Stepping out of the comfort zone

It's been a few weeks since I posted because I was working on a special project. The project is now over and I have had some extra time to do a little scrapping. The only problem is that I haven't had much time to do it and couldn't find the inspiration I needed. Then I remembered that there were some challenges that I didn't complete from Color Line Design. This gave me a chance to ease into scrapping again.

The most recent pages I have created each caused me to step out of my comfort zone a little. You see, the reason I hadn't completed these challenges was because they were hard.

There was a journaling challenge where you needed to use I Wish as the start of your journaling. This wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I remembered an email I had seen numerous times. It was a story about an airport and someone overhearing someone saying to a passenger "I wish you enough." I promptly found the whole story and included a piece of that as my journaling. I also had gotten a catalog in the mail and there was some bedding that inspired me right away.

Here's a photo of the bedding that inspired me.

Here's the page I created:

The journaling reads:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much
bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye.

The whole page was my creation only using brushed from Obsidian Dawn.

The next page was even more challenging. This one was to be All About Me. Specifically it was to be about 10 things that make me happy. Yes, there are many things that make me happy but I have a hard time putting it down on paper. I also have very few photos of me. I also used bedding as my inspiration for this page. The colors are just gorgeous.

Here is a photo of the bedding that inspired me:

Here is a picture of the page I created:

The journaling reads: 10 thing that make me HAPPY! 1.Smiles on the faces of my girls 2.My husband and all he does for me 3.A gorgeous sunrise and sunset 4.The smell of freshly cut grass 5.Fun things my girls enjoy doing 6.Tasting dark chocolate 7.Hugs and kisses from my girls 8.My extended family 9.My kitty cats antics 10.Scenic drives

This uses a paper heart by Gunhild and an argyle template by Digiscrapalicious.

This late challenge was the most difficult for me. This was a challenge where you you had to use a specific artist for your inspiration. The artist was Dawn DeVries Sokol. She has a very interesting style that I wanted to give a try.

Here's the page I came up with: Ali helped me create the page by asking for the clouds, including rain, and the rainbow. Since it usually rains when we go to this lake it was easy to oblige.

This used some awesome sketch brushes from Obsidian Dawn.

All in all, while it was challenging to do these pages, it was a lot of fun. I know what styles I will stick to and I found a new source of inspiration.

Marathon scrapping weekend

Both girls spent a majority of the weekend at Grandma's house so I had lots of quite time to scrap. It really was a marathon scrapping weekend. I made 4 personal pages and 9 pages for an order I have. I really should have taken more breaks because my shoulders are pretty tense from staring at the computer for so long. But, I can't help myself. I love doing this so much that most of my time is spent thinking about the next page. It's just too much fun!

Let me share the personal pages I made. These were of course for challenges. It's a new month so there was a whole new set of challenges at Color Line Design. I already shared one of the pages yesterday but here are the rest.

This was for a 12 x 12 template challenge:

Overlay by Paradise Scrap at mitiaassef.com.

Journaling: The best school project was a huge mural the whole class painted. They did it outside because they got really messy.

This was for a brag book challenge:

Papers all by The Scrappin Cop.

And, last but not least, this was for a Trends and Technique challenge. The challenge was to use black as a focus of the layout with splashes of color. I don't know if I like the layout but I do like using black as a base in my layouts.

Overlay by Sweetmade.net and frame by Gunhild. Flowers are from photos I took and the ribbons are my creation.

A very special first

The first August journaling challenge at Color Line Design is all about firsts. I couldn't think of a better first than Jazmine's first day of school. It was a pretty important first for Jazmine and I had lots of great pictures to choose from.

I did a little Photoshop fun on the main photo and did the journaling in a little different way. What is my favorite part of this page is that is uses Jazmine's actual handwriting. I had her help me with a project a while ago and she nicely wrote out the whole alphabet for me. She did it in black sharpie so it scanned very well. I just cut out the letters and put them together into the words I needed. I plan on doing this every year so we can see how her handwriting improves over the years.

Overlay by Digi Scrap by Coco, retro paper made with overlay by Creative Dreams and pattern by The Scrappin Cop.

The journaling reads: Jazmine’s first day of junior Kindergarten was perfect! She was excited to meet all kinds of new friends. She was the shortest person in class but definitely had the biggest personality. Her teacher Miss G. was pretty great. Jazmine was nervous to begin the day but by time she got home there was no stopping her from talking about it to anyone. At the end of the first day Miss G. gave everyone a kissing hand cookie as a very special treat.

Birthdays and flowers

I have come to the realization that I have so many photos that need to be digi scrapped. When I am participating in a challenge I am getting a great opportunity. I get the chance to go through some older photos and get the inspiration to scrap them. I just have to be careful that I don't re-scrap the same photos. Yesterday I was inspired to do a LO for one of my girls birthday and another page to showcase one of my favorite photos from when we visited the botanical garden last year.

Here's is Ali's 2nd birthday:

Star overlay by Kimberly Cameron, String, Stitches, tags and gummy bear frame by Gunhild & Svenning and buttons by I Love Yesenia.

Here is the botanical garden:

This was a simple design so there isn't much to share as far as resources. I am trying to figure out where the hearts came from. These are valentine brushes that I have but I must have misfiled them since I can't find the source. If you know where these came from please let me know. The flower is from Moo Two Designs and the eyelets are from Memories Made Easy.

Feasting with the Beasties

One of the best things about scrapbooking is getting the chance to go back and relive some of your favorite memories. Today I am revisiting a special day that I spent with Ali. We went to a local botanical garden and spent an afternoon. There were these "Beastie" characters all over the gardens and a few fun activities just for kids. These are two of my favorite photos of the day. This welcoming path and this beautiful girl feasting on a cookie she decorated herself.

This was a brag book template challenge for Color Line Design. Papers are PS patterns by Obsidian Dawn. The tree and grass have a paper overlay by The Scrappin Cop, the brogs are by Memories Made Easy and the Bow and Ring embellishment are by Carolina Girl Scrap Creations.