were Born. I originally planned to do all of this fun facts about the year I was born, but then I found this picture of my grandfather holding me when I was a newborn and all of these thoughts flooded into my head.

I thought about how wonderful my family is- and I'm not just talking about my blood relatives. I am blessed to have the most amazing step-family in addition to my already awesome birth family. One of the best things about my family is that they support me no matter what. They have allowed me to make mistakes, supported me through all sorts of decisions, and constantly remind me that being me is all they will ever ask of me. So while this layout may be a little about family-it's also about me being free to be myself and I couldn't ask for a greater gift from my loved ones.

Bazill Cardstock, Lily Bee Design Paper, Kaiser Craft bling with Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink, Prima flower, and American Crafts ribbon.

Join us at the All About Me forum for some awesome chatting and come check out all of the Design Team members takes on the current challenge here.

Also, don't forget to check out the Non-Stop Crop for Haiti that the AAM design team is hosting.

Scrappy: Sketchy Thursdays GDT Challenge

When I saw the GDT Challenge Sketch over at Sketchy Thursdays I was so inspired. The challenge was to use the sketch, the colors black, hot pink, and white, and an 80's inspired style. I knew that I had the best picture to use- my first day of Kindergarten. I loved this outfit and I've wanted to scrap this picture for a while and this was the perfect challenge!

Supplies: Bazill Cardstock, Basic Grey Paper, Doodlebug glitter. Kaiser Craft bling, Prima alpha, Buttons from stash

Sorry for the horrible picture quality- we're having another blizzard today. The wind is whipping and the snow is blowing. Here are some pictures from campus yesterday:

Don't forget to check out the Non-Stop Crop for Haiti that the AAM design team is hosting.

Crop for Haiti

Come join the All About Me Design Team for a Non-Stop Crop for Haiti. You will enjoy classes and challenges given by the DT with a couple of prizes offered. The cost? The fee will be your email to us stating an organization or group that you have supported specifically for helping Haiti! Email the following information to allaboutmechallenge@gmail.com:

- Your AAM Forum screenname (so we can change your permissions to view the private Crop forum)
- The organization your contributed to and a website if you have one.

Yep! It's that easy!! The Crop will officially begin on February 20th so make sure to get registered before than!

FYI: You do need to be a registered member of the AAM Forum so if you haven't done that already, get on over there!

Scrappy: Paris

A while back I won a prize pack from Lily Bee Design. I fell in love with Lily Bee and their products last May when I was introduced to their Three Little Birds and French Couture lines by My Scrapbook Nook and their kit club.



Where is your all time favorite or dream vacation spot?

Scrappy: Valentine's Day

This year I was very inspired to create my own gift for Ry for Valentine's Day. I was most inspired by Stacey Michaud's coupon book.
I used the January kit from The Nook and created some coupons that Ry can redeem for a movie date of his choice, a back rub, dinner out at his favorite place, and other fun things!



I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend filled with love!

Scrappy: I Love My Three Sons

No, you didn't miss anything- I don't have three sons, but I recently won some gorgeous cards from another blogger named Rachel who has three sons. Not only were the cards gorgeous, but the packaging was BEAUTIFUL! I recently started following her blog and she has wonderful creative posts about a variety of topics. Go check her out at I Love My Three Sons.








I'm so happy to spend the weekend with my sweetheart.
What are your Valentine's Weekend plans?

Scrappy: Handmade Love Challenge Blog Launch

Today is the big day for the Handmade Love Challenge Blog- we are releasing our first challenge today. Here is a sneak peak of my layout:

To see my full layout and the other DT's layouts check out our first challenge here.

Over the past 24 hours, we received roughly 14 inches of snow. Today the sun is out and I'm so happy to get out of the apartment. Pictures from my outdoor adventure will come soon!

Scrappy: je t'aime

I've been snowed/iced in since Thursday night and I was able to complete some scrappy projects. Last night at the 2 peas message board there was an online crop and one of the challenges was to make a layout about LOVE. Firstly, I LOVE these Pink Paislee paper and embellishments. I have gotten so much use from my January Nook kit and have a ton of supplies left!



Sorry for the bad pictures- I seriously haven't seen the sun in weeks!

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Scrappy: More Happy Scrappy News!

I'm so very excited. In addition to the great news about the All About Me DT, I'm also going to be designing for a BRAND NEW Challenge Blog called Handmade Love. This week is the launch week for Handmade Love, you'll have to come check us out...we're offering up a GREAT prize this week:

Scrappy: Joy

I created this layout completely backwards. I used sketchy thursday's 1.28.10 sketch as inspiration, picked out the papers, and created this layout without any pictures. I knew what I wanted to put on the layout, but just hadn't managed to get the pictures yet. For this layout I used the January Kit from My Scrapbook Nook, a prize won from the Prima blog (the adorable stitched letters, and some ribbon and pins from my stash.



Here is why I can't get any great pictures of my layouts. I feel like I haven't seen the sun in ages.






I still cannot believe that I've been selected as a DT Member for the All About Me Challenge Blog. Is this for real? i'm beyond excited and can't wait to get started in March!


What brings you joy?

Scrappy: Happy Scrappy News!

I'm still in shock. I am now a proud member of the All About Me Challenge Blog Design Team! You can see the official announcement here. Please join us for some awesome chatting on the message board!

The layout in the reveal post is about an emotional decision I had to make recently. I chose to go on a service-learning trip with my school and miss two days of a very important class that is required for my program. Missing those two days means risking my 4.0 GPA. I had to do some soul searching and figure out what was more important in the long run.



I think, no KNOW I made the right choice. Bolivia-here I come!!!

Oh Snow!

Just a few pictures from my snowy adventure!!

Late night walk in the snow

Koren's car

Digging out

Posin'

I really, really love snow!


What are you doing this fabulous Saturday?

Scrappy: A Valentine

I'm working on a Valentine's gift for Ry that was inspired by Stacey Michaud. I don't want to give away too many details, but here is the card that doubles as an envelope! I'll post the full project post-Valentine's Day.




What are you planning for your sweetheart?

Scrappy: My favorite ME layouts

I'm really in a self-scrapping mood and have notice that while I love scrapping about my family, friends, boyfriend, and pets- I'm most inspired when I scrap about myself. Here are a few of my favorite ME layouts...















What topic inspires you the most?

Scrappy: I feel pretty...

This layout was inspired by the current challenge at the All About Me Challenge Blog. The challenge is to design a page about the soundtrack of your life and I was very excited to play along. A few years ago I made a mixed CD of the soundtrack of my life and still listen to it! I was going to do a layout about that, but then when I was looking through my supplies I found an ormolu tag that sparked another idea.

The journaling is very personal about my constant struggle with self-esteem:
I've struggled with my body image and feeling pretty for a long time. As a dancer I was always striving for the perfect body. I took drastic measures to stay thin, abused my feet to get a better arch, and was constantly putting myself down. I'm trying to learn to love myself and my body- from my "too tiny' head to my arthritic toe. I'm working out regularly and trying to maintain a healthy diet without going overboard. I will try to tell myself everyday- "I feel pretty, oh so pretty!"






I really enjoy the therapeutic nature of scrapbooking and exploring all of my emotions- even the ugly ones.

Scrappy: Bloom

Don't get me wrong- I love winter, but today is a cold, rainy day and it makes me long for a warm sunny day

These pictures were taken last spring at the gardens at Duke Universary- it was a gorgeous day.





What season is your favorite?

Serious Blog Neglect

School has started back, work has picked up again, and I'm trying to workout EVERYDAY without excuses. I'm exhausted when I get home and have my nose crammed in a book during most of my free time. All of my classes are heavy on the reading this semester, most of which I'm enjoying, but some is so very dry (ie: Tests and Measurements).

I've done little by way of creating, and I tried yesterday, but my mojo needs a jumpstart. I worked on a Valentine's Day present and I'm happy with it so I think I just need to sit down with my scrap stuff more often.

Here is layout about my goal (not resolution) for 2010. I want to run a 5k (or two) this year and I'm not allowing myself to have any excuses.



I already have another post lined up and need to take some pictures of some other projects. I'm back in the blogging saddle!