Picnic

I love the rich, bright colors on this page. I finished this page over a week ago, but I have let it sit because I thought I might make changes on it. I really like how the pictures are the main focus on this page and the they pretty much take up the entire page. I haven't been digital scrapbooking much lately, but I miss it, so I should work on some pages. We are leaving in a few days to go on a vacation to Montana and Alberta, Canada. I'm really excited! Montana is the state I would LOVE to live in someday, so it will be so fun to go back there again and drink in all of the sights! (And it will be fun to scrapbook later on!)



Supplies:
Brads: Brand New Day kit from Little Dreamer Designs
Font: Freebooter Script, Capture It

Moxie Fab Classy & Elegant Challenge

Here's another Moxie Fab Challenge. This one is Classy & Elegant. I have really enjoyed participating in these challenges. I think my favorite part of this card is the two tied ribbons at the bottom. I LOVE satin ribbon!



Guess what? We signed papers to buy a new house today. Yippee! We won't be living it until November. We are really excited!! There isn't a 'loft' for my stamp room, but there is a room I have in mind for stamping. I can't wait!

Supplies:
Stamp: Snow Swirled (SU)
Patterned paper: Taste of Textiles (SU-this is no longer available), Bella Bleu (SU)
Cardstock: Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Silver
Other: pearls, white satin ribbon (SU)

Moxie Fab Challenge: Vintage & Shabby Chic

I'm having so much fun playing along with the Moxie Fab challenges! I'm liking it even more than color challenges. For this challenge she asked that the style would be vintage and shabby chic. She described shabby chic as using layering, a soft style, using ribbon, lace, inking and/or distressing. She also described it as being comfortable. I liked that. Vintage was described as soft, worn, and comfortable.

Right away I saw these colors together. It was like my mind could begin to see what I wanted to create, so I got started right away. I wanted to sew on the card, but since I don't have a sewing machine right now (it's in a box somewhere in 'la-la land') I decided to cheat by using my white gel pen. And then I folded the edges of the kraft paper. I like how that looks! The only vintage stamp I had was the santa Christmas stamp. I stamped the snowflakes onto the Kraft using Sahara Sand. Some of the snowflakes were stamped off the paper once or twice first before stamping directly onto the Kraft paper. I just had so much fun creating this card. I like the style challenge because it leaves so much room for creativity!



What I used:
Stamps: Christmas Punch
Ink: Real Red, Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa (sponged) (SU)
Cardstock: Aqua Mist (PTI), Kraft, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa (SU)
Other: Ribbon (PTI), white gel pen, eyelet scallop punch (SU), circle scallop punch, 1-3/4" circle punch

Moxie Fab World Challenge

Last night I was blog-hopping and I hopped upon Moxie Fab's blog and saw that she was having a challenge. I have seen others post about her challenges before, so I was interested. For this challenge she wants a holiday creation with something clean, graphic (actually, I am wrong...I'm getting the challenges confused), cutsey, and fun. I wanted to get started on this last night, but I knew I was too tired to create. I did look through my stamps to see if I even had any stamps that would be classified as 'cute'. And I did! So I set some things aside to remind me to make a card for this challenge. I had fun playing this morning. Want to join me in this challenge?



Is it fun and cutsey? What do you think? I love these colors together! Guess what? After this card, I only have a few inches left of my raspberry fizz satin ribbon. *frown* Such a fun color!

It was so much fun making this card. I really felt like I was getting out of my box. I love it!

Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Punch (SU), Polka Dot Basics (PTI), Snow Swirled (SU)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Craft Whisper White (SU)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss (SU), Aqua Mist (PTI)
Other: Raspberry Fizz ribbon (PTI), Only Orange marker, Tempting Turquoise marker (SU), Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU)

Inspiration

Inspiration for creating is everywhere. I see it all of the time now. I think I look at the world differently now since I started digital scrapbooking. Just the other day we were at the movie theater and I was looking at this movie promo. I saw all of the details that went into creating the poster. I love looking at the world around me that way now; it's fun! Yesterday, I was looking at Joyce Meyer's website and I saw this book cover and I was immediately inspired to create a page. Here is my creation:

I think my journaling is hilarious because it's so 'to the point'. It's like I was just stating facts.

Inspiration is all around!! Be inspired by something today...whether it's a book cover, a movie poster, whatever. It's all around!

Wednesday Card

This isn't my favorite-favorite card, but I like it. I made it a few days ago.



Guess what? It's sunny today! Whoohoo! I just took some pictures of a couple of cards I made yesterday. Love that sunshine!

Supplies:
Stamp: Country Morning (SU)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White (SU), turquoise (PTI--whatever color that is)
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Lemonade
Other: Basic Grey Lemonade button, yellow ribbon (PTI), Crystal Effects, SU markers, Eyelet Punch (SU)

Happy Everything

Hello again! I wanted to post another card today, so here I am!
I made this card yesterday and I realized something when I was making it...I miss soft turqoise colors from SU. Since SU doesn't offer a light turquoise color right now, I used Papertrey Ink's Aqua Mist. I think I'm going to have to invest in some of their Aqua Mist paper.



Supplies I used:

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral (SU), On a Pedastal (SU), Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Cardstock: Whisper White (SU), Kiwi Kiss (SU), Aqua Mist (PTI)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Craft White (SU)
Other: Labels One Nestabilities, clear embossing powder

Last week on Thursday I ordered some supplies from Stampin' Up! Guess what?! I already have the order in my possession (Tuesday morning)! That's FAST! The packages no longer have to go north to go south. Whoohoo!

Raspberry Suite Challenge #15

Here's another color challenge from Dawn McVey! I really liked these colors together. The hardest part was finding a melon color. She said it was like a 'peachy-orange'. The best match I could find to that is the polka-dot paper on the card. For some reason that's like the only thing in my stash that has that color. I should probably do something about that, huh?



What I used:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs (SU), Fifth Avenue Floral (SU), Birthday Basics Vol. 2 (PTI)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla (SU), Berry Sorbet (PTI-I'm not sure if this is the correct color. I have a colored paper pack from PTI, but I'm not totally familiar with their colors...yet)
Patterned Paper: Sassafrass
Ink: Kiwi Kiss (SU), Regal Rose (SU)

Want to play along?

So this might look familiar since Kristina Werner and Dawn McVey do something very similar. Each month I come up with a color/technique challenge for my stamping club members. This is September's challenge. Want to play along? If so, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your creation.

Workshop cards

Hello! I've been absent for a few days. I thought about scheduling some posts, but I ran out of time. I had a great time in Wrangell with my stamping club. It really felt like I was 'home'. All of the ladies are just so amazing! I'm so thankful for them. I have a couple of more months with them, so I'm thankful for that!


This is one of the cards we made. Therese, the hostess, was interested in seeing a wedding invitation design. I saw an idea here and decided to work off that idea. I felt like the cards we made for this workshop were rather simple. It was funny because I didn't have any sentimental stamps with me. Oops! Note to self: bring sentimental stamps next time AND extra paper! Oops!

This is the inside of the card with the vellum band that goes around the card.

This is the other card we made. I got the idea for the flower from Beate. I took the picture of this card on a sunny day (today is NOT one of those days--hello fall!)

I'm in a card making mood today. Last night I found an idea that I started working on last night.

I've noticed that there are times when I put so much pressure on myself to come up with ideas for workshops that I don't really enjoy the process/journey of stamping. I also realized that I have been looking around at other places for ideas too much again. It's ok for me to look around, but I have to be well-balanced with it or I'm in trouble. I need to be true to my own stamping style.

Pizza

I found some pictures from my trip to Michigan back in March that I didn't scrapbook. Seeing these pictures of my siblings made me miss them all the more! They are 3 amazing kids and I love them SO much!



Today I am leaving to go to Wrangell to do a stamping club workshop that's on Saturday. It will be so much fun to see my friends! I've missed them!

Yesterday and part of today I had to figure out what the stamping projects are going to be for September's workshop since I only have a short time when I can order what I need. Let me tell you, it was really hard planning for it. Maybe it was just my mood, but I dont't think I've ever been so frustrated before trying to figure out what to make. I tried to take my own advice of "just relax, go with the flow"...but that was like, blah, blah, blah in my ears yesterday. Haha! I would snap back with, "But I HAVE to figure this out now!" Pressure is not good, my friends! I blame it on a certain vacation we are taking next month. Haha!

Cards for Kate

Jennifer McGuire talks about Cards For Kate on her blog. Makes me want to cry to think this little girl has brain cancer. She's a beautiful little girl! I am praying for her and I think I'll definitely have to send a card. Will you send one, too?

Spring has sprung!

It's kinda fun going back to scrapbook pages that were months and months ago. Right? Ha! I remember when I couldn't wait until spring came, and now it's back to school time! Wow!

This is a page I started a long time ago (probably in the late spring--maybe). I don't really enjoy scrapbooking green and red. I had a 2-page layout with these pictures just waiting to be finished. A couple of days ago I was looking through unfinished work and decided to pull all of the pictures onto one page and this is what came out:



When I'm not thrilled with a page I'm working on, I either delete it or come back to it later (in this case, MONTHS later). I like working like this. Instead of fretting over one page and thinking I absolutely have to scrap in chronological order, I have the freedom to just move on to something else. I enjoy working on all different kinds seasons and projects at one time. Around Christmas-time last year I was already tired of winter themed pages. Now they are more interesting to me. I say it's better just to go with the flow.

What I used:

Poppy Flowers & 'grass'
Wood Paper
Spring
Font: Oklahoma
Scallops: my design

Swing

I think I'll eventually journal on this page. These pictures were taken on one of our last walks together in Wrangell. Quent and I take a lot of walks together. One of our favorite places to walk is the Volunteer Loop. Next to the trail is the school. I guess I was feeling spunky this day and thought it would be fun to play on the school playground equipment. So to the swings we went! Can you believe I can actually get motion-sickness from swinging? Oh dear! I LOVED to swing when I was younger! The swing I am on in those pictures was really squeaky. It made me laugh and I told Quent it reminded me of when I was younger and my mom would bring WD-40 to the playground and she would oil the swings so they wouldn't squeak. She's hilarious like that! I had to tease her about that the other day. She was like, "I really did that?" Yup! Oh the memories!

Who knows, maybe I'll put all of that for my journaling on this page...sounds good to me!

I don't use gray a whole lot, but I like how it looks on this page. What do you think of the bird cage? It doesn't really fit the page, but I like it! It was part of the elements that came along with the Jessica Sprague photo editing class from House of 3.

Goodnight!

Flutters

Good Monday morning! We have a nice, steady 90% chance of rain today and tonight. What a good day to stay inside and create! It looks like I need to get to more creating because I have run out of things to blog. I had to go back into my folders and see what completed project I could share with you today.

This is a digital page I created for a Creating Keepsakes submission many months ago. Since I never heard back from them I suppose that means it won't be published. I used the Flutter Kit from PClayers.com for this whole page. I remember when I created this page. I couldn't fall asleep one night, but I saw this design in my mind, so I got up, started Photoshop and within 20 minutes or so this page was completed. I love when that happens!



I can't believe it's already the middle of August! I was looking back through our pictures the other day and I see I still have a lot of pictures to scrapbook from this year. I've been trying to focus on our vacation pictures, so the other pictures have been neglected. I'm slowly getting to them though.

Monument Valley

Here's another before and after:


I partially liked this page, but something just wasn't right for me. Plus I had these other pictures of the valley that I wanted to include. So I changed things up a bit...

I've used that orange background paper with the diagonal stripes a few different times now, so it may look familiar. When I find something like that that I like, I use it over and over again. I think one of these days I'll post about my favorite digital products that I find myself using the most. Hmmm...maybe I should do that soon.

I'm hoping to check out this magazine soon. I am always looking for digital ideas. I have a feeling there is an exciting digital journey ahead of me. I can't wait!

Did you check out Dawn's blog today? I thought it was SO sweet and encouraging!

Journey

Sometimes pictures speak louder than all of the scrapbook embellishments we can put on a page. I've been learning to let the pictures tell the story. Right now I'm not really big into embellishments. I've been concentrating more on the pictures, the words, and the flourish/swirl brushes (which is just like stamping, but it's digital). I try to throw on digital buttons and other things, but I delete them 85% of the time. It's just not my thing right now. When it comes to cards, it's different. So I'm thankful I get to play in both worlds.

Last night we went on a bike ride. Remember my bike? It's AMAZING! It's a bike that's a perfect fit for me since my dad custom made it. Recently someone was telling me that they were riding with a friend and their friend was huffing and puffing away while riding. But for the other person the ride was smooth (this was on flat ground...no hills!). They switched bikes and suddenly the person who was riding smooth was having a hard time. Who would have thought that the bike would make the difference? It really does! At the end of our ride last night we climbed this killer hill. It's long and steep! It sure was fun to go down in the beginning of our ride, but going up was a different story. Even though the climb was challenging, it felt so different than it did in the past with climbing hills with a similar grade. I felt like my form was perfect because of how the bike fits. I wasn't in pain, but I could feel my muscles working really hard. I know if I would have been on my old bike that it would have been a different story. I probably would have been crying!

Do certain smells/scents bring back certain memories? I noticed while riding there were so many smells in the air. Not bad smells (thankfully there were no garbage trucks around), but just different smells all around. Being on a bike and having that breeze while riding really whipped up the smells. I even smelled that 'back to school' smell. It totally reminded me of walking to school or the bus stop on the first day of school. You know that smell? Ha!

My dad has been working on other bikes. He's really getting into his groove! I'm proud of him! Everyone should have a Bob Keller bike! (Ok, maybe I'm bias because he's my dad, but seriously!!) Did you know my brother designed my dad's website? He's amazing! Check out his work!

Love

This is a digital page I created yesterday. The page came together quickly (while watching Everybody Loves Raymond), which is amazing compared to how long it's been taking me lately. I guess I found my groove again! I remember packing that pink shirt on purpose so I would have something fun to scrapbook later. (Is that like a sickness or something? Ha!)



Background paper: After 5 Designs
Frame: House of 3
"Love" sticker: Jessica Sprague
White swirl stamp: Designer Digitals
Pink Ribbon, pink flourish w/rhinestones: Jen Wilson Designs
Font: Adorable

I'm not sure why I listed what I used...but it sounded like fun this morning.

For those who digital scrap: Have you ever used the 'Replace Color' function under Adjustments? I used that to change the color on the V in 'love'. It's a really fun feature! I was super excited when I learned that one! Also, see the ribbon? That's actually two layers of ribbon with one of the layers erased a bit. I love Photoshop!

I'm up early and ready for a SU package that should be delivered this morning...

Friends

I tried posting this earlier, but Blogger was being bad. It seems like a lot of people are having a hard time with Blogger right now. I wonder what's up?



A digital layout of a picture that was taken of my friend Laura and I on the 4th of July.

Sunshine

I thought I would share the process I went through with working on this page.


First I started out with this layout. I really liked this, but if I kept it this way half of Jamie's face would be cut in half when I had the pages printed. What I learned: use the guide to divide the 12x24 page immediately when starting. (Don't worry Jamie, I fixed it!)

So then Plan B was that I moved the picures around. But then I had a hard time positioning the title. I didn't feel like the page was balanced...

Plan C was moving the pictures around again, cropping the picture of Jamie and I, and adding a picture of Jamie's son. I like the title on the side so much better and now there's no pictures being cut in half.

I love digital scrapbooking!

More Beautiful You

Last night I received an email from my friend Carrie about a song. The song is now #1 on my Playlist. It's an amazing song! I thought I would share it with you here. Let me know what you think.

Here's part of the song:

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

This song brings tears to my eyes. This world (they) say you need to be a certain size, wear certain clothes, etc. to fit in or to be more beautiful. But it's a lie! We were made to be who we are, with our body shape and type. We were made on purpose to be ourselves! Let's be ourselves!

About a month ago I did an online search about the history of body image for women. What I found was really interesting. The thing that stood out to me the most is the comparison between the models of today and the holocaust victims. These models we see, these images we see in magazines or on online clothing sites are just as skinny as those starving holocaust victims. Just think of that... And these are the images that so many are tempted to look like or think they have to look like to be accepted. It's all wrong!

I hope you are encouraged by this song!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14

Good morning! I got an early start this morning. I thought I would share what I created for Dawn's color challenge this week. The colors were raspberry, cream, purple, and scarlet. Believe it or not, but I was fine with using purple, it was the red that I wasn't excited about.



I finished reading The Secret by Beverly Lewis yesterday. I liked the book right away. I read a lot of reviews on Amazon and a lot of people who are Lewis fans said they didn't like this book, that it was too slow and boring. But I enjoyed it. It was my first time reading about Amish. The whole time I was picturing the Amish that live near Atlanta, Michigan, where my husband grew up. Now I'm interested in reading other books by Lewis. The library here has a collection of them.

I'm going to post a digital page I created later on today. Have a blessed day!

Here for you

This is the last of the loft cards I took pictures of (unless there's more hiding somewhere in Picasa). I love the 'country' feel to this card. So fun! I remember being inspired somewhere before making this card, but I honestly don't remember where it was from. I should write these things down.

Can I say something?
I have a lot on my mind this morning. I've been up since 5:30 because I had a lot on my mind.
Being you is enough.
You are fabulous because you are you.
It's not you mixed with some role in your life.
It's not because you are a mother.
Or because you have a job.
It's not because you are married.
You are not less of a person because you aren't married.
Or because you don't have children.
Or because you don't have a job.
You are fabulous because God says so.
It's because of who He is.
He made you, formed you in your mother's womb.
He says that you were fearfully and wonderfully made.
And that's enough.
That was before you could DO anything or BE someone.
It was before you took you first breath.

It's hard because the world looks around and says, "WHO are you? What can you do? Show me, prove it to me! You are what you do." But it's not true.
I am not who I am because of what I create.
Sure, I'm a wife, a friend, a daughter...but those roles don't define me.
God defines me.
Being me is enough without all of those other things.
God is enough.

Thanks for listening.

Butterfly Flutterfly

Hello! Are you having a good weekend? It's been raining here today...getting back on track to get to that 13 feet of rain of precip this year. Ha! I'm really enjoying this rain. It's a good day to stay inside, curl up on the couch with my kitties, and read. I started a book today called The Secret by Beverly Lewis. This is my first time reading a book about the Amish and I'm finding it really interesting so far.

Here are a couple more cards I took pictures of in the loft. I think I have one more picture to share of what I took in the loft.