WINNER: 'Lil Love Canvases for Bird is the Word

UPDATE 09/30/2011:

Remember I said I was doing a little drawing! Comment 6 and Cathy won!

Please e-mail me your addy and I'll pop them in the mail to you.

Thanks!

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Oh what fun these little guys were! Such joy from a piece of paper! Spotted these little itty bitty easels in Walmart and HAD to have them. No idea what I was going to do with them. Good thing I stumbled on the Bird is the Word Challenge! Their word this time 'round is LOVE, perfect for my little canvases!

The paper was on in my stash from American Crafts and as much as it pained me to cut into it, I had so much fun popping out the little hearts and my huge bottle cap O!

So, I have been extremely lucky this week! Won stuff on the Tink's Blog (go check her out, in particular her page that she made for the Color Combo Galore's Challenge which I LOVE, several posts down so scroll just a wee bit). Also won stuff on Yvonne's Blog too, which you should also totally check out. She uses the most awesome colors, very vibrant and is big on altered items.

I need to pass some of this love around! These can be yours! I'm going to leave this open for a bit, since I know the Bird is the Word girls will be by to check these out. Just leave me a comment and when their contest is over (it runs for a month) I will draw a name. Tell me what you "love" as in the little things. Do you love some new soft velvet flowers? Or does a coconut coffee brought over from the neighbor make you happy?

Harvest at Equinox

Obviously I am denial about the changing season here. This is my first fall page and technically, it was a few weeks back so still in summer. We are just starting with leaves changing, colder temps and the whatnot.

And, I have a few pages from summer to still finish up but dragging my feet for some reason. I think I'm not ready! And I love fall!

This page was a snap with the photo collage from Picasa. I am so glad Helen wrote about making one a while back 'cause now I'm really into it. Maybe that will inspire me to get a few last summer pages out of my system! In fact, go check out her latest page as she used one again. I really like it!

This one didn't use any challenge or anything in particular, it was just a fun page with some of my new to me Karen paper. I did use my sizzix to cut some leaves out of extra paper I had (can't tell you which, think it might be Bo Bunny) using the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die. I did use some new seam binding from Stampin' Up that I love! And some of the huge stash of orange flowers I have from Helen.




My favorite photo is the one with my daughter that I turned black and white in Picasa with a focal point in color. She is such a clown somedays! LOVE it! Expect just maybe to see if again at some point...

You can see it to the left. Sorry for the yucky photo, but it's supposed to rain here for another couple of days, so flash is what I have to use.

Alright, have a good one!

Lamp Inspiration

Did you know people from Australia have ESP? No, just kidding. But when I got a package yesterday from Karen who does happen to be from Australia and I was kinda sorta having a bad day AND needed not only a little happy mail but...also a piece of orange cardstock? I am thinking...it can't be coincidence! She had it all wrapped up with a sparkly polkadotted bow, pink ribbon, and a white flower, it was so pretty! No, there are no pictures. I am horrible when it comes to that. I ripped it open and had applied glitter to the same white flower within five minutes. IN fact, that white flower is in use already! Hot glued down to my latest project. You can see it above holding my pretty cranberry colored ribbon on. If you haven't ever been to her blog, you should go. She has a page posted today that is done in black and red that caught my eye and is blogging about her daughter and her cool attitude...which is exactly the same qualities I want mine to have.

Other inspiration for my lamp was provided by a new blog I am following with a great name. Pitter And Glink redid a lampshade on her blog and although I had big plans of getting mine done quickly, my project stalled just a bit for various reasons. Firstly, getting it rewired was a snap. They sold all the pieces in Walmart and cost me probably around $5. I took it apart and the hubby helped get it back together, me being a bit challenged in that direction. Here is the lamp prior to any alterations. It is all glass and heavy and cost me $10 from North Country Neighbors. This is the one that the poor guy bringing it in to sell got accosted for.

My daughter wired up the really pretty crystal dangles. I am still two shy of completion, but I kept thinking I would order them and put it off. They came from Close to My Heart and are new for the fall. Now, they are on their way!  I love how she made them so long. I didn't realize how much of a purple color they were until I started trying to find things to work with it! My next stalling tactic was that although the lamp shade was dirt cheap I just thought I couldn't alter it. REALLY MITRA. Where is your bravery. Hence, Pitter and Glink. She painted hers. I didn't want to get that drastic as I didn't MIND the color of mine but it was too...um.....clean I guess. It needed some grunge! So pulled out my StaZon brown ink pad and rubbed the edges, some glimmermist in Olive Vine and Sugar Maple helped out too. The Tattered Angel stencil I used was cool, but didn't give a whole lot of contrast. But, it now the whole shade is grungy and sparkly, so I was feeling better about things.

I wanted to include some close ups of my flowers. Several of them I made by hand. Tim Holtz makes those really cool dies for the Sizzix. My Big Shot is electric because if I had to crank the darn thing by hand, I think I'd skip it all together! I used the Tattered Floral die and also the Rosette die to make both grungy pink flowers. In fact, I also used various inks and dyes to make the doilies various colors. The Adirondack reinkers rock!





































The nice part about having the Sizzix (not that I own a ton of dyes or anything) is that when I get into making multiple items for cards, or a class, or some kind of thicker type substance...it works nicely.

I included a photo of my Sizzix in case you guys are interested. When I was buying mine, it was a mystery how the entire thing worked since there are clear acrylic sheets and what not you have to use. Luckily the instructions were super clear. As long as you have enough pressure for the pads, it all works together nicely.

Thanks for stopping by and if you get a chance, go visit those two blogs! Enjoy!

Once Upon A Sketch Challenge Page: Kya

Once Upon A...Sketch has a cool challenge up and I had to play along. (only just a few days left!) So   I started begging for photos! Shirley sent me some lovely ones of Kya, and I found I had difficulty just picking ONE! So, new to me is using the collage feature in Picasa. I gave that a whirl and decided to go with a photo block instead of just one like the sketch. I also didn't have a ton of paper and embellishments that were purple, so it worked out well. I had to really stretch to get some pretty flowers on my page and the background purple paper was all I could come up with. Guess I'd better get some more purple stuff in my stash! Especially since it's a good Halloween color. 

One of their requirements was journaling on a photo. I had done that prior in Picasa, so that was easy, although finding the right quote took a bit. My quote is a bit tongue in cheek as kids normally do break their parents! It doesn't really fit Kya, the times I've met her she is pretty easy going and just wants to go down the slide a million times on our play set. So, we'll interpret it to mean her sweetness and beauty!

Was really pleased on how this page came together. Not to mention, I have been laying low most evenings just looking at blogs. So, having a burst of power after exercise class was awesome. It started out pretty flat and wasn't making me too happy until I added the "grunge" look with mists and inks. Hope Shirley likes it!

Materials List:

Purple Cardstock from Close to my Heart

Purple Ribbon from Walmart

Flower Stickers contributed from Marilyn and Helen

Purple, Black and Brown Inkpads from Close to My Heart

Brown Background paper from DCWV Be Mine Stack

Staples from Close to My Heart

Glimmermists in Olivevine and Sugar Maple

Heart Ribbon from Stash

Twine from Walmart

Webster's Pages and K&Co Alphas

Birthday Bling Page for Becca Sketchy Thursdays Layout

Please see end of this post for an update & more photos!

Sometimes I need a swift kick. Friday night found me in the after hours clinic looking for some antibiotics. The good news is that I already feel better. And, another plus is that what I'm taking is also used to prevent or slow anthrax. I don't HAVE anthrax....but....

Note to self, next time you feel crummy for a month, seek medical attention. 

To my defense it isn't easy here. Docs don't work Fridays. It was Friday. I tried calling old doctors, new doctors, doctors from where we came from and finally resorted to the friend network and phoned a nurse who said in that no nonsense tone only a nurse has to get myself to after hours. Take a good book, play Angry Birds, and don't hurt anyone. It was good advice. Two people were not using their indoor voices when they were talking on their cell phones in a very small waiting room. If my friend Kristy was local, she totally would have stopped over and told them to mind their manners.

I did mind my manners earlier in the day when the new doc's receptionist was like, YOU ARE NOT A PATIENT OF THE DOCTOR, THEREFORE NO ONE CAN HELP YOU. (add super witchy tone here for the proper affect) I explained AGAIN that I had an appointment scheduled, but it was three weeks out and I'd probably die by then with tears in my voice. Yeah, it didn't work. She repeated the same thing again like I was really slow. I then thanked her in my nicest possible voice for being extremely helpful.

So, I decided to indulge myself tonight with fancy dancy papers, rich silky flowers, and hot pink. It was like a bubble bath, bar of chocolate, and a call from a friend I haven't heard from in ages all rolled into one. Not to mention I had a great sketch from Sketchy Thursdays to jump off from.

I also tried to limit the colors I was using because I like pages like that these days. They just seem very cohesive. I tried to stick with hot pink, turquoise, white and black. I find throwing in white and black with two other colors seems to make me pretty  happy these days.

I will upload more photos tomorrow showing the flowers up close and the journaling. I had made the white flower using Polyester ribbon cut into circles and wrinkled with a heat gun. I used a wider sharpie as I really wanted that black outline.

Have a great night and more tomorrow when I have some good day light for photography.


Materials List:
Base paper is DCWV Be Mine Stack (all glittery with pretty roses!)
Turquoise Circle from Close to My Heart glimmermisted with Dragonfly
Turquoise Cardstock from Stash
White Doily from Stash
Black Glimmermist for droplets & cheese cloth
Letters & Scallopy sticker from Basic Gray Olivia Collection
Black Ink Pad from Close to My Heart

UPDATED:  

Thanks for all your well wishes! I forgot to mention the silver lining in the whole spend Friday night at the doctor's office fiasco. There was a new doc helping out. He was only in there to cover for someone else. AND, he is also new to this area. So, doesn't have a ton of patients as of yet. He was super cool and told me to come back when I was feeling better and they'd do a standard physical. Betcha he looked at my chart and realized I only see a doc when I'm really miserable. But, this time I listened and scheduled the appointment.

Here are some more photos. I think I also didn't mention that this pedicure was a gift to my niece for her birthday when she visited us in NY this summer. She had never gone before and her gift certificate also was enough so her Mom got to have a pedicure with her. Look at my niece queening on the chair!

Featured Member at Color Combos Galore: Challenge 210 and Me By Design Page

In an never ending quest to fill my ME album, I thought I'd take the opportunity when presented to make another page! Janet contacted me earlier this week and asked if I'd mind creating a page as a Featured Member! HAPPY DANCE!

The challenge is an interesting one to say the least. The colors are spectacular. What this challenge said to me was to talk about my family. I spent my childhood watching them roll out plans, discuss designs, and one room of our house contained a drafting table. Like I wrote in my journaling, I never learned how to write my name the appropriate way before Kindergarten. BUT, I could do it very nicely in block lettering!

Click on my photo to the left to read my journaling.

The beautiful tree in the middle of the page was rescued from a school project my Dad had done. The actual board it was pasted to was crumbly and nasty. But, he had sketched up this amazing tree on what he called "trash paper" which is really thin almost clear paper and then used adhesive to stick it on his project. It was so old, it easily peeled off so I could reuse it.

   I really love some of the elements I pulled outta my stash. I found these cute little folders that had originally came from Marilyn, a few Purple Pumpkin doilies and flower that were on a failed project (dyed one of them orange!), a little wood window I got on-line from ArtChix, a BoBunny ruler brad, and a fancy dancy paper clip from Helen's stash. Ribbon was passed along by Tink!

The letters used ARE actually brown. I am frustrated as they didn't photograph well. They actually started life various other colors and I used StaZon Brown to fix them. 

Google Images gave me a hand with this page as well. I had NOTHING to use as background paper that that would work. It was all fighting with my three main elements. Found this sketch on the web and used Picasa to turn it into sepia. Then printed it on my 12 by 12 printer. 
So, if you haven't  ever done a CCG Challenge, maybe give one a whirl this weekend. My materials list:homemade background paper brown  paper from Bo Bunny Back to BasicsPurple Pumpkin Doilies and FlowerWood grain envelope  from Little Yellow Bicycle (Album Kit)BoBunny Ruler Brad, Star & Cream & Brown Brad from Stampin' Up (inked up with StaZon)Letters:  Webster's Pages & Cosmo Cricket

Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge Page- A Unique Name

oh!! Scrapbook something exotic! What a great challenge up at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge! 

I love it! In my ongoing quest to populate an album I am working on for myself, I decided I'd mix it up a bit. Earlier they had a challenge about scrapping the year you were born. I had great intentions of doing that challenge as well, but missed it. However, in keeping with that theme, I did also add my birth year & place on my page. I think this page will work out nicely towards the front of my album!

I also really wanted to use the colors yellow, blue, and turquoise on my page. It sounds odd, but I KNOW that table cloth in the back is a pale yellow since I grew up with it. 

Also, turquoise is a very prominent color in Iran, where I was born. 

     

For some reason lately, I have been drawn to really simple backgrounds. I had this whole page layout on a piece of kraft I had painted up and ended up redoing it after I decided it was too busy. 

Anne did include a sketch for us to follow along with. I thought it was fun and inspired me to use up this piece of cream colored card stock I had cut a HUGE circle out of. Plus, all the patterned paper were scraps! I don't quite recall from which line, so let me know if you remember. I'll do my best with the materials list. 

I also want to thank my daughter who wandered up at some point and saw the page out and suggested I write out my name. I had the BIG HUGE M there but not the rest of my name. It seemed so simple after she said it.

And on a personal note, I feel a bit bare putting this page out here. I really struggled with a unique name growing up. My born and raised in NY parents opted to go into the Peace Corps when they graduated from Syracuse University as jobs were scarce. I don't think they necessarily planned to have a baby in Iran, but those things happen at times. ;-) But, explain to a six year old to not tell people where you were born who are already freaking out about the Iran Hostage thing during the late 70ties. I remember being in elementary and some big jerk getting in my face singing Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. Hello! Having a kid in a foreign country by two people who ARE Americans still makes that kid...well, an American. And, regardless of where you were born, it doesn't give anyone the right to judge.

But, in the interest of "love the skin you are in" I am a lot better about my name these days.

I did look it up the origins on Wiki and learned some interesting facts that I had sort of already known. My favorite quote about the God I was named after:

"truth-speaking, ... with a thousand ears, ... with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake."

Better tell my kids. They already think I know too much about what they are up to.

Materials:

Cream Colored Cardstock from Close to My Heart
Yellow Lined Cardstock from Wild Saffron K & Co.
Pale Yellow Knitted Flower & Chippy Tag from Helen's Stash
Turquoise Circle from Close to My Heart
Various fonts from Webster's Pages & Cosmo Cricket
Glimmermist:  Trunk Bay
Architural Swirl: inked up with Tim Holtz/Ranger Stream Alchohol Ink from ArtChix
Yellow gems from my stash

ScrapFit and Sketchy Thursdays Duo Page

What fun! Star burst pattern sketch and two good challenge blogs teaming up. You can read about it here and here! Which of course means DOUBLE prizes! Oh yeah!

 Now, I like a good star burst pattern but alas, don't have any more paper in my stash just yet. So, I opted to make my own. Since I liked the sketch so much, I printed it out twice and opted to use it like a puzzle. Well, the bigger pieces. You can see once I got down to the smaller pieces I conveniently opted to let the photo boarder at the bottom take over. The adhesive and I were having a war too.

So, I printed this on my 12 by 12 printer TWICE. Once so I had pieces to cut out and copy and the second time so I could cheat and glue them down on!

Here is an example of what I mean...

For ease of coordination, I also grabbed two double sided sheets of paper from my stash that I have been dying to use. They are beautiful, with glossy raised accents and about camping. I can't believe I haven't used them already for something.

Now, if you are into paper conservation, this project is not for you. You cut weird shapes out of it leaving Swiss cheese paper! But the finished product is so much fun!

Here are some of the details. The page needed to be about friends. My parents have the coolest friendship ever. Now, the days when they wear matching jackets ARE a bit much...but......I thought I'd document that and use a photo we took on Lake Placid for Christmas cards.

Here are a few more details. I scanned this page in last night and saved the detail photo taking for daylight. When I saw the scan, I realized I needed some close ups of the layering!

This flower button combo saved me the awkward spot where the ribbon came down into the boarder. Love it!

                                                                                                                                                               
Here is a list of the paper and embellishments I used to create this page:

Imaginesce Happy Camper series, Thermal Jammies and Fresh Air

Ribbon from the same series (I believe)

Die Cut Tree, Journaling Tag and Tent from the Imaginesce Series

Brown Journaling tag-Helen

Orange Flowers from Petaloo

Black Ink pad for edges of paper from Close to My Heart & Sharpie for between the paper

First Jump for Color Combos Galore Inspiration Board 209

Such lovely colors over at Color Combos Galore this week. You should seriously consider playing along. I was a softie for that teal already....and orange...oh yes, I do love orange. Melon makes me happy combined with those two...and white, that just sets it all off. 


When I first saw the post, I wasn't sure what I was going to scrap. I have caught up pretty much with the exception of another summer page or two I'd like to make. Then Lexi got home and raced up the stairs and said GUESS WHAT MOM!? I was like...um...what? She said:  "I got to do my FIRST JUMP TODAY!!! with Daddy in the background saying...the horse just stepped over the jump you know...(he is a spoil sport that one) and she was hopping around and jumping. 

Later when she popped upstairs and saw my layout with the horse button she asked if I was scrapping her jump. I said I'd like to, but then I don't really have a photo of the horse you were on.

Yesterday we tried to drive by and see if J.R. the jumping horse was out, but he wasn't. So, she suggested photographing her boots and offered to do some journaling describing what she was feeling.




So put this page together very quickly. I had the lovely background piece of paper from my trip with Shirley to Canada. She actually bought the same piece but for the flip side. I had seen it a few days earlier on a blog which you should check out. Anne Pennington was talking about using star burst patterns on her new blog Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge and I had to have a piece. I hadn't seen any wandering around the store until Shirley flipped over the piece of paper she was buying and I was Like OHHHHH! It's called Life is Beautiful/Bouquet of Bliss by Sassafras. Lucky duck me, the edge of it is that cutie pie little scallop that I also used. You can see a close up of it above. It is already edged in teal so worked perfectly.

The flowers were some passed along to me by Helen and the brand escapes me. I typically take things out of their packaging to tidy up and conserve space. Maybe she'll help me out later. I know the one on the top is Prima and I think from my stash. The little leaves that are velvet AND orange are also from my stash as are the little sparkly orange brads.

The Doily I used was one I had been hoarding for a while. It was in a huge bag of things passed along to me by Marilyn. I just added some spray adhesive.

I really wanted to draw your eye to that single photo of Lexi's boots. The point of the challenge was to focus on an object or one single person. I think that the paper and the round doily really does that for me.

My title was fun too. The jump letters were some chipboard letters I had already from K & Co but were various shades of silver and purple. Gesso to the rescue along with an orange Close to My Heart stamp pad and some cool crackle glaze. The First letters were from Cosmo Cricket. I love using two different kinds of letters for a title.

I think I may make one more page today at some point. I agree with Anne, that challenge on Sketchy Thursdays with the Star Burst paper is calling my name. They have paired up with ScrapFit which is also a fun challenge. This time I may make my own paper, lets see how that works for me.

Have a great Sunday!

Reflections and a Fiend

Read a cool post about Blogging your Heart out last night. It was good. Reminds us that Rock Star Bloggers seem to have the most amazingly straightforward put together kind of lives...but that they have hopes, fears, and dirty socks just like the rest of us. I actually followed several links to get back to Ali Edwards who you could imagine might just have a perfect life. But no, she is like the rest of us, just trying to find her way.

I started at  Over the Rainbow if you want to start where I did.

Thought I'd give it a whirl. A real post not about papers and adhesive.

It's hard  for me to post about what is going on now 'cause it's all good. But mainly good because I have just learned not to complain. So, when we moved, I complained because I had to work in a home office until hubby eye balled me up real good and said REALLY??? You wear pajama pants all day and have to put jeans on to go to town.

So, seriously, I do have it good. But I worked my butt off to get in this good spot. I did the baby thing and they are all potty trained at 10 and 8. Now they tell me stories that are designed to give me gray hair and I hold my breath a lot. I am told this will continue indefinitely by people who have grown kids. I can't wait. I wouldn't have missed this for the world.

Job wise, I have been around the block a lot. I can't remember how many places I've worked. Someone got crazy and made me a project manager. Most days I think holy crap, people are calling ME for advice? Sometimes it's not work related even and pertains to their lives. And yes, I did tell Patrick that getting his wife cat toys for their anniversary was a bad idea. I mean, we all love our furry friends, but really??? Get the cat the cat toys and the wife chocolate or a massage.

And, why do I blog? Again, I work at home. I start hearing voices in my head and they aren't mind (Oh wait, it's my headset and skype calling me from work!!). No, really, I miss the conversations with people and the lunches...and wearing jewelry...I can't complain MUCH about the attire though. I used to wear jeans to work as it was a field office...

But, it's nice to belong to an on-line community that is super inspiring. My goals for my blog are pretty small. Share my stuff, look at other people's stuff, and really just focus on growing myself. I scrap to lose myself in creativity. My other outlet would be reading, but that is so consuming it's not good for the rest of my life. At least with scrapping I am still in mix.

I do sit FAR TOO CLOSE to scrap stuff as it's the only place in this house I could put my desk. Sometimes the paper bellows from across the room and I do my best to ignore it. Today as I discussed ways to improve response time to our client with my boss I wandered around the house, poked at the defrosting pork chops, and looked for something to clean up. If I had something scrap related out on my table, I may have glued a few pieces down in a weirdly not planned kind of way. I feel better talking if my hands are busy. I can't stay in front of my pc and talk either about important things because then my multi-task mode kicks in and I answer e-mails instead of listening.

Being alone all the time is peaceful but has its downside.

The dripping faucet downstairs in the bathtub seriously irks me. It is a dripping reminder that we were not the original owners of the faucet, hubby has done all he can to fix it and without a major overhaul, it will remain dripping. That is all I can hear in the downstairs bathroom during the day.

When the kids are home, I am not worried about a dripping faucet, but getting those chops on for supper so I can head off to an exercise class. My deal for myself is that if I am home all day, I get to get out in the evening to an exercise class. It is either that or I will start talking to myself.

My class of choice is Zumba. It's just plain old fun with sweat thrown in. Plus, sometimes people I know are there and I can gossip. Good stuff.

And the other downside to being home is dealing with the fiend. Yes, that furry beast on the top of my blog is the fiend. He is horrible. He begs at the fridge, cries at the door, and wants to eat my soup which is certainly much better without his paw in it.

Once during a conference call he got his paw up and my whole bowl of raisin bran did a 360 in mid air crashing on the desk in a huge splat of milk and cereal. I took the photo earlier today to prove to my daughter the nutso things her cat does. I think she thinks I am making them up.

Anyhow, send me your link if you are inspired to blog from your heart! I enjoy stalking your blogs now, getting to you know you better will make me happy!

Share Life & Dresses Page for Bird is the World Challenge

OK. So have you ever grabbed a whole handful of chocolate chips....you know, the big ones that are super yummy...and made yourself a little pile on your desk and ate ONE AT A TIME SLOWLY and absolutely enjoyed every little bit?

Well, this am, I got up and checked e-mail like usual. There were a HUGE BUNCH of awesome comments in there. I know! Can you believe it? I was so excited. (I have my comments go to my e-mail so I don't miss anything now I'm using the new Blogger) AND, I didn't read them. Well, not all at once. It WAS 5:30 in the am and pre coffee. I told myself I had to read them slowly..and one at a time and really enjoy them! Somebody said I had nice handwriting! OH MY!!!!!

So, I have spent the day reading your comments one at a time and enjoying them quite a lot! Thank you so much!

And, just a quick bit more on my bully situation:

The Bus Driver and I had a quick chat and told me he was moving the boy up front and that my kid hadn't done anything wrong. So, thankfully, it ended well although I had to soothe a small person who was trying to be big and not cry but OH SO VERY MAD. He proceeded to have a rough night after too, so we had to talk about letting things go.

I thought today I'd do a page for my daughter. In fact, this photo goes right along with what I wrote yesterday on my page. She was disappointed I picked a photo where she wasn't smiling, but this "LOOK" is what you get when she feels crossed. Or wants to make a point. OR, I suppose, you decide to pick on her little brother. He is hers alone to pick on. Not to be shared.

Yesterday she came home and announced she needed an Indian Name. So, I am thinking...like Dances with Wolves, right? I came up with Girl Who Showers Too Much first. Then I tried Girl Who is Mean to Brother. She didn't like either.

She went with Lime Beanie which didn't have an Indian sound to it at all. Sigh.

I did also want to tell you about a cool software package I use now and again to get some cool effects on my photos. I read about it out in bloggy land one day and had to get it for myself. It's called Lofi and is produced by Alien Skin. I believe they are having birthday sales for a bit, so now might be a good time to purchase. I think when I got my copy it was around $30. They also have a great blog. If you are into photography and manipulating photos, it's a good read. The owner also talks about what makes a successful small business so it's interesting from that standpoint too.

 I just used a quick filter on this photo to really draw your attention to Lexi and Laura. It's called a Vignette in this package.



If you want to check out the challenge, go to Bird is the Word.  The word for this challenge is Share or Sharing. Laura had on one of Lexi's dresses, which was where I was going with this title! I also am really excited about the flower I made. I will do a tutorial later for that. Lexi has been eyeing that flower for a few days so I was excited to put it on her page.

I am including a close up of my journaling. I was inspired to write more since I have NICE HANDWRITING! Oh wait, I already basked in that glory!!

Anyhow, thanks for taking a quick peek at my page. And if you're reading this and left me blog love yesterday, a huge thanks! It made my day.

Items used:

PinkPaislee Butterfly Wings (both sides, green matted the photo, top piece with butterfly and also piece on bottom with pink roses)
Pink Lace:  Stampin' Up
Several Prima Flowers
Butterfly Fairy from PinkPaislee
Tim Holtz Tape
K&Co Butterfly
"Share: Letters from K and Co, but covered in white!
"Life" Letters from Stampin Up
"Dresses" Letters from Cosmo Cricut
"And" from Webster's Pages
Brown Twine from Walmart
Turquoise Handmade Paper, local store here
Peacock Feathers
Gauze dyed with light green glimmermist
Micah Flake Glitter from Martha
Little Banner is from Tink!