LIttle Piece of Heaven

This was a speed scrap...it's one of those challenges that I really, really like...You are given 7 steps to follow (one every ten minutes), and at the end you should have a great layout... The thing that was different about this one was that for your journaling, you had to use the lyrics of a song...I chose this song that I really like by Erin O'Donnell called "Hold onto Jesus"



Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Sugar & Spice

Oh my gosh...this is SO one of my favorite pics of dd!!! She's just mastered sitting up unaided, and has such a gorgeous smile...I knew I wanted to scrap it all alone. This challenge was to use the rule of thirds...the idea that each "canvas" is divided into thirds vertically and horizontally...envision a tic-tac-doe board. The trick was to place items on those invisible lines...



Isn't she just the cutest?
Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

My Little Cow-Pokes

I'm sorry this image isn't very large, but I wanted to share the two page version of this rather than each page singly...I think it is harder to get a real feel for them.
I love these pictures of the kids, and really wanted just the right papers to scrap with them...when I found this red bandana I knew I had found it...



hmmm...after posting I realized how small that image really is...so here are the pages individually...the left:


and the right:


Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

I'm slacking

I'm sorry to be so slack in my postings here... perhaps you've missed seeing my new pages, then again maybe not? I don't know who reads this stuff...maybe just me...and that's fine, perhaps this is just a place for me to ramble on, and place I can come back to and read it later...
I have been busy scrapping...just not uploading!
So, here are a few of my latest ones:
I think this one was a Tuesday Template Challenge...


hmmm...maybe it wasn't...I know this one was:


this was just a random scrap...I did it for no one but myself...I so wanted to remember this Thanksgiving Dinner with my entire family at home:


I'll close this post for now, and add a bit more later.

Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Grand Theft: Scraplift Challenge

Let me explain the name...the challenge is to look at a particular scrappers gallery, find a lo that you really like, and create your own version of that lo. This challenge was aimed at Ashley, who has some very lovely layouts, and beautiful children, too!

I chose to do one she had done using torn paper...mostly because I had some paper I wanted to use. Then I found some great photos that went perfectly with the papers I chose...



There was one other challenge I participated in, and that was to scrap a family tradition. A great challenge! I had already done the pie lo, so was really bummed to find the challenge after I uploaded the lo! I'm not sure, but I think you have to read the challenge first and then do the lo...it would probably be "cheating" to just upload a lo that fits the challenge...so I did another lo. I don't really like it...it is much too busy for my taste, but I show you it anyway:



Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Word Art Challenge

Gosh, upon uploading all of these, it seems I use more single photos that I had thought I did!

This is just so much one of my favorite all time pictures! I just love that little bottom up sleep position.

The challenge was to create our own word art, so I went online looking for some famous quotes about children, and found this one which went particularly well with this photo.



Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Shadows Challenge

Yes, it's me again...tired of me yet?
This particular challenge wasn't hard for me because I am new to digital scrapping, I already new about creating shadows in your lo to create depth, so I incorporate them automatically. I think the challenge was for those folks who haven't done the shadows previously...the shadows make a big difference.

To make it more of a challenge, I tried moving the shadows around to make things look more "lifted up." I use Jasc PaintShop Pro 7, and usually use shadow settings of 12 or 15 which make a shadow to the lower right...then if that doesn't feel just right I'll add another using -8 (negative 8) to make a shadow go to the upper right and give the photo or element a bit more lift. With this challenge, I used a much higher number for the paper doily...38 I think for vertical and 25 for horizontal, to get the paper to look like it was peeling up from the page...it's not exactly what I was hoping for...but it was fun to play with them a bit and stretch myself.



Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Monochromatic Layout

This was another fun lo challenge...I think I tend to do more monochromatic colors that most peopel...but maybe not. For this one I took a picture of dh and me on our anniversary, and colorized it to match the colors in the lo, layered it with a normal photo and then "erased" our skin in the colorized photo so that it would show up as normal color...it's not as complicated as it sounds! I like the result, the background of the photo blends nicely into the overall color of the lo.



Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Photo Sketch Challenge

The challenge here was to take a photo and turn it into a sketch...the instructions given weren't for the program I use, so this was a bit difficult for me, and I don't think the photo came out looking exactly like a sketch...but still it's a nice soft picture, and I tried another lo with negative space:



Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

White Space Challenge

This challenge was to create white space or negative space in a lo. I've admired other lo's with this technique, but always thought it was sort of "wasteful" to only put one picture in a lo...especially when there are just so many that need scrapping!

My darling daughter lost her first tooth this weekend, and I couldn't resist using those photos for this challenge...here's when you really only need one photo to tell the story...but I still snuck in a couple more:




Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Low Light Challenge

Again, I've gotten behind uploading my pages!
Well, I did tell you about the challenges over at scrapmatters.com, and how I had participated in my first two after Thanksgiving. Well, I'm not sure I told you about earning points for participating? To my calculations, I've earned over 10 points...how great is it when you earn points for doing something you're going to do anyway!? I decided to "bank" my points, to save up for a free kit. It'll probably take me a few months...I think you can earn on average 24 points a month if you did every challenge...though you can sometimes earn 2 points per challenge, and there is even a chance for a bonus point along the way... but still I'm probably looking at March before I have my 60 points.

So, let me show you what I have been up to. This first lo (short for layout) was a challenge to not use a flash, and take a picture using manual settings on your camera in low light...dh came up with a great idea to roast marshmallows and make s'mores last Friday...well, that is all fine and good except we're in MAINE and it's November! brrrrr Sweet man that he is...he built the "campfire" in the fireplace, and what fun the kiddos had! Here's the lo I made for those pictures:



The challenges are so different and fun! I almost skipped this one, however, and if it weren't for dh's lovely spontaneous fun, I probably would have.

Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen