Winner of RAK announced!!!

As promised last month, I put everyone who participated in a photo swap with me into the running for a RAK, to be drawn on August 31. The day has come, my Friends! The winner will receive the following goodies:

A package of Autumn Leaves buttons, a package of Autumn Leaves flowers, AND a little somethin' somethin' extra surprise to be made by me JUST for you. :)

Samantha was my goofy (!!!) assistant:

And the winner is:




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YAY, Theresa!!! I will mail this out to you, as well as your layout!!! :)

Thank you all for playing with me!!!

Which Celebrities Do You Look Like?

My friend, Theresa, brought to my attention this fun little program that enables you to input a photo of yourself to see which celebrities you look like. Part of me DID NOT WANT TO KNOW!!! But I did it anyway, and the results were pretty surprising to me. Here's what came up:

http://www.myheritage.com

Not bad!!! Except for the two guys, LOL!!!
This next one supports that Alex DOES look like me, once you get past the coloring!!!

Samantha looks more like me, as well!!!

Wow, wow, wow!!!

I am over the moon excited because I won the "So You Think You Can Scrap" contest at The Scrapbook Site!!! Eight weeks of super fun challenges that did just that; they challenged us!!! They got us to think outside of the box; to expand our skills; to step out of our comfort zone.

The people there are wonderful!!! The members, the designers, Sarah...I'm truly blessed to have met each and every one of them!!! That to me, is the best prize of all.

But speaking of prizes, I won quite a bit!!! Three fabulous kits, a Karen Foster calendar kit, and the most coveted of all; a guest design team position for the month of September!!! Woo hoo!!! I am SOOOO going to love designing with their talented crew for the month!!! Truly a dream position for me! <3

Here are the Week 7 and Week 8 layouts that I have not posted here yet:

We had to scrap about three things that get us through the day.

We had to create our own handmade embellishments. I crocheted flowers and embroidered stems.

Thank you again to everyone involved with TSS. I'm so thankful for all of the friendships I have formed there.

Tumbling camp videos

Greetings from Baltimore! We just finished a 3-day tumbling camp for cheerleaders held at the nationally reknowned cheerleading gym, the Maryland Twisters. I'm a bit too tired to recount our adventures, but I wanted to share a couple of exciting videos of the girls.

This first one is of Alex landing her double full!!!


This last video is of Samantha throwing her punch front. She learned this over the weekend!!!


That's all for now. I can't wait to share more details when I get home!!!

Happy Mail for Me!!!

I was so pleasantly surprised to find a happy piece of scrappy mail for me today!!! My friend, Karen, fellow Pink Lady, made me a GORGEOUS magnet!!!

Isn't it beautiful? Look at that beautiful chili pepper and how it sparkles, the sweet words, and the so very clever corner treatment with the embroidery floss and eyelets!!! My photograph does not do this justice!!!

Thank you so much Karen! I love it!!!

Week 6 of Contest/ More layout swaps :)

We shall start with the Week 6 assignments for the "So You Think You Can Scrap" contest at The Scrapbook Site. My 6th challenge required that I use 3 photographs, 3 buttons, 3 different patterned papers, 3 different ribbons, a 3-word title, and 3 additional embellishments of my choice, as long as they were not of the same variety already mentioned. Cardstock, paint, and pens were unlimited. Here's what I came up with:

Journaling:
"What are the 3 most beautiful words I could ever hear? What 3 words can put JOY in my heart, SPRING in my step, and touch my SOUL? 'I love you'. -Especially when they are said by you!"

My 3 bonus embellishments are 3 rubons.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned paper: Tinkering Ink; ribbon: Autumn Leaves and Unknown; Buttons: SEI; Rubons: Hambly Studios; Pens: Signo Uniball and Staedtler.
The mid-week challenge was nice and easy! All we had to do was post one photograph of our scrap space (YIKES!) and one photo of a nice way to organize something. Here's what I posted:

Yep, this is where it all takes place at home, my bedroom. It isn't pretty!!! I have lots of stuff and very limited space! We're in the process of converting our den into my scraproom.

I hope this isn't the equivalent of not wanting to eat at a restaurant after you've seen the kitchen!!! :)

TFL! (I think... ;) )

I painted this cute Prima tray and decorated it for the purpose of storing paints in a really pretty way.


More photo swaps with friends!!!

Janette
I had such a good time scrapping Janette's photos. Boy, I wish we lived closer because she has an incredibly fun family!!! They are always smiling and really seem to enjoy each other. I wanted my layout to convey that sense of fun and happiness. Here's what I made for her:

Don't they look like so much fun to be with?!!

Janette made me this SUPER layout of the girls! I love it so much!

Isn't it fabulous?!!!

Pat
Pat gave me this wonderful picture of her and her daughters, Nicole and Dee. They are remarkably close and I just had to make a layout to reflect that.

Aren't they cute?!!

Pat made a WONDERFUL layout that truly captured the playful spirit of Alex and Sam. It's such a fabulously colorful and energetic page:

Isn't it great?!!

Pat had so much fun making her layout that she had someone photograph her with it! Isn't she cute?!!

Thank you so much, Janette and Pat, for swapping with me!!!

Week 5 Challenge/Layout Swaps/Crop Layouts

This is going to have to be a huge post, since I haven't been good about updating lately!!!

We shall start with the Week 5 assignments for the "So You Think You Can Scrap" contest at The Scrapbook Site. We are more than half way there!!! Here is my Challenge layout, where we were required to design a layout based on a song:

My "theme song" is I'm Still Standing" by Sir Elton John.

"Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah
I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah"

This is a song of empowerment for me...of overcoming adversity and coming out strong. I love this song!!!


This was the most fun challenge yet for me. I got to play with my Hambly!!!

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Bling; Patterned paper, transparencies, and rubons: Hambly Studios; Letter: American Crafts Thickers; Pens: Signo Uniball and Staedtler. TFL :)

For the Mid-Week challenge, we had to design a card for somebody based on a song, as well:

The song "Count on Me", sung by Cece Wynans and Whitney Houston, inspired this birthday card for a dear friend. Jenn (Lovetocrop72...show her some love in the gallery) is very special to me. We have so much fun together and she is every bit the scrappaholic that I am. But most importantly, Jenn is a friend who sticks through bad times, as well as good. I just wanted to convey to her that she can "count on me" to be there for her during all times, as well.

"Count on me through thick and thin,
a friendship that will never end
when you are weak
I will be strong
helping you to carry on
Call on me I will be there,
don't be afraid
please believe me when I say
count on...me"

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned paper: Daisy D's; Sticker letters: Making Memories; Flowers: Prima; Black gems: K & Co.; Pen: Staedtler; Embroidery floss: DMC

Layout Swap update:

A couple of weeks ago I asked friends if they wanted to do a layout swap with me. Ardelle, Rhi, Janette, Theresa, Debbie, Jenn, and Pat took me up on this fun activity. So far I have made four of their layouts. As we complete pairings, I will share with you what we've done.

Ardelle

Ardelle was fast!!! She was the first to complete her layout using my photo. And what a beautiful layout it is. It looks even more divine in person!!! Check it out:

Isn't it beautiful?!! Thank you, Ardelle!!! <3

In return, I got to scrap a picture of Ardelle's beautiful daughter, Britney:

I had a great time making this! Thank you, Ardelle, for participating!

Debbie

Debbie made me a beautiful layout using one of Alex's pictures. Alex LOVED it...it put a huge smile on her face, as well as mine. Here is the layout that Debbie made me:

Didn't Debbie do a wonderful job?!!

In return, I got to scrap a newborn!!! Debbie gave me a gorgeous picture, taken by Theresa, of her new grandson, Logan. I was in my glory scrapping this photo:

Isn't he a cutie?!! Thank you, Debbie, for playing along!!!

Layouts from the August 4 crop
I got to crop with Jenn and Anne again on Saturday. We had a blast! And I was very productive!!! Here are 3 more layouts that I got done:

This is from the gorgeous Cocoa Daisy "Sunkissed" kit...so much fun to use!!!


These are from the fabulous Label Tulip "Chardonnay" kit...I LOVE this kit!!!

That's it for now! Thanks for looking!!! :)