I am Just Me - SBS10 Challenge #4

So this week was my turn to post a challenge for my sistahs in my SBS10 group and it was

"We're all getting to know each other a little more each day and now it's time to dig a little deeper. Make a scrapbook page hilighting all things YOU. This page should include things like your favorite color, movie, time of day, things that make you relax, things that make you happy, and most importantly, things that make you who YOU are... there are no color, size, or paper stipulations... just make a page about you."

I've finished mine... this challenge has been swirling around in my head for about a week before I actually posted it for my sistahs, so I had somewhat of an advantage over them. I will admit, this was a tough challenge... perhaps the toughest yet; here's why... We find it so easy to scrapbook about the people we love... those who light up our lives with the smiles they beam at us... it's rare that we use ourselves as our main focus... I mean, think about it... we make these pages for others to look at and often we are the ones who actually took the pictures, so it's natural that our faces don't show up very often in our own scrapbooks... anyway, I overcame my lack of scrapping myself and dove in... here's what I came up with...

I wrote sort of an essay as my journaling block... to include all things that make me who I am... well... most things. I had to limit my words, because my space was limited. I am by nature a writer, and when given a challenge to write, I can get kinda wordy... funny thing is... I'm not a regular journaler. I don't keep a diary, or a journal, or anything like that... I just blog. :) If you are interested in what my journaling says, you can read it below... don't kill your eyes trying to squint to read it on my SB page. :)

DEETS: Paper: Certainly Celery, Butterfly Montage DP by PSX Paper Designs, Orange Sherbet DP (don't know who makes it, sorry), Ink: none, except the ink from my printer; Accessories: Black Sharpie Marker, Cricut Cartridge Opposites Attract

My journaling reads:

"I am a girl who loves to be loved; someone who needs to be needed. I am one of the most stubborn people in the world and I am bold. Many times, I appear to know exactly what I want, but too many of those times, I am questioning myself every step of the way. I try to be self-confident but low self-esteem sometimes gets in the way of that. I am just like my Mother in more ways than one; I love to make things with my hands – Being creative is what gives me serenity. I always strive to be the best at everything and I often come down too hard on myself when I feel I have fallen short. I am a dreamer… Some might say that I have far too many ambitions for one person to accomplish in a lifetime. When I was a little girl, I dreamt of becoming a famous singer, but for now, I think I’ll just stick to singing my children to sleep. I love to dance, as long as no one is watching. In high school, I wanted to become a famous actress… and now, I play the leading role in my life as a Wife and Mother. Family and friends mean the world to me. I love my husband more than words can express. He makes my heart beat steadily. My children are the axel on which my world spins… they keep me on my toes and they never cease to remind me of the important things in life – like unconditional love. I am a Child of God and He cracks my knuckles every time I make a poor decision. It’s ironic how right he is sometimes… Okay, all the time. I like to be the shoulder that my friends lean on when they need a good cry; after all, a good cry is good for the soul. Giving advice comes naturally to me, but I will be the first to admit that I don’t know everything… Okay, maybe the second. I enjoy taking care of others and though I may grow tired or weary, I press on, because I am needed. I love to laugh and I enjoy making others laugh too. I am optimistic – the glass may only have one or two more sips left in it, but that’s one or two more sips that I still have to enjoy. Though I am notorious for being late, I don’t like to miss a thing! I like to think of myself as a great friend – someone you can count on no matter what the situation or need may be. I’ve learned, over the years, that it doesn’t matter what others think of you – it’s how you feel about yourself that really matters. There are so many words I could use to describe who I am, but I’d rather sum it up in just one short sentence…
I am Just Me."

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SBS10 Challenge #3, My Challenge, and Blog Candy

I've been sitting on a challenge that was given nearly two weeks ago to me by my Sisterhood group and I've finally finished it. The challenge was to use Hot Pink and Black together and also throw in a little heat embossing. The lovely Lastel gave us this challenge, and I'm so glad she did because she inspired me to ink up a naked stamp and try a technique I haven't used in ages! Thanks Lastel!

I used the Always stamp set from Stampin' Up and the French Flair BG stamp. I embossed the Background in White using the Versamarker to ink up the stamp b/c I didn't want the birds on it. Then on Pink Passion Paper, I inked up my naked bird with Basic Black craft pad and embossed with detail black EP. To make the brackets around the word "everything," I punched out my round tab punch on black cardstock and then moved it slightly to the right and punched it again (side by side) and it created the fun bracket you see here on my card! Cool huh?

I hope I've inspired you today to try an old technique...

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let me know you did...

I think some blog candy may be rearing it's pretty little head soon for those of you who take a pic of the card you send & link me up to spread the word!

Scrap Happy!

Okay, so I am typing this for the SECOND TIME now and if that isn't enough to make someone really mad, I don't know what is! Just kidding... it's frustrating, but nothing to waste energy on getting angry over.

So here's the short & sweet version of what I had before. I love scrapbooking... but once, I was the girl who was convinced that scrapping was not for me. The instant gratification of making cards was so much more enticing to me... but I have jumped that hurdle and I'm diving full force into scrapbooking!

I made this page the other day... and I have really come to love it! My boys really enjoy fishing with their Daddy and Brandon finally took pics for me while they were out on the boat.

And my wonderful husband - the great fisherman that he is, has taught my boys how to properly tell "fish tales"...

The next spread I did was to fulfill a challenge that was given to me by Joan in my Sisterhood 10 group... the challenge was to make a scrapbook page using NO Designer SB Paper. We often tend to take the easy way out and use dp in nearly everything we do... so I was all over this challenge when it was presented... and I must admit, I am right proud of myself... not to TOOT my own horn or anything, but I think it came out beautifully!

So, what do you think? I'm getting used to this scrapbooking thing... and I must admit...

I REALLY LIKE IT!

So I'm off... to feed my girl some lunch... thanks for stopping by - and leave a message, let me know who's visiting me! Have a blessed day!

~Sara

Cards, Challenges, and Crazy Hairdos!

Well, as promised, here are the other cards I made over Easter weekend while I was at Penny's house.


The first one was one I made for my friend, Anette... She has seen this stamp over and over again in the SU hostess set portion of the catalog and has always said "I don't like that", so I made something I knew she would love... and of course, she loved it. It's too easy to say you don't like a stamp set before you actually see it used. Lord knows, I've done that a million times and some of those sets grew to be my favorites!





This is what the inside says:





This next challenge was a color and stamp set challenge. Penny handed me her new and uninked Embrace Life stamp set and said "use Real Red, Blush Blossom, and Certainly Celery". I had such a hard time with this one, but in the end, I love it... now this set is on my "need it" list!



The next one was a set challenge. I used the She's All That stamp set from the Occassions Mini Catalog... this was really tough for me... I loved this stamp set in the catty, but once I held it in my hand, I was kinda stumped as to what to do with it. I came up with this, and I guess I like it... it's alright.



This next one was a color challenge... Ballet Blue, Summer Sun, and Real Red. This is a pretty simple card, but with an image as big as the one I used, it was easy to fill the space. I really like how this one came out.

And last, but not least, my SBS10 Challenge #1 card:


On this challenge, I had to use an embellishment that has been stashed away for at least 6 months... And if you're anything like me, you have tons of embellies that are just lying in wait, just ITCHIN' to be used... every good stamper has those... So, I asked Penny to pull out an embellie that fit the challenge, and she whipped out some Silver Cross Charms. To challenge myself a bit more, I also asked for a stamp or set that hasn't been used in over 6 months... she pulled out a collective set of Cross stamps... I pulled out the Garden Sillhouettes set to add a little color and interest, and here's what I came up with:


And, after a long Spring Break week with the kids at home, we had to prepare to go back to school on Monday, so, on Sunday night, my boys got a hair cut... I shaved their heads with the electric trimmer and jokingly, I left a "mohawk" on the tops of their heads - just to get a chuckle out of them & my hubby. I got more than a chuckle... they wanted to keep them! So, we gelled and spiked them up on Monday morning and that's how they wore their hair to school. I shaved it off before school this morning, because we told them they could only wear it to school for one day. My girl, Kailynn, didn't want to feel left out, so Kelsey and Taylor (Anette's daughters) made her hair stand straight up like one of the "Whoo's from Whooville". And we took pics for scrapping, of course! Here are my cuties:
Clayton, Ethan, and Kailynn:




Thanks for checking in on me... I'm feeling a lot better, still not 100%, but at least I don't have to go to work anymore! HOOOOOORAY!
I'll be back soon! :)
God Bless
~Sara

Emerging color causes emerging creativity!

So, the other day, Anette and I decided to try a new technique. We saw the emerging color technique on Kathi's blog and of course, on Splitcoast and we decided to give it a whirl. Anette wasn't very impressed with the way hers came out, and, to be completely honest, I wasn't all too thrilled with mine either... until I started embellishing it... that's when the magic happened.

My color pallet (sp?) included Summer Sun, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, and Real Red. I used clear embossing powder and it was all done on Shimmery White CS from Stampin' Up. I used my Garden Whimsy stamp set for this one. My card base is Summer Sun, and I had some wide "summer sun-like" yellow ribbon that I had stashed away for a project I'd get to "some day." Then, I used the Rock n' Roll technique to stamp my butterflies on some more Shimmery White CS and cut them out. I mounted my fluttering butterflies onto Ruby Red CS and then backed that on Summer Sun CS. Then, using my pop-dots, I adhered my main image to my background. At this point, I thought I was done...

I thought wrong!
It didn't "feel" done, ya know? Well, after some debating on what it needed, Anette and I decided that some snap topped eyelets would be PERFECT... so I added 3 to the top left of my card. Again, I thought I was done...

Again, I thought wrong!

My card sat on the table as we moved on to other projects and kept whispering to me...

"I'm not dazzling yet. I'm not dazzling yet."

So, out came the Dazzling Diamonds and the 2-way glue stick from SU and now, I feel like it's complete.

Well, it better be... I mailed it today to a very forgiving & deserving woman who shares my love for stamping. A former customer of mine forgave my mistake and I needed the perfect card for her... I hope you like it Sarah O.

Now it's your turn...

SBS 10 sistahs, this is your first challenge...

Try the emerging color technique and upload it to your blog... after you've done so, leave a comment here and I'll go get the pic & add it to this post...

Let's show the world what this Sisterhood has in store!

Here's Michelle's Card! Thanks for playing Michelle!

Whimsey gave it a shot... here's her card...

Chrissy tried it too... she did a few different cards... check out her blog for the other pics... Here's one...

Alyssa gave it a shot too... Isn't it beautiful?

Anyone else up for it?