How Awesome is Too Awesome? {Our Weekly Wow for Challenge #143}

All the submissions for challenge #143 (Blueberry Blues) were fantastic! Thanks so much for playing everyone! We loved everyone's layouts and had a really hard time selecting a winner. Our favourite is.... Paradise Beach by Sineadk.

The colours and design of her layout are stunning and the painted circles look awesome. The collections of embellishments and the title placed on top of the photo also look fabulous. Wonderful beach layout!

Congrats Sineadk! Your layout will go into our HAITA Hall of Fame and you will have a chance to win a RAK at the end of the month.

Challenge #144 - August 29 Sparkly Holidays

You know you have lots holiday photos just waiting to be scrapped.

Scrap a holiday layout
Use at least 2 holiday photos.
Use at least 4 die cuts.
Use at least 6 brads.
Use at least 8 words in your journaling.
Use at least 10 pieces of chipboard (You can always count each letter of your title)
And to make it extra festive, make it sparkle. Incorporate glitter on your layout.......stickers, brads, chipboard, die cuts, etc.

Michelle: I struggle scrapping Easter photos...so this was my push to get these scrapped. And yes, I admit that I am happy that Andrew owns one pink shirt now....it makes the Easter layouts much prettier. Ha! I used up quite a bit of my Making Memories Garden Party stash (chipboard alphas, glitter die cuts, brads, epoxy shpaes). I paired it with some Coredinations Gemstorne cardstock for a little extra sparkle.

Elizabeth: I did a layout using pictures taken on the Civic holiday in Canada (first weekend in August). I stretched the 2 photos criteria into 2 photo collages :P And the die-cuts that I used are words cut out of patterned paper. I'm glad we are so versatile here and can stretch the challenge a little :) Thanks for the fun challenge, Michelle!

Janet - It's great that everyone has picked a different holiday I think we all tend to think of Christmas when we think of sparkles. I picked Thanksgiving because I wanted to do a page for our lodge book and it's a holiday that we always celebrate there.

My chipboard is the title - my brads are glittered and the die cuts in the corner I did with my Cricut cartridge.

This was a special Thanksgiving for all of us.

Journaling is: It was the most thankful Thanksgiving the family has ever had. We have had new babies to celebrate some years, we had the engagement Thanksgiving at the lodge and that was wonderful. Thanksgiving 2007 has to be the top one though - the road to recovery it was so good to have you on it.

Have fun and thanks for playing! Remember that at the end of the week one participant will be featured as our "How Awesome is Too Awesome - Weekly Wow" and will be in the running to win a RAK at the end of the month! Post a link to your layout in the HMITM thread at Two Peas.

How Awesome is Too Awesome? {Our Weekly Wow for Challenge #142}

Thanks everyone for playing along with us on Challenge #142! We loved seeing all the different takes on the challenge. Only one could be picked, so please, let's all give give warm congrats to.........LISA!

I really loved how you showcased stages of your daughters graduations over the years and framing the large photo with strips of rulers. :D


your layout will go into our "Hall of Fame" and you will be entered into our drawing for a RAK at the end of the month! CONGRATS!

Cheers, Cindy :)

Challenge #143 - Blueberry Blues

I love berries of all kinds and during August the blueberries are ripe in Sweden. They take a pretty long time to pick, but it is definitely worth the effort. These blueberries are different from the American ones and I learnt something new today when I read that they are called ‘bilberries’ in English. Blueberries are one of the most common plants in Sweden and cover about 17% of the surface area. Yesterday afternoon my sister was out in the forest picking blueberries for 45 minutes in pouring rain.

Create a layout using:

1 photo
7 blue things (can be anything, as long as it is blue)
4 circles
5 pieces of chipboard or grungeboard

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Anna-Karin: I am so happy to be presenting my first challenge! I wanted to do a blueberry themed layout with some cute photos I took of my nephew while we were picking blueberries, but we were travelling this week and I didn’t get a chance to develop any photos. Blue is one of my favourite colours, so it was fun using blue stuff on this layout. The circles under the title letters were stamped and I used the same inkpad to colour the chipboard heart. The stamped butterfly was a leftover from another project and was coloured with Liquid Pearls and Stickles. The blue pearly dots were also made with liquid pearls.

Journaling: This is one of the photos of Anton that I emailed to the family and it is now widely displayed. Framed on my parent’s living room table, and in both my sisters' houses. On the wall of mom’s office and an enlargement in their bedroom. Otto quickly learned that the baby on the photo is Anton and has kissed the photo many times and placed baby toys in front of it.

Elizabeth: I love using blue, especially when it is paired with green :) This is one of the first layouts I have done of our new addition to the family. Thanks for the fun challenge Anna-Karin!

Janet: This was a great challenge to do and this picture of three of my grandson's was a great one to get scrapped. Combining the circles, blue items and the picture together worked out great for me.

Journling is: Papa Bear's little cabin, it was the boys favorite place to go on the weekend. The little cabin not the comforts of the lodge. No running water, pump it yourself , a real
outhouse, heating with a little stove and kerosine lanterns. They probably learned more in these weekends than a book could ever teach them.

Kathleen: Thanks for the challenge Anna-Karin!! I think I've gotten it right, lol, I've got 1 photo, 7 blue things (clouds, cloud button, papar, chippy circle, sticker arrow, sticker letters and the blue in the photo), 4 circles (3 chippy ones plus the sewn one), and 5 pieces of chipboard (3 flowers plue the two pieces either side of the photo).

Georgia: This was such a fun challenge Anna-Karin, thank you (and those blueberries sound delicious!). I always struggle to use only one photo so I compromised and used one photo - twice lol... for the blue I used my lettering as well as the cloud paper and some embellishments, the circles are around the heart and the sun sticker and the chipboard is the blue circle (cut into two pieces) and the three clouds..




Michelle: Fun challenge! 1 photo...check. 7 blue things...snowflake, pattern paper, hanging mittens, and blue bling. 4 circles....I cute 4 black circles and made a scallop border with them. 5 pieces of chipboard....title letters and snowflake.




Amanda: Mmmmm, blueberries! Thinking about doing this layout made me hungry (even though I scrapped about my feet! haha) This was lots of fun! I'm actually not a huge fan of just the color blue...so I mixed it with some red, white and aqua. I think I ended up using more then 7 blue things, in fact...oops! Thanks for such a fun challenge, Anna-Karin!

Debbi T: I went a little crazy with the blue and I think I exceeded the numbers of things Anna asked us to use, so I guess the answer to "How Much Is Too Much?" is my layout. I always love the way monochromatic layouts look, and I rarely do them, so I decided to use all blue, plus neutrals. Blue paper, blue letters, blue flowers, blue embossing powder, blue ink, blue paint , blue cardstock, blue ribbon, and a blue butterfly. Yep, that's more than 7. By the way, I realize I used more than 5 pieces of chipboard, but I was counting the letters for my title as one. I used the same blue embossing powder on the telephone that I used on the doily flowers, so I don't know why it came out so dark in the photo. Thanks, Anna-Karin, for a really fun challenge. (And I love blueberries, too!)

Have fun and thanks for playing! Remember that at the end of the week one participant will be featured as our "How Awesome is Too Awesome - Weekly Wow" and will be in the running to win a RAK at the end of the month! Post a link to your layout in the HMITM thread at Two Peas.

How Awesome is Too Awesome? {Our Weekly Wow for Challenge #141}

Challenge #141, Mix & Match, featured our first Guest Challenger, Krista Morris. She brought a great challenge, and with it, some GREAT ENTRIES! Thanks to all who played along. We loved everyone's takes on Challenge #141, and it was so hard to choose just one favorite, but the layout that got the most votes from our team is Memory Thief by Dawnypea. We loved her layout with it's soft colors and beautiful memory of her friend. Dawn, your layout will go into our HAITA Hall of Fame, and you will be entered into our drawing for a RAK at the end of the month. Congrats!

Challenge #142 - August 16, Making the Grade

Good morning HMITM Challengers!!! I'm so glad to be back & participating in the HMITM challenges & this weeks challenge is Making the Grade. Excited school is starting up again & what great way to kick start it with your favorite school pictures using the newest 'school' collections by your favorite manufacturer.

Here is your challenge, create a layout using the following:

A. Use your favorite "School" themed papers.
B. Incorporate a real pencil on your page as an embellishment (can also be a coloring pencil, etc)
C. 1-3 photos that is school related (college, pics w/ Teachers, graduation, college football, etc.)
D. Use something you would find on a school supply list (paper clips, staples, post-it notes, rulers, etc.).
E. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic: Include journaling & numbers on your page. I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you create!


Cindy: I enjoyed creating my layout for this challenge, but I will say, it was more challenging than I thought it would be. But hey, that's what challenges are suppose to do, right?! hehehe. I had fun mixing up patterns and colors for this page. Adding the Ikea kraft pencil I thought was a nice touch to embellish the tag. I've been in the mood to scrap school pictures and loved these of my son on his first day of school as a Kindergartner (I can't believe he's a 2nd grader now).

Janet- This was a fun one to do for my grandson's book that I have been putting together for him. I enjoyed using all the elements in the challenge the one I didn't fit in was the pencil so I used pencil paper in two places and a pencil embellishment. Paper clips and staples rounded out the school supplies on the list.Fun challenge thanks Cindy for it.


Michelle: Thanks for giving me the push to scrap these school photos Cindy! Yes, I 'cheated' too and used a Doodlebug pencil sticker. I promise I followed all of the other rules. I used some of the new We R Memory Keepers Show & Tell line. I added some staples as my school supply.

Debbi T: I was tempted to "cheat" too because I have a peculiar aversion to pencils, but I am an obedient pupil and I made a trip to Office Depot to buy a pencil and sharpener! I don't really have a favorite school collection, but I love ledger papers, and they're sort of school-ish, right? I used the Noel Mignon Office Party kit for my page.Since I'm a teacher, I had planned to use my favorite pictures taken over the 20 years I've been teaching, but for the life of me, I couldn't find my pictures. I managed to dig out these 3 horrible school pictures, and here is what I journaled (hidden on the pull-out card that says "Report Card"):

20 years of school photos.
20 years of cringing when I open the envelope and see those photos.
20 years of students that see this image of a fat me in their yearbooks.
I no longer want to cringe when I open those envelopes.
I no longer want to be memorialized as the fat teacher in the yearbooks.
I'm hoping this year I will smile with pride when I open my envelope!
Goodbye to those 20 years.

(Side note: I've lost 55 pounds in the past year and a half.)

Please share your creations by linking them up to this blog post or over at 2Peas. happy creating & have lots of fun!
xo, Cindy :)

July's How Awesome is To Awesome winner

Believe me it was a hard choice and the vote was tied but we had a tie breaker and the winner this month is jloubier for her layout of the challenge using something from each letter in Summer - the challenge was by Amanda and the title of her layout was Ayoye .
You can see it below - you have a gift certificate coming from Two Peas and I'll be getting a hold of you to get your email t o send it to you.
CONGRALUATIONS !

HMITM Challenge #141 - Mix & Match - Featuring Guest Challenger Krista Morris {August 9 - August 15}

We are pleased to bring you our first Guest Challenger, Krista Morris!

Here's a little bit about Krista, in her own words:

My name is Krista and I am super excited to be guest designing on the HMITM Blog! I love a good challenge! I am a mother to three awesome kids and a wife to a great guy! I couldn't live with out my camera, my scrapbooking supplies, my family, the gym, the Internet and chocolate chip cookies! Not necessarily in that order. Check out my blog to find out what we have been up to.... Home Is Where My Heart Belongs

Now, for Krista's fun challenge:

My family is the most important thing in my life and they are also the biggest inspiration for my scrapbooks... so I have an easy challenge for you today.

• I have 3 kids - so use 3 different colors of letters and
• there are 5 people in my family - so use 5 different pieces of patterned paper on your layout!

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Krista's layout:

Elizabeth: Oh, this was a fun one! I loved the idea of using 3 different colored letters, seeing how I use letter stickers on EVERY layout, but I rarely switch up the colours. The neat thing about changing the colours was that I could fit my title all on one line because I didn't need to put spaces, the different colours defined the words instead. How fun!


Janet - This challenge worked great to get another one done for my heritage book. It's always so hard to use these small pictures in a layout. Working in 5 different pieces of paper and three different colors of letters was fun. My title was already pre-done and I added the rub on word of generations to it.

My journaling is: Just an ordinary family dinner but what makes this little tiny picture special is that my grandfather is in it. I probably don't have another picture with the two of us together. He passed away when I was 5 so my memories of him are just a few. The one thing though that was never ordinary was any meal that my dad and grandmother made they were both fantastic cooks.It's a good thing I was fortunate to have two grandmother's one that was the teacher in cooking and sewing and my grandma Holms that taught me to always look on the good side of everything.



Debbi T - This was a fun challenge because I usually make my titles one color, and I adore patterned paper, so having that as part of the challenge was right up my alley. This page is for a book I call "Reasons," where I scrap all the little random things that make me love my husband so! Thanks, Krista, for the great challenge!

Georgia: This was such a fun challenge - I normally don't use a lot of different patterned papers on the one layout so that was a little bit difficult but I do love the result...

My journalling reads... Lucy has such an open, beautiful smile but coaxing it out of her when there is a camera around is just about impossible so when i capture it it is so special.

Anna-Karin: I had lots of fun with this challenge! I closed my eyes and picked 5 random pieces of patterned paper in a pile of scrap papers, something that is fun to do. The random papers often look better together than one would expect. I also liked the idea of using three different colours of letters. My title translates: ‘You and me’. Thanks for a great challenge Krista!


Amanda: This was a fun one! I too enjoyed using 3 different colors for my title. And I love the new Sassafras Indie Girl collection and chose 5 papers from that line so they all match. Thanks for a great challenge, Krista!



Remember that at the end of the week one lucky participant will be featured as our "How Awesome is Too Awesome - Weekly Wow" and will be in the running to win a RAK at the end of the month!! Post a link to your layout in the HMITM thread at the Two Peas Pub.

How Awesome is Too Awesome? {Our Weekly Wow for Challenge #139}

Wow! We had some great submissions for #139! Thanks to everyone that played along! We loved all of your beautiful layouts! We can only pick one favorite though...

Favourite Things by JustJane

Congrats, JustJane! Your layout will go into our "Hall of Fame" and you will have a chance to win our monthly RAK!

Stay tuned for the July monthly RAK winner.

Flower Power August 2 ,2010

Flowers are everywhere this time of the year and no two flowers are alike so lets create with flowers, make sure every one is different , it's one great way to use up some of the stash of flowers we all have.It is the week of 8/02/10 so lets use 8 different flowers , 2 ribbons for the month and 10 buttons or brads for the year.

I thought this was going to be a really easy one either that or because it was my first challenge, I was not quite sure how to put it together. Once I got going on it though it was a really fun layout to do.

I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone does this and I still have a huge stash of flowers.

My journaling is :You have filled my life with flowers from the ones you send me, to all the gardens you have created and the flowering trees that surround us every spring. This is just one of the many reasons that I love you.

Anna-Karin: It was so much fun choosing my 8 different flowers. I used stamped, felt and die-cut flowers. My mom loves flowers, so I scrapped a photo of her together with a beautiful flowering tree. I even used two skeleton leaves that I have had in my stash forever, and which happened to match her jacket perfectly. The title translates: ‘A flower amongst flowers’. Thanks for a fun challenge Janet!


Debbi T: I dug deep into my stash and pulled out a very old Studio Calico kit to make my page and added a few bits from my stash. That's my mom on the right and my brother-in-law's mom on the left. Both wonderful ladies, and my nephews are so lucky to have two very different but awesome grandmas! I had fun with this challenge!

Elizabeth: Love me lots of flowers! This was a great challenge, it got me looking through all my patterned paper and embellies. The layered flower has some acrylic flowers, paper flowers, and prima flowers. This layout is about my eldest and youngest children.

Michelle: I am not the model How Much is Too Mucher.....I did use 8 flowers (but they weren't different. It is difficult for me to use flowers; so I am proud of myself for using them anyway). The yellow borders are made from yellow ribbon. And 10 buttons. I love how this American Crafts Abode collection looks with these 1977 photos.


Amanda: I loved this challenge! I love using flowers, but trying to use 8 different ones was fun! And I tried to use 10 different brads and buttons as well (just for an added challenge). My plain pink/coral colored ribbon needed some "oomph" so I used double-stick tape and gave it some dimension by folding it back and forth. I used the new Echo Park paper collection "Life is Good." Thanks for such a fun challenge, Janet!

Francine: Like Michelle, I "oops-ed" on using 8 different flowers. I only remembered that criteria after my page was done! I also doubled up and five of my flowers are buttons :) Fun challenge!


Debbie F: Even though my dad cut part of my hubby's head off, I decided to scrap this picture of Mike and me. With five young kids, we don't get out much, so it was an occasion worth scrapping, LOL. I too, dug into an old Studio Calico kit, and added a bunch of goodies from my stash. I used more than eight flowers, especially if you count the rub on flowers int he background. I used a mix of brads and buttons as the flower centers. I used green ric rac to create leaves for a couple of flowers and pleated another beneath my photo. I love how this turned out!





Remember that at the end of the week one lucky participant will be featured as our "How Awesome is Too Awesome - Weekly Wow" and will be in the running to win a RAK at the end of the month!!