Recipe Challenge - The Studio Challenges

Hi.

It's the first Sunday of a new month today, which means we have a new challenge for you over at The Studio Challenges.  Today DT member Kat has set a recipe challenge for you, here's what she wants you to include in your layout:

-kraft cardstock

-at least one tag

-paint/mist

-at least 2 different kids of alphas

Feel free to add mor if you want to, but we need to see these items in your creation.


Here is what I got for you for this challenge:

Patterned Paper, fiber & tags: Studio Calicio February Card Kit. Paint & modelling paste: Panduro
Alphas: Websters Pages (green), SEI (red). Dots: Craftworldcards. Button & eyelets: unknown

I have incorporated the tag as an element in the main design, and added small paint splashes all over to add interest to the plain kraft background. Modelling paste ads structure to the page and is a fun medium to work with.

The journaling describes one of my chosen techniques on how to be positive in 2013, which will be a challenging year for us in many ways: counting the blessings and writing down each week the main thing to be thankful about that spesific week.

The rest of the DT and our GDT has some wonderful examples for you. Plese head over to the TSC blog to see them and to play along. Do we see you there?

It's the Weekend - OUAS March challenge

Hello friends!

Today has to be a fabolous day: it's Friday, which means the weekend, and it's March 1th, which means spring will be around any day in my part of the world.

A new month means a new sketch and challenge at Once Upon A Sketch. The March theme is:

"Its The Weekend!"

 What does your weekend look like? 

Some of you already know, but some of you don't, that every Friday night for as long as I have dated my husband, we have had our weekly Friday Night Date. It's an inhouse date, and it's the day at week we make some special food, share a bottle of wine and sit down and really talk. Our everyday life tend to eat up every spare time we have, so I sincerely believe those dates har been a key factor to keep our relationship healthy.

Chipboard: Imaginarium Designs. Bling: Designers Choice. Badge: Cre8tive Cre8tions.
Paper, ribbon, pucinella & charm: Unknown

All chipboard is painted with acrylic paint, the hearts then grid stamped and
repainted with white acrylic paint dots

Here is this month's OUAS sketch:

The "fine" print:

Theme: "Its The Weekend!"

 What does your weekend look like? 

Maybe you work, or run around like crazy taking your kids to activities etc. Lunch with friends? Movies? Dinner? Or maybe you do all the exciting stuff like ...clean the house, tend to the garden , kinds birthday parties. You might like to tell us of an exciting weekend coming up, or a weekend past. Maybe a weekend getaway? Whatever it is that you want to tell us that has to do with the theme "Its The Weekend" we would love to hear it. 

Your layout must incorporate this theme and the sketch below. 

Please make sure that we see some sort of journalling on your layouts and please tell us where your journalling is . You are allowed to journal in any language but please tell us where on your page we will find your journalling. Remember journalling has to be a bit more than a title, or a generic comment. Hidden journalling is perfectly fine.

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Are you ready to get blown away by marvellous inspiration from the DT and the gust designers? Please check out the OUAS blog, and don't forget to read how you can win some fabolous prizes!


Have a happy weekend - how do you plan to spend your Friday Night?

Confronting Life!

I admit it.
When we startet 2013 I wasn't very optimistic about the coming year.
In 2012 Life face punched us pretty hard on several occations, and I knew 2013 will be rough, too. There will be losses of loved ones, there will be people around us who expects us to take action when their own lives get complicated, there will be challenges work wise, family wice, with schools etc etc.

I'm normally a person who handles emotional stress good, and I felt bad by being so pessimistic. I decided to work on this and to look for the positive in life and to let my word for 2013 be Thankful. I decided to keep it simple: to take a timeout every Sunday and write down what I am most thankful for that spesific week. There might be several things, but I'm writing down the one thing I'm most thankful for. I'll probably make a kind of Project Life album for it later, but so far the prosess has been the most important to me. And it seems to work.

Anyway: I was looking for a quote or saying which could express my pessimistic feeling, when I stumbled upon this one - and it was a great awakening for me:

That quote was just what I needed to roll up my sleeves and get on with My Life, not everybody else's. 2013 will be a rough year, I know it, but let it come - we can handle it! I dare to say, one of the best days in my life was a Friday night a few weeks ago, where I had the weekly Friday Night Home Date with the husband, we took a look back and said, quite surprised and very reliefed: "2012 wasn't that bad, after all. OK, sad things happened, but we handled it, and survived it, and we are ready for the coming challenges"



Papers: Cosmo Cricket. Bling: Prima. Wood viner stars: Studio Calicio.
Button, ribbon, twine: Unknown

The photo of me in this layout is a pretty good picture of what I wanted to do when the new year started but it facts the bonnet looks better on me when you see my pretty face :-)

Do you ever have those pesimistic moments?

The Boys (MME February Challenge)

Once or twice a year I get overwhelmed by the amount of scrap stuff I have (and I have nothing compared to most scrappers and card makers, I promise you) and clean out. I give away to school and activity centers and enjoy the Having Less.

But there are collections I hang onto and refuse to give away, no matter how tiny the scraps are,  because I love them too much and know I will find  use of them one day. The MME On The Bright Side collection is one of them. I just love the bright, happy colors, and the mix of patterns, and I really wished I had bought more when it was available.

My boys love snow, and spend lots of time outdoors when we have it, even if it isn't huge amounts - they take advantage of every single inch. They sledge, ski and just have fun. They know how to dress outdoors, but for some reason they favourite bonnets are, in my opinions, the ugliest ones there are to buy. But as long as they are happy with them...

I snapped a few photos of them in December when we had the first "real" snow. Even if the photos aren't too good, I love the happy colors in them, and the MME papers was just the perfect match.

Patterned papers, buttons, brad & cut outs: MME. Chipboard: Imaginarium Designs. Ink: Rangers



Chipboard and buttons add dimension to the layout

I got the idea for this layout when I saw the MME February Sketch Challenge. I replaced the three landscape oriented photos with two portrait oreiented ones, but sticked pretty close to the sketch exept for that.

Thank you for stopping by - you know I appreciate it!

For You card - Chic Tags Challenge

I was browsing around blogs this other night and payed the Chic Tags blog a visit. Up on their blog was this great  "Challenge Sundays":

We challenge you to use 7 products or less.

Card stock, adhesive and thread do not count.

I have some of their tags, and the challenge gave me the idea for this card:

I have six products on my card + white cardstock:

• Green patterned paper (MME)
• Polka dotted journaling card (Chic Tags)
• Grey  Day Tab  (Chic Tags)
• Pink Twine (The Twinery)
• Flair (American Craft)
• For You Rubon (unknown)

Don't you love it when you find something online that kicks your mojo?

Hush, don't tell my hubby!

• That I have spent to much on scrapping?
  No, I've been good so far this year (remember, as I have a "Shopping Free 2013" I have only allowed myself to buy four collections)
• That I have spent too much time scrapping?
  No, I haven't. And as our living room is just besides my scrap space, he knows what I'm doing
• That I have a lover?
  No, I don't have one. And I don't think I can handle one either *lol*

So what is my secret?



Flower: Petaloo. Pebble: Prima. Butterfly: Maya Road (?)
Twine: The Twinery. Trim & washi: unknown
 

I have started some secret savings. If I do what I have planned, there should be enough money in the end of the year to go on a small vacation or something else fun.

Here is the deal: you start at Week 1 by saving a dollar (or an Euro, or any other amount depending on the currency where you live.) Week2 you save two dollars, week 3 three dollars etc etc. It should give you about $1500 by the end of the year if you manage to keep up. I have been good so far in 2013 :-)

I needed a box for my secret savings, and I had a container I wanted to use. You may have seen those often used for smoothies, juices etc, the ones with a hole at the top of the bubble shaped lid? I had one which had contained berries so it was easy to clean. But how on earth do you cover such a shape with paper? Then it stroke me: Washi tape!!! And how easy was that! I don't mind that the final surface has some wrinkles, I think it adds a nice structure in fact. I added a flower and an old butterfly I have had around for ages, a ribbon, some twine and a cute pebble, and voila!

I have no idea which manufactorers these washi come from. I have gotten some here,
bought some there and they have all come without packaging indicating origin.

I don't think neither kids or husband will ever look at the inside of this container, as they are used to me having decorated (uninteresting) stuff in my scrap place. And I have made sure it is placed on a shelf the curious kitten can't reach.

Do you ever do secret savings? For indulging yourself or sharing with the rest of the family?

Playing with Washi - The Studio Challenge February 17th

Hi.

Today's the third Sunday of February, which means we have a new challenge for you at The Studio Challenges: Create a layout with no pattern paper and get creative with washi tape.


I don't have many rolls of washi tape, but here are a few ways I thought of using it:

Inspired by a sketch from PageMaps which you will find at The Sassy Scrapper's blog

Use it as patterned paper stripes for your background, cover chipboard with it, make your own paper buttons, make your own flags by attaching washi to ordinary paper clips, cover office paper clips with washi.

Chipboard: Imaginarium Designs. Paper Clip: American Craft
White Cardstock: Bazill. Washi: Unknown. Flair: Cre8tive Cre8tions
Tag: Chic Tags

How do you use washi?
Do you want to show us at The Studio Challenge`s?