I KNOW! How long has it been !?!?! Ages, I tell ya’ …
The monthly online crop is going on at Scrap Sisters Studio message board. It started today at 8am and goes through Sunday at midnight. Members have already posted 8 challenges and there may be more. I’m actually working on an April monthly challenge from our Challenges board. It’s a sketch challenge, and I’m using this layout to get myself jump-started on a vacation album from our trip to Phoenix last month. Feels SO good to be scrapbooking again! I also have an all-day crop with friends next Saturday when I hope to get caught up on my Project 365, which is so far behind it’s not even freakin’ funny.
So for this vacation album, I broke out some Old School shizzle … Scenic Route … Yeah, baby! I’m so sad they’re out of business ~ they were one of my favorite scrapbooking companies ~ but at least my SR stash is going to a good cause … a vacation album that will get looked at a lot :)
Hope you’re having a scrappy weekend! We always welcome new members at Scrap Sisters Studio (“The nicest place in the internet”), so e-mail me if you’d like to join us for the crop, or just to chat any ol’ time: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
The first one was for the Bracket Challenge by CHRIS aka Chrispea. She provided this sketch …
… and here is my layout:
It will be perfect for my BOOK OF ME album. Just wanted to capture the little material things that are making mama happy right now.
The second layout I did was based on my own 2-Page, Multi-Photo layout challenge. I included some inspiration layouts for my challenge, including this one by LISA WARREN which I found on the GOT SKETCH? blog …
****** ^^^^^^ THIS IS LISA’S LAYOUT, NOT MINE ^^^^^^ ******
I scraplifted Lisa’s layout and here is what I came up with:
I smudged charcoal grey chalk ink on these letters to go along with the dirt/digging theme, and this is also to show that there’s actually yellow in that patterned paper in case you were wondering why in the heck did I use YELLOW letters, LOL …
And the journaling which I’m not happy with … used a transparency and the ink smudged (even though I used the right kind of pen) and I couldn’t find a good way to adhere it totally flat without glue showing through.
Lisa’s layout is way cuter than mine because she has a cute girlie AND a cute dog, while I only have uh … dog. Nah, really, hers is cuter because she has more talent in her right pinky than I have in my whole body. So thank you for sharing the inspiration, Lisa! You RAWK.
And thank you to all the Scrap Sisters who participated in my challenge. I sent all 11 of ’em a little prize in the mail. Nothing big, just a small “thank you.” Here’s a photo when I was getting the prizes ready to send:
So, that was the first time I’ve scrapped in months. It felt really good. I even cleaned up when I was done. {I know, I can be annoying like that sometimes}. But seriously, I want to keep scrapbooking when I can carve out the time, so I need my space to be ready.
Just a quick post to say that if you requested to be on my e-mail list for Simple Stories “Life Documented” kit updates, I sent one out yesterday. If I inadvertently missed you, please let me know :)
Also, there is an online crop this weekend at SCRAP SISTERS STUDIO. Please come join us for lots of fun! I think it’s going to be a busy and fun crop, because everyone is back in the mood to scrap after the holidays. Also, lots of the country is snowbound and very cold right now, so staying inside to crop, drink some coffee or hot tea, and chat with friends sounds perfect, don’t you think? I posted my first layout challenge ever and I’m sending a small RAK to everyone who submits a layout, so come check it out. HERE is where the crop is, and HERE is where you register if you’re not a member yet. Hope to see you there!
As I mentioned HERE and HERE, we had a member-hosted, online crop this weekend at the All Moments Remembered message board. There were loads of fun challenges, some RAKs, lots of chatting (some topics of convo: rum, margaritas, and hot men), and a fun and crazy scrapbook bingo game…which I actually won! Kind of by default but you had to be there, LOL! I had a lot of fun chatting, laughing, admiring the wonderful work of other scrappers and cardmakers, and I even got some scrapbooking done! Here are two of the layouts I completed:
** I apologize in advance for the poor quality of my photos. My “real” camera is out of commission, so all I have is my iPhone and they all look blurry….
“Sculpterra” for the “Let’s scrap bingo style” challenge hosted by JULIE aka Scrappin{jewlz}. You probably can’t read the journaling but Sculpterra winery has these amazing sculptures outside by artist JOHN JAGGER. They are made of bronze or granite, and are simply amazing..
2-page layout (sorry it’s so small…if I enlarge it, it gets even more blurry)
Left page…
and right page.
Close up of my favorite flowers, which are 2 layers of shiny silk and then chiffon, with seed beads in the middle. They came in a Memory Works kit last year. I need to look up who makes them and get some more if they’re still available. Love!
I mostly used COSMO CRICKET “Fleuriste” that I’ve had for a while, and stamped the title with a cool new font I found at Walmart by AUTUMN LEAVES. I layered two different colors of COLORBOX chalk Inks.
For the bingo challenge, Julie provided a bingo card you could print out that looked like this:
You then picked 5 boxes in a row – up, down, or diagonal – as requirements for your layout. So, for “Sculpterra,” I used the far righthand vertical row.
3 different stamps: Title, hummingbird, and circles
Journaling strips: To label the photos
1-word title: “Sculpterra”
Ribbons or fibers: Black ribbon under teal flower
At least 5 photos: I’ve got 8!
This challenge was fun to do. The first thing I did was go through the bingo card and cross out things I was NOT going to do (like use butterflies, use only 1 photograph, use paint, handstitch, etc.) and circle anything I for sure wanted to include. In this case, I knew was starting with 8 photos, so I circled use at least 5 photos. Then I just picked the row that made the most sense for this layout. Super cool and creative. Thanks, Julie!
So, that was all I got done for crop challenges so far. The deadline to post layouts/cards isn’t until Wednesday night 8/12/09 at 12 midnight PST. I had to work tonight, but I’m hoping Mon/Tue nights are quiet and I can get some more challenges done. There is one about scrapbooking/you and one about using a neglected stamp that I’d really like to try :)
I decided to use the some of the AMR crop time/motivation/mojo to straighten up my scrap space, and to work on some other layouts. This layout was not crop-related. It was actually to try and get caught up with my Book of Me challenges, like I talked about HERE, {an ongoing challenge also hosted at AMR}. Here was the challenge from ABBY aka ScrapbookFrenzy:
The challenge is to scrap a time in your life or in the span of life in general that you’d like to go back to. You can do it on being a child, about your children like she did, or if you wouldn’t like to go back at all for any reason, scrap about why. Build on this challenge any way you’d like. It’s YOURS and for YOUR album….not mine or any other person’s. {You can read the entire challenge and see a sample layout by STEPHANIE HOWELL right HERE}.
So, here is what I came up with. “Oh, to be….his girl again.”
Almost everything is Pink Paislee from my GRAB BOX (except for some old Scrapworks black letter stickers, and Heidi Swapp white chipboard letters that I used green then turquoise chalk ink to color). Oh, and the “J” is Jenni Bowlin, and the Don’t Forget tag is MME. The Pink Paislee silver rub-ons don’t show up well in photos, so here’s a close-up of he silver border…
… and silver letters that say “Cheated of…” (time).
Here are the lyrics up close so you can read them….
My dad died in 1993 and I still miss being his girl. There is just no one like a girl’s daddy to love her unconditionally, protect her, and be on her side. This is only the second layout I’ve done about my dad since he died 16 years ago, and it was done through tears. {Yep, crying as I type this, too. Crap.} So, I didn’t have it in me to write original journaling this time. Instead, I used song lyrics from a Garth Brooks song that was actually a favorite of mine at the time my dad died. Who knew it would end up applying to me? But I’ve always meant to do a layout about my dad using these lyrics, because every time I hear this song, I still think of him. Every. Single. Time. Oh, to have him back again…but I wouldn’t miss the pain if it meant missing the dance we did share for those years. Miss you, Hippy Dad. Miss you so much…. {Crap, so many tears I can’t see to type…brb}.
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Okay! So, moving on… Hope you had a great weekend and not a super soppy, nose-runny one like I did, LOL! How much scrapping did you get done? Did you join us at the AMR crop? And if not, for God’s sake, WHY??? :) :) :)
Like I told ya’, there’s a fun online crop going on all weekend at my scrapbook message board home, ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED.
As part of the crop, I took this photo and need to go post it over there. Please forgive very much the frizzy, windblown/flattened bangs and tired, “thank GAWD it’s Friday!” look on my face.
Are you wondering why I have to take a photo of myself for an online crop? Guess you’ll just have to come find out, won’t you?
Well, it’s late Thursday night and I just got done watching the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. My whole family voted for Brandon, so we were happy he came in second place at least. I wouldn’t have picked Janeane for the overall winner, but hey, you GO, girl! All those dancers have great careers in front of them.
So, it’s been a hectic summer and I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I’ve been working tons – a regular, 40-hour a week job, plus taking side jobs almost every night. I’m quite exhausted if you must know. All that fun time I used to have at night, cruising scrappy sites for topic ideas and things to link you to? GONZO. I’m hoping things slow down a bit soon, because I really miss my bloggy time. My blog traffic has slowed down, and hardly anyone leaves comments anymore {those who do….mwah! mwah! … I luvs ya!}. I don’t know whether to blame the slowed traffic on summer, Facebook, or I’m boring, LOL!
I have so many ideas percolating, things I want to write about, but just haven’t had the time. There’s all the scrapbook magazine stuff going on, new products from CHA, developments in the world of photography, etc. I’m dying to write a nice long post about digital scrapbooking and photobooking, and how I feel they’re affecting the paper scrapbooking industry (hint: it’s NOT good). And who I blame…
All I have time for tonight is to let you know that this weekend we’re having an online crop at my favorite message board, ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED. If you’re already a member, I expect to see you there! If you haven’t joined AMR yet, please come over and check it out. The crop runs from Friday at 8am through Sunday at midnight (PST). There are member-hosted challenges (often with a RAK!), a knock-down/drag-out Bingo game, and lots of fun chatting. Hope you can join us!
I plan to be at the online crop throughout the weekend (keep your fingers crossed that I don’t get more work!). I was thinking of driving a couple hours to the San Jose Scrapbook Expo on Saturday, but I don’t know if I should. Don’t have much money to spend, and didn’t really find many “deals” the last time I went. I’m not sure if it’s worth the drive and taking the entire day. Hey, I could be home online cropping, ya know? We shall see…
Last weekend, there was an online crop at ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED, “the nicest message board on the internet.” I happened to be holding my own crop IRL all day Friday and Saturday, so I took my laptop, used the WiFi at the hotel, and followed along with the AMR crop. I even participated by completing and posting some layouts for the first time in a very long while. {To be honest, the talent over there intimidates me but I’m sure YOU would be fine, LOL}.
I did this layout for the “A NEW LAYOUT” challenge hosted by STACY aka CyCy. The only requirement was to post a layout you did during the crop.
The journaling reads: Can you hear little Landry? He is saying, “Will you please let me out?” I think I also heard him say, “But I’m so very cute. How can you keep me all locked up like some kind of criminal?” You’re right, Mr. Landry. You did nothing wrong. ‘Cept maybe chase the bunnies, chew through the drip line, dig up the grass. Misdemeanors? Maybe. I used Cosmo Cricket papers from THIS Memory Works Express Kit (Sept. 08),…
Bazzill cardstock, and the Cricut font “Doodlebug.” The stamped journaling box is from a either THIS or THIS journaling spot swap. There was no writing on the back so I’m not sure who made it unfortunately.
I did this layout for the “THINK BEACH” challenge hosted by JEN aka ScrappyJen. The challenge was to scrap your favorite part of the beach.
Papers are Heidi Swapp and 7 Gypsies, and the title was cut with the Cricut alpha “Opposites Attract.” Usually, the cursive font on that cartridge is long and low but if you put it on “upright” mode, it comes out like this. Cool, huh? The little black alpha is 7 Gypsies and the journaling box is again from one of the swaps I did, artist unknown.
The journaling reads: My favorite part of going to the beach is he feeling of calm that comes over me the second I see the water. The ocean is my favorite place in the world, the place I feel most at home, the place I am most myself, the place I feel most serene. The sound of the waves creates an almost spiritual feeling in my heart. The ocean gives me Serenity.
I did this layout for the “OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOME” challenge hosted by NICOLE aka NicoleP. But I pulled a blond moment and it wasn’t actually eligible because I did not use a “summer” photo as instructed, LOL. These photos were taken in February, silly girl! Major duh. I mean, the entire theme of the crop was “Summer.” Oh well, it’s all good. I’ve been wanting to scrap these photos for a long time anyway.
The journaling reads: When it rains, we often get to see these amazing full rainbows off of our back patio. If you’ve ever wondered where the rainbow ends, just come to our house . . . we’ll show you the spot.
I used Bazzill cardstock, DCWV glitter papers from the NANA’s KITCHEN stack, and some plum metallic paper my mom gave me for the letters in RAINBOW; then I used GLOSSY ACCENTS {for the first time} on those letters. In person, this layout looks shiny and pretty although I don’t think you can tell that in the photo. The letters were again done with the Opposites Attract font on my Cricut. I only have 4 Cricut cartridges, can you tell? LOL
One of the highlights of the crop was the Virtual Bingo game run by Michelle aka Shelle’s 2 girls. Ahead of time, you picked 25 words from a long list of summertime words to be on your virtual bingo card (aka a list in Word or whatever). Then at the designated time on Saturday night, she began posting sets of 5 words while we marked any that we had off of our sheet. When people were starting to match up to 18 or 19 words, she slowed it down to 3 words at a time until the winner called “Bingo!” Along the way, it got very competative. Players tried to send other players off to get lucky kisses from their DH’s or to go check on the proverbial crying baby, etc. {“the better for me to win while you’re away from your computer” tactic}. They even tried to tell me a Journey special was on TV so I would leave, LOL! It was HUH-larious. All the feedback was so good, I think there will be virtual bingo at all the future AMR crops.
If you’d like to join us next time ~ or just join the AMR message board for everyday chatting ~ come on over, we’d love to have you. Just drop me a line (see my About Me page) so I can tell board admin DENISE aka denisewalks to expect you (lotsa spammers unfortunately).
Last weekend, theAMR MESSAGE BOARD had a member-hosted online crop. This was the only challenge I had time to participate in, by JULIE aka scrappin{jewlz}. Here is what the challenge was, as posted by Julie:
I have been doing some photography challenges, and have been inspired to look for new and interesting things to photograph. So I thought I would do a photo challenge. For this challenge you need to take (yes, NEW pictures) a photo of something that matches the description. You may post only one photo per section. Players will receive 1 point for each photo. The most creative photo for each description will receive a bonus point. The player with the most points will win a prize. In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen randomly. To clarify, photos need to be taken since the challenge was posted. You will have until Wednesday at midnight PST to post your photos.
And here was my entry….
1. Something that makes you laugh
My dork dog Landry always makes me LAUGH. He is so happy and crazy with energy.
2. Something pink
My favorite hoodie, a PINK one that says “Blessed not Lucky.” My mom got it for me because she said she knows that’s how I feel about my life…and she’s right!
3. Something soft
My favorite blanket that I read my book with at night on the couch. It is the SOFTEST thing I have ever felt.
4. Favorite activity other than papercrafting (ie no stamping, scrapping, cardmaking, atcs, altered stuff)
I guess you can tell by the fact my bookshelf is so heavy that it’s bowed, that other than scrapbooking, my favorite activity is reading…
5. Your desk RIGHT NOW.
The usual state of my DESK – multiple projects going at once – 80th birthday mini album, Basic Grey 2009 calendar, and getting ready to do yearbook layout for the Father/Daughter dance
6. Favorite music
My favorite MUSIC right now is anything that Pandora.com finds for me…I’m discovering so many new artists and the old ones I’ve always loved.
7. Something outside
The view from my backyard – I love sitting OUTSIDE, looking and daydreaming…
That was a fun challenge to do and it made me take photos of things I normally wouldn’t have. Some may seem like boring or unremarkable things, but they ARE part of my everyday life at this point and that is worth capturing, don’t you think?
As you know, I can’t stop talking about how great it is at AMR, er, All Moments Remembered. The owner, Stacey, has an awesome ONLINE STORE (where I was one of the first to get the amazing Fiskars “Threading Water” scallop punch), a BLOG, and a MESSAGE BOARD. AMR also has a monthly kit, which they celebrate each month with an online crop. Please come on over and join us this Saturday, April 5th ~ just click on the MB link above, or down to the right in my Blog Roll. The membership there is growing so fast, we literally shut down the message board she started with because we were posting so much! Stacey had to get a new board with much larger capacity, LOL. {We’re pretty proud of ourselves for that one…}. So, please join in the fun for challenges, RAKs, and lots of chatting. This time there’s even talk of margaritas!
I copied this from the message board post about the crop:
(from Heather)
“Hey ladies just wanted to let you know about the upcoming AMR Online
Crop!! This month’’s crop will be held on Sat. April 5th starting at
4pm EST – 12am EST. I will host the event and each amazing DT member
will provide a challenge including one from Stacey!! Yup, the whole
event is AMR sponsored!! Of course there will be RAKs given away and
this time there will be a separate forum for the event. In addition to
the challenges, the DT members will be on the board to answer any
questions you may have and to chat away with you! As an extra surprise
this month, the wonderfully talented KARLA DUDLEY [I added the link to Karla’s blog] will be chatting
with us also, so have your questions ready!!! (Put her name in your
subject line so she knows which ones are directed to her). I hope you can all make it!!
_________________
Heather
Lead DT Member & Coordinator, Creative Director”
If nothing else, attend just to chat with Karla Dudley. What a talent! She designs for Technique Tuesday and October Afternoon.
Remember to register beforehand with Stacey at www.allmomentsremembered.com and tell her I sent you so she knows your not some kind of robot spammer, lol.
Here was the challenge from Joscie:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My challenge is pretty simple:
I find that using a monochromatic color scheme can have a strong impact, so I challenge you to create a layout, card or project in a monochromatic color scheme. You may choose any color in all its values (tints and shades) plus white, black or kraft.
here is the layout i created in shades of brown…. it’s called those eyes.
“THOSE EYES” layout by Joscie Cutchens
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I’ve always wanted to do a single-color layout but probably wouldn’t have done it without this challenge. Here’s mine:
Materials: Bazzill cardstock; thickers-type letters from Dollar Tree/Miss Elizabeth; unknown ribbon; everything else from Heidi Grace kit I got at Tuesday Morning ($25 retail for $10).
I never do 2-photo layouts either, but these were 2 random photos I had taken in our front yard last summer & now they are scrapped!
The awesome message board at ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED is hosting another online crop and I’m inviting you! Please come on over and play with us, whether you are already a member over there or not. You do need to be approved to join the MB by the owner Stacey, so you could do that sometime this week. If you think you might, leave a comment below so I can let Stacey know I sent ya’ and which MB name you’ll use. She gets a lot of spammers so it helps if she knows beforehand. Also, when you sign up you can tell her Erika/journeyfan sent you.
Okay, what is an online crop, you ask? It’s a pre-set time when a bunch of people are on the message board at the same time. There is usually a separate forum set up; if not, just go to the Scrapbook forum. Usually, board moderators and/or just everyday users host challenges for which there may or may not be a prize, also known as a RAK (comes from Random Act of Kindness). If the challenge needs any specific items you might not have on hand, the moderator usually lets you know so you can have it ready when the crop starts. Examples of challenges: “Do a layout that’s all black and white including the photo” or “Make a card that includes use of an acrylic stamp, Basic Grey paper, and scraps from your stash” or “Create a 12×12 layout about a loved one who has passed on, using a song quote.” You get the idea! Once the online crop starts, you’ll have a set amount of time to post your challenges, either in the message board gallery or directly into a post on the message board.
Now, specific to the AMR online crop next Saturday (here is the LINK to the thread about it), Anne Marie will be the official hostess and she will post the Warm-Up Challenge at 2pm EST (11am PST). Then each hour on the hour, a message boarder will post another challenge. These challenges were arranged ahead of time between Anne Marie and anyone on the message board who offered to help. Another reason to make sure you’re an AMR MB member ahead of time: There are already some “heads up, you will need this item” type of posts for the challenges. These are the ones posted so far:
* 2 colors Acrylic paints (any brand; will be used together on a lo)
* Brush (those 1″ foam brushes are great, but ANY brush will do)
* Plain or Kraft gift bag (any size)
* 1-2 black/white photos of yourself
* Clothing tag (gee, guess you’re all going to have to go out and buy a new outfit, LOL! — no, this can be cut off any existing garment)
Ladies are also posting questions they have about the crop, and kind of chiming in if they hope to “be there.” You know, in a virtual kind of way…
Here is what Anne Marie says about the Challenges Schedule: Non-competitive hourly challenges will be posted with RAKS for participating! A break has been scheduled during the crop … AND you can come in at ANY TIME during the crop and play ANY challenge! You will also have until NOON SUNDAY to post your submissions in the challenge threads. Winners in each challenge will be drawn at random.
Now, for non-competitive types like me (who aren’t very confident in their work “winning” anything), this is the cat’s meow. All I have to do is participate in one or two or all of the challenges ~ as many as I want or have time for ~ and I have as good a chance at winning as the next girl. And knowing Stacey’s generosity, the prizes will be most excellent. Sweet….
I’ve never participated in an online crop before, although I’ve come in after the fact and read through all the posts. (AMR, for example, plans to hold online crops once per month and CKMB has held several in the last year). They seem to generate all kinds of fun projects and, most importantly, COMPLETED LAYOUTS! So far, my Saturday is open and I really hope to participate in my first-ever online crop. Even if I only get to one or two of the challenges, I’ll feel I’ve accomplished something. On the day of the crop, THIS is where you will go!
So, c’mon, will you join us?? Have you participated in an online crop before and what was your experience like?
