Creative Challenge!

So it is a new year and then some already. I have missed my crafting time! I really need to do more crafts. The creative process has helped me so much in the past whenever I needed a little ME time or Therapy as I call it. I just celebrated another birthday and althought I don't feel a day or year older than a month ago, I still see that I am putting myself last again on my priority list as I reflect on the past year. So I want to set a new goal for myself. I NEED my craft/Me Time! So I am going to make myself a sticky note and do my best to complete ONE project a week. Be it a card or a layout or a home decor item or something using my craft supplies that are sitting in my corner of my basement living room.

Here is my first project, a layout, long overdue of my precious little miracle girl who is turning three next month. This photo is of her on her first Sunday all dressed up in her first dress ready to go out into public for the first time and attend church with us as a family. (sorry, lighting is bad, so need a new camera, should have asked for it as a birthday present... oh well..)

 

 A closer look at the definitions Precious and Miracle

I used a Creative Challenge from Susan K. Weckessar as my inspiration for my layout.  

http://mysweetearth.blogspot.ca/2013/02/create-to-live-february-challenge.html

Susan gave us this picture to use as inspiration in any way for our creative projects for the month of February.

I used the overall picture Susan gave as a template for my layout design overall, the title blocks copied in my title, the colors of red, pink, blue, green and cream behind the letters were in my title too and the background paper, and the floral theme in some buttons, brads, silk flower and the background patterned paper.

Thanks Susan for being an inspiration in my creative attempts!

One week done in my new goal... :o)

Time is flying by! I can't believe I have not kept up with coming here and blogging more. I told myself to do better at this, I really wanted to, yet here it is the middle of November and almost the end of another year and I have not done what I wanted with this blog of mine.

I spent a couple days with my mom this past week helping her at her house with her Christmas Decorations and her Christmas Tree. It seems like just yesterday that I was there doing it for last year... time really does fly by. Not sure if time and my days are flying by because I have a two year old I need to keep up with and enjoy so much? Ya, I think that is it. She is my joy. I keep taking photos of her as she grows and learns so many new things. I just need to be patient with myself and know that spending the time with her as she is growing is more important than blogging and doing actual scrapbook pages with all the photos I have taken. There is a BIG print job waiting with my digital camera card! LOL!

So with the Christmas Season fastly approaching, I suddenly feel overwhelmed with projects I WANT to do, some things I NEED to do, and another things are a MUST do. Time to start at making a dent in that list. Sorry, but blogging is just not a MUST do thing I suppose. We will see,... One step at a time!

Cleaning up my Scrap pile! And while I was at at, I put together two cards with some of the left over pieces of Core'Cardstock and some supplies I had out still from this Online Crop. I used the mini challenges I missed out on for the timed challenges on Saturday, which I missed as I was away from home.

One Card using the Outline technique, lay chipboard under the cardstock and sand the top of the cardstock to reveal the outline of the chipboard.

One Card using a tag, stamping, stitching, button, and sanding/tearing. The button was "stitched" onto the card by hand with needle and gold thread and also tried to hand stitch a zig zag in top corner by hand.

So, if I add everything up, I did all 13 main challenges and all 4 mini challenges (but two not submitted within the time limit)! Yeah! That's 5 cards, seven 12x12 layouts, and seven 8.5x11 layouts! Oh and Marilee's bonus tag of course with is still proudly displayed on our fridge! Now if only I can keep this up and keep scrapping each day, then maybe, just maybe, one day I will get "caught up"!

13 Main Challenges for the Hard Core Online Crop are DONE! Whew! I managed to do them all!

Here is the last one, it is a scoring challenge. We were to score our cardstock with three different designs and also score an embellishment.

I wanted to make 3-d stars but didn't have a star punch or diecut on my cricut, so I punched a couple of burgandy 5 petal flowers. Then I scored them across the middle of each petal to the inner point between the petals straight across the flower, repeated for each petal, and then gently folded and tada! IT worked, they looked like stars BUT would not stay down in the folded form once I tried added a pop dot adhesive foam. I still like them.

I also traced a punched circle to score the inner circle of my scalloped circle punches. Scoring the rectangles was fun, even if I was just using a stylus and my paper trimmer track. This technique almost makes me want to run out and buy a scoring tool/board.

All my colored cardstock was from the Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Collection. Chipboard Title and accents are from Soft Spoken, MAMBI. Miscellaneous buttons and floss.

I've had a great week scrapbooking. Thank You Core'dinations and designers again for hosting this crop!

Now, looking at my table and the pile of cardstock scraps, perhaps I will go quickly try to make a couple more cards that would fit the extra quick timed challenges I missed on Saturday, just for fun! I have an hour or so left in the crop, even if they won't count for anything. Might as well now that I have this pile of scraps! :o)

I awoke this morning with visions of Christmas in my head! Had to get it out and onto paper!

The color challenge of the Core Crop made me think of some Christmas papers I had scraps of and that brought these photos of my daughter exploring the Christmas tree and the bright packages underneath for her First Christmas. (told you I was behind in her books, she is two now). So I grabbed that scrap patterned paper, and the photos, some Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Collection Cardstock, a left over piece of blue Fancy Pants Refreshed Collection Cardstock, a border punch, my Fancy Pants Tradition Collection Rub Ons and Glitter cuts, and a Making Memories Note-worthy journal page ... threw it all together and ...

It's Christmas in July!

Ok. One more layout challenge done before going to bed to rest my tired body. This was another sketch challenge given to us in the Core'dinations Hard Core Online Crop. I loved this sketch, looked easy and found three photos to use and had some colors of the Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Collection Cardstock left that I thought went with the photos well, even used up some of the cardstock scraps and a diecut I made that I had left over from previous Core Crop projects.  I found a piece of patterned paper to accent the cardstock and photos with, and put it all together and this is what I came up with! The lighting isn't great on the photo so colors look a little off, but what can you expect for taking photos at 11 pm at night!

So, that leaves me with two more challenges and one more day to do them in. Not sure if I will make it as my Sunday is busier than normal. But I am happy and pleased to have this many pages done in these past 5 days. Good Night for Now!

Earlier this morning ...

As I was beginning my Saturday, I couldn't get this idea for the sketch challenge of the Core'dinations Core Crop out of my head. I had the idea and knew which photo I wanted to use, and knew which core cardstock papers from the Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Collection I had that would work, so as my mind kept wandering about all I had to accomplish today and what I really WISH I could just sit and do all day (scrap of course) ... I put this layout together quickly. Photo mat was in my paper scraps so I don't know where the patterned paper came from. The Ribbon is from Forever in Time Scrapbook Collection. The rub-ons are from Fancy Pants "Tradition" collection.

Simple and "flat", but I like it! The photo lighting does not help, this looks much better in person! And wow, look how "small" Marilee was. I can't believe how fast time is flying by! This was her first Christmas, at 9 months old, a year and half ago, and yes, I am behind by that much in her scrapbooks! Good thing I joined an online crop to get me motivated!