1 Hour Sketch Challenge

This LO is based on a sketch over at Creative Scrappers. It was a 1 Hour Sketch Challenge. The inchie is from a swap and the butterfly was a paper piecing I did for a swap. Didn't end up using it for the swap, but I still liked it none the less. Isn't that lace so sweet. I just love it. Got it at Joannes.

I love me a Fast Scrap! I don't know what it is about havign only a limited amount of time, but I love it! I am a fast scraper by nature anyways. i don't like leaving a LO unfinished on my desk. So, doing somethig in an hour and having to post it by a certain time gets my blood pumping! Wow...how did I get like that??

Happy Birthday Creative Scrappers!

Creative Scrappers is having a Birthday Bash with two weeks worth of festivities! I love their events. Always gets me very motivated!

This one is very different from my normal style, but I like it. I needed to get all the pics on one page. I see one of my tickets fell off... Wonder where it is...

Rise to the Challenge, Week 3

OK, so I threw a {mild} tantrum last week over the critique of my LO. I guess the judges are afraid of another outburst from me, so they didn't say much this time! LOL. I have become *that* student! Ooops!

Anyhow, the rules this week were to make your photo the center of attention in your layout. Also, you had to have an arrow , doodling and a pocket.

I made the tiny glasses out of wire and then made the tiny little pocket for them to go in. Turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! :-)

My score was a 40 out of 50. Lower than before, but still pretty good. This is what the judges said:

"Spectacular" LO!! I love that it's so busy, but the focus is definitely on the pictures. Great little pocket and glasses!I love, love, love your pocket with the little wire glasses. I love that whole cluster in the bottom left corner, and I love that you drew a flower for the bottom layer. Perfect title for your spectacular LO.The pocket with glasses is just too cute! Very creative!Very pretty, and clever title.

So, next weeks challenge is monocromatic (gag) and symetrical. Its done and I LOVE IT! Even if it is monocromatic! Stay tuned...

Rain On!

Rain is really something to celebrate here in South Texas! My hubby and kids had a great time playing in the rain in the middle of a long drought last summer.

The challenge over at Daily Inspiration was to draw a line across a bingo card and do a page with the elements in your row. You can see the bingo card here. My line included cardstock, ribbon, stickles, bling and buttons.

Earth Day Blog Jump

Happy Earth Day! How about a Scrappy Blog Hop in honor of Earth Day?

Here's the challenge: Recylce something on your LO!

Easy enough right? I used a piece of a cardboard box. I ripped some of it off to reveal the inside.

Want some activities for your kids? Check out No Time For Flascards.

Now, check out what my frieds have done for this challenge. Hop over to Jen's page and see what she has for Earth Day!

Monday Musings

I'ne been stuck in the house for 4 days with a sick family- uhg! Luckily, I have not caught the bug...yet. I have been able to sneak in a little scrapping thankfully!

This is actually an old one. It was for a challennge on Daily Inspirations to journal in three different ways. I also included the actual hat that my daughter wore home from the hospital. Don't you just love that VW Bug paper!

These are for a summer swap. I copied the coconut drink on my oldest daughter's new shirt from Gymboree! Funny what can inspire you sometimes!

These are journaling tags for the same swap. I used Stampin Up's Tart and Tangy stamp set.

Make sure you come back on Wednesday for a special Earth Day blog hop!

More Zoo Pictures...

I feel like I have a never ending stream of zoo pictures. I mean, how many pages can one really have of the zoo? I think I need to stop even developing those pictures! The only reason I scrapped these was because I had this cute little swap tag (made by Tiffani I believe) and it matched the pictures so well.

It was based on this sketch by my friend Jodie and is featured on Daily Inspiration.

Around the web...

I'd like to share a couple of amazing things i have found around the blog-o-sphere this week.

Inking Idaho made these adorable Carousel Purses. OMG! Love them! She found the tutorial at Stamps, Paper, Scissors. Wouldn't these be perfect for teacher gifts?

Dawn, over at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts, one of my very favorite SU blogs, has these totaly cool pop up birthday cards. She is so awesome that she even made a how to video! Check it out!

Have fun!

Rise to the Challenge, Week 2

I am participating in a challenge over at ASP called Rise to the Challenge. Each week a challenge is posted and you are to complete the challenge and submit your LO to be judged on 5 criteria, unknown to you. Each LO is given a score out of 50.

Here are the rules for this week's challenge:
You must include a clear object on your LO (ie. recycle some plastic packaging, ghost shape..etc)
You must use at least 1 punch on your page (be creative!)
You must treat the Ad as a LIFT (not just inspiration of colors etc.)
I knew immediately what I was going to do, as we had just returned from the Wild seed Farm!

I used clear embossing powder (the flowers on the CS, although they look green!) and Crystal Effects for my clear item, and a scallop edged punch. I don't usually do this kind of LO, kind of cheesy with the shaped pics, but I do like it alot. It turned out cute and looks very different from my other stuff. Normally, a LO takes me an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I worked on this one for 3 days!!!

I got a 44 out of 50. Better than last weeks. (I can't post last weeks yet as its going to go on DI, but will once its posted over there! I think I got a 40 last week...)

Here is how we were judged:
1. Over All LO Creativity (1-10)

2. Use of the Clear Object (creativity of the object too) (1-10)

3. Following the Ad as a Lift (1-10)

4. Use of technique (punch) (1-10)

5. Page Coordination (ie. PP matches, colors work together, photo correlates to the page elements) (1-10)

And this is what the judges said:

Beautiful LO. Love all the different details. I think the clear embossing powder was a bit of a stretch on the "use a clear object" requirement, so I took off a few points for that.

I love all the detail and dimension of the page. I think the idea of the faces in the flowers are cute, but maybe you could have downsized the flowers and up sized the pictures. This could work as a really cute idea for a card!

Simply Amazing!!!!!!!!!! I love your attention to detail and the design is freaking cute! I also love all the dimension! Blew me away!

This LO is so full of fun details and fun patterns that I can't even tell you what I like best! Love the title in the upper corner. Very creative!Very sweet!


Hmmm... OK, I know I am being silly, but I think the use of clear embossing powder is thinking outside the box! Thinking inside the box would be to use either a ghost shape or a piece of clear packaging. IDK, maybe I am just overly sensitive. I do appreciate the feedback and will try to grow thicker skin before next week...

Color Challenge

Hi everybody. Its been a crazy, crazy week. Dealing with sick babies now. Sigh... Anyway, here are a couple of things I have that I can post.

Today's challenge at Daily Inspiration is to use warm colors. Here is my contribution:

And, I also did these cute little clocks for my Time Swap:

Hybrid Challenge

Todays challenge over at Daily Challenge, is to incorporate a digi element (made by Day) on your traditional LO. You can download your own here. They are super cute!

Here is my take:

I also used a differnt version to make a swap item (Spring Journaling Tag.)

Rainbow Bright

Whats not more fun than a few noodles and some Elmers glue?? Not much!

I found this activity on 5 Orange Potatos by way of The Crafty Crow.

If you have never dyed noodles, its very simple. Pour some noodles into a gallon baggie. Add a few drops of food coloring and a little bit of alcohol. Shake, shake, shake. Poor out on some newspaper to dry. Voila! Colored noodles!

We used some 'Press n Seal' because I didnt have any wax paper. Pour lots of glue out in the shape of a rainbow. I did this at school too and you have to really make a pool of glue or the noodles don't stick together. This is the one time I let my kids get crazy with the glue!



When all the glue is dry, peel off the wax paper and hang it in the window as a pretty sun catcher!

To teacher your child rainbow order, try this little tune:

(to the tune 10 Little Indians)

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue purple.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple,

Makes a rainbow bright!

Left over noodles also make a great math manipulative! Use your muffin tin to sort by color and count out given amounts!

Have fun!

The Wind Blew!

Its spring and that means lots of windy days! Spend some time doing a few activities that focus on the wind.

My favorite book about wind is The Wind Blew, by Pat Hutchins.

Another good one is called Feel the Wind by Arthur Burros.

Gather a few items from around the house that can be easily blown. I use a feather, a ping pong ball, wooden bead, a tissue, and a foam ball. You will also need a straw that bends.


For older children, my daughter is 6 and I do this lesson with 4-5 year olds, bend the straw and hold it like a pipe. For younger kids, like my two year old, keep the straw straight. Also, before you start, have your child make a guess about whether each item can be blown (hypothesis.) To extend their thinking even further, have them make a simple chart with pictures of each item. Have them put an X or check next to each item after they try them (data collection.) Explain that these are things real scientist do when they are doing experiments!

Now, start blowing! Start with the lightest things first (feather, tissue) and move towards the heavier, harder to balance items (bead, ping pong ball.) You will have to help your child hold the straw steady. It may take a few tries, but all of these things will blow upwards. The wooden bead and ping pong ball will hover above the end of the straw. But, be prepared to chase them across the floor lots of times!

Since you have the straws out, try one more wind activity called “Wind Paining.” I used water color paints and filled each color with extra water. Use a dropper to get a little paint out and drop on the paper. Using the straw, blow the paint all around the paper to make a really cool design. Watch what happens when the colors start to run together!

Now that your child is an expert on wind, take them on a wind walk. Have them point out all the things the wind is blowing. When you get back, encourage them to journal (or draw) the things they saw that the wind was blowing!
Have fun!

Who's in your 5?

Recently on ASP, we were asked to share our five most favorite LOs. There have been many over time, but these are my five favorite LOs from the last year. Can't really pinpoint why, but I just love them. A few were contest winners, so maybe thats why.

Belly Shot! For the last time!!

This was for a Daily Inspiration challenge calling for shades of blue. This horrible picture is of my belly at the end of my last pregnancy. Thank God thats over!

I did a little paper weaving and then sewed over it with my sewing machine.