Sunday, June 27, 2010

I'm a Challenge Queen

Seriously, I'm becoming addicted to the challenges on Stuff to Scrap and My Life and Scrap. I need to get ahold of myself. :) MLAS had a "night owl speed scrap", which was held at 11PM Saturday night my time (midnight EST). This actually works for a lot of people that aren't in the U.S., and I chatted with a couple fellow scrappers from Australia. Nice to branch out!! :)

For those of you who are unaware of a "speed scrap", essentially it involves the hostess giving directions every 10 minutes on what you need to do. It helps getting creative juices flowing when you're stuck in a rut. The directions are subject to interpretation, as you can see if you check out the gallery for speed scrap admissions HERE. Everyone reads directions differently, and that's completely okay!

I used JK Creations kit Dotty Boy again. Ahhh, I seriously love this kit. It is just so beautiful and fits so many of my needs for scrapping stuff about Cameron.

I decided to go waaaaay back and scrap a newborn photo. Here he is at 2 weeks of age, can you believe it?? I am flabbergasted that he was ever that small. This was one of the first pics where I feel like he looks like himself. Newborns come home all puffy and slightly misshapen from being in the womb...or at least mine did. He looked a lot like my father-in-law, actually...now he looks like my husband. If they hadn't yanked him out of me, I would have thought he wasn't mind, cuz the kid doesn't look a damn thing like me!! :)


The font on the tag is Ali's Hand font, from Creating Keepsakes. Its Ali Edwards' font, and its FREE! I'm all about freebies. :) The alpha is the matching alpha for Dotty Boy, and can be purchased in the bundle on MLAS to get all the matchy-matchy stuff.

Lots of new things coming in the next few weeks, so check back!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Another challenge

I completed this layout for the template challenge at MLAS. Ironically I forgot how to do a template, I had to go back through my Jessica Sprague classes to find her tutorial! I used Scrappy Towne's Summer Breeze kit, available at Secret City Treasures and Ahhh Scrap, and soon to be available at MLAS.

Friday, June 25, 2010

A Dotty Boy

As my first assignment for MLAS's Spirit Squad, I was asked to work with a kit by JK Creations called Dotty Boy. It is SO FREAKIN' ADORABLE! Seriously. And for you moms to girlies, there is a matching Dotty Girl kit, so go check it out!

The kit can be purchased as a bundle that features a matching alpha and word art set, and the alpha is awesome! I'll use this kit a lot, it is so wonderful!

I created this page for a challenge at MLAS using a new font. The font is called "Satisfaction", and is on half of the title, and the date in the lower right corner. I thought about journaling more on this page, but I just really wanted my son to be the main focus and let his cute little grin speak for itself. :)

Don't miss the Birthday Sale that Jenasis Design is having this weekend!!

Go check it out HERE!


This sale also includes the soon to be released American Girly Girl!!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Frogs and Elephants Kit

I finally had time to work on another kit from Scrappy Towne, called Frogs and Elephants. And Michelle from Scrappy Towne had some GREAT news today! She's the newest designer at My Life And Scrap!!!! Since I'm getting really involved over there, I'm soooo pumped she's bringing her stuff there so I can showcase it! Anyone still interested in getting on her CT, check her post HERE for information!

I chose to do another challenge at MLAS called "Scrap Mix". Basically its a free-for-all based on your birth date. Yep! There are four categories, you take the month, day, year and your age to figure out where you fall into what category and what rules you have to follow. My four categories I had to follow were to (1) use stitching, (2) use tone-on-tone paper (meaning patterns but within the same color), (3) use a theme of "to do", and (4) use a quote. Well, I started this layout without remembering the last two requirements...so I kept having to go back and recreate it. :) Apparently I wasn't fully concentrating on this or something!

The kit is Frogs and Elephants, which is available currently at Secret City Treasures and Ahh Scrap, and the stitching used as a frame around the photo is from Scrappy Towne's kit called Summer Breeze (also at both places listed above). The title font is Digs My Hart, and the journaling font is Eros Medium. And yes, I already know there is a spelling error on here. The quote is featured on the photo, and there is an extra letter in there. I was trying so hard to get it done, and meet the requirements, that I had a momentary lapse in spell-checking. :)

I hope to have more time to fiddle with both of Michelle's kits, and she's also going to be sending me some more stuff soon. Yay!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Another new thing!

I know I said I wouldn't post anything this weekend, but I found out this morning that I've been accepted onto the My Life And Scrap Spirit Squad! I'm excited! Check out their website for great forums, challenges, designers, and galleries!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Summer Breeze...

...makes me feel fine...something-something-something-...of my MIIIIINNNDDD!!!

Sorry. Everytime I think of "summer breeze" I sing the old song in my head. I think the something-something-something is "going through the chapters of my mind" or something like that. :)

Here is my first layout using Scrappy Towne's Summer Breeze kit, available at Secret City Treasures and Ahhh Scrap. Check out her blog to see what other goodies she has available!

I'll be out of commission for a bit. We have family visiting this weekend, and then my son will be getting tubes in his ears on Monday. He hasn't had too many ear infections (two in the past month, however), but has always had fluid in his ears. Since he's not yet talking, we're concerned the fluid is screwing with his ability to hear correctly. He hears...but we don't think he's hearing as well as he should. So tubes are going in bright and early Monday morning. Wish us luck!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Boo hoo :(

I didn't make it to week 4 in the STS This Scrapper's Got Talent competition. I'm bummed. :(

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Week 3 Challenge

The week 3 challenge for the This Scrapper's Got Talent competition on Stuff to Scrap was to journal, and we couldn't use any pictures with people or animals in it! Crazy, huh?!?! You also had the option of not using a picture at all, which is what I chose to do. I decided to reminisce about Cameron's story and all the trials/tribulations we've encountered from early on in my pregnancy.



Here is a brief outline:

*I was told at about 5 weeks pregnant I was going to miscarry because I was spotting.

*I was told at 8 weeks it was twins.

*I was told at 10 weeks one twin had probably died: the ultrasound could see something, but they couldn't figure out what, so they assumed it was a twin that died. Apparently this is phenomenally common: kind of Darwinism in the womb, I guess. Survival of the fittest.

*At 22 weeks we were told Cameron had "mild ventricular swelling" of the brain, as well as "mild kidney dilation". These two factors can point toward down syndrome. We began a flurry of specialists and tests, undergoing what seemed like weekly ultrasounds checking to make sure nothing else was wrong. I met a slew of doctors, it was ridiculous.

*Cameron is born, an ultrasound is done and decided there is no kidney dilation.

*A CT is completed and no ventricular swelling is detected, but a "brain matter abnormality" is detected. We begin seeing a neurologist.

*An MRI is done at 4 months. No brain matter abnormality is detected, but excess fluid is seen on the frontal lobe of the brain. (see a trend? One problem goes away, another comes!)

*We've continued to see the neurologist since that point. The fluid hasn't gone away, but hasn't grown or forced swelling of the brain. So they aren't concerned, just monitoring it. Originally it was discussed we would do a follow-up MRI this summer, but the neurologist doesn't feel its necessary anymore.

*Cameron has a very large head (off the charts) but low weight and small height (25th percentile). This has prohibited gross motor development. He's still not walking at 20 months. We started seeing a physical therapist back at his 1-year mark, and that has helped tremendously. We've also added a orthodist to the mix, who fitted Cameron with small foot braces, because his ankles turn inward. Add to that the fact that he has fluid in his ears, so we're seeing an ENT this week to discuss getting tubes (he doesn't say any words yet other than mama, but he recognizes lots of things and does a few signs), in hope that he'll be able to hear better, and possibly walk better because the fluid could be effecting his balance.



In any case, writing this journal entry was hard because it really made me reflect back on things. The brain matter abnormality was crushing to me, because words like "severe mental retardation" and cerebral palsy were thrown out there. The spectrum of possibilities was that Cameron could be completely normal, or be so severely retarded that I couldn't care for him. That's quite a wide array to think about!



Okay. Here is my page. Click on it to maximize, or go to my gallery post at Stuff to Scrap to see more info.



I really like how it turned out. I could have blown up the journaling font and deleted the frame, but I love how it framed the words. Of course, I would love to put a picture of Cameron there...maybe now I will since I've already submitted this. :) I'll find out Tuesday evening whether I made it to week 4. I assume they'll be cutting quite a bit this week because we only have 3 weeks left of the competition. But I'm excited I made it this far!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

I made it to round 3!

I'm so excited, I made it to round 3 of the "This Scrapper's Got Talent" competition at Stuff to Scrap! The judges eliminated 16 people this round, so we're down to 50 contestants. The next challenge is posted Wednesday morning, so we'll see how much trouble I'm in. :)

Scrappy Towne Designs CT Call!

My friend Michelle is having a CT Call for her wonderful creations! Check out her blog HERE to see some of her work. She sells at Ahhh Scrap and Secret City Treasures.

I, of course, jumped on her CT as soon as she announced it. In fact, I think I emailed her back in April and told her when she was ready I was game! :) I've known her for a couple years now, as we were pregnant at the same time. Her son Alex is only a few months younger than my son Cameron...although from pictures, they could be long-lost cousins with their white blond hair and pretty blue eyes!

I can't wait to start working with her wonderful kits and showing you stuff here! If you are interested, please contact her! She's looking to fill 3-4 more slots!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Puckered Kiss

Jenasis Design has a new kit called Puckered Kiss available!



Here's what I did with it. Love the bright colors of this kit, and how wonderful the black elements and alpha really POP on the green!!

So check it out at the Stuff to Scrap store, and be sure to check out the Jenasis Design blog for more info!


Sunday, June 6, 2010

My very first QP!

Flower Scraps and Nibbles Skribbles have gotten together to create two kits called "Terrible Twos", and both Creative Teams have some freebies in our own little blog train! This is my first ever blog train, so I'm psyched to give away my very first freebie and my very first QP, or quick page! For anyone who views my blog and doesn't know what a Quick Page is, it is just that: a quick page. :) I've created the page, and you just stick your photo in and add some journaling. Great for when you want to scrapbook in a hurry!

Here are the two kits that started it all, from Flower Scraps and Nibbles Skribbles.





And here is my layout...


Which I turned into a QP for ya!


Go to the link to download!

http://www.4shared.com/file/6lvOhSt9/Mr_Attitude_QP.html

**if this link does not work, send me a comment or message immediately! This is my first time using 4shared, as well as my first time ever "zipping" a file...so I may or may not have done it correctly...LOL!




Now check out the rest of the wonderful Creative Team members and their creations!




NOTE: My QP is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Do not attempt to sell the layout as it is not YOURS. :) Just enjoy the pretty colors as you have a wonderful keepsake for your scrapbooks!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

TSGT Week 2 Layouts

The Week 2 challenge for "This Scrapper's Got Talent" (check out the gallery of all layouts for this competition HERE) at Stuff to Scrap was just that: A CHALLENGE!! I had to create a 2-page layout using 10 pictures, and then create journaling listing a top-10 of sorts. I chose to do a layout on 10 reasons I love my son. :)



This challenge made me realize that I am NOT as far in digital scrapbooking as some of these ladies are. I still scrapbook quite similarly to how I paper scrapbook: I like layers, embellishments, and everything tends to be symmetrical and monochromatic. I am challenging myself into getting more colors into my layouts, as well as using different shapes. I tried to do this page with the pictures being all different sizes...and it seriously killed me! I changed it back to the pictures being lined up. I don't like it when the pages look discombobulated. However, other layouts done by gals look amazing that way! Mine just aren't there yet. (I started this layout on Thursday...took me 3 days of fiddling with it before I considered it "done" and ready for posting!).
I really have no idea if I'll make it through to next week. In some ways, I'm hoping the same thing will happen like last week: so many people didn't even complete a layout that we all got through (so they ended up "eliminating" 30+ people who signed up) so I can go one more week. Every week we stay, we get coupons and free stuff. So I'd like to make it to week 3. :)
The kit I used is called Muddy Buddies, and is such a cute kit for boys! The designer just released a kit similar to this for girls, called Muddy Girlies, so definitely look on STS for those kits! The brushes I used were ones I received in my recent Jessica Sprague class. I'm still having difficulty understanding the brushes...they aren't quite as easy as Jessica makes them out to be in her courses. Although I was impressed with myself for figuring out how to change the color...yep, that's how deep I am into things. I changed the color. WOOHOO! I tried to change the orientation, but ended up flipping the whole layout, so no clue what I did there. :)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

June BAK

The June "Build A Kit" is available now on stuff to Scrap! Check out the wonderful kit that Colleen and us CT members helped to design for Pretty Pixel Designs! Colleen is so wonderful, she asked us for help and our opinions. I feel so important. :)




I haven't had an opportunity to play with this kit yet, as the weekend "festivities" in the E.R. with my son really dampened my creative abilities. I'll definitely find time later this week to play!

Also check out ALL of my designers who participated in the STS Blog Train, which is where designers contribute free stuff in one theme so, at the end, you have a HUGE kit that centers around one set of colors or themes. The theme this month was "Summer Romance". Check out

Flower Scraps

Jenasis Design

Pretty Pixel Designs


Once on these blogs, you'll see the entire list of bloggers who participated. Some really cute stuff!!

I'm Through to Round TWO!

So I have made it through to round two...although I'm lucky, because there was a slight mistake on my layout. The judges decided that they didn't give enough information on the rules, so anyone who completed a layout was pushed through to the next round. There were around 95 or so competitors at the beginning, but I guess a bunch didn't actually do the first challenge, so only around 60ish of us are through.

The rules for last week's challenge stated that we were NOT to use complete sentences. Well, I didn't feel that I did. But seeing the results, the judges felt that any sequence of words over 3 words could be deemed a complete sentence. NOW, I will say that the teacher in me says NO. It is NOT a complete sentence unless there is a noun, verb, etc. So my sentence of "full of adoration and love for my child" wasn't technically a full sentence in my opinion. I would have to have added the words "I am" to the front to make it a full sentence. But, apparently the judges felt otherwise.

In any case, the week 2 challenge will be posted tomorrow. Eeek! We'll see what it brings!