Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Divine Sisterhood of Scrap

Every Saturday, Sisterhood of Scrap (http://sisterhoodofscrap.blogspot.com/) spotlights an artist's sketch. When they put the call out to scrappers to design a layout to feature with the sketch, I gladly answered the call. This week I had my fourth layout featured. Here it is:

I don't know if you can see the detail on the solid card stock. I ran it through the Cuttlebug. To get the embossed image down the entire 12-inch strip, I placed the embossing folder sideways and passed the strip through three times, moving the folder as I went along. Next, I sanded the raised images to make them pop. I love how the diamonds mimic the pattern on Mark's sweater!

I'm usually behind in my scrapping so I'm pretty proud of myself for actually doing a Christmas layout in December -- even if it's a layout of Christmas 2002! LOL!

Ingredients: Bazzill card stock; Imaginisce patterned paper; Imaginisce embellishments and rub-ons; American Crafts; Queen & Company Felt Fusion; Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough embossing folder; Signo white pen.

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Thursday, December 4, 2008

The Not So Latest But Still Greatest Basic Grey

I finally finished the layouts from the Latest and Greatest from Basic Grey class that I took over the summer. You may recall the layouts from this post (http://eterno-lyyours.blogspot.com/2008/10/latest-and-greatest-part-2.html) and this post (http://eterno-lyyours.blogspot.com/2008/09/basic-grey-latest-greatest-part-1.html). They were also from the CKC Valley Forge class. Here are the last two from that class:

Journaling reads: From the first time we met Jenn, we had all hoped that she was the "one" so we were thrilled to welcome her into the family.


As soon as I saw this beautiful Basic Grey's Sultry paper, I knew that I would be using it to scrap Jim and Jenn's wedding. It's just so elegant. In addition to the gorgeous paper, my other favorite things about this layout are the doodling around the circular mat...
and the rhinestone embellishments I added to the center of the flowers once I got home from the class.
Ingredients: Basic Grey Sultry paper; Stampin Up! marker; American Crafts stickers; Technique Tuesday tile; rhinestone embellishments from Michael's.

The next layout uses Basic Grey's Ambrosia paper. I had been looking for paper to scrap Mark's Confirmation and I thought these had the right amount of elegance with out being too thematic.
Here's a close-up of some of the embellishments.

Ingredients: Bazzill cardstock; Basic Grey Ambrosia paper and embelishments; Imaginisce
embellishments.

I have two more layouts to complete and share from the fall class I took in Hartford. My goal is to get that done by the end of the year so that I can justify taking another class in 2009!




Saturday, November 29, 2008

Enjoy the Season!

Falling leaves, turkey with stuffing and Black Friday bargains make this a wonderful time of year. Add to that a couple of very scrappy days and you have the makings of a perfect weekend. This weekend, I finished three double-page layouts plus a single page layout. And, I feel particularly accomplished because I reached into the dark recesses of my photo boxes to scrap old photos. (As much as I love Black Friday, you wouldn't find me anywhere near Walmart and its photo machines this weekend!)

My first task was to complete a sample layout for Sisterhood of Scraps' Saturday Sketch. My sketch was provided by none other than Becky Fleck, the renown author of Scrapbook PageMaps. (You can see more of Becky Fleck's great sketches at http://www.pagemaps.com/)



So here is the layout:

Journaling reads: October 2001. Before we cut down the oak tree, Mark and Melissa loved to play in the fallen leaves.

You can see the sketch, my layout, and several other sample layouts at Sisterhood of Scrap (http://sisterhoodofscrap.blogspot.com/2008/11/sketch-saturday-becky-fleck.html).

Ingredients: Me and My Big Ideas Cornucopia paper, embellishments and rub ons; Queen & Company Felt Fusion; Fiskars Threading Water Punch.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Oh Baby!

I've been remiss about blogging the last week because my sister, Donna, was in from California for my niece's baby shower. Since she left, I've been catching up on all the things (like laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning) that I didn't want waste time doing while she was here. So tonight it will be a quick share. In honor of Jennifer's baby shower, I thought I would post the card I made.
I don't know if you can tell from the picture that I stamped the elephant three times. First I stamped it onto the patterned paper so that I wouldn't have to paper piece the thin tail. Then I stamped it onto card stock and again onto another piece of patterned paper so that I could pop up the ear. I can't take credit for the bib design. That goes to Debbie Olson at Thinking Inking. You can find her fabulous tutorial for this adorable baby bib card at http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/muse_and_amuse/2008/06/bitty-baby-bles.html. I had actually seen the card right before Michael and Jennifer announced that they were having a baby so Debbie's timing was perfect.
Here is a picture of the matching envelope:
I can't wait to make a card for the baby's birth!
Ingredients: Stampin Up! Card stock; DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Boy patterned paper; stamp by Brenda Walton for Inkadinkado; Stampin UP! Blue Bayou ink; Michael's pearl embellishments and ribbon; Nestabilities.


Thursday, November 13, 2008

All She Wants To Do Is Dance

I've been scrapping up a storm lately but more scrapping time has meant less blogging time. Sorry. Anyway, I did this layout a few weeks ago. I usually have trouble editing my pictures for scrapping. As a result, I mostly do two-page layouts with lots of photos. Melissa's dance pictures gave me the opportunity to do a one-page layout with just two pictures which is totally out of my comfort zone but I'm really happy with the result. I've also been trying to justify many of my recent purchases by actually using my stash. LOL! So this layout includes stamping, heat embossing, use of a border punch, ribbon, flowers and a brad! Here it is:
I loved this laser die cut but I wanted to personalize it so I used my Technique Tuesday Swiss Dots stamp and heat embossed it to match the embossed cardstock. I then added the Making Memories tiny alphas to make the die cut part of my title.
Ingredients: Bo Bunny Homespun Collection Pink Punch KI Memories Pop Culture and Bazzill papers; EZ Laserdesigns die cut; Fiskars Threading Water Punch; Technique Tuesday Swiss Dots stamp; Making Memories tiny alphas; Ranger Black embossing powder; Trademark ribbons; flowers and brad from QVC.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Trick or Treat!

Just a quick post to wish you a Happy Halloween and to share two cards. I made both cards on Thursday (nothing like the last minute!) and rushed them to the post office. I hope they get to my friends in Maryland in time for the big day.

The mummy card is cased from a card I saw on another site. I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it but I'll keep looking so I can give proper credit for this great design.


For the second card, I inked up my Studio G stamps with charcoal instead of black and used the Stampin Up's retired Groovy Guava instead of a traditional orange. Also take a good look at those black gems. They were originally rhinestones; I just colored them with a black Sharpie. Thanks, Jennifer McGuire for that great tip!


Hope your day is filled with more treats than tricks!
Ingredients: Stampin Up! cardstock, Karen Foster Beastly Black patterned paper; Color Box Chalk (Charcoal) ink; Imaginisce Positively Pewter brads; Studio G stamp; gems from Michael's; Nestabilities.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Do Over

Do you remember, as a child, shouting the words "Do over!" when something didn't go your way. Well every time I would thumb through my scrapbooks, I always wished that there was a way to "do over" a layout I had done using some of my favorite pictures of Melissa when she was a baby. I loved the pictures and I loved the paper, I just didn't like the finished layout. Then I found out about Undu and my "do over" became a reality.Using Undu, I was able to lift the pictures from the page without damaging either. Pretty amazing, huh?

Here's a picture of the original layout. You may want to get out your sunglasses for this one.
It was one of the first layouts that I ever completed. I remember being so excited about finding paper to match Melissa's outfit. What I didn't realize then was that the paper was competing with the picture. And what was I thinking when I used green mats!

Here's my "Do Over":

Journaling reads: My sweet little girl...you were all smiles at Mark's birthday party. You would never know from these pictures that we would rush you to the ER just hours later with a fever of 105 degrees.
As you can see, I still used that polka dot paper but I softened the look by only letting a little bit show and inking the edges with Stampin' Up! Whisper White. I roughed up the solid DVWV cardstock with sandpaper. I even sanded the Heidi Swapp chipboard letters. (I needed to get the vacuum out after completing this layout!) My Cuttlebug also got put to use to cut the circles with my Nestabilities and emboss them with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

In the new layout, I'm happy that the newly cropped pictures take center stage, not the paper. What do you think?

I'm tempted to call "Do Over!" again on some of my other layouts. If I do, however, I may never catch up on my scrapbooking!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Mosaic Moments

How can you maximize the number of pictures you include in a 12 x 12 layout while making your page a work of art? I found out at the Mosaic Moments class I took at CKC Hartford! I have to admit that the gorgeous mosaic layouts I had seen online both intrigued and intimidated me. Well, thanks to the fabulous Tami Potter, CKC instructor and author of Designing Photo Mosaics and More, I'm no longer intimidated.

In addition to being a talented designer, Tami is a gifted teacher. She made the mosaic process easy. So here's my layout. The only things I added were the embellishments and the oval title which I cut using my Nestabilities.

Melissa was thrilled that I chose her communion pictures for this page. Since I was using the mosaic as a background for pictures from 2005, I had to cut the 2008 out of the cornerstone and insert the oval title block (which I printed on scrap on my computer) on dimensionals. Here's a close-up:

I added a trio of pearls to each mat on the second page to make up for the fact that my pictures were not sized appropriately for these pre-cut mats. A pearl cross (which I bought months ago from Your Happy Place) and the Jolee's communion embellishment finished off the page.

For those of you contemplating the value of this class, let me tell you that it is well worth the cost. The price of the class included an easy-to-read self-healing mat plus all of the supplies to make this page. Tami even includes the pictures of the flowers so that everyone has the right photos to work with.
I was leaving CKC right after this class and had forgotten to stop by Tami's booth earlier in the day to buy supllies for future layouts. Well Tami and her husband, Kevin, thought of everything. They had a plentiful assortment of grid paper on hand to sell during the class. I can't wait to get started on a layout using my Grand Canyon pictures.

And now for some blog candy...check out Webster's Pages at http://websterspages.typepad.com/webstershome/2008/10/ready-for-more.html for a chance to win some goodies from their beautiful new paper line!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Scheming Around

I took the Scheming Around class at CKC Hartford last week. The class, which is based on Donna Downey's book, A Photos-First Approach to Designing Layouts, required a lot of preparation to gather and cut pictures. It was also overcrowded, extremely fast paced (3 layouts in an hour!) and very noisy despite the fact that we were using "silent" setters to punch holes in out paper. I have to tell you that I left the class feeling a little disappointed and very stressed. However, once I got home and put Donna's approach to work with my own tools (a Big Bite!), paper and stamps (Technique Tuesday), I loved the results and am happy that I took the class.


So, here's the first layout. It's based on a sketch that uses eight pictures that were cut into 2.5" squares. Now anyone who knows how I obsess over picking the "right" paper to go with my photos will know how out-of-the-box it was for me to cut pictures ahead of time not knowing what my paper even looked like. I got lucky since some of the sunset pictures picked up the coral from the paper.

So, I finished the first layout in class (adding the letters was a personal touch I put on it at home) and began the second layout. Here's where my frustration set in. The design of the second layout centered around using the Dot All Around template from Crafter's Workshop. You can find it here http://shop.scrapbooks.com/cf-tcw78.html. Everyone had to share the few templates that circulated the room and, to make matters worse, they were not available for sale at the Vendor Fair. (If anyone from CKC is reading this, take note: I would rather pay a few extra dollars for the class and walk out with the template.) Okay, so once I drew the circles, I had to wait for one of the silent setters to become available. At my table, there were six people using two setters because the third setter was missing a mat. Many people turned to their Fiskars Eyelet setters which is what made this the noisiest class ever! (I started to use my Fiskars Eyelet setter but it always jams and there were so many holes to punch so I waited for the setter.) While we waited, we stamped the circle pattern on the paper using a Stampin' Up! stamp. However, the stamps were in desperate need of a cleaning so I wasn't happy with the result. To make a long story short, when I came home, I took my own cardstock and, using the class project as my template, I punched out the holes using my Big Bite, stamped the circles using stamps from Technique Tuesday's Back Rounds Medium set and added Thickers which I distressed with sandpaper. The result is one of my favorite layouts.

Journaling reads: Watkins Glen 2005...Watkins Glen 1966
If it wasn't for this class, I don't think I would have ever combined pictures from a childhood vacation with a recent one.
There was no time for the last layout in class which was not surprising. When I got home, I took the Bazzill watermelon cardstock (which was supposed to be the background for the second layout) and paired it with Around the Block's Maple Leaf patterned paper. I distressed the patterned paper with Cat's Eye charcoal ink and used the edge of my scissor to distress the cardstock.

Journaling reads: Instead of going to the CN Tower, we surprised the kids with tickets to a Yankees/Blue Jays game and went to the CN Tower the next day!

For this layout I used Technique Tuesday's Endless Summer stamps. The word "BALL" is not included in this set so I used the "B" from Barbeque, masked it and added the word "ALL." I just love my Technique Tuesday stamps!

I know this is a long post but I have one final tip to share. Since I was using such a big block of cardstock on this layout, I cut a 6"x6" square from the center of the patterned paper so that I could use it to embellish my layout. Here's how the layout looks from the back.

Ingredients: All supplies, except those noted, from CKC Scheming Around class kit.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Latest and Greatest -- Part 2

The Fall weather is finally here and with it, thoughts of Halloween. So here's the Halloween layout I started at the Latest and Greatest workshop at CKC Valley Forge and finally completed over the weekend.


Journaling reads: Halloween Checklist: *Costumes *Friends to Trick-or-Treat with * Candy *Smiles all around!


One tip I picked up at the workshop was to tear my two pieces of patterned paper at the same time that way they would line up when I layered them.

Anyone who knows me knows that Halloween is far from my favorite holiday. Halloween of 1998 was, however, without a doubt, one of the best! Mark was very into firetrucks that year so I decided to make him a fireman's costume complete with his own firetruck to "drive." He played with that costume for weeks after until I passed it along to a friend for her sons to use. And, of course, where would a fireman be without his dalmation? Doesn't Melissa look cute!





All supplies from this layout, with the exception of the flocked Making Memories Halloween words, are Imaginisce. I kept my layout close to the page map given out in class. I did, however, add the 4 X 6 picture on the first page along with those two pieces of orange scrap card stock to anchor it. I also put my ghost medallion on pop dots to give it more of a 3-D effect.

With less than 16! hours to go until CKC Hartford, I doubt I will get my other two Latest and Greatest layouts finished. So stay tune next week. I'll be cropping this weekend to complete my Valley Forge and Hartford projects!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Basic Grey -- Latest & Greatest Part 1

With CKC Hartford less than a week away, I felt compelled to finish up some of the layouts I started at CKC Valley Forge. After all, using up supplies is the best excuse to buy more. Right?! So, today I am going to share one of the four layouts I started at the Latest & Greatest from Basic Grey workshop. Lucky for me, the colors from this layout matched the colors from Michael and Jennifer's wedding so I didn't have to think too hard about what pictures I would use.

Journaling reads: Michael & Jennifers Wedding. Mark the proud ring bearer, reminded us of Michael in his tux at our wedding!

For those of you who have never taken a Latest & Greatest class, you can compare it to an Evelyn Wood speed reading class. LOL! This class moves at lightning speed but the results are worth it. Look at all the layers in this layout. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but there are actually six layers of paper. Also, the class focused on the left side of my two-page spread. The right-hand page was an add on.

With this layout, I had to change the class "recipe" because my vertical and horizontal pictures did not match the page map given and, of course, I wanted to add more pictures. In addition to class supplies, I used the Stampin' Up! Scallop Circle Punch,
Technique Tuesday stamp from the Petal Pushers set, Jolee's pillow embellishments and Heidi Swapp words.

Check back later this week for another Latest and Greatest layout.

Ingredients: Basic Grey Eva Collection; Technique Tuesday Petal Pushers Stamp; Stampin Up! Bravo Burgundy ink and marker; Bazzill Crocheted Blossoms; Jolee's by You embellishment; Heide Swapp Silhouette words; Stampin Up! Scallop Punch.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Feeling Blue

Actually, I'm feeling anything but blue today. A little tired, maybe, but with two new layouts under my belt and less than a week to go until CKC Hartford, my creative mojo has never been better! I can't wait to share the layouts I did last night but before I get to that, I want to share an oldie -- and now a goodie. You see, I've been going back and looking at my old scrapbooks and as I'm learning new techniques and aquiring new materials, I've been tinkering a bit.



I completed the "Feeling Blue" layout about six months ago. I always liked the use of white space and bling but still felt that something was missing. The other night it hit me. This layout was missing the journaling. Since I went to CKC Valley Forge, I've been trying to make my layouts more about the story and not just the pictures. So here it is -- the story of our night at Blue Man Group.

Journaling reads: Three blue mimes entertained us on our last night of vacation. Highlights of the show included: fantastic percussion music, a spotlight on late arrivals, a toilet paper mosh pit and meeting Blue Man Group!

I'm not one to use a lot of bling but I love the square framing Mark and Melissa. Also, I usually hand write my journaling so I think the computer-printed journaling adds an interesting design element and helps anchor the page.

Ingredients: DCWV cardstock; Stampin' Up! Headline Alphabet and Small Alphabet stamps; Stampin Up! Brilliant Blue and Basic Black inks; Heidi Swapp bling.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Finally...A Post

With a hectic back-to-school schedule, helping with homework and studying, as well as putting "Mom's Taxi" back on the road, I haven't had much time for scrapping or blogging. Finally I have a layout to share. Mind you, I completed most of this layout at the CKC Crop back in July. All I had to do was the journalling when I got home. Bestselling novels have probably been written in the time it took me to journal. So, here it is. Hope you enjoy the layout and the journalling!

Journalling reads: How could we go wrong when we accepted the rental car agent's offer to give us an upgrade? But parked next to the sporty convertibles and the cool SUVs was this burgandy albatross. Melissa burst into tears and, despite 95 degree temperatures, Mark pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head to make sure that his friends -- who were 1,000 miles away -- wouldn't see him getting into this car. As for Sal and I, we suddenly felt the urge to look for an early-bird special! After the disappointment passed, we laughed about the car we now call the Grandma (r Quis)!

I used a lot of materials on this one page -- some planned and some unplanned. The half circle from Making Memories' Noteworthy Collection and the Technique Tuesday stamp (seen in green and black) were items I acquired at CKC. I love how these extra elements added personality to the layout. Oh how my CKC trip has paid off. LOL!

Speaking of CKC, I'm headed to Hartford for the day in early October. This time around, I've signed up for more classes which will save me a lot of money at the Vendor Fair.

Ingredients: Creating Keepsakes and Making Memories paper; Technique TuesdayBoho Buzz Stamp; VersaMagic "Tea Leaves" green and Archival Ink Jet Black ink; American Crafts Thickers; Making Memories 3-D Metal Tag; Bazzill Garden Flower chipboard; Ranger pink embossing glitter; flowers from my stash; Michael's Rhinestone Stickers; Stampin Up! black marker.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Guest Designer -- Part 2

Sorry this post is a few days late. Mark and Melissa went back to school yesterday so between the search for school supplies (Do they really make 2 subject notebooks?) and the endless number of forms that had to be filled out, well you get the picture! Anyway, as promised, I have more of Lynn Ward's fabulous layouts to share with you.


This first layout is simple and elegant. Like the page you saw in the last post, this one uses the papers from the wedding invition.

I love that Lynn uses more than one picture to tell a story. I know I can never just pick one picture for a layout! The next double page spread uses a total of 10 pictures. I hope you don't mind if I scraplift this one, Lynn.



Speaking of scraplifting, here's another page I just might copy -- at least the title block. Don't you just love the squares and diamonds?

I'm telling you, one page is nicer than the next. Here's another page I love. The title of the page is the title of Michael and Jennifer's wedding song. Lynn used a laser die cut for the words and hung the red heart from the "I." Now, I bet you've never seen this paper in any scrapbook store. That's because Lynn made it by scanning the sheet music into her computer. Isn't that fantastic!

Lynn, thanks so much for sharing your work and being my very first guest designer.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

My First Guest Designer

Between vacation, post-vacation laundry, and back-to-school errands, I haven't been doing much creating lately. That doesn't mean I don't have anything new to show you. On Thursday, my neice, Jennifer, and her mother, Lynn, came to Long Island. A talented scrapper, Lynn is visiting from Nebraska and wanted to see my local scrapbook stores. After lunch and an afternoon of shopping, we came back to my house and I got to see the newly completed wedding scrapbook that Lynn made for Jennifer and Michael. Each page was more beautiful than the one before. While it would take days to share the entire book with you, I thought I would share some of my favorite pages. (I apologize in advance for the poor photo quality.) So without further ado, here is Lynn's beautiful creation:

The album starts with memorabelia from Michael and Jennifer's first date and includes the events leading up to the big day. I love how Lynn used the colors from the shower invitation (center left) in her layout. Take notice of the raindrops. Aren't they fantastic! Lynn used a punch and then an embossing technique to make them so shiney.


I thought the next page was very creative. I love how Lynn listed the shower gifts on the cards surrounding the pictures. I hope you can see how pretty the lilac and green ribbon is. I wonder how long it took Lynn to find such a perfect match!

The next page is a layout of the wedding day. Lynn took the papers she used for the wedding invitation to make these pages. Aren't they beautiful!


Stop by on Tuesday for more pictures of the wedding scrapbook. Thanks, Lynn, for letting me share your work on my blog!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

2 Nights in August

I just had to do a layout commemorating my two days on the concert circuit! My original inspiration for this project was the guitar paper from DCWV Rock Star. As, I worked on the project, I found myself using less and less of this paper until the final layout where only one guitar appears. I'm not sure how inspiring that paper was after all. LOL. ANyway, here's my layout:


The biggest challenge of this layout was getting all of the pictures to fit in a rectangular grid. Also, I know it's only a picture, but I felt guilty cutting that photo of Sting in half!



The title you see here is actually my third attempt. First I used stickers and didn't like the outcome. Then I used the mix of stamps you see here but it was stamped in grey ink which looked very dull and flat. Then a read about a VersaMark pen. (Yes, I have a new favorite tool!) I went over each letter with the Versa Mark pen (much easier than restamping the title) and embossed the letters with silver embossing powder. The metallic letters added just the right amount of glitz to this layout.



Journaling reads: Two concerts in two nights! Melissa and I sat seven rows from the back at American Idol. Sal and I sat seven rows from the stage at The Police!


Ingredients: DCWV Cardstock; Basic Greay Pattern Paper; Autumn Leaves Scribbles Alphabet, Stampin UP Small Alphabet stamps; Imaginisce Positively Pewter Brads; VersaMark Pen; Stamp N Stuff Sterling Silver embossing powder.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

CKC Layout

Lissette and I got together to scrap the other day and thought it would be fun if we each worked on a simple layout of our trip to CKC. Well it was fun, but I don't know about simple. I started with a sketch from the Scrappy Chick's Scrappy Sketch Sunday (http://scrappychick.typepad.com/scrappy_chick/2008/08/scrappy-sketch-sunday.html). But even with Cyndi Bundy's great sketch as a road map, I spent over an hour moving pictures around. (Of course I had one too many horizontal pictures.) I was happy with the final layout. Here it is:

It was one of those Murphy Law kind of days where everything I touched went wrong. Thank goodness for the circle elements in the original layout because that giant brad is covering a big ink stain on the Technique Tuesday Tile!

Journaling reads: Lissette and I shopped and cropped until we dropped at CKC Valley Forge. Highlights include winning door prizes, meeting Stacy Croninger and talking to Ana at the Technique Tuesday booth!




Another problem I had with the layout was that I felt there was too much black space showing on the top and bottom of the mat on the second page. To fill it in, I stamped the image I used on the tile with VersaMark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Ingredients: DCWV Cardstock; Basic Grey Scarlet Letter patterned paper; Studio G Series 11 stamp; Archival Ink Jet Black, Stampin Up! Bravo Burgundy, and VersaMark inks; Kaiser brads; Technique Tuesday Square Tile; Clear Stamp N Stuff embossing powder; Stampin Up! black marker; EZ Laser Designs die cut title.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Jump and a Challenge

When I saw the Tim Holtz Grungeboard letters at A.C. Moore (on sale for 50% off!!) I knew I had to do a layout with a simple title so that I could use a really BIG letter. That day, I went to one of Mark's track meets. As I watched him run hurdles, this layout came together in my head. It shows a series of photographs of Mark running the hurdles. (It just so happened that this week's challenge at Sisterhood of Scrap http://sisterhoodofscrap.blogspot.com/2008/08/challenge-monday-august-1808.html called for creating a layout with a sequence of photos.) Here's my layout:

Now, for a little background, you should know that Mark never ran the hurdles before this year and when he told me he was going to try, I was a bit skeptical. Thoses hurdles just seemed so high to me. He came home from each practice with dirt caked on his bruised knees and fierce look of determination. As you can see from the pictures, his hard work paid off! I'm so proud of his accomplishment!

The journaling reads: You never ran hurdles before this year. Coach O let you race at the last meet and you didn't knock any over!

Just a note...I didn't have any ribbon in my stash to match this layout so I died my own ribbon by running it across my ink pad. After I got the right color, I set it aside to dry before putting it on the layout. I did the same for the Grungeboard letters.

Ingredients: Patterned Paper -- Adornit Running Collection; Tim Holtz Grungeboard Stripes Alphas; Stampin Up! Night of Navy ink and marker; Nicole light blue ribbon; journaling stamp from my stash.