The Lady or The Tiger?

The Workout:

Salt N Pepa Workout?

Today is another exciting reveal day at ScrapFIT!  There is a new challenge posted every two weeks and you have a month to complete and then enter your own creation. Today's challenge is workout #51: "Salt & Pepper." This has nothing to do with the eighties group, "Salt N Pepa" who will be performing at the L.A. County Fair this summer along with En Vogue. Bring back any sweet 80's memories?

Salt and Pepper actually refers to using black and white as your predominant colors in your card or layout. You can also use one additional color if you so choose. Just link your layout to today's post by September 30th, and you'll have a chance to win a fun FITkit by this month's sponsor, ScrapFIT itself.

This month's prize, a FITkit 

My Layout:

I am really excited to show you my interpretation of today's layout. 

My Salt & Pepper Layout

When I was thinking about the black and white challenge, I associated it with my Thailand tiger photos. The tiger was black, white and orange (the additional color). I knew those photos of my family in a cage with a full grown 400 lb. tiger would be perfect. If you are interested, the place is called Tiger Kingdom in Maerim, Chiangmai, Thailand.



The Details:
I eliminated all the other colors in the photos,which I found distracting, by changing it into a black and white photo. I wanted the orange to be emphasized, so I reprinted the photo in color, cut out the tiger, and popped it on top of the black and white one. You can't tell in the larger photo, but the tiger looks 3-D in the actual layout. I thought it gave the layout an interesting effect. I also machine stitched around the central photo using a different stitch than the usual straight stitch, and it came out as a scalloped border.

3-D Tiger

Extra Photos

Journaling

I wanted a way to insert more photos, so I built a frame around the main photo using circles. Within the smaller photos I could place more photos, my sub-title and matching patterned papers and embellishments. I also popped up some of the circles for visual interest and to break up the rectangle a bit.

 I also wanted to incorporate some souvenirs, so I added the embossed foil bookmarks I purchased in Thailand. They were silver so I rubbed it with some black ink to make the embossings stand out more and to tie it in with the black and white theme. 

I placed a long title on top, so the main photo was completely framed in, and it balanced the circles on three sides. I hand stitched some Zs next to the title in lieu of an embellishment there.

Title & Embellishment

I used Bo Bunny's Zoology papers which is a safari themed collection. I stuck to just the parts of the papers that were within my color parameters, since they have multiple colors on one sheet.



The Sketch:
I usually like to base my layouts on a sketch. I decided it was high time I made my own sketch. Here is my first digital version if you would like to use it. My other sketches are messy doodles in my notebook, but good enough for my personal use.

Click here for a pdf version of the sketch

Have a scrappy day,

My Ol' Kentucky Home

The Challenge:
This is my first of six reveals with Sassy Lil' Sketches. I'll be posting a new layout on the 4th Tuesday of each month, so be on the lookout. Today's layout from the design team is based on a sketch by Cherie Averill.

The Prize:
There is a new layout sketch and two new card sketches released each week, along with DT samples, so be sure to check out Sassy Lil' Sketches if you want some design ideas. If you made your own project based on a sketch, just link it to the bottom of the post for a chance to win some great prizes. There will be two winners chosen each month. Here are the two sponsors for August:

Paper Sponsor

Digital Sponsor

Layouts must be uploaded below by September 5th, 11:59 P.M. EST to be eligible for the August random prize drawing.

My Layout:

August Week 4 Sketch - My Ol' Kentucky Home

Kevin and I visited his family in Kentucky during the week of July 4th this year. I wanted to capture the down home feel of life in the country so I went with a quilt theme. I made a patchwork quilt with diagonal pattern of red-yellow-green-green-yellow-red. For half of the quilt, I choose photos with the color I wanted and enhanced them, and for the other half I used patterned papers. I then machine stitched the squares, hand sewed tiny buttons on each corner and added a border to complete the quilt. 

Quilt squares

To tie in the quilt theme to the title, I added some buttons tied with twine for the Os. 

My Title

The Variation:

My main variation from the sketch was that I used the background squares for the photos, and I used the one photo space for my journaling. I turned the 4 x 6 photo space into a post card and wrote a note to Kevin's parents in Kentucky as the journaling spot. I made a little postage stamp and stamped a postmark stamp on top of that. I had to research postcard stamp prices since I don't usually send postcards, it is 29 cents. 

My Journaling

The Paper:

I have to say that this is the first time I used anything from Simple Stories, and this collection, "100 Days of Summer" was perfect for the antique look I wanted. One thing that is different about them is that the papers and page protectors come in varying sizes, so you can just slide a picture into a pocket and cut out a title to put in another pocket and not have to scrap anything if you just want a fast page. I just used it like a regular piece of paper because the colors and style matched, but it seems like an interesting idea. 

Pages

Page Protectors

Stop by Sassy Lil' Sketch if you get a chance. I hope you are inspired to make some layouts and interpret sketches in your own way. 

Take care and happy scrappin',

Be Inspired by a Book Cover

The Challenge:
It is time for another ScrapFIT reveal! This week's challenge is to be inspired by the following children's book cover.  Since I love children's books, this was right up my alley. You can use just parts of it, the color scheme, the 60s feel, the meaning of the title or the overall design. Just be creative and be inspired!

Inspiration for Workout #50

The Prize:

If you'd like to play along, the prize is the following Summer Twilight sampler pack from Precocious Paper, which has their own blog and Etsy store. 

Prize for Workout #50

My Layout:

Here is my interpretation of Workout #50. 

My Workout #50

I was inspired by the cityscape on the cover and decided to use photos from my recent trip to St. Louis. I replaced the focal point of the lamp post on the cover with the trademark arch. I used the layout of the cover as my template. I used an antique filter on my photos to unify them in terms of the color scheme and give it a more retro look. Of course, when I saw the two characters on the cover, I wanted to recreate them. I noticed no one else did that on the DT. Why is that?

It was kind of fun to do our own photo shoot with the self timer. Kevin was giving me acting tips like a director. "You are the wide-eyed daughter distracted by what you see during your first trip into the city. I'm the father focused on getting us to our destination on time." It turned out kind of silly, but I think this layout is representative of my style. You should at the other ones from the design team to see all the different interpretations. 

Close Ups:

Here are some detailed shots of my layout. I fussy cut some buildings from Crate Paper's Neighborhood collection, and popped them up at different heights to continue the city theme into my title area. 

I bought a keychain at St. Louis Arch gift shop, took off the charms and used them on three points in my layout. I cut out some extra clouds and layered them in one corner along with a border sticker. I then journaled briefly there so I wouldn't have to cover up the photos.

This was the title and subtitle.

If you are also inspired by this book cover, then link your layout to the bottom of today's post on ScrapFIT. You have until August 31st to join in Workout #50. Get those creative juices flowing.

Take care,

Imaginisce August Challenge: Elephant Fever

My Layout:
I've been back to the U.S. for a few days now, but I'm still so disoriented. The jet-lag is much more prevalent on the return trip than during the trip. Somehow, I still managed to complete my first page from my Thailand photos. I was inspired by Imaginisce's current sketch challenge, it seems I just can't stay away. Without further ado, here is Kevin with his cute lil' 400 lb. buddy that he met in Chiang Mai. The little guy kept trying to bite and wrestle with Kevin in the river when he was trying to give its mother a bath. The trainers called him naughty boy, since he wasn't officially named yet.

Patara Elephant Farm Layout

The Challenge:

Becky Fleck's challenge sketch

Imaginisce's August Challenge is to make a layout based on Becky Fleck's PageMaps sketch. She is a renowned sketch artist, and I've seen her sketches all over the internet so I really wanted to participate in this challenge. 

When deciding on a paper collection, I first thought of Imaginisce's Animal Crackers collection because it has  an elephant in the design. But the colors weren't right for what I wanted. I did cut out one of the elephants and used a frame for my title. 

Framed title

But for the majority of elements, I ended up using the Dino Roar collection because it had the earth tones, orange colors and stripes that I wanted to emphasize. Honestly, I'd bypassed both collections because of the themes, circus and dinosaurs, since they are so specific. I only have them because I won them. But the B side of the papers are so versatile, so don't discount collections based on the motifs. 

Animal Crackers circus collection

Dinoroar Collection

The Interpretation:

When I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to put a photo in the blank background section instead of using a piece of cardstock. For a photo to be so large (6 x 12"), I knew it had to be impressive to command attention, so I also immediately thought of our elephant photos. I purchased some 12 x 12 cardstock for printing photos, but never saw the need to print such a large photo, then where would you scrap? Even though it was a matte cardstock, the photo was impressively clear when printed, so I might be doing this again.

I built the center collage with a few minor adjustments, and tilted it and moved it higher on the page so it wouldn't cover up the elephant. 

Central Collage

At this point, it still looked a little plain, so I hand-stitched some grass designs. I'm still not won over by hand stitching on pages, it took longer to stitch the grass than to print the photos and journaling and make the rest of the layout. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. It does look very Thai to me even though I didn't use any of the items I bought from there to use, like elephant dung paper. Yes, it does exist. 

The Background:

I would have to say spending the day with elephants was the highlight of my adventures in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Most places let you ride on a bamboo seat placed on the elephant's back for a few treks around a circle. But we went to Patara Elephant Farm where you get your own elephant for the day and you ride bareback through the jungles and swim with them in the river. I highly recommend this activity if you are traveling to northern Thailand, it is ranked the #1 activity in the area on Trip Advisor. 

This is when we first got on our elephants. Kevin had a female with a baby boy who followed us all day. 

The Family Trek

This is when we rode to the waterfall and got to swim around with the elephants. They really like the water and can just stay totally submerged with just the tip of their trunks sticking out. It did remind me of the scene from Disney's Jungle Cruise ride.

Swimming with elephants

Hope you are enjoying your summer,

Take care,

A Banner ScrapFIT Reveal

The Workout

This is my first reveal with ScrapFIT. I'm really excited to be a part of this team since each challenge or workout is so different every time. I never know what to expect, and it gives me an opportunity to really think and utilize my creativity. This is the current challenge #49 - Put a Banner on IT! The details are as follows:

Banners of all kinds have become popular in the scrapbooking world.  They can be pre-made or hand made, big or small. You can show case your title on it or just decorate it to go with your layout.  Lets see how you showcase your banner creativity!

You can link your layout to today's post at ScrapFIT for a chance to win a prize from Perfectly Precocious Paper. Here is the prize:

Prize for Workout #49 from Perfectly Precocious Paper

The Layout

Here is my interpretation:

Go-carting in Kentucky

Dad and Lynda bought a go- cart for our two nieces and I took some pictures of the first time out. Of course, Kevin had to get the action shot of me screaming. In my defense, it was really fast and two of the wheels do come off the ground on turns.

Here are some details:

The main banners

Since the main assignment was to create a banner, I wanted to emphasize that aspect. I was thinking what else could be done with banners and I thought about racing flags. I didn't have black and white checkered paper, so I made the design on the computer and printed it out in the size I wanted. Then I cut out the individual flags. For added dimension, I popped up the longer string of flags so they would be in front of the shorter string of flags.

The racing exhaust

To interact with the title more, I used some Memory Thread to curl some smoke tendrils after the last go. Then I added some raindrop shaped metal gems for an added accent.

The errant banner that blew away and got caught

I wanted to tie in the banner theme to the top of the page so I wrapped a partial banner to the top strips. It is suppose to simulate a banner that ripped off its original site and got tangled up somewhere else.

The journaling

I used some black and white metal gems to tie in with the metal go cart and the racing flag colors.

Come & Join In the Workout

If  you want to join in the fun and create something with a banner on it, just link your project to today's post on ScrapFIT. Here are some more details about ScrapFIT:

Our 'Workout Challenges' are issued on the 1st and 15th of each month and you will have until the last day of each month to add your layout to each challenges Mr. Linky! We have 2 fabulous prizes each month from either sponsors or from ScrapFIT its self! We will select the winners of both challenges at the end of the month! If you participate in both challenges you have double the chance of being a winner. 

Join in and stay scrappy active with us!

If you don't like banners, then check in after two weeks and see what the next challenge could possibly be.


Take care,