Enchanted Layout for The Onion, Quirks and Mitza Pitza Grand & Final Challenge

The very last Onion (aka Sue) and Quirks (aka Lisa) Challenge #6 had me quaking in my BOOTS! Well, OK it's summer here so flip flops. 

Here it is:  Make TWO cards of the same design or colors, but one must be Shabby Chic and one in the CAS genres. The word card always scares me and then that other acronym terrifies my very soul. 

I really like cards. Just not the me making them part. ;-) 

We did get this pretty little background to use in some way shape or form, so that helped! Feel free to use it yourself if you like it!

To ease my pain, I decided to view them as card fronts and made a scrapbook page. 

Some I went with the shabby look and others CAS. 

Lots of fun little items on here from the Trinket Track. Loving that cameo and that bird which is sitting on top of my photo!

It was a great opportunity to show case this photo from my apple trees! They line my driveway and I always think nice thoughts about the previous owner planting them for me to enjoy. 

Sometimes my apple trees bloom nicely and sometimes we get just a few blooms. Of course the years with the good blooms also have good apples...hoping I'm lucky come October!

Of course the STAR of the show is not really an apple, but a Crabby Apple, but wow it is lovely!

I have had so much fun with these challenges! Some of them were harder than others but I think were great for sparking my creativity!

Huge thanks Onion (aka Sue) and Quirks (aka Lisa) for letting me jump on your bandwagon!

Delish Layout for Jot & Sian's Challenge

Because I adore all things Sian, I had to do her challenge over at Jot:  Challenge 3 – What to Scrapbook when There’s Nothing to Scrapbook About by Sian Fair.

So last week I scrapbooked  about a mama turtle and made a sweaty me page the week before so I am hardly running out of material!

Actually Sian made me remember the most amazing bakery from when I was little. A good trip to town involved the bakery, lunch with my Dad AND the library! I used item #5 from below.

Now JOT is a a new kick-butt amazing on-line...oh wait. I'll let Sian describe it. She does have a way with words....

Hurray! Jot magazine is here! Jot is a brand new, online, free magazine for the modern memory keeper and it has just been launched  by the talented Kim Archer and her team.

Figured I'd give one of their challenges a whirl and take a peek at their magazine! I love the fact it's on-line, so I can carry it on my phone!

Enjoy their challenges and their magazine, if you get a chance!

Happy Friday!

Oh and huge thanks Helen for that most amazing flower cluster you sent me in the mail. It was on my page quicker than I could eat one of those big half moon cookies! You rock!

4th Grade: Oh the Places You'll Go Layout

I broke down earlier this week and made myself a list.

Not a normal list. The kind of list THE MAN would look at and snort.

One with scrappy pages I wanted to make.

I just get all these photos and ideas and things going on in my brain...

And every since school let out, I feel slightly off kilter in a good way. ;-)

I had this page in my mind made up like a hot air balloon, but then got thinking I wanted a photo collage...

Which I made in Picasa....which goes to show you that sometimes in life free things can be awesome!

It's hard to have a lot of room for many goodies when you are trying to fit this many awesome photos on one page.

Luke's moving up ceremony was THE BOMB.COM (to quote Helen) and had many fun things incorporated into it.

The theme was Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss complete with hot air balloon on the windows!

Wanted to use this photo but totally ran outta room. We got to take Luke's green blue and yellow balloon home.

They also had these super silly frames we could use to stage photos.

Lexi was a bit sideways over all the pretty decorations and coolness. She maintained she did not have such a FANCY moving up ceremony! Although she did get a new dress....

They had all kinds of crazy balloons including little lego people holding them down!

My favorite part of the page is the side part where I got crazy with stickers and banners! Tucked a little bit of a silver doily behind my circle & title. Love it!

Anyhow, hope your Thursday was terrific, mine is coming to a close! 

Lexi's Egyptian Mask

My oldest got an award the other day.

It was for Art. Not a big surprise there.

Neither was the 99 she came home with on her report card.

When I told her good job she winced.

She basically said that Art for her was not a big deal because it was too scripted. Meaning she was told what to do and that went against the very core of her little artistic self.

I get it. Of course, it's school and you have to also do as you are told.

One of her projects was this Egyptian mask

She was not fond of it at all, despite the 100 grade.

It came to me with ears nearly falling off.

A bit of some hot glue, cardboard, some glimmer modge podge, feathers, and liquid pearls and she still hates it.

She did cheer up a bit when I told her we could put it downtown in the consignment store with a price tag on it.

She says it's too spooky looking for anyone to purchase. Maybe she's right, but that was part of the assignment!

Well, let me know if you are in the market for an Egyptian Sarcophagus, since I happen to know the artist.
;-)

Happy Tuesday!

Back on the Island Layout for ScrapFriends

We all know I cannot resist a ScrapFriends sketch.

I even cut these arrows out by hand as I wanted that shape!

Recently we went camping with my Father in Law and his wife for Father's Day. It was a whole lot of fun.

Luke got to go canoeing and Lexi played in the water a bit. Mostly just super relaxing!

The cool part about the campsite is being right on Lake Ontario on an island.

Check out this google image of what it looks like!

I imagined I was waving to Anne across the water saying see you this fall scrappin!

Here is a side view of my page. Really like how this turned out. Used some silver alcohol ink for the splatters and orange perfect pearls.

I have a few more photos to use from that trip, so I am planning a second page that accompanies it and also will have the journaling.

I really liked the busy with the colors & patterned paper but minus the words!

And a close up for one of my new upcycled scrapbooking items! Bread twists! See how happy it makes my twine?

Just flipped it over and added a smidge of hot glue to keep the twine in place.

It matches nicely with the little green round plastic piece I found on the beach and glued a flower & brad on. I am not sure what it was in a previous life but here on my page it makes me happy!

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fun scrappy weekend!

The Quirks, Onion, and Mitza Pitza Challenge: AHHHHHCHOOOO!

Dude. I cannot tell you how icky this week was.

Allergies struck Sunday night after an all day rain and I spent most of the earlier part of this week half dead with tissues stuck up my nose.

No seriously. NOT KIDDING!

THE MAN even said tissues stuck up ones nose are not sexy. I may have been crying at the time when he said it, but they were not real tears. My eyes were dripping!

Needless to say I spent every free available moment on the couch with a book when I wasn't attempting to work. Working while medicated on various allergy meds is not extremely effective, fyi!

Being the last week of school, there wasn't a lot of downtime.

Which is why at one point on Wednesday as I was driving a kid home from school I was expecting to get pulled over for sneezing five times in a row while driving.

Nothing is worse than those couple of minutes you shut your eyes and hope for the best....

Anyhow, my creativity was at an all time low. I wanted to be playing with paper...but had no umpfh!

So, my theory when that happens...

Blog Land and Challenges and Design Teams all will go on....while you are pulling yourself back from death and next week will be better!

I did make a card for Luke's Teacher since the boy is moving up to the middle school. See, that is him right there peeking at you. ;-)

My small people are all morphing into big people. It was my last hurrah for teacher gifts.

Even cheated a little with the card since the middle section was previously cut out of a scrapbook page. ;-) See?

Was going to put a gift cert to our local liquor store in my card since that is the kind of present I would love. Did not manage to get to the liquor store. Figured that would make my driving while sneezing thing a lot worse if I had bottles in the jeep and got pulled over by the Popo.

Amazon gift card from the local drug store purchased while buying more allergy meds had to suffice!

I did like how it turned out. That little green metal piece at the bottom is an earring I painted and upcycled.

I also did a very wee bit of stitching as The Onion (aka Sue) and Quirks (aka Lisa) Challenge #5 was to sew a chevron pattern. 

I am sure they have made something quite fabulous so I encourage you to go check out their blog!

And, guess what!

SCHOOL IS OUT for the next 10 weeks. Why that right there puts a spring in my step!

Happy Sunflower Painting

Finally got around to getting a little sunflower water color Jeanie made framed up and on the wall. Sometimes I start a To-Do Pile and that was in the pile along with a few other things that needed to go to the frame shop. Finally got it back the other day. It's only been six months or maybe eight?

I thought sunflowers would look nice next to angry monarch creature poster and near another framed piece from Peru of a barn door bolt.

Notice how well pink and orange go well together and that my ceiling has sparkles. I know I might be crazy, but hey, if it makes ME happy when I look at it and THE MAN doesn't notice what is hanging where, I'm going with it!

Her piece is right on time though since the sunflowers are working hard at growing tall these days in my garden. I never plant them, but the birds got crazy this year and I had a whole crop spout up!

Happy Friday peeps! I for one am totally happy to have made it through the week!

FIN Layout

Lots and lots of bling on this page.

Happened to get a package from Trinket Track  recently due to Lizzy Hill's new appointment on their design team (I like to buy local). Well, they are from Australia, but since they think Lizzy's the bomb and I do too, I want to support them.

Can you see the cute little ribbon flowers on there? That pretty pink one on top of the embossed metal I made, near the huge purple butterfly Helen sent me and right next to the cool Christmas tag from Jeanie? Those pretty little things are from the Trinket Track  The gold ribbon on the tag said Merry Christmas, just flipped it over so I didn't have to wait to use it! Thanks guys for helping me make a page!

I'll leave you with one more view showing the dimension. 

You might be wondering about the title. Well, FIN is what THE MAN said under his breath when the project was over. 

I looked at him and said did you just say FIN? Like it's finished?

Then we argued over what language it was. Just one of those small little moments! Personally I would have used a few exclamation points myself since I was SO HAPPY our front door was back in the usable stage and it turned out so nicely!

Happy Thursday to you, I am wandering off to a moving up ceremony for my kid. He's going into the middle school and saying good by to being a little kid. ;-(

Mama Turtle Layout

I am the queen of spotting turtles ever since a few years ago when we went on a massive turtle hunt to find one for our beaver pond. Of course that little episode cost me $450 in vet bills, but now it's a semi-happy memory! The dog is still a large pain in my derriere but I suppose that is to be expected. 

So, I finally figured out where turtles lay their eggs. At least all the dumb ones. On the side of my very active two lane paved county road. 

I spotted this one on the way into town and pulled a u-turn in the neighbor's driveway. Had to check it out for myself. Evidently this Mama is a Snapper due to the shape of her face. I stayed far away anyhow. I mean, I did not invite spectators in for the birth of my two kids. Birthing tends to make one grouchy and interested in biting or snapping.

I tried having a discussion with the Mama on better sand being elsewhere, but she was not having it. Walking down after her egg laying was over, I realized that the side of the road is where lots of turtles lay their eggs due to how many piles of sand I found. I guess some baby turtles survive the side of the road hatchery.

Just a quick close up so you can see how that orange flower resembles a turtle shape due to it's depth. Love those flowers!

Also, recycled a paper of Luke's from school. School is nearly over here for the summer and the recycling bin is filling up with all the stuff they have been hoarding in their lockers and desks. Was glad to make use of one of them.

Happy Hump Day Peeps!

Germany Page for Another Freaking Scrappy

If I was from here originally, I would have been prepared for the Olympics coming to town.

Instead, my son says cryptically, you guys should come see our march today at school. My class is Germany.

It was the day THE MAN and I were off work to do concrete and it seemed nearly impossible we'd be done in time to run down to the school.

HOWEVER, planets aligned and we were greeted with the entire elementary school lined up ready to march down the main drag in town.

It was impressive.

I saw Australia. Is it just me or is the flag upside down?

South Africa was there.

Of course Great Britain AND Canada.

I kept thinking we were down to the smallest of them all, but they kept coming and coming and shrinking.

It's impossible my son was ever THAT little. ;-)

Anyhow, the latest sketch challenge up at Another Freaking Scrappy had me inspired to make a page about this once every four year event!

The stars were super easy on the Silly. Several Christmas times ago, I got a cutting file for a box that was star shaped. I just cut out the top and bottom and folded the double sided paper over. Can you see that a couple of them are flapping just a bit? ;-) 

Love the little rosette I made to match the sun on the sketch. It meant I could add in his ribbon too!

It was a great parade and a really cool event. They even had the torch runner in for the ceremonies. Wasn't real fire of course!

If you get a chance, give the sketch a try! Gotta love the stars!

Oh and how did Luke do? He mostly just had fun in the sunshine. He likes running the mile vs something short like the 100 meter dash!

Happy Monday!

Mitza Pitza Stamp for the Quirks and Onion Challenge

Long ago in a galaxy far far away, I audited a Photoshop Class at a local college.

It was one of those in between times in life. I was very preggers for Luke and laid off due to massive downsizing at the company I worked for.

The dude teaching the class said the kids would benefit from an older person taking the class and talking about real life. I didn't like the older person comment, but it was free!

Interestingly enough, that class led to my next job and my current career, but that isn't a story for now.

Anyhow, I haven't used those skills in quite some time.

The Onion (aka Sue) and Quirks (aka Lisa) Challenge #4 involves drawing your own focal image/sentiment.

I am hoping they used the word "draw" in a more figurative way. 

I did START with a pencil drawing. 

In fact, I cut the banner and letters out with my SILLY and traced them. More cheating! ;-)

Then I got the idea to use a real stamp. Downloaded a trial of Photoshop 6 and borrowed an image of a real engineering seal I loved and spent 14 trillion hours editing out the name and signature.

Keep in mind my industry involves a lot of stamping and design.

Which makes it sound real cool, but it has nothing to do with the BEST kinds of stamping or designing.....

Here is the base to my stamp above. Feel free to use these for WHATEVER you might want to use them for. It's always nice to be a PROFESSIONAL. ;-)

If you are a Photoshopper or want to play around in Word, let me give you some cool links.

First off, I read FOOLISH FIRE's post on faking a chalk board background in Photoshop and used the graphics that were provided.

I went to the Graphic Fairy and used her free banner image.

Also downloaded free chalk board fonts from here called Return to Sender. Word to the Wise, be careful with free and make sure you click the font bottom on the side not the other huge one at the top that downloads a boat load of crap to your pc...

AND you say, but WHAT does this stamp mean and all that jazz?

Well you see the The Onion (aka Sue) and Quirks (aka Lisa) Challenge involves getting your mojo back.

Sometimes the biggest thief of Mojo is overbooking and not paying yourself first! 

So, it's my way of reminding myself to watch out for Pratt Inc. My family, myself, etc. Creativity is then allowed when all these other things aren't barking at you!

I cannot claim credit for the idea though. My bff Kristy from down south always said:  Hey are you up for (insert fun thing here) and then followed it with, but don't commit if it doesn't work for Pratt Inc. It has further evolved to mean anything from job commitments to over active kids! 

Always nice to remind myself of what is MOST important! 

Raisins and Woolly Mammoths

The cat and I have a love hate relationship.

Meaning I mostly love him and he mostly hates me. Sometimes we switch it up.

When I am eating my raisin brain cereal in the am and he's behind me in the chair yowling for a raisin swishing me with his huge fluffy tail getting fur in my food.....we're not friends.

Eragon is an indoor cat with a passion for stalking birds and moths from the comfort of the indoors.

He was not always such a pussy.

He came from the farm up the road at the last house, so likely would be road kill by now if he had stayed.

The Bragg Homestead is a typical New York State rural farm where one side of the road is the farm (nearly on the road) and the second side is the house (again nearly on the road). I assume that these farms were built that way long ago when the roads were not paved or wide and most traffic involved horses.

I learned to slow down on the curve by their house as you never knew what might greet you. The attack geese were nice but worse was when the Woolly Mammoth complete with huge horns and a slightly psychotic look got loose. You for sure did not want to hit that. It would totally leave a mark and not killing it right off seemed dangerous.

Anyhow, I digress. My point being that Ergaon would have learned how to run like hell and walk tough if he had grown up there.

Instead, he sleeps 90% of the day after exerting himself for a raisin and then sometimes watches birds out the window.

When a bird is around, he does this little cat shake and shimmy complete with whisker twitching.

We all stop what we are doing to watch because he looks like brute ready to pounce and it's funny as hell.

Poser cat.

Recently I made a few changes to a bird house Luke made with his Grandpa.

I added sanded feet and painted the roof black. Have yet to seal it with a good wood sealer, but that is on the agenda. I would hate for actual birds to nest in in though. ;-)

I am however not above filling the bottom with seed and pushing it up to the French doors so the cat is eye level with any feeding birds.

It would amuse me to no end.