The Color Green

I am once again, challenging myself with photos of a specific color. Dettao has chosen green for the color today. Some I took today, and some were taken previously. Some I am quite proud of, some, not so much! lol

.

Fir Needles after a spring rain...

Reeds I saw on a nature walk last summer at dusk...
Anti-freeze at work...

Mom's fuschias, I started them from start about 4 years ago...
Our tomatos...
My gum of choice...
The bridge in Astoria Oregon. If you have seen Goonies or Short Circuit, you have seen this bridge...
.
On another note, I just booked my hotel room in Bellvue for CKC Seattle in November. I know, they call it Seattle, but the actual convention is in Bellvue. Laura and I went last year, and we had such a blast!!! We already have figured out what classes we want to take!!! I can't wait!!

Here are some pics from last year...

.

You might recognize some of these people from CKMB,and some are from AMR too...Clock wise from front:

melegs, jross25, happyscrappysam, tigardlilly, me, saner4, her friend, cecilysmom, joscie, luv2talk, ingunn, noel joy...

Do you think we brough enough stuff...

Laura cropping...

Me cropping...

Almost there, hey, this could be another green picture...

The Color Blue

Today's color is blue, over at So, I smile. I am having a difficult time getting decent photos. By the time I get home, the natural light is pretty much diminished and the house if fairly dark. The non-natural lighting here is not very good, so please bear with me on the quality. I did take some photos from my stash, I hope that is ok.

.

Blueberries....

Christmas Baking, I dyed these sprinkles myself...
A beautiful fish at The Rainforest Cafe...
Rockaway Beach, OR...
My must have with coffee...
Our car, which DH destroyed 2 months after we got it. The axles on this are part of the frame, which is now twisted, so it was totalled out...
My favorite shirt...
My very first LSS purchase...
My log on screen...

.

I hope to get some actual scrapping done very soon. There are a number of challenges I want to finish. I so wish I didn't have to work, it really cuts into my scrapping time, lol!!

The Color Red

Dettao, over at So, I smile, is having a photo challenge with a different color each day. Today is the color red. I am new at photography so my photos may not be very good, but that is the fun of it...learning how to take good pictures and learning from the bad ones. I took quite a few, these are the ones I like best...

.

Red Planter...

Mom's china doll with a cocktail umbrella

because I broke the orignal one playing with her when I was little...
Berries...
A rose in my aunt's yard...
Tomatos from the supermarket...
Need I say more...
The recycling bin...
Silk flower, on a pen, in a pot...
A tin my Dad got his wallet in...
.
Well, it is a lot of photos, but I love them all. I know they are not the best quality, but it is the best I could do with my point and shoot, in my dark house.
.
I can't wait till she releases the next color!!

Have you seen the new Pink Paislee??

It looks fabulous, I can't wait to get my hands on some!! All Moments Remembered has it in stock right now and will ship immediately! You can see it on her blog here, and order it at the store, here! Stacey runs AMR and is so sweet, no wonder they call it the company with heart! Every order I have gotten comes with a sweet little note and/or extra something! They have monthly kits and they are amazing!! You really should check it out! I would add photos of this beautiful stuff, but blogger seems to be throwing a fit!! You can see it on the links I provided. I only wish I had more money, I want it too!

Hard Times Scrappin'

This layout was done for a challenge over at The Story Matters. The challenge was based on the new tv show 30 Days. We were supposed to scrap a page based on what we wanted to be for 30 days...mine was to be a mom.

.

Not being able to have children, pictures on this subject were hard to find. Luckily, Kay sent me some pictures, that is her baby, Simon on the bottom left. An ex-coworker, Crys, sent me some as well, that is her belly and an ultrasound of one of her little ones. Thank you so much ladies, you have no idea what this means to me! You both made it possible for me to scrapbook a difficult subject in my life, and it has helped me in the healing process. For the record, Crys is in the process of becoming a surrogate mother, God bless you Crys!!

.

For the layout, I used BG Sultry printed paper, I hand made the bracket border, used a MM noteworthy for the journaling, American Crafts ribbon, mostly Prima flowers, bulk buttons, American Crafts Thickers which I inked and stickled.

.

On another note, AMR is having another online crop August 9th, from 1 pm to midnight, eastern time. AMR is not actually doing this one, the members are. We are having a challenge for each hour, and I volunteered to do one of those challenges. This weekend I am going to work on that challenge, supply the hostess with a supply list, and post my challenge at midnight. It will be very hard to make a wonderful page, and not post it here. I don't know the official rule, but I am sure it needs to be a surprise until the challenge comes out. Don't worry though, I will post it here, along with all my other crop challenges.

If you haven't joined AMR yet, I highly suggest you do! The people over there are so sweet and supportive. The board isn't as busy as CK, but it is a much better atmosphere. There are no arguements, jabs, or drama! Most of the people there are from CK. It has come to many members' attention, that they have been more inspired and are able to create more since being on AMR. The crops are fun too. You do need to sign up to be on the board and do the crops, but it only takes a few minutes and you will not regret it. Click here to get to the main site, click on Message Board, follow the instructions, and VOILA, you are a member!! Every new member gets a personal welcome too, what a bunch of great ladies!

.

On yet another note, I was suppose to go to Kay's house to help her set up her scrap room, then crop, but I am having car-sharing issues and she had her scrap room bug-bombed yesterday, so we had to postpone. As a result, I am going to Oaks Park with tigardlilly and her family today, we do it each year. It is a cute little amusement park, and the kids (and us) always have a blast!! Here are a few pics from last year... I will post some from today, either later tonight or tomorrow!

MOM, What Were You Thinking???

So I am going through my mom's pics, which have tape and labels all over them, and are/were in those old photo albums that turn the photos weird colors!!! I am trying to find toddler pics of myself for another "book about me" challenge over at AMR.

.

Check out how red this one is....

This is the best I can do to try to fix it....
I can't get this one right either....
I think my scanner isn't very good, the colors are not coming out right...
No matter how many times I clean the glass on my scanner, I still get all these little white dots...
I want to be able to scan all my mom's pics, then make discs for her, me and my 2 bros, but with this quality, I don't think I want to. I heard there are places who will scan for you, but I can't even image how much that will cost!!! I am sure their scans would be better than mine though, so I am still considering it. Have you ever had that done? If so, what can you tell me about it?

.

Mom does not want me to scrapbook the originals (why, when sitting in those crappy albums and loose in a box is so much better?), so I need to invest in some good albums where I can just slide the pics in. What would I do with the tiny pics, and the larger pics? I know I will figure it out. Thanks for the vent opportunity!

Gotta Love The Oregon Coast

If you have ever been to the Oregon Coast, changes are you have been to Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach is host to Haystack Rock. Haystack Rock is host to wonderful marine gardens, aka tidepools. I remember coming here as a kid and playing in those tidepools (only the sandy ones, not the rocky ones with all the sealife). They have someone out there all the time now, so you can't go and see all the wonderful sealife anymore. I was a little disappointed, but I understand. Not everyone is responsible enough to be trusted. The Oregon Coast is usually cloudy, but mild weather-there is no such thing as a bad day at the coast (except for the occasional flooding and hurricane force winds in the winter). It may have been raining, it may have been windy, but it was a wonderful day-and hey, I can use all the help I can get while walking on the sand, wet sand is much easier to walk on. This trip was taken July 2007.

.

For the layout, I used Bazzill cardstock, 7 Gypsies printed paper, rubons are Imaginisce, chipboard arrow is Bazzill (covered in pp), stamp is Autumn Leaves, traced in Stickles, letters are American Crafts Thickers, rhinestons are Target $ Spot, sea shells are just that, sea shells. The border was made using this tutorial on Memory Makers.

.

This layout was done for a mini-challenge over at Use Your Stash. The assignment was simple, use blue and green, flocking or glitter (I had neither, so hopefully Stickles will count), and 2 photos.

.

.
.

.

Thanks for looking!

More Weekend Fun

Here is a layout I did for a blog challenge over at KJ Starre's Blog. She gave us a sketch from Becky Fleck's Page Maps. Here is the sketch...

.

Here is my take. I tend to take sketches quite literal.

The paper is Sassafras Lass, rub on and journal block are K&Company Blue Awning, ribbon is Basic Grey, stiching template and cs are Bazzill, title is American Crafts Thickers which I inked, and felt flourish is inked Felt Fusion.

.

.

Here are my alternate shape inchies for a swap over on AMR. They are still 1 inch, but different shapes than a square. They were fun. I cut the stars and the scallop circle on my silhouette. I used MM flower brads and matching Stickles for each scallop. The stars are inked yellow, stamped with a Studio G stamp with brown ink, then I used my Crop-O-Dile to put in matching yellow MM eyelets in the center.
Close up of the scallop circle....
Close up of the star...

I Love Weekends!!!!

Weekends are great, because I get to sit at my scrap table and play all day long! I have finished up the "inchies" I am supposed to make for a swap over at AMR. "Inchies" are little 1x1 inch squares decorated and used on layouts, cards, atcs, whatever! There are 28 people participating, and we have to make 2 inchies for each person. These are the ones I made...

This one is a Studio G Stamp, which I used Stickles on the "sparkles". I used my Stencil Collection dry chalks before I stamped, to give the image a colored look. I inked the edge with my Colorbox Chalk.
This one I also used a Studio G Stamp, dry chalkm and inked with Colorbox Chalk, but I also used some dyed "skittles" for the flower center. This time I roughly chalked after I stamped.
This is the ATC I made for another swap over at AMR. We are doing an alphabet swap, where 26 people each get a letter to use. I chose "M". I really had a hard time coming up with ideas for this, then found a neat monkey font, and used my Silhouette to cut the little monkey. I used some more alcohol inks, along with the Mixatives, and gave these "skittles" a little shine. The Stickles I used were actually the diamond Stickles, but I love how it looks brown! The stamp is from Technique Tuesday.

Stamp Happy

AMR is not having thier usual Scrap Chat Hour this week, where we are paired up with another member to swap ATCs. One of the gals suggested we do the swap anyway. I was thrilled to find out we are still swapping! This week's theme is a hobby, other than scrapbooking! I really struggled with this, as I am pretty much obsessed with scrappin and all things related. After a number of prototypes and very colorful fingers, I came up with this! I tried to use a different application technique for the Stickles on each flower/color. Do you think I used enough Stickles???

These are the supplies I used for this ATC. Yes, count 'em, 7 different colors of Stickles! I also used this Technique Tuesday stamp, Kabloom! Don't forget about those Studio G wood mounted letter stamps.
As much as I enjoy doing ATCs, I am really struggling with creating them. I feel like they are lacking something, or that they are not good enough. I want them to be fabulously amazing! I will continue on my ATC pursuit of perfection. I still have one more ATC to design for AMR, an alphabet swap with all 26 letters, I chose "M". I also have to start figuring out some inchies for a couple other swaps at AMR.

I am off to bed, I haven't gotten more than 4-5 hours of sleep in one night all week long. For me, that is bad, as I am one of those people who need 8-10 each night-even with my bi-pap, a machine for my sleep apnea (what an amazing piece of machinery)!!