I'm very excited that our first challenge has inspired Sue to create this gorgeous layout! Sue bought this beautiful "Boho Chic" paper last summer from Hobby Lobby but even though she loved it she hasn't had an opportunity to use it. For this challenge she decided to do something just for herself using paper she loves. She even got inspired to step out of her box and play around with a style that isn't her typical one. I'm so glad she did because look at this result!

Thanks for playing and sharing your inspiration with us!

Am I a Stylish Blogger?

Someone (thanks Sue!) thinks so! I was the lucky recipient of the Stylish Blogger award and am proud to display the award over there on the right sidebar. As a requirement of receiving the award I must do two things. First, I must tell you eight things about myself.

1. I'm a CA girl and the longer I live in MI, the more I miss the CA weather. (Were it not mid-winter this might not have made #1 on my list.)
   
2. Paper crafting is where I spend most of my creative time, but I'm a wannabe writer and mixed media artist as well.
3. I love watching ghost/haunting shows on television. Guilty pleasures, anyone?
4. I'm a San Francisco Giants fan (see item #1) and therefore have been a very happy girl since November 1, 2010.
5. I prefer to eat organically whenever possible.
6. I'm something of a homebody...homeschool my children and homebirthed three of the five.
7. Red Vines are real licorice (#5 does not apply here) and Twizzlers are just wannabes.
8. I love to read and panic a little if I get stuck somewhere without a book.

The second requirement is to choose eight more stylish bloggers to share this award with. In no particular order I'd like to share with you:

1. If It's Groovy
2. Scrap a Little
3. Scrapping the Guys
4. The Scrappiness in Me
5. Crop Chocolate Designs
6. This Little Scrapper
7. Be Present Be Real
8. Made Fresh Daily

Go ahead and check them out; you won't be disappointed!

I was a little under the weather last week and then have had my dd, dsil and dgd visiting this week, but rest assured...there are more creative postings coming soon!!

I am about to embark on a semi-scrappy adventure and thought you might want to come along for the ride. This is NOT scrapbooking per se...but it will have a lot of overlap of supplies AND I think it will be very inspirational.

That's where I thought you might come in.

See, as much as I am a verbally-oriented person, I've always...well, just plain sucked at keeping a journal. I've tried. Oh, have I tried. But really...yeah, I've just sucked at keeping it up. So this time I'm trying something a little different. I'm going to do some art journaling. (This is the book I bought but a bit of browsing amazon or a bit of googling will show you, oh, a gazillion or so approaches: Journal Spilling: Mixed Media Techniques for Free Expression.) Now, I understand this is NOT scrapbooking and may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I do believe that we can all use some of these concepts and practices as a springboard to become better, more creative scrappers.

So, my first challenge to you (taken from the book above) is this, a step in letting go of your inhibitions:

1. Start with a blank piece of paper, any color. Grab anything random, don't overthink.
2. Quickly (again, don't overthink this) grab ten or so of your scrap papers.
3. Tear these into smaller peices.
4. Drop them onto your background paper.
5. DO NOT MOVE THEM!
6. Glue them where they landed.
   
7. Grab some paint (crayons, markers, whatever.)
8. Scribble or brush all over the page. (DON'T TRY TO BE ARTISTIC OR CREATIVE, JUST SCRIBBLE!)
9. If you have thoughts running through your head, right them down. Wherever.
   
10. BE DONE!

If you like what you came up with, let it dry and use it as a background paper. Or cut it up and use it as you wish. Maybe it will show up somewhere on the monthly challenge layout? Or heck, crumple it up and throw it away.

But be inspired by the process.

Let me know what you think of the exercise. I'd love it if you share with us your results as well! (Link over on the right, as always.) Here is what I came up with in my art journal.

As promised, here is the layout I made with this month's challenge in mind. I first chose these papers simply because I loved them but had been hanging on to them with nothing in mind. Once I put my mind to it the perfect pictures of my daughter at her choir concert were right under my nose!

I can't wait to see what papers you've been hanging on to and what you do with them!

Amazing clip from Tim Holtz's booth at CHA

You know that thing we are talking about for this month's challenge? The thing where you buy something because you fall in love with it but don't have any specific project in mind for it? I just realized I did it again.

The other night I was having a little pity party...nothing major but I decided on some online retail therapy.

But would you look at this??



If you go here you can see every beautiful stinkin' page.

Now to figure out what to do with it.

I'm seriously thinking about just framing some of it.

RAK winner and our challenge

Wow, ladies, thanks for the great response! I'm excited to see so many of you here and I'm hoping that you will enjoy your stay and continue to share the word. For now...I'm pleased to announce the winner of the random drawing for my RAK....drum roll please...

(I cannot figure out how to insert the web page showing my drawing so I hope you will all trust me.)

.....#8! SUE, please send me your mailing info using the link on the right so I can get you your goodie!

Since the month is still young, let's go ahead and get started with our first challenge, shall we?

One thing I've noticed about myself is that I tend to buy pretty things because I love them even if I don't have a particular layout in mind for them. Nothing wrong with that, we all do it, right? However....the problem comes when I find those very same pretty things sitting in my stash months later. So tonight I decided to switch things up a little. As I was preparing to scrap, and instead of starting with my pictures I chose some papers I've been hanging on to and then went back and searched for some pictures to complement them. I created a layout I'm very happy with and got the bonus of finally using some of the pretties I've been hoarding! I've set aside several more kits to work on in the coming days and will be sharing my results here. (If it wasn't so late I'd share now but that Super Bowl ends late for us eastern time zone folks!)

Which brings us to my challenge for you. This month I'd like you to find some paper or embellishment that you just HAD to have but have never used. Use this as the basis for a layout...find the pictures to go with them after you have chosen them (go ahead and peruse your old photo albums) or even leave them without photos for now until the right ones turn up. Maybe this is a great reason to create a photo op? Email me your layout using the link on the right by Feb. 27th with the subject line "blog challenge share" and I will share them here to inspire us all. Feel free to add a little info about how it worked out for you or anything else that seems relevant.

As for me, I'll be busy searching out some goodies for a random winner.

Can't overlook this beautiful and colorfully fun line Sweet Threads from my old fave Basic Grey.

Imagine all the just-plain-FUN you could have with Die Cuts With a View's Vintage Collage line!

Peeps by Creative Imaginations...why, oh why, did no one think of this before?

Maya Road has really outdone themselves this year; this is just one of my faves from their new line. Be sure to also check out the ledger transparencies and the kraft doilies!

Some of you may know how my dog got sprayed by a skunk a while back...wouldn't this Nikki Sivils Max & Mollie create a great layout and give me a little silver lining to that episode?

Pink Paislee Daily Junque...how versatile is THIS??

Welcome Back!

I know that everyone and their uncle has a scrappy blog these days. And I have a couple of places where I find great challenges and great friends to chat scrappiness with, but I have found lately that I've really missed the creative aspect of presenting my OWN challenges to you like-minded gals, and I've gotten a bit of feedback that you may be interested in "hanging out" with me here and playing along. So....welcome back!

Let's start out with an easy challenge, with one caveat. You need to make this worth my while, so go let our buddies know that we are back, and leave a comment on THIS post to let me know you are here and ready to PLAY! If I get ten or more comments I will randomly draw a name to receive a RAK! So, go tell your friends to pop on over (and sign up as a follower so they won't miss any of the fun!) and leave a comment.

Just for fun, since it is always weird to leave a comment when there isn't much to say...how about in your comment you let me know whose new CHA release you are most itching to get your hands on. I'll share some of mine below.