Kim's layout - Family Traditions

This week is all about Christmas and what it means to you. To me it means family traditions.

For as long as I can remember, one of our traditions is for the whole family to get together on Christmas Eve. Each year a different family member would host the gathering. To an outsider looking through the window, this gather may resemble chaos. Just people every where. Kids and grow-ups alike, sitting on the floor playing games, Christmas music playing from the stereo, Christmas movies playing on the television. The meal for this gathering is potluck, so you may have someone eating tacos, while the person next to them is chowing down on pizza.

At midnight, we all gather in front of the Christmas tree and we get to open the gifts we bought for each other. Every year we do it in a different sequence. One year it's the oldest to the youngest, the next year it is the youngest to the oldest. It never matters what order we go in, it always seems that I am in the middle.

One year we managed to get a group photo. This photo is extremely special to me, because there are several people in this photo that are no longer with us. I am so glad that we were able to get this group photo. Maybe I'll try and take another one this year. Here is my layout about "What Christmas means to me":

Family Traditions


I used lots of Bo-Bunny on this layout. All items came from an older Swirlydoos kit.

It's your turn to tell us "What Christmas means to you". Post those layouts, we have a wonderful RAK just waiting on someone.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Holidays!!

Kim

Jenifer's Christmas Spirit Post



This weeks topic is
The Christmas Spirit

and what it means to you.

I would definitely have to say as most of us would that Christmas is much different as an adult than it was a child for sure. Now instead of spending the whole month of December in a euphoric trance waiting for Santa and wondering what will be in sack for you, you spend the whole month of December trying create this same  feeling you experienced as a child for your own children. We go through great lengths to keep the integrity of Santa, Elves, his Reindeer and the whole myth alive for our children. But I cannot say I mind at all I love watching how happy it makes them and seeing my own face in theirs as that joyful much anticipated day draws closer.

We start our Christmas traditions the weekend before Thanksgiving actually. We like to transform the house into Santa land, lol. This is a huge job, lol I think it took us 8 hours this year, lol. We pack away everything in the living room and dinning room and put  out our many Holiday items instead. We even put up 2 trees. The one in the dinning room is reserved to look more elegant and the one in the living room is for all of our modge podge of ornaments we've collected over the years along with all the treasured items the kids have made us over the years in school. We leave the tree in the living room empty with only lights on it and on Thanksgiving day when the whole family is here, we let the kids decorate it.  The kids really enjoy this and the grandparents really appreciate being a part of the kids holiday traditions as they don't get to do this with own children anymore. The kids love all their pretty holiday things out for the month. I love to walk into the living room and see one of them fiddling some of the decor. Never fails whether it be a snow globe they are shaking vigorously or changing the numbers on the how many days til Christmas countdowns we have.

On Christmas Eve the kids and I spend the day cooking and baking away, we make platters and platters of holiday cookies. Oh I can just smell gingerbread men just talking about it. Anyway we put the cookies and milk out for Santa as most people do and the kids wake up the next morning and usually find Santa's ball off the end of his hat lying near the platter of cookies....lol. We always try to think of little details like that to keep the spirit alive.

I hope one day they will have the opportunity to make these kind of memories with their own children and pass down stories of their own favorite holidays and traditions from when they were small. It's not about material things or how many gifts you get but about the lasting memories you make.

This is my take on this week's challenge. It's a layout of me stringing lights on the tree.

I used Riddersholm's I Believe and The Day Before Collections for this page. I misted the doily behind the photo and cut out the center. The sentiment is from Bo Bunny's Father Christmas collection and the flowers are Prima. I used some filler I found from my local craft store, in the holiday section behind the flowers to make them look more dramatic. The cherub is actually just a cheapie Christmas decoration that I was dying to add on a page, lol and this one happened to be perfect!

Don't forget to link your take on this weeks challenge for your opportunity to win Sarinda's handmade necklace she so generously donated as this week's RAK!

Holiday Season to be jolly

Hi All! This week's theme is about Christmas spirit. I don't celebrate Christmas here but the joy of Christmas is always felt since it is celebrated at the end of the year and that means its a holiday season here!! Even though I don't celebrate it, it's one of the most joyous occasion to celebrate in my part of the world. You need to come to see and believe it! Everywhere is decorated with Christmas trees or themes. And the reason I love this is it also means the holiday season is coming and mostly people are traveling out from the city to be with their loved ones on a trip or just going back to their hometowns to meet their parents.

Since its a holiday season, it also a popular month for couples to tie the knot. Seems that arranging and coordinating wedding things are easier to be done during the holiday , I guess.
So, I want to share a card today..not a layout as usual, which I did to celebrate this holiday season. I hope you like it!
Materials used for this card:
Base card: Bazzil Basics
Patterned paper: Prima
Glitter stickles: Ranger
Stamp: Hero Arts
Ink: Ranger
Do join us this week and show off your creations on this week's theme! It's very simple by clicking on the Mr Linky tool on the side bar and insert your blog address for us to view your creations!
And don't forget that we are also offering a delicious RAK especially designed by our very own DT Sarinda. It's a homemade glass pendant and it's definitely one of a kind!
Join us and let's have fun!
-Nida-

Christmas Spirit Challenge by Nanette

Christmas is being together with family and friends and to enjoy yourself. This is not always easy because there is always a lot of pressure. There should be great food and great company and no sad faces.....
This layout shows that we really have fun at Christmas time.

This layout is made with a photo I took a few years ago of my hubby, eldest daughter and my mum. They were doing silly with the reindeer hats. I copied the photo once in a seperate layoer and converted the photo to black and white. Then I erased the reindeer parts again on the top layer (the black and white one), so that the red emerged again on the photo. That's all. I used photoshop elements for this trick.

I used green and christmas test paper of We R Memorykeepers (Merry and bright Scrapbooking Pad), Websters Pages Vellum & Diecut kit sheet and a journalling card from Webster's 'Waiting for Santa', Joycraft Diecut Design Paper Christmas, Maya road snowflake, smooth ink red and silver, Websterers Plorettes Princess Petals, glitter flowers from my local store, Glitz Red Pompons.

Thanks for stopping by!
And don't forget to enter our challenge in order to win the great RAK!!!!

Christmas Spirit

For me, Christmas is all about Family and friends. I love the season; it brings together people who haven't seen each other for perhaps the entire year. I love to scrap book Christmas events and family traditions.

Here I have scrapped a layout using old photos of my family from the early 1950's. I used vintage inspired materials and chose a layout that the small original photos would not get lost on. I looove Christmas and I wish you and yours all the best this holiday season! Happy scrapping :)

Brenna

Christmas Spirit Challenge.

Welcome to our new challenge for this December month: 

Christmas Spirit Challenge

What does Christmas mean to you? Do you like to shop for the perfect gift, do you study weeks to make perfect Christmas food, is it about gathering with your friends or family or is it the spiritual side of Christmas? Scrap it and share it with our on Scrap Yourself.

This challenge will run for 3 weeks. The best entry will win a fabulous prize, sponsored by our own DT member Sarinda. 


Wear glass jewelry to make a statement at a party, or for a quiet evening of elegant dining. Pendants are kiln formed glass, fired in a kiln, hand beveled and polished on a 16" ball chain. Each piece is one of a kind.

The winner will get both pendants! One for you and one to give. 

The true Christmas Spirit

This pendant is handmade by Sarinda. She is a glas artist. This pendant is great on a necklace, but you could also use it on a scrapbook project! The choice is yours.

If you want to see more of here great work, check out Reflective Art Studio.


We will show you our 'Christmas Spirit' layouts the next few days. So please return for  more inspiration! Enter your creations by using Mr Linky on the right.


Happy Scrapping!!!

Change the World... Sarinda's Layout

So I will be Brief on this topic.... and obviously this is not real money.....!!!

As we all know money makes our world go round. Right? I do believe to ask that our society go back to a place of bartering is naive. So with this I have made a commitment to knowing where the money I spend goes to. Does it help a local farmer keep his/her local farm.... Etc...
Cheers and a warm thank you.
Sarinda

Change the World - Kristin's Layout

Happy Thursday everyone.  Today's prompt really spoke to me. Two of my passions are women's rights and the political system.  In tackling a subject like 'Change the World', I really wanted to write something that meant a little bit more to me than your every day journaling. I've also decided that I'm going to try to follow through with this a little bit more on each of my layouts; writing journaling that comes from a deep place inside both my heart and my head.

Here is my layout:

Thank you very much for stopping by. You can also see my work at www.rukristin.blogspot.com; thanks so much.

Kim layout

How would I change the world?

Hey guys sorry I'm so late posting.

This was a very difficult topic for me. I say that because I feel so passionately about a lot of things I would like to change in the world. There is the homeless problem, good affordable healthcare, pay for school teachers.....my list goes on and on.

All that said, my answer to How would I change the world? By making it more beautiful. Here is my layout expressing that. It is full of florals, flourishes, butterflies and soft colors. I think there is great beauty all around us, we just need to really just open our eyes and look for it.

As for my layout, here is what the journaling says:

If I could change the world.

What would I do if I could change the world? There are a lot
of things in the world that I think need changing, but one of the
things I would do is make the world more beautiful.

Yes, there are other things, which in the grand scheme of life
that may seem more important. However, think about how you feel when you
are surrounded by the beauty of nature.

It would be my hopes that in making the world more beautiful, the
good feelings would permeate all through mankind. It may sound kind of
simple, but I think it would be hard to be unkind to one another when surrounded
by Great Beauty.

For my layout I used paper from Pink Paislee and G45
Flowers by Kaisercraft and Prima
Wooden butterfly by Kaisercraft
Flourish by Zva
Chicken wire by Dusty attic

Thanks for looking. Remember the challenge goes through next week. Let's see how you would change the world.

Kim

Jenifer's Layout

Hi everyone, it's Jenifer again, hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving Holiday!

This weeks topic here at Scrap Yourself is

"If I Could Change The World"

What would you do if you could change the world? I had a bit of a hard time with this one, because the list could go on forever, lol. But I settled on an issue that I think would be a great start to making this world a better place for ourselves and generations to come.....Live and Let Live

HERE'S MY TAKE ON THIS WEEKS TOPIC

LIVE AND LET LIVE

The journaling reads:

If I could change the world, I'm not sure I'd

know where to start, there are so many

evils in the world we live in today....I'm not

sure it could be changed. I could go on

forever about every montrocity that plauges

this world on a daily a basis, but I won't. I

do believe no one said it better than Mr John

Lennon himself when he sang out "All You

Need Is Love" There's never been one thing

more true. If as a world we could find it in our

hearts to love our fellow man and forget the

hate and rage we hold in our hearts towards

anyone of the unlike, I'm sure that would be

an amazing start to changing the evils in this

world and making it a better place for the

entire human race! I wish people understood

that different is ok, we do not all have to be

the same, why would you want to be. We

must learn to love one another for who and

what we are, without persacution. It's ok to

love your own God, it's ok if you are gay, it's

ok to make life choices that are best for you

and will do no harm to others, it's ok to have

your own beliefs and rituals, it's ok to march

to the beat of your own drum. Who are we to

judge for what is right and what is wrong, we

have a maker that will do this for us one day 

LIVE AND LET LIVE

SUPPLIES:

background paper Prima Fairy Flora collection

DCWV scrap pieces layered behind the journaling

Prima haydranga floawers

embroidery floss

generic doily

generic beads

generic buttons

Bazzil card stock and Cricut's Cursive 101 cartridge for the alpha's

the butterfly is actually a patch I had bought to go on my daughter's jeans

For more details and close up's vivist my blog at

http://heldscraptive.blogspot.com/

 Link your yake on this week's topic by December 11, 2011 for a chance to win a RAK!

Change the World by Nida

This week's theme is 'Change the World'. That's a big theme to me. It's a big theme but it wasn't long for me to decide on what I want to scrap about. It's about something that seems to be in our local news almost every day. It's about parent/s abandoning their newborns at places where they wish their secrets are well kept from the public. In my country, having a child out of wedlock is a serious offense. Its forbidden.

And the sad thing is when things happen, some leave them in front of hospitals, some leave them in public toilets and some even went further by drowning or throwing the babies in the drains or rivers for fear that they will get caught by the authorities. If I could change the world, I would put a stop to all this. To me it's very simple, I'm a mother myself. I would never do that to my own child or anyone's child. Maybe I don't understand why they just had to make this horrible decision, but killing a baby just doesn't justify anything at all, at least to me.

So, here's a layout of my son taking one of his first few steps in life. I would never stop him from what he deserves in life. I can only love and guide him through as much and as long as I can.

We would like you, our lovely readers to join in and submit your layouts for this week's theme. You can scrap on anything on how you would like to change the world. We would love to know. You can join us by linking your layouts to the Mr Linky tool on the side bar. Don't forget to come back to view our DTs layout for the rest of this week and get yourself inspired!

Till then!

-Nida-

Some of the materials I have used for this layout:
Chippie: Kaisercraft
Brads: Basic Grey
Stamp: Glitz Creations
Ink: Ranger

Kristin's Layout: My New Toy

I took this week's challenge 'So Thankful', in another direction. I wanted to document how grateful I am that I was able to get my new kindle, and what a difference its made to me in the short time that I've had it.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving!

New Challenge: So Thankful

Can you believe that another week has come and gone already. Time flies this time of the year. So busy with the holidays coming!
But there is always some time for scrapbooking!!! Therefore a new challenge.

SO THANKFUL

Our DT-team will post an example layout every day this week to give you some inspiration.

But off course, we would like to see your work too!!!!
This challenge will run until next sunday, November 27.

The winner will be awarded with our new Scrap Challenge Award.
You can enter your layout on the Mr. Linky on the right.
Can't waite so see your entries!

"I'm Going Places"

I took a literal spin on this 'positive talk' and made a page filled with forms of locomotion. I just love the colour scheme of this page and the adorable vintage cards I used from October Afternoon. I actually ran out of some of my letters and used an upside down 'V' as an 'A' and an upside down 'W' as an 'M.' Get creative with your letters and try to use 'em all!

The clouds in this layout add to the dreamy, looking forward aspect of not only will I travel but I will accomplish great things and have adventure in my life. Hope I've inspired you to create a page of your own positive self talk. Happy Scrapping!

Brenna :)

Positiv Self-Talk by Nanette

When I thought about this post I had to think hard. Most of the time I'm not positiv at all about myself. I could make a list about myself that I don't like at all in no time. But positiv stuff.....I really had to think that one through.
One thing that came up again and again was about being a 'home maker'. I love improving the house and making it nice and cosy so that there is a true home for our family to come home to. It could be painting for days or just baking some cupcakes. This make me feel at home, but also for my kids, hubby and family or friends that come over at our place.


So my positiv self-talk is:

I'm a good 'Home Maker'

This layout shows an example of me and my eldest daughter working together on a new painting on the wall of her bedroom. I don't say that my painting skills are great, but the feeling it gave making it together was great!
This digi layout was made with the digital kit 'The Dwelling Place' from Everyday Moms Ideas. 


Now I can't wait to see your projects!!!! Show them to us using Mr. Linky and win our scrapbook challenge award! You wil find the Mr. Linky HERE

If you want to know more about me, check me out at scrap-4-kids.blogspot.com.


Thanks for stopping by,
Nanette

Jenifer's Positive Self Post

Hi everyone, Jenifer here!

Hope you all are having a terrific day!

This weeks challenge was to create a layout using the topic "Positive Self"

I had to think about this one a bit, because if you really think about it, most of us beat ourselves up on a daily basis over stupid stuff, but rarely have nice things to say.

This was such a nice excuse to let myself off the hook for once, lol.

All in all after mulling over options I decided the thing that came to mind the most was Imperfection...who's perfect? There's those, whom think they are, lol but none of us really truely are and thats ok. 

I have to remind myself of this often....

"Imperfect Is Ok"

For further design details visit my blog

http://heldscraptive.blogspot.com/

Positive Self Talk

Hi there! This week's theme is on Positive Self Talk - the good things about you and what do you say to YOU.

All I need to say to myself now is that I'm very happy to have all the people I know in my life especially my closest family. They are with me in times of good and bad, happy or sad.
So, whenever I'm in need of that positive self talk, I will think of my loved ones always.

I hope you like the layout that I have created for this week's theme. Here are some of the items that I have used for this layout.

Pp: Webster's Pages, Glitz Creations
Push pin: Webster's Pages
Pearls: Queen and co.
Rhinestones: Prima

If you would like to see some more of my craft works, you are welcome to visit my blog.
See you soon!

Some close-ups below of the layout.

Nida.

New Challenge: Positiv Self-Talk

Hi, we are back with a brand new challenge called:

'Positiv Self-Talk'

The challenge is:
Make a layout about you and what you like about yourself.
What do you say to yourself when you look into the mirror?
Why are you happy about this?

Our DT-team will post an example layout every day this week to give you some inspiration.

But off course, we would like to see your work too!!!!
This challenge will run until next sunday, November 20.

The winner will be awarded with our new Scrap Challenge Award.

You can add your link to Mr Linky below.

Happy Scrapping and enjoy your weekend!

Love: My Safe Place

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I had fun with this week's challenge: "My Safe Place"

Instead of picking out an actual location; I decided that I would focus on the person that I go to when I need to feel safe.

Here is my layout:

Thanks so much for playing along with us!

My Place

The theme for today is...Safe Place. And here I show you My place. My corner, how I "named". Even my son when I said I am going to my corner he knows what I am talking about.
This is the place in my house where I can be my self. Here are just my rules, and I need to think just about what I want! Don't misunderstand me, my home is my temple. But inside my house... my corner is "My place". 
Here is the Layout I create for this theme.

Rainbow Obsessed......

Completely Obsessed with a rainbow Holiday...
I know we are freshly out of Halloween. Granted this is a bit early for even me.

This all started recently when we started the remodel of our kitchen and my Son wanted a RAINBOW Kitchen, Rainbow Garden, RAINBOW Holiday-!

I am on the hunt for all things that are Rainbow, ornaments, decorations that we can make together. Here are some nice ones....
Enjoy-!
Sarinda

must have...Cheesecake!

I definitely would not categorize myself as someone with an addictive personality. I had a really hard time trying to think of things that I am either obsessed with or simply can't live without. All I could come up with were things that I REALLY REALLY like!

One thing in particular that I have a hard time resisting when at a restaurant would be cheese cake. Mmmm...love my cheesecake! This page happens to be cheesecake from NYC, how delicious! Please enjoy!

I kept a neutral palette when making this page and let the photos do all the work. Layering of complimentary patterned paper gives visual interest and rounding corners softens the look. Thanks for peeking!

Brenna :)

Obsessed by books : Nanette

The theme of this week is OBSESSION.

I could have choosen scrapbooking. LOL! But that is a bit too obvious isn't it? 

So I decided it was books! I even took a photo especially for this challenge with piles of books.....But then I found this picture of me, made last week in Germany in our camper (mobil home) during our vacation. This photo shows it all. 

How much I do love books. 

Nothing can stop me from reading. Not even a glass of rosé! Or a baby on my lap!

For the interested: It's a book of Hannah Kristen. I just recently found out about her books and I love them ALL!

I used a few things out of my pile of Webster's Pages and added lots of ink and 2 book embellishments (who were in my stash for many years - aha thought so I should never throw anything out!). Still fighting with the bloomers though. They are so big on a layout, so I used some ink on them too, to give them some shading. I added the word 'books' many times too give extra attention to my obsession.


Now it is your turn! Scrap your obsession and show it to us!
Thanks for stopping by,

Jenifer's Post

Hi Y'all, Jenifer here!

This weeks topic is OBSESSED, we all have a weekness for something right???

I love ALOT of things, like chocolate, reading, coffee, motocross, bubble baths, and the list goes on......

But I'm not obsessed with those things.....this topic was easy for me because other than the love for my family theres only one other thing that I'm obsessed with....cannot go to long without doing it....

I MUST BE CREATIVE!

And my creative outlet is scrapbooking. Scrapbooking is something I do for myself....with the added bonus of the gift it will be to my children one day.

It's something I love doing, I have it on my mind most of the time, haha I'm always looking for photo ops or oportunities for a new scrappy subject, something I can use for a cool title, looking for things that I can use on my pages. So I would say thats pretty obsessive....

The cool part though is my family is completely supportive of my obsession and enjoy's it's outcome, so I would say it's a win win situation.....

My layout today is actually pretty basic, one word says it all....

Obsession by Nida

 

Hi there! It's my turn again and this week we have a new theme. Obsession.

Frankly speaking, this theme is not an easy one for me. Maybe because I have a lot of obsessions? Lol! Not really. Shoes? Handbags? Emmm...nope. Jewellery? Nahh... I don't call myself obsess over that too! It was quite long for me to figure out until I was at the bookshop one day and going through some funky note pads, which I just had to buy. Yess...Books! Notepads! I am obsessed with books and paper pads. Here's my confession; I have been obsessed with books since I was a child.

So, here's my layout showing off my constant obsession. There's a photo of me with my precious new bookshelf and holding my latest crave on Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments Series. The 2nd photo; is just to show a small percentage (ha ha!) of my notepads collection. I have been a collector of note pads since 1992! Some of which, I have used as my personal journal, some to jot down favourite recipes (only jot..but never tried!..hehe)  and others, well, to-do-list and etc. I have different notepads for different activities like birthdays planning, maternity, scrapbooking and cardmaking (and this one I carry with me everyday in my handbag! Lol!). I have several colours of notepads in the office and I usually rotate them. Makes office life more interesting and less stressful ( in a very small way).

By the way, thanks to Scrap Yourself, this is the first time I took a photo of myself. I hope this won't be my next obsession..Sheeesh....

Just on the materials used here in my layout.

Paper: My Mind's Eye, Smile Always, Glitz Creations; and also a bit from DCWV.

Bloomers: Bo Bunny, which I have distressed with Tattered Rose Distress Ink by Ranger

Punch: Martha Stewart & Fiskars- used my scrap paper for this.

Chipboard stickers: My Mind's Eye

Anyway, I hope you like my layout. A very simple one from me this time. :)

TFL!

Nida

A Letter to my younger self

Just like my fellow DT members, I don't have very many pictures of my little me. This past April my dh and I took a trip to NY to visit family. My Aunt had several photo albums that I just had to go through. I found this jewel of a photo of myself. It is my 2nd grade school picture. No one at home even has this picture. It was in pristine condition as well. This is the second time I have scrapped this photo since April, guess I'll have to retire it soon.

If you ever wanted to do a layout to include a letter/advice to your younger self, this is the perfect challenge to use. That's what I did. the title of my layout is be Kind and here it is.





The envelope tucked under the picture contains the letter. The letter reads;

To my younger self,
that saying about all you really need to know you learned in kindergarten is true. The most important thing you learned then was to be kind to people, you never what they may be going through. Later in life you will understand just how important that is, as you will find yourself going through some trials.

Fortunately, you will come out on the upside of the trials. During your journey, you will encounter many people, some were kind and some were unkind. Those that were unkind could have affected your outcome in a very negative way, had you let them. You were lucky, you have a strong support system and developed a healthy self-esteem. You chose to to focus on those that were kind during your struggles.

Remember the way that those who were unkind to you made you feel? Do you want to be responsible for making someone else feel that way? I know your older self doesn't, so always remember, be Kind.

I used the August kit from here to complete my layout. I hope this inspires you to pull out the little me pictures and do some scrapping.

Nineties Fashion by Kristin

Hey Everyone!

Happy Wednesday, I hope everyone is having a spectacular week.  I loved this week's challenge--little me.  I've had a couple of old photos of myself that I've been dying to throw into a new layout, and this was a fantastic excuse!

This is one of my all time favorite pictures; a photo of me and my (distant) cousin at our family reunion in 1991.  I just love how we were dressed; nineties fashion was just so much fun.

Thanks so much for dropping by and we'd all love to see your own take on this week's challenge! 

Little Me by Lisa

I do not think I have ever scrapped any pictures of me when I was little until now and I admit is was NOT easy. I do not have many pictures of me when I was little so that has always made it harder. I think I found only three to choose from..... in the end the photo I found of myself as a new baby in the hospital at only 5 pounds or so really was calling to me......




See, I was born early and fought my way through many health problems and risks from being born premature with complications. I have wanted to put down how I feel about that for a long time... and now I have.
I used a VERY beautiful kit found HERE from Birds of a Feather for my page. I love the aged feel of the page and the little hits of glitter and mist made it feel complete to me.

I hope this will inspire you to scrap the little you... the one that has a story of her own.

Little Me by Becca

This was a hard challenge for me. I didn't have any pictures of me as a baby. I needed my Mom's help. She scanned the picture and then I could work with it. Like you can see in the picture... it is pretty old... and have that "reddish" tone.

I tried to use different elements that match with the picture and give it some kind of contrast too. 

 

I used for the paper in the background MME paper. I used a heart doily and change the color with some spray colors. The border of the letters and the paper I used acrylic bronze paint. I give it to the picture distressed borders. I add the butterfly spray and I used crochet flowers and different size mulberry flowers. The flower made it with seam binding, lace,  and pearl trim was made it for a good friend, and I finally found the perfect project to used!

Grab Life By the "You Know What"

AND have fun.....

I am a full time Artist and let me be the first to tell you that there are a lot of critics out there. Not that I am cynical..... But It takes a lot to put my emotional self out there for a living. There will always be someone who ReaLLy enjoys me and my work. YEAH. (these are the folks you gather around you) Then other days there are some who... well, just don't get it. AND that is ok too. Why am I any different than all of you. We all have an inner critic. RIGht?

My Point here is... Just start doing what you love and in YOUR own aesthetic. Have your inner VOICE LOUD and Proud. You got here because of your life. And whatever starts the flame in your heart to grow... Well then.

Enjoy Life and like you for who you are. It may not be perfect... who said that anyway. It is not about that, it is about just the act of DOING. Picasso was not Picasso in a day, It took a lifetime.

"Face the brilliance of your most wonderful creations and dwell on your dreams."



Journal Reads:

Sassafras….

Celebrating life with wit, integrity and knowing you can do anything; you set your mind to. Sometimes we fall down… However, Most of the time finding out what we want to be when we grow up is about elimination of what you don’t want to do. Which in turn leads us to where we really want to be. SO start checking off your list.

A few quotes I like:

"Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels."

~ Faith Whittlesey

"Follow your instincts. That's where true wisdom manifests itself."

~ Oprah Winfrey

"Canadian Woman" by Brenna

Celebrate the woman you are eh? This was a theme with SO many possibilities. I initially thought I'd make a page about my triumphs and failures, or maybe my many skills, or a page on how I define myself and in the end opted for a much lighter and humorous layout. Me- as a Canadian woman!

The journalling reads as follows:

as a true Canadian woman, I know how to skate in both hockey skates and figure skates. I have shovelled off a lake. I own long underwear. I not only know what La tire (french word pronounced Teer with a rolling 'r') is, I also know how to make it. I shovel my car out from under inches of ice and walk my dogs at -40 degrees below. I've climbed a ski hill in the middle of the night and came sliding down it on a GT. I know that beaver tails and hot chocolate are essential when skating the world's longest rink and I have a wardrobe for four very different seasons and everything in between...not that I'm complaining 'bout that! I am a Canadian woman.

To make this page I started with a strong layered middle that anchors the layout and built off from there, adding embellishments and clusters. I think photos should almost always be the main focus and I made sure that my colour schemed complimented the unique winter shades in my picture. I inked and sprayed my letters. I often only partially ink when using craft white ink to give a weathered and aged effect.

For more details and to see more of my work please visit my blog: http://scrapsmith.blogspot.com/

Brenna :)

Womanhood: I will survive by Nanette

Hi, this is my first post at Scrap Yourself. So glad to be here!
This weeks challenge is about womanhood. That was a hard one for me. Never felt like a real woman all my life. When I was young I even wanted to be a boy. I actually looked like a boy and I didn't care about that until I was about 15.
Growing up, going to university, work, marriage, kids. I still wasn't really thinking about being a woman, or life in general. Until that black day 3 years ago in October. I woke up and thought my life was over. I thought I was dying, having a heart attack and it was time to say goodbye. It turned out my heart was fine, but for the next months I hardly could get out of my bed, walk, talk, breath. I was burned out, had chronical hyperventilation and even panic attacks. It took me two years to get back on my feet again and to look back. I found out I lived the life I was supposed to live, as many women do.
I took care of everyone and everything and that I had just done to much before something snapped.....now I'm back. I realised that I'm a person, a woman, someone who should take better care of herself! I started to start with atletics, something I loved doing when I was younger, became a coach too, bought myself a dog to take long walks to enjoy the outdoors, and cut back the work (and the money and found out that I dind't even care!). And as my health improved I got the ultimate present to celebrate womanhood. I got pregnant of my third child!


The layout that I made shows me with my dog in the period I was still ver tired. Should print this blogpost on it as a journal. But somehow it is still to painful to journal it.....