Caipirinha

Here is my Sketchy Thursdays 7/28 sketch challenge layout

When I went out to my mom's she showed me how to make this yummy drink from Brazil.  You essentially, slice up limes, sprinkle with a generous helping of powdered sugar, mash in a glass, add rum and crushed ice, mash some more.  It was very yummy and kind of pretty.  I took these "how to" photos with my phone.  They went very well with the tostadas too!

The sketch

And my whole, two page layout!  Cause, I love doubles!

Costume

I did this layout for the Frosted Design Sketch A Long Tuesdays.

John and I were able to help out for the Hay Fever Festival with out church last Fall.  It is so much fun to go and see everyone dress up.  All the kids come decked out in their dress up finest and a lot of adults too!  We have a big 'ol carnival with games, food to eat and petting zoo.  John ran one of the booths, Fraidy Cat, so he dressed up as a rat.  I was the photographer, but the day before, I set up the box maze for the kiddies to navigate so I dressed up as a spelunker.

Here is my layout

And the sketch

Beach House

The Challenge:
Use tape on a layout

We were supposed to use tape on a layout, but we didn't necessarily have to go buy special tape for this.  I did my first entry with some tape that I had, but forget to use.  I was working on this layout right afterwards and thought that the little signs would look good "taped" on.  I just used some 1st aide tape from the cupboard, nothing special.

OMSI

In the Spring of 2010, the Jazz Band that my son was in submitted a CD of music to the Oregon School Board Representatives to be considered to be the featured jazz band for their annual meeting in the Fall.  Well, they were picked!  The band director thought he needed a few of the recently graduated leaders from the 09/10 Jazz Band to be represented at the performance and me as well, as the retired Band Parent President.  So, Bryon and I got up very early one Fall morning, made the trip to Portland and watched the current jazz band knock the socks off the attendees.  They were recognized and one of them gave the introductions.

After the performance, we all loaded up and went to OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) to play and learn.  It was so much fun!  It was a hoot to watch all these high school kids (and four college freshmen) jump right in and play!  Even all the adults had a good time.  

I chose to scrap this event using the current Sassy 'Lil Sketches sketch because I thought it worked well with my subject.  I was trying to figure out how to string the gears in the border when it hit me, wire!  I really love the look and added it to the strips in the middle of the page too.  I know I will want to use it again!

My layout

The sketch

And everyone, well, most everyone knows that I love two page layouts!

Morning Beauty

The Challenge:
Use tape on your layout.  Either scrapper's tape or any other kind

I had had this decorative tape for some time and just forget to use it.  It's nice when a challenge helps you do something you've been meaning to or have forgotten to do.

I used the photos I took while camping with a bunch of dog SAR handlers.  We had had a big storm the night before with thunder and lightning and a LOT of rain!  I woke up at about 5:30 the next morning and found the most beautiful day dawning!  There was a mist coming off the water and the sunrise was gorgeous.  I didn't want a bunch of added embellishments to take away from the photos so they are mostly confined to the strips at the bottom of the page.  I used a Sketch Support sketch and a Bazzil stitching template.  The tape is the strips with the script writing.  I cut the trees myself from coordinating papers.

Paddling

I had the opportunity to visit my mom in Missouri this month.  One of the things we did is paddle this pretty little river, the N Fork of the White River.

It is in a conservation area and is one of the prettiest places I've been!  It was supposed to be very hot and humid so we got an early start.  We had arranged to rent a kayak for me and to have a drop off 10 miles or so upstream.  The morning was just stunning!  There were so many turtles and birds along the way.  There were many places with cool rock walls and trees with hanging vines.  There were also several underwater spring areas where the water was turquoise and cool enough that it made a breeze.  It seemed like we were paddling in the tropics with all the vegetation and sounds of birds and cicadas.  The water was fairly calm with small rapids placed often enough that it was exciting.

I had my cell phone with me (in a dry bag, of course) and took a few panoramic photos along the way and my mom had a small camera with her to get more photos.  I took the feet photos with my phone.  The rest belong to my mom and are copyrighted.

I thought the long, vertical panoramas would work great with this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch and I went ahead and added that second page too :)  I used mostly Bo Bunny's Flower Child for supplies.

The sketch

My page

The full layout, because I am a two page kind of gal!

Where's Waldo?

I was taking photos of the marching band playing during football games last year.  Bryon was one of the techs and was helping out at all the games.  I was uploading photos the day after one of the games when I came across this photos of Bryon staring right back at me with bugged out eyes.  I had been standing at the edge of the circle of kids while they talked about how their halftime show went.  As soon as I saw Bry, I burst out laughing!  Bry heard me from his room and shouted out to me, "You looking at the post show picture?"  I assured him that I was and he told me that he had seen me getting ready to take the photo and couldn't pass up the opportunity.  What a ham!

I chose to scrap these photos using the Frosted Designs Sketch a Long Tuesdays sketch.  It worked perfectly as while my son was involved, he wasn't center stage so the View Master digi frame was a good way to subtly add more photos of the season.

The sketch

And my layout

PIR

The Challenge:
Use arrows to bring both motion and direction to your layout

I honestly was going to skip scrapping these photos.  They did not speak to me, I had no idea what to do with them, there is a lot of grey and not any faces either.  This challenge gave me a great idea of what to do with them!  I wanted the circular arrow around the title to mimic the race track.  I used a sketch from Allison Davis' new sketch book #8.  There were two crossing lines of paper on the left that I replaced withstitched arrows.  I then added the bolts and washers to complete the auto feel.

The cars were built by my son and his friends for a school class.  Teams of students design, build and race these cars that run on two batteries.  They race them, not to see who goes fastest, but who can go farther the longest.  They get one hour to see how many laps they can get (or until they break down or the battery runs out).  It is kind of funny to see these cars just crawling along by the end of the hour!  He and his team placed third in the State for the 2010 season!  For this race, they were able to race on a real race track in Portland.  It was a weekend event and they camped in the infield.

Cedar Gap

I just got back from spending 10 days with my mom in Missouri.  On my last day there, we tried out this little trail near her house.  She lives at the foot of the Ozarks (sorry, I just can't call them mountains as I live at the foot of the Cascades) and the trail takes you to the headwaters of three creeks.  The water was down for the most part, but the forest was beautiful (I am still trying to wrap my brain around a forest with no conifers) and there were many pretty little flowers and butterflies.  I had some cooperative models and got some fun photos of them :)  I love the Tarzan vines all around too!

I decided to use this layout for this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch.  I had more photos I wanted to use so I made the one photo in the sketch bigger and added the strip at the bottom.  And most of you know that I love 2 page layouts, so I made a second page to go with it!

The sketch

My take on the sketch

The whole 2 page layout

I Am Worthy

0This is day 5 of my I Am Worthy project reveal.  Today's words are Friendship and Talent.  If you would like the whole project explained, visit Amanda's blog at lovejoypaper it is a very worthwhile project.


For Friendship, I found a photo taken with me and some of my friends.  While I consider my husband my best friend, having girl friends is so important!  I cherish mine and think they are the best!

I had a hard time trying to come up with something for talent.  I think I do a lot of things well, but I am really talented?  Amanda told me to use my jewelry making as it all comes from me; I don't use patterns.  I do think I have an eye for color and design

I Am Worthy

This is the conclusion of my I Am Worthy project.  I rather enjoyed it!  It was also the first mini book that I've made.  We wrapped up by declaring that we are worthy;
worthy to be loved
worthy to have peace
worthy to be forgiven and give forgiveness
worthy to have joy
worthy to be creative
worthy to have friends
worthy to be thankful and have things to be thankful for
worthy to know that we are beautiful
worthy to be ME!

These photos are of the end of my book, including this list.

I Am Worthy

This is the last two words from my project reveal.  Beauty and Worthy.  If you would like to see the whole project directions and download word frames, visit Amanda's blog at lovejoypaper


I admit, I struggle to see myself as beautiful.  My smile is crooked and my face is funky and I am not as skinny as I would like.  This made me take another look at beauty and where I am beautiful!  I chose to use a photo of myself so that I can change this mindset.

For Worthy, I chose a photo of my Bible.  To me, I am worthy because I have been redeemed.

Alley Mill

While on vacation at my mom's, we went to Alley Mill and Spring.  It is inside the Ozark National Scenic Waterways system.  It is a cool, old place that has lots of old milling equipment that the ranger let us photograph.  He even opened up one of the pieces of equipment so we could take photos inside.  The mill was run by an underground spring and the water was the coolest color of turquoise!

We had to wait out a late morning thunderstorm before we could go and it was well worth it.  The storm was pretty cool too!  Lots of rain, lots of lightning and thunder right over us!  When we got home, there were more storms building too.

I Am Worthy

The next two words on my I Am Worthy project reveal are Hope and Creative.  You can see the whole project on Amanda's blog at lovejoypaper

Hope is something we all so need.  I chose the fact that the sun rises and sets and rises again.  Tomorrow will be a new day and Heaven is in the future.

For creative, I chose a photo of a scrap project.  I get so much joy when I am able to create.  For me, it is better than therapy!

I Am Worthy

This is day three of my project reveal.  If you would like full directions, visit Amanda's blog lovejoypaper

The next two words were Joy and Thankful.

I chose this photo for Joy because of the bright, cheerful colors and the fact that they were dancing in the wind.  They remind me of the sheer joy of a child when something so completely captures them

I have so much to be thankful for!  I chose this photo because it includes two of the reasons I have to be thankful; my family and the beautiful place in which I live

I Am Worthy

Welcome back to my I Am Worthy project reveal.  This is day two of my reveal and I will show the next two words.  We were to find or take a photo that showed what a series of words meant to us for the project designed by Amanda at lovejoypaper  Hop on over and see if it something you would like to try.


This is the picture I chose for forgiven.  Fresh, clean, crisp and beautiful!

This is the picture for peace.  Doesn't it just make you want to sit back and soak up the peace and quiet?  It really was very peaceful there.

I Am Worthy

I just finished a project designed my Amanda at lovejoypaper.  She had us make a mini album that helped us think about our worth and what was worthwhile to us.  She gave us 10 words.  We were to find or take a photo that expressed what the words meant to us and then we were given journal prompts to help us journal about each.  The next week or so I will be sharing my book and the photos I used to symbolize each word.  If you are interested, head on over to Amanda's blog and search out the I Am Worthy project.  She has the words, the overlay files and the journaling prompts there for you to use.  I actually had a lot more to say than I thought I would.  It was a really good exercise.

The front cover

The inside page and first word photo.  The journaling is on the other side.  I chose a loving photo of the man of my heart.  I do love him so :)

Search & Rescue

The Challenge:
Use a ruler in your layout

I got to spend a few days acting as a "hider" for a friend and her co-searcher so they could do a dog training.  I would take my trusty GPS, SAR radio, a bag of tags and hit a trail.  I would leave little clues as to where I went so they would know if their dog was on target or not.  When I found a good spot to be lost and hurt in, I would set down with a book and a snack and wait for the dog in training to find me.

What fun!  I had never done anything like this and I really enjoyed it.  I laid easy trails for the dogs just learning and harder ones for the experts (they all need to work on their skills!)  My friend said that they need to do these "fun" finds also because in reality, when you go on a real search, mostly likely you won't be the ones to find the person and you need to remind the dog that this is fun!

My friend's dog, Joey, seemed to really like me.  Either that or he didn't have much hope for me, lol.  I think he knew I was going to get "lost" a lot so he stayed close to me; followed me wherever I went!  I think he was just trying to save himself work later on ;)

My favorite "hide" was when my friend said she wanted a longer hike with some bush whacking involved.  So, I head up the side of the mountain, through all the brush and up onto this ledge where I could see them work the trail.  She was worn out by the time she got to me.  I guess Joey drug her up that mountain so fast she said it was like water skiing without the skis or a boat.  And she said she kept passing over the lovely little trail and wondered why I just didn't take it.  She said bush whack!  We kept going up and came to an incredible view of the Three Sisters!  That is me with Joey in the bottom left photo on the right hand page.  He wasn't about to let me out of his sight ;)

Snow Day

My entry for the Sketchy Thursdays sketch

After a really busy, difficult few months, they were calling for snow and the people at work really needed a break, so we decided to take Friday off.  The snow did come, not as much as they were talking about, but it was sure a beautiful day.  My friend called me up and asked if I wanted to go for a walk.  The sky was so blue and the snow so pretty and it was crystal clear.  I had a great day off!

The sketch (it's a two pager!!!!)

And my layout