Boring!

Are your kids like mine?
They want the fun, but not the boring chores.

Like DS8 - he loves to sail the oppie, flip it and get wet, but when it comes to cleaning it off and packing it down after the excercies, he's nothing but complaining.

Papers and elements from Crate Random Collection, featured in MyScrapbookNook's September kit.

I have been playing - Just Because

Last thursday I was on my way to Oslo on a meeting when I was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, there had probably been an accident in one of the tunnels as the traffic was Not. Moving. At. All.
After a while I realized I never would make that meeting, so I called in and told was have happened.

But I was lucky. The first junction where we could take off is where I exit the highway for my LSS! So I went there instead *lol*

At the shop I discovered some great templates/masks from TheCraftersWorkshop. I'm not a mask and mist type, but I really wanted to try a few of them with ink or paint. So I bought two, the brick and the Butterfly meadow. And I'm dying to get my hands on the Chicken Wire!


So I have played with the Brick template, ink pads, old papers and stuff. Just because I wanted to. Just because. I have an idea on how to use the other template, too, I just need some time to do it.

Anywhere, here is my first attempt on using a mask:

The title says "Yes! Finally tall enough" and the layout features DS11, finally tall enough to take the big boy's attractions in the amusements parks, here in Tivoli, Copenhagen.

Have you tried anything new lately, at least new for you *lol*?

We have a sketch for you!

Are you looking for something to get your mojo kicking?
Or just looking for a cool sketch to work with?

Here it is, created by my fellow DT'er Jessy Christopher for MyScrapbooknook:

But wait, there is more. If you create a layout with the use of this sketch, make sure you upload in The Nook Gallery and link back to this thread - you could win yourself a GD spot and a gift certificate. Read all about it here.

Here is my example for you, I have used the lovely Nook September kit:

You might recognize these folks. I scrapped their photos a few weekes ago, decided to frame the layout and give it to them, but I wanted a layout about them for our album too. So now they are going to be twice as famous, right (read this post to see the story behind that)?


What do you say - do you want to get the sketch a try?

More pink - with a dash of green

As I said in this post, I find it difficult with scrapping the color pink. Not because I don't like pink - I love pink in fact, but because most of my scrap subjects are masculine.

But sometimes it comes quite natural. I had this photo of DS8 an my dog in the woods, watching themselves in a mirror (I have no idea why anyone would carry and leave a mirror just there, it's far from the nearest road, but that's another story). And I had this bunch of beautiful patterned papers frome the Crate Random collection - they were in MyScrapbooknook's September kit, perfect for the photo. Some of the yellow and green ones matched the photo perfectly, but it turned out quite boring - too matching.

So I started shuffling the different papers around - and found that the pink ones were the perfect contrast to the green in the photo - and that the pink wood grained pattern emhasized the theme of the layout - why anyone would leave a mirror in the woods.

Tiltle: Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

Matching green and pink is not exactly very innovative when it comes to scrappy color combos, but for me, personally,  it's new. What about you, have you had any Eureka! experiences lately? Colors? Tecnique? style?

Just Scrap It - cards

Fellow MyScrapbooknook DT'er Jessy has thrown out this fun challenge:

Hey ladies! We gonna have a fun challenge today!

Show a picture of a small scrap pile and create a card with a fun way to "use up our scraps" (comes at a good time because we've cut into our AUGUST kit a lot by now) So show us what you can do! You can choose to do only one or more, we would love to see.


I wanted to make some more cards with the kit, so I completed the challenge.


I started off by using this card sketch from MME, and came up with this card:

Then I flipped the sketch and made this one, adding some twine and a star chipboard from MME Fine and Dandy collection. One of the criterias in the sketch challenge was to use the theme Friend, so this card is out of the competition, but I'm happy with the result anyway :-)

There was some journaling sprouts left among the scraps of my kit, and I decided to see if I could use them in a clever way. The mini bingo cards are from my own pile of embellies - I bought them a while ago for making cards - they are perfect in my opinion!

When I was done with these card, all I had left of the kit was some inchies. OK, I could have squeesed out some tags, but told myself Enough is Enough.

Are you good at using scraps?

Nook DT and a layout!

I'm so happy to be on the DT at MySrapbooknook for another term. Just look at this list of fantastic, talented women I have the opportunity to work with:

Anna Sigga- Iceland
Carol Monson- USA
Danni Reid-USA
Deanna Misner- USA
Gina Rodgers-Australia
Hilde L Aaslund- Norway
Jaz Lee- Singapore
Jessy Christopher-Malaysia
Katarina Damm-Blomberg- Finland
Kim Moreno-USA
Leah Killian-USA
LG Belarmino- Phillipeans
Lilith Eeckles- Belgium
Lisa Kisch- Canada
Marinette LEFEVRE- France
Nicole Nowosad- Canada
Pamella Brown-USA
Shelleye McDaniel-USA
Stacey Michaud- USA

Congrats to all the talented scrappers who made the DT! I'm so much looking forward to see even more of your lovely creations!
 
 
I have start cutting in the September Nook Kit. It's just lovely and featuring the brand new Crate Random Collection. OMG, I'm sure I'm going to regret I didn't buy a second kit because I know I'm going to use every little inch of it!
 
My first layout with the kit:
 
 

 

Journaling: It hurts to see kids - both your own and other's - beeing set aside; set aside because the trainers probably have ambisions: ambisons both on their own behalf as trainers and on behalf of their own children when it comes to development as players. Marinius on Färgelanda Cup

Everybody need some pink!!!

Jeg ble både overrasket og glad da jeg oppdaget at jeg hadde vunnet Skissedillautfordring nr 125. Og da kan jeg få lov å sette dette banneret i bloggen min :-)

I was both surprised and happy when I discovered I had won the Skissedilla Challenge #125. That means I can put this banner on my blog :-)

Og i posten fikk jeg denne griselekre pakken.
And in my mailbox this lovely prized showed up.

Den er bare så lekker! Men nå kommer greia: Scrapper jeg i rosa? Bruker jeg blomster? Svaret på begge er nei *lol* Mistforstå meg rett, jeg liker faktisk veldig godt rosa og blomster, men jeg har liksom ingen å scrappe om som passer i den fargen. Gutta mine? Neppe. Gubben? Ja særlig. Bikkja og katta? Jo det går, men de liksom ikke SÅ femi noen av dem selv om de er jenter begge to. Meg selv? Ha ha, alle som kjenner meg vet at jeg lever en usminket tilværelse og at skruer og spiker er mer meg enn neglelakkog ballerinaskjørt.

It's just gorgous. But I have an issue: do I scrap with pink? Do I use flowers? The answer to both is no *lol* Don't get me wrong, I'm very fond of pink and flowers, but I don't have anyone to scrap about in that color. My boys? Hardly. Hubby? I don't think so. The cat and the dog? OK, I can do that but they aren't THAT feminin even if they are girls, both of them. Myself? Ha ha, everybody who knows me will say cogs and screws are more me than makeup and nail polish.

Men jo, jeg liker rosa. og jeg har litt også. Så det ble det en layout om meg selv, da :-) Og jo større scrappeutfordringen er, jo mere forbanner jeg meg på at jeg skal klare den.

But yes, I like pink, and I have some too. So then it had to be a BOM :-) And the more impossible the challenge, the more I want to complete it.

Jeg innrømmer at jeg fikk litt hjelp. Mine venninner i MyScrapbooknook bidro med moralsk støtte, og oppsettet fikk jeg da jeg så Skissedillaskisse nr 127. Her tok jeg utgangspunkt i all firkantene stablet rundt. Og så tok det bare litt av...

I admit I had some help. My friends at MyScrapbookNook offered moral support and the layout was given in Skissedilla Challenge #127. My starting point was all the shapes spread over. And then I was just carried away, a little...


Takk til Skissedilla som gjorde det mulig for meg å lage denne layouten!
Thank you, Skissedilla! You made it possible for me to make this layout!

Swoon...

I have the MyScrapbooknook September kit on my desk.
I'm afraid to start cutting.
It's the brand new Create Random patterned papers and embellies, thickers, ribbons and bling pins.
And buttons. For a button junkie like me this is heaven.

This is what it looks like:

Do you want it?
You can order right here.

My friends have the impression they are going to be celebreties!

... just because I promised them they would be broadcasted internationally if I could show the photos I have taken of them. Well they are, a kind of, but I doubt they are goung to be very rich, even if they get famous *lol*

Let me introduce you to the family we spend a lot of time with - our best friends. We have learnt to know them as their boy is in DS11's class and we have spent plenty of time watching soccer games together, beeing on field trips - but also by having BBQs together and just beeing friends. A few years ago DS11 had issues with staying over night at other people's houses, but with this family he felt safe and comfortable. He loves the mum's tea, say's the little sister "is OK", claimes the dad is a real macho and still has the boy as his BF.

In the middle of august they boys had a soccer tournament in Sweden. It was too long to drive back and from each day, so most of the boy's families joined and stayed at a camping lot in the neighbourhood. And so did our friends, that is what both the title and journaling is about.

Here is one fun thing to do at those events: bring your camera, put on a 18-270 mm lense, zoom in people and shout their names! When they turn to see who's calling, shoot their portraits! The portraits get so natural and people look your way without staring. I got a lot of great portrait photos of both kids and adults, and nobody asked me to delete. Next year, when DS11 hits 8th grade, the class will be split, and it will be good to have photos of both classmates, siblings and parents from the "old" class.

I'm waiting for my September MyScrapbooknook Kit to arrive and had saved the photos on the layout above for this. But when Basic Grey yesterday put up a sketch challenge on their new blog, I so wanted to play. And on second thought: I need these photos both for a layout in our album and for a layout to give away, right? So I scrapped them yesterday, and will do them again when the kit arrive! Yeah! Twice the fun!


What do you say? You don't recognize the sketch in my layout? Oh, I'm sorry - let me show you the trick!


Here is the original sketch:

Twist it - and voila! More recognizable, even if I added an extra photo?

Thank you for taking your time to stop and have a look - I really do appreciate it!

Materials:

Background paper: BG Basics

Alpha: BG Dark Chocolate Chip.

Embellies: BG origins

Photo swap!!!

have you ever tried scrapping somebody else's photos?

Over at MyScrapbookNook we have swaps as a part of our activities: card kit swaps and photo swaps. Not every month, but about every second. It's fun to see how much effort our members put in making small, non expencive, kit cards and picking out the very best photos.

In August I have participated in both, and today I'll show you the layout I made with Marinette's beautiful photos of one of her sons. She suggested the title Sérénité (Serenity) and I tried to catch the feeling on this layout. Serenity is not a word much used in my family *lol* so it was good to finally have a chance scrapping about it.

Papers & green trim: Harmonie. Rub ons: Hambley.

Cream trim: Prima

Buttons and orange paper for letters: BG

If you want to see the layout made by Mariette about my cat Ponky chilling, you find it here. Please pay her a visit - she does marvellous cards and layouts.

Thank you, Marinette, for letting me scrap your beautiful photos!

Friday night date with my hot hunk!

Do you remember this post, the challenge and the inspirational post to with it?

Off course I wanted to play, and it made me finally scrap about my own hot hunk.
We have been married for 15 years and we lived in sin a couple of years before that. All those years we have been true to one thing: the Friday Night Date.

It's nothing complicated, really: We don't even go out at our dates. We make a good steak at home, share a bottle of wine and have those good conversations. It's our fixed meeting point where we update and share what's going on. I hear lots of couples saying they don't have time to sit down and talk - I state it is all about priorities. I'm addicted to those Friday nights, feel guilty if anything else more important comes up (it really has to be THAT important if you want me to skip the date) and I believe it's one of those details that keep our marriage healthy.

So if you wonder why I'm never online on Friday nights, you now know why!
When was the last time you dated your loved one, btw?