Welcome Home Jäger

Yesterday we brought my son's puppy home.  He's an 8 week old Australian Shepherd.  He's so sweet and absolutely gorgeous.  I used the photo my son took of him right after they got to the apartment to create my page for the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  Jäger seems to be adjusting well.

I really wanted to join the challenge this week at Lasting Memories.  The challenge this week is a sketch and to use your favorite embellishment.  It's a nice, versatile sketch.

And my page...

I love using a zig zag pattern on boy pages.  I have a border punch that I usually use, but I found a package of rhinestones embellishment that I bought a while ago I forgot about.  There were a couple of zig zag strips.  Woohoo!!  I also added 3 rhinestone from the set at the top of the photo.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge - Anything Goes  (I used the Woofers and Tweeters stamp set)

Red Carpet Studio - New Year's Eve - Use something new  (I used a photo of the new puppy)

Scrappin' 4 Fun Challenges - Baby  (Jäger's a baby doggy)

This page will also be entered into the Stamping monthly challenge at SnC.

Thanks for looking...

I

Santa

For my last layout for the 2013 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin, I wanted to use some photos I took of the dogs this year with a Santa figurine.  The current sketch at Let's Scrap was just the ticket.

I only wanted to use the Santa photos, and I didn't quite have enough to fill all the spots in the sketch.  But the extra spaces worked well for journaling and added embellishments.

Here's a closer look at the first page....

And the 2nd page.  The puppy is almost 4 1/2 months old.  She is starting to listen better and is posing much better.

 

This was my 3rd year doing the 52 Week Challenge at SnC.  I had to use 2 passes this, which I am a little disappointed with.  It's been a real tough year though, and I am very happy that I was able to complete the challenge.

This page is being entered into a few other challenges as well:

Lasting Memories - Here Comes Santa Claus

Scrapping 4 Fun Challenges - Anything Goes

Frosted Designs - My Favorite Things

Raindrops on ROSES and whiskers on kittens,

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen MITTENS;

BROWN PAPER  packages tied up with STRINGS;

These are a few of my favorite things.

CREAM-COLORED ponies and crisp APPLE strudels;

Doorbells and sleigh BELLS and schnitzel with noodles;

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their WINGS;

These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with BLUE SATIN sashes;

SNOWFLAKES that stay on my nose and eyelashes;

SILVER-WHITE winters that melt into springs;

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites,When the bee stings,

When I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my FAVORITE things,

And then I don't feel so bad. 

 

 I used String on the 2 buttons (one on each page)

Cream-Colored cardstock was used as photo mats and journaling boxes. 

There are Wings on the bird on the button on the left page (very hard to see I know)

And there are Snowflakes on one of the embellishment squares on the 1st page.

Thank you for stopping by.  This weekend is my last dog event for several months.  I hope to be a crafting fool very soon.

 

 

Opposite

Tonight I made a page for the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  I've gotten into the bad habit of creating my layout on the last day of the week.  At least this week, I was thinking about the layout most of the week and even had the journaling figured out ahead of time.

I have so wanted to join in a Lasting Memories challenge.  I have missed blogging and joining challenges, especially at LM.  This week the challenge is about Opposites.  Well I can do a page about this.....

And while trying to find a sketch to use, I found one that I absolutely LOVED!!  This sketch is from Pamela's World of Scrap.  I love that she offers a sketch for a single page layout, a double page layout and a card.

And here's my page.....

The subjects are my dogs Harley and Tessa.  Definitely opposites, but they love each other.   They are so fun to watch playing together.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hello Spring

I followed several challenges to create my Week 18 page for the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin' I had planned a page about our last agility trial, but I was not able to get the photos yet.  The photographer is away at another trial.  Maybe next week.

I really wanted to join the challenge at Lasting Memories.  It's been so long since I've been able to play along with their challenges since I was creating calendar pages for so long, so that was my starting point for figuring out what to create.  Their challenge this week is called "Seasons Change".  And as I was looking through some of the photos I've taken this year, I found the perfect set for this subject.

Of course I needed a sketch.  And Scrap It Girl has a sketch challenge this month.  It's an extremely versatile sketch, so I was excited to give it a try.

And Let's Get Sketchy has "A Little Something" this week.  Since Monday was the 5th one of the month, there is a special challenge.  You can choose a sketch from any site and combine that with one of your favorite color combinations.  Well, I love using red along with several other primary colors.  The photos I chose feature a red tulip, so the color combo worked perfectly.  Here's my page.

I also entered this page into the monthly challenge at SnC to include a quote on your page.  My quote is written on the green strip on the left side of the paper.  It reads:   'Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's Party!"  ~  Robin Williams.'

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.  Thanks for looking.

House Calendar - May Page

I have started creating the pages of our calendars for 2013.  Maybe I will be done before March this time.... I usually make 2 calendars one for my office and one for Stew's office.  This I am adding 1 more.  I am making the calendar for the house.

I started with the May page for the house calendar.  I was inspired by this week's sketch at Sketch Inspiration.

I wasn't sure I liked it when it was done.  But the more I passed by it, the more I liked it.

I am using this page as my Week 50 entry into the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  I have completed a page a week for a total of 102 weeks so far.  Wow...

I also entered this page into one of the monthly challenges at SnC.  The challenge is called Around, and we are asked to journal around the photo, an embellishment, the page, etc.  I journaled around the photos.

This week's challenge at Lasting Memories is Anything But Snow.  These photos were taken at the beginning of spring, so no snow here....

And I am entering 1 more challenge with this page.  Frosted Designs is doing 12 Days of Christmas challenges.  They have a bunch of great challenges.  I hope to join in most of them.  On this page I used 5 gold brads, which qualifies this page for the Day 5 Challenge of using 5 gold things.

Thanks for looking.  I hope to get a huge jump on these calendars this weekend.  Stop back by and see how far I get.

Cheese

Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope everyone is ready to spend some time with family and friends over this holiday weekend.  All of my boys will be coming over tomorrow, with wives/girlfriends.  It will be so nice to have everyone together.  It's been a super busy several weeks here, and this week is even rougher.  We are working 10 hours days all week (except for tomorrow).  It will be nice to have the weekend off.

I created my page for the 52 week challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  It's Week 47 this week, and since I haven't missed a week since starting this challenge in 2011, this will make 99 weeks straight that I have created at least 1 page a week.  WOW!!!

For my page this week, I chose some photos of Tessa I took with a Halloween costume on.  It was a little black and purple witch's costume.  She's still learning to pose nicely, so they are not the greatest photos.  I used several pieces of inspiration as a jumping off point.

The first inspiration was this month's sketch at DCWV.

I love this sketch.  I was so excited when I saw it.

The next inspiration was the photo/color inspiration for this week's Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs.  Just perfect for Halloween themed projects.

And my page....

I used DCWV Indian Summer Fall Stack.  Perfect colors.

I am also entering these challenges:

ScrapFit - Layered banner with at least 2 textures.  The banner has paper, cardstock that is embossed and ribbon.

Scrap It Girl - Tree Challenge - Stamped tree on the journaling spot.

Lasting Memories - Stamp Those Layouts - Tree stamp and bird to the left of the banner.

The Cuddlebug Spot - A Feathery Challenge - The stamped bird has feathers.  I used my Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder to emboss the cardstock banner pieces.

Thanks for looking.

Enjoying The Dance

I got my layout done for the 52 Week Challenge very late this week.  I started it a few days ago, but it got a little more complicated than I had planned.

For this page I used this month's sketch at DCWV.  It's a beautiful sketch.

I also followed this week's challenge at Lasting Memories.  Their challenge is a fun one.  You choose 4 items out of the hat to include on your page....

Thanks for looking. 

The photo I chose for my page is one of Jackie and David at David's brother's wedding last year.  I loved this photo when I saw it posted on Facebook.  They looks so happy....

I used papers from the DCWV Linen Closet stack.  Such beautiful papers.  My choices for the LM challenge was Flourishes, Brads, Words and Ribbon.

I'm also entering this page into the current challenge at Frosted Designs, which is to use a Sport/Dance theme in your project.

Pure Joy

It's been very busy here lately.  Not much time to create.  I have been keeping up with the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  This is Week 39.   I'm so glad that I have been able to keep up with this challenge.

For my page this week, I wanted to use some photos of the dogs playing frisbee recently.    The pictures contain all the dogs, but it's Willie that I really wanted to capture.  He doesn't catch the frisbee and he rarely even brings it back.  But he loves to run after it and "help" Harley carry it back.  These photos show how happy and excited Willie gets to chase the frisbee.

As a starting point for the layout, I wanted to use this month's sketch at SnC that Theresa Neubaum created.  I love the sketches she creates each month and really try to use each one.

I used some of my Summer Fresh collection by Simple Stories that I won at SnC in July.  I love this line and have to get some more. 

I followed a couple other challenges for this page as well:

Lasting Memories - Ribbons, Lace and Pink

Scrap It Girl Challenge - Recipe

         Twine - Tied on the center button

         Arrows - One on each photo

         Circles - The partial circle background and the buttons

         Bird - In the title

         Red - Red lace, red flowers on the paper, red strips on the paper

Thanks for looking.  More dog events this weekend, one with a photographer.  Hopefully I will get some great agility photos to scrap.

A Hot Hike

I created my layout tonight for the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  We are having a year long contest to create a page a week.  If needed, each participant can use 5 passes throughout the year, but the page has to be made up the following week.  I participated in the challenge last year too.  I didn't use a pass last year, and haven't used one this year to this point.  So I have created a minimum of a layout a week for 84 weeks.  Wow!!

To create this page, I used this month's sketch for the Sketch Challenge at SnC.  Each month one of our members, Theresa, creates an awesome sketch for the Sketch Challenge.  Here is the wonderful sketch:

,And here's my page.

The photos are from this past weekend.  Stew's been so busy working at customers' houses during the spring and early summer that we really haven't spent any time together and have done nothing other than grocery shopping occasionally together.  So we decided to take a hike with the dogs on Saturday.  It really wasn't the best day to do it.  It was pretty hot.  Tessa had never been on a hike before, but she did very well.  They all did very well.  We went through a bunch of water along the 3 miles we hiked.  They are turning abandoned railroad tracks into nice, paved hiking trails all over around here.  In 2009 they revamped an old railroad bridge that goes across the Hudson River.  It's so awesome.  They just completed the trail from Highland, NY up to the bridge this year.  I had wanted to go on the bridge, but there is no shade up there, so we started the trail going the other way.  Good choice.  There was quite a bid of shade available all along the way. Still really hot though.  The dogs and I crashed for a couple hours when we got home.

For additional inspiration for this page, I followed this week's challenge at Lasting Memories.  The challenge this week is BINGO.  I love challenges like this, but this one was a little tough for me.  But I got it.

I used the 2nd row.  The frame and flowers are together are the left side of the photos.  The lace is at the bottom of the photos.  The frame, sunglasses and sun are all metal, as are the 4 brads I used.  The sewing is a little harder to see.  It's in the upper right of the layout, 2 stitched stars.  Here's a closer up look...

And this week's Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs was a color challenge.  I loved the colors in the inspiration, but I wasn't sure I could find the perfect papers to match these colors quickly enough to get this page done.  But I did.  I was so excited and worked hard to get this page done tonight.  Here is the inspiration....

I used K&Company's Wild Saffron.  They are awesome papers.  It's the first time I've used them.  I have to find something else to use them for.

Here are other challenges that I am joining also:

Unique Crafters Challenge - Sparkle and Shine  (I used 2 kinds of glittery Thickers for the title)

Truly Madly Crafty - Summer Fun  (our hike)

ScrapFit Warm Up #30 - Doodling  (I doodled around the date box and yellow paper the photos are on)

Cricut Chirp - A Buzzing Bug Bow  (Bug - lady bugs around photos, Bow - On Tessa, Cut - Bottle and 

                       leash from Everyday Paperdoll)

Scraptastic Club - Subway Art Challenge  (3 different Thickers for title)

Creative Accents - Summer Sunshine - Yellow

The Crafty Pad Designs - Metal  (frame, sunglasses and sun charms and brads)

I am also using this layout as my entry into the Brad challenge at SnC for our monthly challenges.

Phew....  Thanks for looking.  Have a great rest of the week.

Ready

Tonight I had to complete my 30th layout for the 52 Week Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  I waited until the end of the week again, but I wasn't stressed about it.  I knew what I wanted to do.  I just had to pick out the particulars.

There was one photo in particular that I could not wait to have access to from the photographer at the wedding.  It was a photo of Jenna's nieces all dressed and ready, sitting on the floor of the camper taking it all in.  I think it's my favorite photo of them of the day.

To create my page, I followed the challenge and sketch at Lasting Memories.  The challenge is Black and White with a splash of color.  Perfect challenge for wedding photos.  Here's the sketch...

I used a very large photo, printed on a full page of 8 x 10 paper, so I had to rotate the sketch to accommodate it.  Since the photo is so large, the page qualifies as my 2nd entry into SnC's 10 challenge which is to include a photo that is at least 10" on one side.

I am also entering this layout into this week's Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs which is to use a one word title. 

Be Fun

I joined in this week's challenge at Lasting Memories.  I've missed joining their challenges every week.  It felt great to play along.

This week's challenge is Fancy Folds.  They want to see a folding technique used on the page.  I also incorporated the sketch that they offered.  Here's the sketch.  I think it was perfect for the page I chose to do...

My middle son Pete got married on May 27th.  It was a fabulous day and a beautiful wedding.  These are pictures of my new daughter-in-law.  She was modeling her pretty pink sneakers.  (She didn't wear them for the ceremony.)  I made a fan folded flower for my folded element.

I am also using this page as my 2nd entry into the monthly challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin' for using the word "Be" as the first word in the page title.  Thanks for looking.  I hope to join in the LM challenges more often.

Spring Beauty

Everything around here is really coming to life.  Flowers abound and colors are spectacular.  For the 2nd year in a row our Bradford Pear Tree has bloomed.  It wasn't loaded with blooms, but there were quite a few blooms throughout the tree.  We planted a crabapple tree at the same time as the pear tree.  It had never bloomed.  I noticed this week that it has!!  Very exciting.

I took some photos of the pear tree in bloom.  One of the photos was pretty eye popping.  The bright sky behind the flowers makes the picture stand out.  I really wanted to scrap this photo for the 52 Hour Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  I wanted to join this week's challenge at Lasting Memories as well.  The challenge is "Hopping Into Spring".  The perfect subject for my spring flowers.  They also have a nice sketch as inspiration, which I used.

And here is my page....

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge is Hexagons.  I used some Nikki Sivils paper as the background mat for the photo that has has hexagons and bees on it.  The I remembered that I had a bee charm that I got years ago and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it.  I'm so glad I remembered I had it.

Thanks for looking.  I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

My February Page

This weekend is the 24 Hour Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'. I love this contest. You list 3 collections you have and April, our host, provides 3 sketches. April then tells everyone who they will chose for. So the collection and sketch is chosen for you. My friend Barbara chose for me.

The collection I was to use was Echo Park's A Boy's Life. Really easy for me. 3 boys, 2 nephews, 2 boy dogs. I am determined to get my calendar done. So I knew the photo would be of one of the dogs. I decided on one of my favorite photos of Willie last year. And Barbara chose our Sketch #2 which is the sketch on the Basic Grey blog on March 5th. I wasn't sure how it could incorporate this sketch into a calendar page....


The photo was taken last May after we got home from spending a great day out meeting my friend Kristie, her husband Mike and their doggie Amber. We had a really great day. We were walking around the yard just checking things out. Willie struck a pose in front of the hostas. He even stayed right there while I ran to get the camera.


I used this page for my 2nd entry into the Toy challenge at SnC. I am also going to enter this page in the Layer challenge at Lasting Memories. I have missed joining the challenges there.

Thanks for looking.

Willie & Santa

Well, I didn't get my 2nd page done last night. After we came home from getting salad, I just didn't feel like scrapping. But I did get it done tonight while dinner was cooking.

This layout is based on the sketch and photo inspiration this week at Lasting Memories.


My layout doesn't include a Christmas tree, a child or a teddy bear. But it does include Willie and his photo with Santa. He's as cuddly as a teddy bear.


I was so happy that the Santa at PetSmart was cool looking this year. Last year the one in Willie's photo was a little creepy.

I used some more papers and embellishments from the November Artful Delight kit. I love this kit.

I am also entering this page in this week's Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs. The challenge is to use fabric on your project. The flower in the upper right part of the layout is a Precocious Paper flower made with felt and fabric.

All Dressed Up

I am quite happy. It's Tuesday evening, and I have created a page each night so far this week after work. It won't happen tomorrow - we have agility class. But 2 for 2 is pretty good.

I created a page tonight following the monthly sketch at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'. My friend Theresa created our sketch again this month. I sooo love her sketches.


I used a couple of photos that I had taken during our Thanksgiving dinner. Tessa was dressed up in a pretty little dress and her little barrette. I'm pretty happy that she is starting to sit still for pictures somewhat.


I used papers and embellishments from my December Artful Delight kit. It came over the weekend and I really love the colors of everything. I used several sheets of Gathering Line of papers from Authentique and 1 sheet from Basic Grey's Picadilly line. The little button, the ribbon and the bling are from my stash.

In addition to entering this page into the sketch challenge at SnC, I am also entering it into the monthly challenge D is for..... On this page D is for Dress. This is entered at Lasting Memories as well. Their challenge this week is Sentimental Journey. You are to use a favorite sentiment or quote on your layout. We find ourselves marveling at how cute Willie and Tessa are. At the bottom of the journaling spot, I wrote Cute a a button, adding a little orange button at the end of the line. And I am entering it at Wee Memories as well. Their challenge this week is a Free For All Challenge.

Thanks for looking. I hope everyone is having a good week.

Enjoying Fall

Again I waited until the last minute to complete my 52 Weeks Layout for Scrappin'-n-Chattin'. Busy weekends really mess me up. I can't believe the year is almost over. Only 3 more weeks left of the contest. I still cannot believe that I have made it through the year, creating a page each week.

I have had an influx of awesome photos in the past couple of weeks. A friend of Jackie's mother took a ton of wonderful photos of David and Jackie with fall as the backdrop. I was so excited that she had them on a cd. I chose 6 of them for this layout. And I'm sure there will be more pages with them. They are all so great.

Let's Scrap always has great 2 page sketches that use lots of photos, so that was the first place I checked for a sketch. Perfect. Here's this week's sketch, the one I used:


And here is the layout...

I had chosen a new Nikki Sivils collection that I recently got - Beatrice. It's the first Nikki Sivils collection I have ever had. I was so surprised at how well the collection worked with the photos. I fussy cut the tree from one of the papers as well. The perfect embellishment for the layout.

The colors in the spread work great with the inspiration photo at Lasting Memories. I really wanted to participate in the challenge. It's been a couple of weeks for me and I've been so disappointed that I haven't been able to play along.



Here is a closer look at Page 1. I used my Zig Zag Martha Stewart border punch to create the layers of papers in the center of both pages. This will allow me to enter the layout into my first December challenge at SnC - which is to use chevron or zig zag paper, or use a punch to create
a pattern.

And page 2..... The cardstock is from a Bazzill pad I have and the bling is from my stock. All other elements are from the Nikki Sivils collection.


Thanks for looking. I hope everyone has lots of scrappy plans for the weekend. Enjoy.

Pet Palooza

Today was the 24 Hour Challenge at Scrappin'-n-Chattin'. Everyone who would like to play posts 3 collections we have. The host, April, then chooses 3 different sketches and picks out who will decide for whom what collection to use and which sketch to base a layout on. My friend Ashley chose for me.

I used Echo Park's A Walk In The Park Collection and SnC's Sketch #1, which is from Got Sketch, #132.


It was a great sketch to work with. All of April's selections were awesome. And here is what I came up with:


I used some photos from May of this year when I got to meet my friend Kristie in real life. It was an awesome day and so great to meet Kristie, Mike and Amber.

I am also entering this page into this week's challenge at Lasting Memories. The challenge is to hide your journaling. I have a tag connected to the ribbons on the right side of the photo spot. I wrote some details about the day on it. I am also entering this layout into this week's Frosted Design's Fabulous Friday challenge which is to include die cuts on the project. I used the die cut swirl and some flowers from the EP kit and I cut the piece for the title from the Elegant Edges cartridge.

Thanks for looking...

The Train

Today at Scrappin'-n-Chattin' we are having the 24 Hour Challenge. Actually it started at 6pm, last night. We provide the name of 3 paper collections that we have. The host of the challenge, my friend April picks 3 sketches. Then April will assign someone who is in the challenge to pick which sketch and paper collection another participant will use.

My friend Kristie made the choices for me. She chose Sketch #2, which was a sketch from October Afternoon from 9/08/2011 and the collection The Steadfast Tin Soldier from Piggy Tails.


Since the collection is predominantly train related, I decided to use a couple of photos of Willie that I clicked in the car. He had his first experience with a train earlier this year on the way to an agility class. I couldn't grab my camera in time to capture that moment. But a few days later, on the way home, we ran into another train. I was able to get the camera out and capture a couple of photos of him watching the train go by.


The photo of the layout is not that great. I have to hurry. We are in the snowstorm right now and the lights are really flickering, so I am trying to get this done before we loose power. Everything on the page was from the collection except the Thickers I used for the title and the W in the circle, the bling on the left photo and between the trains on the border on the top of the page, and the train punched border at the bottom of the page. The punched border came from a border swap we at at SnC. It was punched by my friend Melissa. I had been waiting to use it with these photos. Glad I finally was able to use it.

Since I was able to incorporate some bling into this layout, I am going to enter it into this week's challenge at Lasting Memories, which is to include bling on your page.

I hope everyone is save and warm this evening. I hope we don't loose power, but I don't think that is likely. I have to go finish the laundry and think about dinner. Then I can just wait....

Tessie Boo

Well, I waited until the last minute again to make my layout for Scrappin'-n-Chattin's 52 Week Challenge. I really did try to get it done earlier, and I had most of it planned out, but it went together and was uploaded with only 3 hour to spare.

For my page, I followed this month's sketch at SnC, created by my friend Theresa Neubaum. She creates such awesome sketches. I am so excited that she has been creating the sketches for our monthly sketch challenge.


I loved this sketch.....

Of course I wanted to enter TPV's challenge this week, which is my off week. The challenge this week is a recipe...


So much fun. Be sure to check out the design team's inspiration. And there's an awesome prize this week. Scraptastic Club is offering a $20 gift certificate for one lucky entry in this week's challenge.

I am still working hard on getting Tessa to pose for the camera. It's not working real well. She still runs when I point it at her. I got her a Halloween costume and was trying to stage the photo. She would have none of that. I took 25 photos of her, most of them not usable at all. I used a few from the attempted photo shoot to create my layout.


I used a pumpkin brad and a stick pin that Theresa made and gifted me last year in a bottle swap we did at SnC. I have been dying to use the stick pins and I am so glad I finally was able to use one. The flowers and stick pin really are raised off the page, so I am entering this page into this week's challenge at Lasting Memories, which is to add some dimension. I also followed the color challenge at Frosted Designs.

There is still time to enter the challenges at TPV, LM and FD. LM's is due by 9pm on Saturday. I hope everyone has a wonderful, crafty weekend.