ABC's of Me - 'R'

Today was my day to post a challenge at Scrapbook Challenges! The prompt is 'Remember when...' and I'm asking that you include yourself in the phone and use the word 'remember' somewhere on the layout.
I realize that this picture is pretty horrible, but I was in a rush! haha Hopefully I can get around to taking a better one soon. I'd hate to document this and bright and washed out!

I'm no longer designing for Creative Inspirations, but I'm still using those paints like crazy. I used garnet and copper on the background of this page. And I'm pretty excited about these chipboard letters. They are old Heidi Grace and they come in a gigantic package. I found them at Big Lots for $4. Can't beat that!

Thank you Pamela!! *SC Blog Hop*

Welcome to Scrapbook Challenges' Thank You Pamela blog hop! Thank you Pamela for all that you've done for us and for inspiring us for so long! If you just happened to stop by and didn't realize there was a hop, you can join the fun at Brynn's blog.

I'm Dani, and I've been around at SC for quite a while. I've really enjoyed my time there and Pamela will be missed greatly! Also, thanks to Brynn for carrying on Scrapbook Challenges!

I picked Sketch 169 for my layout.


My take (this is the first 8x8 layout that I've done in a LONG time):


There are lots of great RAKs up for grabs this weekend from Fancy Pants and Tim Holtz and more!

Now hop on over to Deb's blog to continue the hop!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!!!

I hope you all enjoyed the Scrapbook Challenges blog hop! It was lots of fun! Thanks to all of you that participated!

On to the good stuff... Random.org tells me that my winner is....
But now, Amanda, you're probably wondering, "Well.. what did I win?" Yes, I know, life got in the way, and I never did post a picture of the prize. But I can tell you now.. you have won 3 page kits from Storytellers Club.Amanda, email me at tdsmith22@gmail.com with your address please! :)

And in other news.. 2011 is starting out with new things that I've never experienced before. I finally felt an earthquake in the middle of the night last night! Insane.. really. It wasn't a big one or anything so it wasn't scary, it was just weird. So now I can check that off of my list of things to do while we're in California.. LOL :)

Y'all have a great Wednesday!

A new year, a new SC blog hop!!

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Scrapbook Challenges blog hop! I hope that you are enjoying the hop so far! You should have hopped here from Yara's blog. If you are just joining us, you can start at the beginning at Pamela's blog.

My name is Dani, and I am returning to the design team for my third term. I just love SC so much that I just can't get enough! :) For those of you that don't know me, I'm 22 and a stay at home mom and wife. I enjoy anything and everything crafty and anything outdoors. I like getting messy with any and all paint the most! I also love photography and couponing.

For the hop, the entire design team was asked to make a project based on this sketch.

Here's mine!
I used Sassafras Mix and Mend, with a few other odds and ends mixed in there. I love these pictures! I've been wanting to scrap them for a while and I thought that this paper and this sketch were perfect for them!

And now to the good stuff.......

PRIZES!!!!
1) For one person who leaves a comment on all the blogs in the hop, they will get the new Spring Market collection from Webster's Pages, including chipboard buttons and twine.
2) For one person who does a layout based on the sketch and posts in the HOP ON section, they will get the Be Mine collection from Echo Park Paper Company.
3) For inviting people to join the group, one person will get a collection of adhesive from Helmar.
4) For one new member over the weekend, they will get some new stamps from Unity and Webster's Pages.

And everyone who comments on this post and becomes (or already is) a follower of my blog will be entered to receive a special RAK from me. I will update later with a picture! :)

And now hop on to Chanell's blog!!

25 Days of Christmas: Sketch 231

It's MONDAY! I hope your week is starting off on the right foot! A new sketch is up at Scrapbook Challenges today.


Sketch 231:
My take:
I used more of the Anna Griffin Christmas paper that I just HAD to have! I love it soooo much! I've been meaning to scrap this picture for a year now, but just couldn't decide on how to do it. It was hard for me to try to make a Christmas layout and still try to add in the blue since it was so important. Can you believe that dang Santa had blue gloves?! LOL HORRIBLE SANTA!

If you ladies do the sketch, head over to SC and post it in the gallery and the sketch 231 thread! You will have a chance at winning a prize from our wonderful monthly sponsor!

-Dani

Birthday Bash for Scrapbook Challenges!!

Welcome to Scrapbook Challenges' Birthday Bash blog hop!! If you hopped here from Pamela's blog then you're in the right place!! If not, then you can start the hop back at her blog.

So, Scrapbook Challenges has been on Ning for one year! I can't believe it! And what a great year it has been! Before Ning, it was a Myspace group. But who uses Myspace anymore, right? I think SC has found a great home at Ning!

Anyways, for the hop we are all posting this sketch designed by the fabulous Pamela!
I really love this sketch! It's so creative and really did inspire me! My layout is a really simple one though. :)

Every year, I take a picture of our "family" of pumpkins while they're still in the wagon at the pumpkin patch. I just love it! And for some reason, I'm really feeling the burlap lately! I found 10ft of burlap garland at M's for like $4 and couldn't pass it up!

And now to the good stuff.. RAKs! Everyone who does a layout based on the sketch above and posts it in the Hop On section at Scrapbook Challenges will be entered to win one of Cosmo Cricket's most popular collections... The Early Bird Collection!! Also up for grabs is the It's Your Day collection from Fancy Pants (how fitting, right?). To be entered to win it, you have to comment on all of the blogs in the hop. If you join SC during the Birthday Bash, you will be entered to win Echo Park's Merry Christmas collection. Also, if you invite people to join SC during the bash, you will be entered to win October Afternoon's Road Map collection. To see pictures of these, check the Hop On section of SC!

And now to your next stop.....the fabulous and very talented Jowilna!!

Sketch 218 - Santa Cruz, CA

Howdy everyone! I hope everyone has been enjoying their Monday, if that's possible! ;) The worst part of my Mondays are that DH is always grouchy in the mornings because he has to get up so early after sleeping in on the weekend. And even then, he's still not SO bad, so I don't really mind Mondays.

Another thing about Monday is that it's sketch day at Scrapbook Challenges! Who doesn't love a good sketch, right?! This week's is an awesome one!!

Sketch 218:And here's what I did with it:

I used mostly scraps on this one. I hardly ever do that, but I've been trying harder lately. I hate being wasteful. I also flipped the sketch because that worked best for me. :)

Don't forget to stop by Scrapbook Challenges and post this sketch to the thread if you try it! You could win an awesome prize!

-Dani

SC Sketch 217

Hellllooo Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We most certainly did! All is good in our house when Alabama wins on Saturday! =) It's all about college football around here in the fall.

Anyways, since it's Monday, that means there's a new sketch up at Scrapbook Challenges! I can't believe Pamela has posted 217 sketches since SC first started! WOW!
Sketch 217:

My layout based on the sketch:

It's a simple one, and yes, I'm STILL scrapbooking the pictures from when Daniel came home from Iraq.. lol! At first, I was a little worried about the one little square that moved while I was misting, but I just chalked it up to art. I'm ok with it. =)

Remember, if you do the sketch, please upload it to the gallery and thread at Scrapbook Challenges because we would love to see it! Also, you would have a chance to win this month's sponsor prize from... My Little Shoebox!!!

-Dani

Seasons of Change winner.. and some Momenta projects.

Oh my gosh, wasn't the Seasons of Change blog hop SOOOO much fun?!!? It went off flawlessly! A lot of the winners have been announced now, but there are still winners from members and DT blogs that haven't been announced. To check to see if you have won, check Winner's Circle!

As for my RAK, which turned into a mysetery RAK because I completely forgot to update my post (Sorry y'all!!)........


And the winner is.......


Ginny, send your info to tdsmith22@gmail.com. =)

Recently, I decided to use the Sweet Talk digital line from Momenta to do some candles. It was very easy to do, and I was happy with how they turned out.


I also make a 'Welcome' sign with the Flutter paper, some stickers, and some of their FABULOUS rub-ons. Seriously.. these rub-ons are awesome!! I love the quality. =)



That's all for today! Hope you all have a great Wednesday! =)

It's my birthday.. and I'll scrap if I want to...

It's my birthday today.. and I'm a big, fat 36 years old. Not really.. I'm 22, but I feel 36.. lol! Let's just hope that when I'm 36, I feel 22! =) I'm not scrapping today though. I'm lounging on the couch listening to some country music and missing home. Annnd letting DH clean house. Sounds like a good day to me! We're going to head to the fair a little later.. and I'm hoping for some king cake. We'll see.

Anyways, to the point of this post. Sketch 216 was posted at Scrapbook Challenges today! I've been working on September's sketches for about a week now, and I'm telling you.. it's killing me not being able to share them yet!!! I'm excited to share this one today though.
Sketch 216:

And here's my take:

I've had these pictures for a while now, and I knew what title I wanted to use with them. I've just been looking for the perfect papers to match. Well, at the Scrapbook Expo last month, I had a coupon for the SEI booth... and what do I see?! This amazing paper collection! I knew instantly that it'd be perfect for these pictures. See.. waiting around does pay off. =)

The 'purple carpet' in Pacific Grove is absolutely beautiful. It's definitely one of the things I was excited about when I found out we were moving here. I try to really not complain about where we live because it is amazing really. I've been to the Grand Canyon, and I much prefer the coastline of Big Sur. It's THAT beautiful here. But, it's still not home.. and I'm homesick. I'm glad I got to scrap that. =)

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Labor Day! =)
-Dani

Whaaat? I did a layout FOR FUN??

If you are looking for the Scrapbook Challenges Seasons of Change blog hop, click here or scroll down.

It really has been a while since I've done a page just for fun. I'm always doing sketches or prompts for my DT commitments. Last night, my hubbs had CQ, which is a 24 hour shift. I was bored and couldn't sleep, so I decided to scrap. That's weird in itself, because normally I am a morning scrapper. Well, I was browsing the blog world and saw this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch. As soon as I saw it, I knew this Crate Paper line would be perfect for it! And any excuse to play with some Crate Paper is a good enough excuse for me! =)

The sketch:


My take:


I also paired this with a couple of the challenges from Scrapbook Challenges. Awesome right?? THREE birds with one stone! =)

SC's Season of Change Blog Hop

Welcome to the Scrapbook Challenges Seasons of Change blog hop! I hope you all arrived here safe and sound from Pamela's blog. If you just happened to have stumbled upon my blog and didn't realize there was a blog hop happening, you can start the hop on Pamela's blog.

A new design team term is starting at Scrapbook Challenges! On the course of this hop, you will meet some new faces and say goodbye to some of the ones that you have been seeing around. What about me? Well I'm proud to say that I will be sticking around for another term! I love it so much, how could I just stop at one term?? =) For those of you that are new to Scrapbook Challenges, I'd like to tell you a little about myself. First off, I've been a member of SC since its Myspace days. I believe when I joined, there were only about 60 members. I wasn't active then, but it sure was a good place for inspiration.. and still is! I also design for Momenta and Scrap That Baby. I enjoy scrapbooking and altered art a great deal, but I also love photography. When I'm not flexing my artistic muscles, I love being outdoors hiking, fishing, swimming, and just being on the lake. I'm a Southerner through and through, and I love me some good ol' sweet tea! Monday is actually my birthday, and I will be 22. I've been married for 4 years to a soldier, Daniel. We've got a 13 month old son, Jonah, and he's the most awesome baby around! =) I love my little family!

Enough about me. Here's the sketch for the blog hop. I hope you all are inspired by the amazing talent of this DT to do this sketch! Ya know, because if you do the sketch and post it in the 'Hop On' section in the group, you could possibly win the new Pixie-Licious line from Cosmo Cricket!! EEEEEEE!!!

And here's my take:

I absolutely love this picture of Daniel and Jonah! I have said that I think that it's my favorite picture I've ever taken! And I'm happy to have paired it with the awesome Girl Friday line from Cosmo Cricket! See, just because it says girl in the name doesn't mean ya can't scrap boys with it! =)

And here comes the part where I'm green with envy! Everyone who posts a comment on all of the blogs in the hop will be entered to win the new Restoration line from Crate Paper! Oh my gosh, I love this line! I love Crate Paper too! Someone is going to be a lucky girl (or guy, I suppose)!!


In addition to that, everyone who joins the group this weekend gets entered into the drawing for a Prima pack, everyone who invites someone to the group this weekend, through the "invite" link on main page, gets entered into a drawing for a Prima pack, and there will be a fifth prize in the Hop On section!

Also, I will be giving a small RAK to someone who comments on my blog and becomes a follower. I will edit this post later with a picture.. it's still dark here and I didn't have a chance to take one yesterday. =)

Now hop on to the next blog! It's one of our new ladies.... Racquel!!

Boooo.. it's Monday, but yay for sketches!

Wow this weekend flew by!! We had a great weekend full of lots and lots of family time! We shopped pretty much all day on Saturday for some new clothes (yay!). By the way, the clearance section at Old Navy is a MUST right now! They actually had shorts for $1.97! And then yesterday was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was warmer, though the wind was still a little chilly. We spent a lot of time outside playing with the little man though. The one thing about Monterey is that the parks here are amazing. We took Jonah to the Dennis the Menace park today, which we go to a lot. It's an awesome park, so if you have kids and ever visit the Monterey area, it should definitely be added to your agenda! Oh and I got a haircut! =) I like it a lot! My hair hasn't been this short since before Jonah.

Enough about that though. It's Monday. That means sketches! First up, we have Sketch 214 from Scrapbook Challenges.

And here's my take:


Next up, we have sketch 13 from Scrap For Therapy. SFT is a brand new forum that I've been helping out with in the past few months. I've been trying my hand at designing sketches. Though I'm still not very good at it, I'm designing SFT's sketches. Head to the forum and check it out and try out the sketches to be entered into the drawing for the monthly prize!

And here is what one of our wonderful DT member Katie Tennis did with it:


I sure do hope you all enjoyed the Scrap That Baby blog hop! (Winners will be announced on the 25th!) I REALLLLY hope you all enjoyed it.... because there will be 2 more coming your way here soon, within days of each other. Keep a look out for those at the beginning of September!

Getting back into the swing of things...

I think I'm finally, finally, FINALLY getting back into the swing of things, though it hasn't helped that we've been without internet service for 3 days. I've been scrapping though.. and it has been SOOO much fun! I actually did a layout today, but I will be sharing it on Wednesday. Why Wednesday, you ask... well check back in on Wednesday and find out. ;) I promise you won't be disappointed.

A new prompt was posted at Scrap That Baby yesterday!! The prompt, Step By Step, is to scrap baby walking, crawling, rolling, or any other way they can be 'on the move'! This prompt was actually ALMOST perfect for me, as Jonah just took off and started walking the other day. He had had first steps already and would walk a few at a time, but he's walking at least 8-10 steps at a time now. Anyways, I didn't have pictures printed of that in time, so my layout is of him crawling in the sand on a trip to the beach back in April.


And since today is Monday, a new sketch was posted at Scrapbook Challenges! I really wanted to do this one REALLY badly, but since the internet was out, I couldn't get online to get the sketch, or to post it for that matter. I know this is definitely one I will go back and do in the future because it definitely fits my style! =)


And last but not least, my project was featured on Momenta's blog today. It's just a sweet and simple layout featuring the Family Ties collection, which happens to be my favorite Momenta collection!

Don't forget to check back in Wednesday for some FUN! =)
-Dani

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you all are having a safe, fun-filled weekend! We've really had a great weekend of just family time. I'm not sure what's in store for today though. =) Just please remember while you're BBQing why you have this long weekend. Take a moment to remember all of the men and women who have given their lives in service to this country, as well as those that still continue to serve. I know a few people that will be celebrating this Memorial Day as their very first in memory of someone that they loved dearly. I'm also thinking of quite a few of my friends whose husbands are in Iraq and Afghanistan this Memorial Day. Be thankful for your friends and family!

I did this layout a few weeks ago for the new sketch going up at Scrapbook Challenges today. At the time, I didn't realize that it was going to be posted on Memorial Day.. but how fitting it is! I'm starting on Daniel's deployment album, so you all will probably start seeing more of those. I'm thinking that it definitely needs to be done before he leaves again. Anyways, I'm really excited that I finally get to post it today.. I'm realllly happy with how it turned out!


Here's the sketch:


If you do the sketch, feel free to upload it to the thread in the group and to the gallery and be entered to win the monthly sponsor prize!!

Also, there's a new challenge forum that you all should check out! It's just getting started, but of to Scrap for Therapy and set up an account!

Have a safe Memorial Day!!
-Dani

Sketch 201 at Scrapbook Challenges

It's Monday again! It seems Mondays are bad for a lot of people, but not for me. I'm just thankful for the day. It's better to have a Monday than to not have a Monday, ya know?

However, I'd rather not be awake this early this morning. Jonah woke up before Daniel left this morning, so being the wonderful daddy that he is, he gave him his sippy cup. I laid there and listened to him eating and moving around for a while, and it sounded as if he were up for the day. So I finally got up and got dressed, still listening to him "talk" in his crib. Well just as I'm walking out of my bedroom to go to his, I notice he's quiet again. I peek in, and yep.. sure enough, he's asleep. Figures! But on the bright side, at least I'm getting some free time!

Anyways, there's a fabulous new sketch up at Scrapbook Challenges. I didn't get a chance to do this one this week, but I'm saving it for later. I really like it a lot! I was actually thinking that it would be perfect to turn into a card!


I hope everyone has a fabulous Monday! If today gets bad, just remember that it could be worse! =)
-Dani

It's Monday already?!

Aw man!! Why can't the weekend be 5 days long and the regular week be 2 days? Wouldn't that be much nicer? I had a great weekend, even though we didn't really do anything. I had big plans for the weekend.. so much I wanted to do. Buttt the weather was crappy. I haven't seen sunshine in about 3 days or so now.. so much for sunny California. And it's cold. It feels like winter outside. I saw my breath yesterday in the middle of the day. BRRRRRRRR! I think I'm ready to head back to the South! Ahhh wouldn't it be nice to just go fishing, dip my toes in the water, and sip on some good ol' sweet tea all the while not freezing my little butt off! Don't get me wrong, I love California.. but SHEEESH!

Anyways, I've got a sketch reveal!! As soon as I saw this sketch, I knew I had to do it! I love it so much! It's sketch 200 at Scrapbook Challenges. If you do the sketch, join the group and upload it to the gallery and sketch post to get your name entered in the drawing for this month's fabulous sponsor prize!

There is also a two page version of this sketch in the group. Here's my take:


It didn't turn out quite as I had hoped that it would, but eh.. sometimes that happens I guess. I still love the sketch though and will probably end up doing it again sometime! =)

Also, I would like to remind you that the new prompt is up at Scrap That Baby. This time the prompt is Fun and Games. We're urging you to either scrap that baby doing something fun or maybe come up with some fun craft project or game for your little one! I didn't take part in this prompt this time, but there are some awesome examples from the rest of the design team!!

Lastly, I'd like to repost the May coupon for Momenta.

If you haven't added Momenta on facebook, you definitely should! Here lately they've been giving out some coupon codes that are pretty sweet. On top of that, once the page hits 600 fans, they're giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky fan!

Well, that's all for now! Hope you ladies have a great week! =)

I wish Mother's Day would've lasted the whole week.

Yesterday was awesome! I didn't change a single diaper, and I didn't have to make any bottles!! I slept as late as I wanted and did what I wanted all day. I got to forget about our diet and pick anything I wanted for dinner and Daniel made it!! He also built me a really awesome HUGE planter box for my veggies. I'll post pictures of it later. The only thing I forgot about yesterday was to take a picture of Jonah and me. I'll have to do that today and just pretend it was yesterday.

Anyways, since today is Monday, that means the new sketch is up at Scrapbook Challenges! I didn't get around to doing this one, but I figured I'd post it anyways.


What a great sketch, right?! You should head on over there and check out what the rest of the DT did with the sketch.. simply amazing! If you do it, post it in the group for a chance to win the awesome sponsor prize this month! You don't wanna miss out on that.

Also, I new technique went up at Scrap That Baby this weekend. Go check it out to learn how to make adorable little prize ribbons!! So cute! I'm going to give it a go later today.. they're just too adorable not to try! =)

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

I'm not much of a floral designer.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderfully amazing mommies! I've had a great day so far. I got to sleep in until 10 this morning! Oh, it was awesome! It was especially good since we stayed up late last night with our friends that were visiting. We met them back when we lived in NC. The trouble with the military is that you always move away from all of the awesome friends you've made. I'm glad we've kept in touch with them though. And Jonah just loves his Katie! Here's a picture from this weekend of Jonah and Katie! It's too cute not to share!

We had a GREAT time! =)

Anyways, so today during my free time I finally finished up something I've been working on. At Scrapbook Challenges, Pamela always has a Pick of the Week, and there is a challenge to lift the pick of the week. This week's pick was a bouquet of handmade flowers by one of the members of the group. As soon as I saw it, I knew I could use a take-out box!! And you all know how much I love those take-out boxes! I've also been trying to learn new ways to make handmade paper flowers, too. So this was exciting!!

I was looking through tutorials for handmade flowers and saw some like these that were made out of fabric. And of course I thought they would be perfect with paper too! I love how they turned out!! And the little bow is made out of old book pages (I actually found the PERFECT old book from Goodwill... an encyclopedia from 1953.. P-E-R-F-E-C-T!). The tutorial for these can be found HERE. I just inked them to match my paper. And isn't the take-out box the perfect "vase"? Uh YEAH! =)

Well I hope you all have a great Mother's Day! =)

I've got reveals... and a coupon! =)

Oh my goodness, how much fun was this weekend?! I "scrapped" all weekend. And the reason scrapped is in quotes is because I only actually did 2 pages.. the rest of me "scrapping" was me blog hopping and cropping. Ahh.. the joys of talking too much. It was a good weekend though. I actually got Daniel (my husband) in to my scraproom Saturday night. He started a page, but hasn't finished it yet because he just had to go grill some steak (who cares if neither of us had eaten in HOURS.. and who cares if we were starving?? I'm sure it was just a cheap ploy to get out of scrapping with me.. haha). I'll keep y'all posted on that!

So to my reveals. First off, it's Monday! That means it's sketch day at Scrapbook Challenges! WooHoo! I love Pamela's sketches!

(There's also a 2 page version of this sketch posted at Scrapbook Challenges)
Here's my take:

Quite a mix of manufacturers there.. I've got Crate Paper, Lily Bee, and some KI Memories (Elsie of course). I just love these pictures, too. Captain is such a sweet, patient soul.. he'll put up with just about everything Jonah throws at him!

Also, there's a new prompt up at Scrap That Baby! May 1st's prompt is all about Easter!! So yes, it's time to pull out those Easter pictures from a month ago and get to scrapping that baby!!

I can't believe how perfectly the Anna Griffin "Darcey" collection matched these pictures of my little man! And thank goodness for my friend Jenny who let me borrow her bunny punch! =)

In other exciting news, I've been too busy to properly announce it.. butttt.. I've been asked to join the Momenta design team as well! There's all sorts of exciting things happening at Momenta right now. One thing that's new and awesome is that they've launched their new online store! It just went live a few days ago, and there are some bugs being worked out still. Anyways, I've got a coupon for you!!

Just go here to start shopping!

Hope everyone has a great Monday.. and recuperates well from all of the NSD festivities!
-Dani