Are you up for a challenge?

Happy Tuesday everyone!
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Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  We had a lot of fun celebrating Father's Day.  Many years ago while DH and were living in Texas DH and I owned a boat.  He has missed having that boat since we sold it.  So after church on Sunday we took my sweet husband water skiing and tubing. 
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I wanted to share a brand new challenge blog with you-Challenge Me Happy. I was thrilled when Annelie asked me to be a part of this team.  She has some amazing challenges lined up and I can't wait to share them with you.  Here is the first challenge.  Create a layout using this amazing photo as inspiration.
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Here is the layout I created. 
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I took inspiration from the photo in several different ways. I was first inspired by the bikes in the photo. They reminded me of these photos I took at a local park. I also took inspiration from the vignette around the inspiration photo. I added a slight vignette to each of my photos. I found instructions on how to do this on this site. http://photography.about.com/od/developingandprinting/ss/psevignette.htm

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My final inspiration came from the bricks on the building. I downloaded some digital brick stamps from this site. http://www.texturemate.com/content/brick-3-brush-pack-photoshop-or-gimp I then created a 12 x 12 image in adobe and stamped the areas I wanted bricks. Finally I used the stamp tool with a blurred edge to erase some of the bricks. I printed it on red cardstock to create my background.

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We would love to see your take on this photo and you could win some amazing chipboard from Magistical Memories.  Just head over to the Challenge Me Happy blog for all the details and to see all the other designers layouts.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week!

Running and Jumping and Smiling

What a week!  I apologize for being a bit down last week.  I am definitely feeling so much better this week.  There is something magical about the sweet giggles of my girls. Ahhhh...makes me happy.  So glad to have them home for the summer. 

Our first Wednesday of delivering food to the elderly couldn't have gone better.  The girls had a blast and we met some of the sweetest people. After we got done with delivering food, stopped to play a little Lazer Tag.  The girls got buy one get one free tickets at a hockey game last month and we hadn't had a chance to use them yet.  Although the girls have both played before (L actually had her last birthday party at a Laser Tag place) I have never played.  I have to admit, it was a LOT of fun.  We may have to go back again some time. We just need to talk to those girls about the hazards of ganging up on their mother. It could lead to extra chores you know! :)

This weekend was great.  Saturday morning after sleeping in we headed downtown for GermanFest.  They did have a few things for the kids to do but the main highlight for all of us, besides the food of course, was the 8th annual Wiener Dog Races.  I laughed so hard watching those sweet dogs run down the lane.

Isn't he the cutest? 

After leaving GermanFest we did some shopping for the girls.  We ended up leaving their swingset in Bloomington when we moved.  It had already made two moves and we felt that it was just time to let the poor thing stay in one place. :)  Although the girls did not actually swing on it a whole lot anymore it definitely was still a place they hung out with their friends.  We decided that we would get them a trampoline when we got a yard.  To the great pleasure of my girls, the landscaper recommended we get the trampoline before he got started and set it up so we knew exactly where we wanted it.  He is going to put mulch down so we don't have to worry about mowing under it.  I am glad he made this recommendation because we actually ended up moving it from its original place. It took quite a while to set up yesterday but by evening it was ready for them to use.  They jumped in that thing for 3 hours!  Needless to say, they are out there again this morning. :)  It is definitely a kid magnet.  The little 3 year old from across the street was over for a bit last night with her mom and dad. We had told them to bring her over after they got home from their graduation parties. Then later the little soon to be 5th grader that lives down the road came over to jump for a while too.  I think it is going to be a hit. :) 

As promised, I am going to give away my Scrapbook Trends magazine.  And the winner is......

PattyO!!!

Please send me your address Patty!
I hope to be giving away another magazine in the next week or so.  I have a layout in this month's BHG but have not got my comp issue yet. 

I wanted to share a card I made for Emma's a couple of weeks ago.  Lots of Prima on this one. 

One last bit of news I want to share with you.  I am going to be a part of a brand new challenge blog called Challenge Me Happy.  Please check it out. There are going to be amazing inspiration projects, fun challenges and lots of goodies to give away.  I can't wait to show you the layout I created for the reveal this week. 

Have a wonderful week and thank you so very much for stopping by!!!

If I am being honest

I have been a bit lost lately.  It seems this move has thrown me for more of a loop than I thought it would.  I have not had the desire to scrapbook in weeks. I have all this time and sit and do nothing.  I have neglected my sweet internet friends and their blogs (thank you so much to those of you who have checked in on me) :) I miss my friends from Bloomington terribly.  I am sure that it has a lot to do with the fact that I am used to being very busy and now I have no commitments.  Without volunteering, bible studies, time spent at the schools and book clubs I feel a bit lost. 

Hmm...so what have I been doing?  I have been shopping for patio furniture.  We have a landscaper coming this next week to start on our yard.  It has started getting us to think about our patio.  We have had a VERY small set (two chairs and a tiny) table for over 10 years and would like to be able to eat out on our new patio.  We finally bought a new one, after many days of searching, on Saturday.  I have also been spending time on the treadmill.  There are so many health concerns in my mom's family dealing with heart concerns I really need to make sure that I am walking on a more regular basis.  I have also been getting things in order for the girls for the summer.  They are both going to do several camps this summer. I am also trying to find them a good piano teacher here.  Really, that is about it.  Not a whole lot. 

Today is the last day of school for the girls and I have to say, I am really looking forward to having them home with me this summer.  We now get to live in a neighborhood with a pool again and plan to spend lots of time there.  One of the things I am really looking forward to starts tomorrow.  We are going to be volunteering on Wednesday mornings delivering groceries to elderly people in the area.  Can I tell you how proud I am of my girls?   When I mentioned this idea to them they both jumped up and down like I had just offered to take them to an amusement park for a week.  They really are the best.  :) 

So I said that I have not had a desire to scrapbook but I have actually done a project or two lately.  I created this box for Creative Charms. 

You can find a complete set of instructions on how to create your own flourishes on the Creative Charms blog. While you are there make sure to jump over to the store where you can check out the amazing Deal of the Month.  There is lots of great patriotic bling this month!

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I also created this little gift card and bag for L's teacher.

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You can find the supply list on the Emma's Paperie Blog. 

OK, so if you have made it this far you definitely deserve a reward.  I received a box from Scrapbook Trends yesterday with a layout I submitted for the May issue.  Along with the layout they sent an extra issue of the magazine.  I have to say this issue is stunning.  Lots of eye candy in there.  All you need to do is leave a comment and I will pick one lucky winner to get a copy of the May issue. 

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Thank you so much for stopping by today!!!