I'm here. . .

I'm not dead. I'm not sick. My kids haven't driven me insane. . . anymore than I already was anyway. I'm not even on vacation - and by that I mean away from the house and all that beckons when you're home. Nope, it was just plain old shipping. But that is wrapped up and I'm moving on to July stuff - which is totally fun! I can't wait to play with them and, if I can get ahead of the game, show pieces of them here. :)

Let's start with a couple blog shouts to start:

• Sous Chef Jennifer has posted her extras from her June Apron Strings work. After completing her layouts she still managed to make all these cards. An amazing note, she used her October Afternoon kit down to just a small 4x6 piece of paper! And if I know Jennifer, she couldn't throw it away and it will appear on something. :)
• Sous Chef Amy posted the most adorable stitched card a couple days ago on her blog. On top of the awesome work she does on layouts for Apron Strings, she's an accomplished card maker and her ideas would be very "liftable" to help you use your scraps down to the last drop; just like Jennifer!
• Finally, fellow-blogger Melanie is hosting a photo challenge (not in photos you take, but in finding inspiration in photos she posts) in honor of National Camera Day on June 28th. Plan to follow along on her blog for daily posts. You could win a nice little prize for playing along. I know of at least one piece of her "offering" ;)

Alright, so you need your challenge-fix for the week. (I will be posting the 5 on Friday, too). So here you go. The sketch is by Sous Chef Gloria! Always great work. She's one of the Card Chefs, but you can totally create a layout from it! That "image" space is perfect for one, two, four or six (small but well placed) photos. Let's see what you can create! Would love to see some of my card kit followers out there link up for this one (or any challenges for that matter!)

This challenge along with tomorrow's will be due Saturday evening to be eligible for the weekly prize.

Final note: be on the look out for some serious scrapbooking opportunities coming soon! "My Croppy Summer" is heading this way!