Assignment #3 at Bad Girls

Well, I made the honor roll at Bad Girls so I get to go on to the next round!
Here was the assignment:
Create a layout with an emphasis on one of the design elements. It can be any element that you choose. It has to work for you, so I made it your choice. When you post your layout, please tell us which element you decided to emphasize and why!!! The “why” is a very important part of this assignment so please don’t forget!

The seven elements of design we could choose from were:

1. Line-linear marks created when two edges meet.
2. Shape-a self contained defined area of geometric form
3 Direction-
All lines have direction-Horizontal, Vertical or Oblique
a). Horizontal-creates stability
b). Vertical-balance and formality
c). Oblique-suggests movement and action
4. Size-is simply the relationship of the area occupied by one shape to that of another.
5. Texture-(as you might already know)-surface quality of a shape or tactile
6. Color-(already know this too)-also called a Hue
7. Value-The lightness or darkness of a color-or tone

For assignment #3, I would like to emphasize the design element of direction. This layout is about how God has blessed us with this little seed of a baby, and through our nurturing, we have the privilege of watching him blossom and grow. So I chose to cut out by hand, two oblique shaped wavy strips of patterned paper. The oblique shape suggests movement and action. Growing requires movement and action. One of the waves is this fun bubbly circle patterned paper, which further suggests movement. The other wave is a solid navy blue, to ground the title word “grow” and make it pop. To further emphasize the oblique shape, the word "Grow" also grows in size with each letter. The solid color also represents the stable home environment we are providing our baby so that he can “grow” to be a strong, healthy man some day. I have also cut out a tall, vertical flower to give the layout balance, to draw the eye to the photo and also to reinforce my “bloom & grow” theme. I also loved using the brackets to showcase my journaling as they also have a somewhat oblique shape to them and they also bridge the gap between the top portion of my title to the bottom portion of my title, thus drawing the eye from top to bottom and back up again. I didn’t use many embellishments here because I didn’t think the layout needed them. I wanted to make a bold statement with direction and hope I accomplished this!






Please click on the layout for a better look.
I have been learning so much about design from these assignments! I never knew my brain went through this thought process while I was creating layouts!! Next assignment is all about the white space!! Yikes!! I can't leave the white space alone, so it will be a real challenge for me!!

Don't forget to leave a comment in the post below if you want your name in my tiny little stamp and brad RAK!

Groundbreaking news! Piggy Tales WOW! A RAK!

It's official! The building of our house began as of today!! I got to our property just in time to get our excavator shoveling the very first bucket of dirt where our future home will be located. By the time I went back after work, it was quite apparent that a house was going to be built right where we're standing in the photos below!






Today has been just an awesome day! In the mail I got a big ole box of goodies from Piggy Tales!! Thanks Debbie Juden (PT owner). And also a congrats to Debbie on the birth of their second son, Luke! Debbie is SO generous! I was completely blown away by all the goodies included in the box!! I think every single new summer CHA item was in that box!! I love PT's yummy ribbon! I can't wait to play!!







I haven't dropped anything into the Cumulative Rak Box for September, so here it is! It's a charm bracelet complete with charms in a Christian theme. So remember, if you want to win the box of goodies, all you have to do is post comments. For each comment you post, you'll receive a lottery ticket to be placed in the hat for the prize winning drawing!



I found these little goodies at Target in the hot spot the other day. It's a package of really cute fall brads and a wooden alphabet stamp set. I will be giving this set away some time this weekend. I will put your name in a hat for every comment you post for this little set and draw by Sunday!



One more thing- I took a watercolor theory class with Laura Jacobs, owner of Bugawumps stamp company last night. I will make some cards using my newly acquired skills and try to get them posted for a RAK soon!!

XOX

Detention #2

I'm such a ding dong. I got placed on detention AGAIN because I didn't put my location in the title of my gallery post over at Bad Girls.

So, for detention, I had to come up with something from this sketch:

Oh well, at least I'm brushing up on my digital skills! LOL!!

Thanks for looking!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

My sweet friend, Amy Birch made the most amazing album just for me! I can't tell you how I cried when she emailed me the photos of it. She made it out of my all time favorite Piggy Tales paper- Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater. It is so personal to me, I just bawled! I met Amy through the contest at thescrapbooksite.com. Amy was the grand prize winner of the contest and so deserving as she does beautiful work! She also made a layout of Connor that suited the photo to a T. I can't wait to show you that as well! The album she made me will be featured on thescrapbooksite.com in October, so I don't want to post it until it posts there first, so you'll have to wait. All I can say is, wwwaaahhhhh!! It's so beautiful!! I'm so honored to have a piece of her artwork to treasure forever. I love you Amy!

I made it to the next round!!

I made it on to Assignment #3 at Bad Girls!!!


We had to create a layout highlighted texture and dimension. Here is what I came up with.

Anyone who knows me knows I HATE to have my picture taken. When I recently got 10 inches of my hair cut off, I decided it was time for an updated photo of myself, so my girlfriend, Kara Hendricks and I got together and this is what we came up with. First, to add texture to my layout, I used a photo of me wearing a furry hat. I tinted the photos sepia to give the layout an aged feel. I inked the edges of my cardstock and pp. I sanded the edges of my chipboard letters. I used a feather stitching around my frayed fabric photo mat. I used fabric to give my layout texture. I also straight stitched my straight photo mat. I cut a flower out of some fuzzy material to give the layout dimension, then added an antique copper button center. I used Queen & Company ribbon felt flowers that I cut into a wavy shape, I accented the flowers with tiny blue brads.

Please click on the layout below for a better look.

Dabbling in Digital

I got a Detention over at bad girls because I didn't report to class last Friday, but in my defense, I was away at retreat with no access to a computer. So I had to do an extra assignment based on the sketch below. I decided to do a digital layout cuz it's quick and easy. This was made with Tia Bennett's springtime kit.
Thanks for looking!

Please vote!

Creating Keepsakes is hosting their annual Reader's Choice Awards. I'm so proud that Piggy Tales has made the ballot multiple times! Please click on the link and remember to vote for Piggy Tales!!

Thanks in advance!

http://www.iboutique.com/cgi-bin/myers/start.cgi/iboutique/orderform/ReadersChoice/ballot.html

Fat soccer mom

I've officially entered the realm of fat soccer mom. Actually, I'm even a step above that, being deemed fat soccer mom/coach. As you can see, I do not have any good photos of soccer yet. I'm too busy coaching. I blew out Connor's face on the first photo with the flash. Then he wouldn't sit still for me to get a good one so this is as good as it gets. Debbie came over to be my photographer but all the action photos she took were blurry since she's not familiar with my camera. I hope to get some good ones before all is said and done. I am the main coach since I have the biggest mouth. Eric is so soft spoken, you can't even hear him saying anything when he coaches.


I have to take a picture of September's addition to the cumulative Rak box.

Stay tuned!! Hint- it's non-scrapping related. ;o)

Cumulative Rak and other random stuff

It just dawned on me that I haven't thrown anything into the cumulative rak box for the month of September. Soooo.....

I'm leaving this morning on a Women's Retreat with my church. I'll be back Saturday night. We're going to the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks so I hope I'll get some shopping done while there. I'll be on the lookout for something to put into the box and let you know what it is when I return on Saturday. If you want to know more about the cumulative RAK look here.

I guess I never said much about a couple things. First, over Labor Day weekend, we took the boys to Six Flags. It was the most beautiful day and the best time I can remember we've ever had doing something as a family. For the past couple years, Ryan hasn't wanted to spend much time with the family. I know it's the age he's at and most kids want to hang out with their friends. We forced him to go with us because he wanted to stay in bed and sleep (another teenager thing). While there he thanked me for forcing him to go because he was having such a great time. Before we went to the park, we stopped at White Castle for lunch. Then the guys went and rode the scarey rides. After persistent begging and guilt tripping ("Mom, we may not ever have this chance again to ride a ride together" and "Please, Mom, do this for me") I agreed to ride Batman. I made the mistake of closing my eyes the whole time and screaming so when the ride ended I was sick and almost threw up. In case you don't know what it is, Batman is a floorless roller coaster that flips you upside down and every which way. We had to remove our flip flops in order to ride. Here's what it looks like. These are not pictures of me. I pulled these off the internet. We actually didn't take many pictures because we were too busy having fun!

There's a funny story that goes along with this photo. Ryan is such an awesome basketball player, that we kept giving him $2 to win the little kids some basketballs. Every time we'd give him money, he'd come back with a bball. Here he is with 3 of them. We sent him back to win a 4th one and the lady kicked him out after he won for the 4th time and told him not to come back. LOL!!

I haven't told y'all about soccer yet, but I'll wait until next time since this post is so long already.

I'll miss you!

Challenge #1- Color Theory at badgirls.com

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The big day...

Today was my BFF Debbie's husband, Dennis's, surprise retirement party. I feel truly honored to be a part of this wonderful family. I can't even find words to express how much I love Debbie and her whole family. I'm gonna tear up now so I'll leave you with these photos I took of today's celebration.

You can click on each photo for a better look.

Enjoy!

Dennis approaching the party. "Hhhhmmm, what's going on here?"




Dennis: "Who's responsible for this?" Naturally Debbie points the finger at their 5 kids! Deb and I cracked up at this picture cuz it looks like he's about to backhand her with the water bottle! LOL!






The five kids.




John, Colleen, Matthew, Beth and Mark


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Here's the t-shirt Bethy bought her dad. Dennis made sure everyone knew the shirt was wrong and should say "FULL" time pain in the butt! LOL!







Someone put together the most touching video of Dennis and Debbie's life together- photos of their ancestors, of them when they were young, photos of their kids as babies and finally their grandchildren. This is where I almost lost it. Here they are enjoying the video.















There were plenty of good memories shared by all. I'm so glad I got to see it all.

Here's my big boy's picture on his first day of pre-K

I can't believe I didn't cry. Especially when I was trying to linger and say goodbye and he just rolled his eyes and said very abruptly "Bye!" like "get out of here!" Ha ha! The funniest thing about today is the lunch box. See him carrying it like a man going to a jobsite? OMGosh, it's so hilarious to see how proud he is of that silly lunch box! I think the lunchbox was the most important thing to him about going to school. LOL!

It was nice having my niece, Dezi, in the same class as Connor. I think that eased the transition for him. He looks so cute with his new haircut, new belt, his shirt tucked in and his little dress shoes. When I picked him up and sat him in the truck, I almost started to cry because he looks so much like Josh, I had a flashback to when Josh was little like this and how much he reminds me of Josh. I was sad for the way time passed so quickly! I guess that's why I savor this baby so much.

And the winner of the Piggy Tales birdie book is......

First, I put everyone's name in Connor's little hat.

Then Connor pulled out this name

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Congratulations, Kelly!

Which one do you like best?

Eric took some updated photos of me for my Piggy Tales bio. I can't decide which one to use. Which one would you chose?

Photo #1





Photo #2



Photo #3