Challenge 171: Build a Bike {May 9 - May 22}

Happy Monday! Debbie Fitz here, with Challenge 171.

First, I'd like to introduce our guest designer for this month, Sharon Bessinger.

Here is a little about Sharon, in her own words: I am called “Mom”-- by three wonderful kids. I have a pretty cool husband too. I am a wee bit obsessed with paper, and have been playing with it for over 12 years. I am a stay at home Mom & silversmith, so when I am not running with scissors, I am lighting a torch.

You can see more of Sharon's work on her blog Sharon Scraps.

Now on to this week's challenge!

May is American Bike Month. Biking is good for you and the environment. Not only is it green, it gets you off the couch, into the lovely spring weather. You burn calories and save money. Many towns and cities around the country are having events to particpate in this celebration. This was the inspiration for my challenge.

Please create a layout that has:
-Your favorite color(s)
-2 circles for wheels
-2 pictures
-3 or more metal embellishments
-ribbon for handlebar streamers
-a flag or pennant
-something shiny for the reflectors
-And an image of a bike somewhere on your page.


The theme of the layout is up to you. Hope you have fun with it!


Guest Designer, Sharon Bessinger: Many thanks for letting me share as a guest designer... What fun I had coming up with the different challenges in this theme. My daughter and her friend, are so much fun to be around, and such colorful little characters, that it seemed natural to do this page about them.

Debbie Fitzgerald: My favorite colors are blues, pinks, and yellow. I used a variety of patterned papers from Fancy Pants and Crate Paper. I created my "flag" with a label sticker from My Minds Eye. My buttons are my circles, and also my metallic embellishment (along with the pink flower). I used some older Dear Lizzy Thickers items for my bike, the ribbon, and the sparkly chipboard photo corners. My layout is about how my daughter just seems to be growing up so fast. Sigh.

Anna-Karin: I love my bike, so I had lots of fun making a bike-themed layout. I don’t really have favorite colours, so instead I used some of the colours I like (kraft, green, yellow and bits of red). For the circles I used really old Scrapwork Hugz and placed a patterned paper circle looking like a wheel in the middle. I used a bike charm, three screw eyelets and a dog tag for the metals, a ribbon looking like a bike road with a mid-line and made a banner. The title letters were made with a faux-metal technique, using UTEE and silver embossing powder and stamping into the hot UTEE for texture. I also silver embossed a line as a road at the bottom of the layout. The background was stamped with two different bicycle stamps. Thank you for this fun challenge Debbie!

Journaling: Bicycles are the best means of transportation: fun and wonderful, gives you a feeling of freedom, exercise, you see much more than from a car, environmentally friendly, you get to be out in nature, cheap, no waiting for busses or trams, no queues, easy to park, quick, but more than anything – nothing beats a bike ride.

Debbi Tehrani: This was such a fun and clever challenge, Debbie! Pink has been my favorite color ever since I was a little girl, so I used almost all pink on my layout. My layout is called "Home Spun--The Sequel" because I made a layout last year called Home Spun when my friend rented a cotton candy machine, and it's now becoming something of a tradition .I used an old Noel Mignon kit to make my page, which had all the elements I needed to meet the details of the challenge, except for the bicycle, and I was wondering how I was going to add that--silly me, leaving it for the last minute--and lo and behold, I found a BasicGrey brad in my stash that had a little bicycle on it. I used a Creative Scrappers sketch as the inspiration for my page design.

Janet M. This was really a fun challenge and gave me a chance to get a page done about my new bike that my husband got me for my birthday last year. Finding my paper with the bicycles on it really determined my color of the layout but lately I have loved using the greens, oranges and yellows so I'm happy I found the base paper.
Everything else on al the elements came together so easily - loved this challenge Debbie- thanks for it, what a perfect thing to get this picture done.

My journaling is: It's the perfect birthday gift, I needed a new bike to have up here. I miss my riding time in Florida even if I'm not out breaking records it's some exercise and such a great time to just relax and enjoy seeing everything around. Bob did a perfect job picking it out so perfect I had to give it a photo session to show off all the fun details on it.

To play, and have a shot at being chosen for our How Awesome Is Too Awesome Hall of Fame and creating as a HMITM Guest Designer, just share your layout through Mr. Linky below! We can't wait to see what you create!