Hello Kitty...

I've been holding on to this photo of a lynx at our local zoo for ages waiting for the right color scheme to scrap it!  Finally, it's here! :)  This week's CSI case file has a drop dead gorgeous winter color scheme and was the perfect opportunity to scrap this magnificent animal and the story behind the photo.  Here is my reveal for CSI case file #101, and details on the case file scene, evidence and testimony prompts.

Here's the amazing case file I had to work with.

All of the colors are there, and for evidence I have ribbon, something shiny, silver accents and circles.  The black framing of the photos and the black ribbon on the top are cut from velvet and photos don't do the softness justice.  For testimony, I journaled about the day I took this photo, which earned honorable mention (3rd place) in our Winter at the Zoo photo contest a few years back.  The journaling is on the white tag behind the photos and reads:

"Sometimes you have to brave the elements to get the perfect shot.  A few years back, I entered the Winter at the Zoo photo contest, and spent a day wandering the zoo in low temps, as the snow fell around me.  I was surprised to find that the animals were all super active and seemed to be loving the zoo…or maybe it was the empty zoo free of most humans that made them so happy.  I was lucky enough to catch this shot of a lynx with a snow covered head, and got an honorable mention for the photo.  What a gorgeous animal…he stood there snow covered and perfectly posed while I photographed him, and then, as if he knew his photo shoot was over, he sauntered away as soon as I put the camera away."

   

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  xoxo

Shawna

Show your face!

Are you one of those scrappers who are always behind the camera, never in the photos??  While you are documenting your family's story, who is documenting YOUR story?

Now is your chance to step in front of the camera and tell your story.  There's a great new challenge blog called Challenge YOUrself and they will be posting their first challenge on December 7th.  The whole premise of the challenges will be to scrap yourself.  Talk about a challenge, eh?  :)

Here's a link to the blog.  Bookmark it, follow it, and make a resolution to show your face and tell your story!

PS:  Challenge YOUrself is in the midst of a design team call and taking submissions until November 20th.  Details on how to apply are below.  Also, when you stop by the blog, make sure to enter for a scrappy supply giveaway!

DT call requirements:

→ Term commitment from Dec 1st, 2013 - May 31st, 2014

→ Keep an active blog and update with the new challenge on reveal day with a link back to the Challenge YOUrself blog.

→ You will be required to submit one layout a month and to comment on all submissions to the challenge.  Reveal day will be on the 7th of each month.

→ No design team experience necessary.  Everyone is welcome to apply.

How do you apply:

Send an email to scrap-challenge-yourself@hotmail.com with the following information:

→ Your name and blog address

→ A short bio that will be used on our blog if chosen

→ 3 samples of your work

We are accepting applications until November 20th, 2013.  New members will be informed by November 21th, 2013.  First reveal is scheduled for December 7th, 2013.

It's a good day for a sunburst!

I tried to scrap some fall photos the other day.  Didn't work out.  This is the time of year where everyone comes out of hibernation and basks in the sunshine.  So warm spring and summer layouts it is!  This one was really fun to make.  The hubs thinks it looks "unfinished" but I didn't want to cover up too much of the sunny rays so I think it's just fine the way it is.  What do men know about this sort of thing anyway? ;-)  Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

I started out by cutting a sunburst mask out of cardstock.

Placed the mask over another piece of white cardstock, grabbed a circle stencil, and added some yellow mist.

I layered a red mist over the yellow to get some firey orange in there.

Removed the mask and got a great contrast of the bright colors and the bright white!

Outlined the rays with a roller pen, stamped and added a bit of shiny bling 

Really felt like I had to bring the green from the grass in the photo into the layout and settled on  these green rosettes.

Materials used:
white cardstock
Heidi Swapp Color Mists in Mustard and Sweet Cherry
Tim Holtz Visual Artistry Lost and Found cling stamps
Sticko dimensional stickers
Webster's Pages bloomers in Happy Green
Graphic Call 45 Curtain Call Let's Dance patterned paper
vellum phrase from who knows where
Roller pen

This...is what it's all about.

Hello friends!  Happy hump-day!  Hope everyone is having a fabulous week! The weather is gorgeous here and it looks like spring is actually cooperating (finally).  75 degrees today? I'll take it!

Today's layout is one I created using my April Citrus Twist  kit for my design team submission for the About A Girl challenge blog.  This is our first full, sponsored challenge over at AAG, and this month we are lucky to have 7 Dots Studio sponsoring the challenges, and they will be giving our winners some fabulous goodies!  So come play along and introduce us to the lovely little ladies in your life.  Cheers!

Lots of layers from the embellies in my April Citrus Twist kit

To compliment the cloud-paper, I beefed up the title, made with ghost letters,  by adding some cotton .

I spritzed some white tags, added some random word stamps, and then embossed with white powder  to add some clouds.  Then I stapled some silver ribbon as pulls on the tags.

More cotton on the puffy clouds.  Really love the way these came out!

Super Cape!

My daughter is lucky to be loved by everyone who meets her.  For no reason at all, one of my co-workers decided to knit her this gorgeous periwinkle blue cape.  I wasn't sure if my little monkey would wear it, but she rocked it with pride...after I told her that it was a super hero cape!  

This page was the perfect opportunity to dive into my April Citrus Twist kit.  This is the second layout I have used the instagram overlays from the kit on and I am absolutely in love with them.  They add such a cute modern touch to pages.  And lately my Little Yellow Bicycle embellies have been getting a lot of use too...I love the natural wood and canvas elements!  Here's a few close-ups of the details.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Wednesday everyone!

Patience is a Virtue

I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to scrap this photo and CSI Case File No. 68 was the perfect opportunity!  If you haven't played along with any of the CSI challenges, definitely stop by.  They are fabulous!

For my title, I took some neutral colored spongy Thickers and inked them, using black to make the key word stand out.

Then I fussy cut some butterflies from cardstock, folded them in the middle, and adhered them with some 3-D zots.

 Added some rub-ons to frame the photo and used an awesome Instagram photo overlay that came in this month's Citrus Twist kit.  I also incorporated some embellies from the kit.  This month's kit is GORGEOUS. I will be using it frequently in coming layouts!

Happy Monday, everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Let's Talk Photo Printers...

I'm in the market for a wireless that can handle high volume photo printing. My HP bit the dust. Not gonna lie...I didn't mourn long (and I may have done a happy dance) because I was never in love with it anyway. What do you have and what do you love and hate about it?