Witch's Cauldron Drawing

The appearance of this Little Witch can only mean one thing. . .she's here to toss someone else into the pot. Who will it be?? Let's see: Libby Hineman! Congrats, Libby. I think I have your address, but can you email me to verify it, please? lori@apronstringsdesigns.com

Let's see, oh yes, the Scavenger Hunt Challenge is due tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing how you filled in the spots.

Monday Challenge #10 - Think Pink

Morning ladies! Are you having fun with this month long fest. I'm sure enjoying your creations. Well, the month of October is Cancer Awareness month...so I thought it would be a nice challenge to use pink on your LO (as much or as little as you like). Here is my take:

Remember, you have until Sunday evening to upload your creation to our group or link it here in the comment section for a chance to win a yummy cookie jar treat. Now, on to this past week's winner: Molly. She also did a beautiful card. Isn't this the cutest LO? Thanks for playing along, Molly...and the rest of the girls as well.

Happy Monday,

Bessie

Croptober-fest Scavenger Hunt

I told you, fast and furious with the challenges. But just think of all the great layouts you'll get done this month! Today's challenge starts with a little hunting on your part. I'll give you the list of things to scrounge around for in your stash and you create the layout incorporating them:

• Circles
• Rub-ons
• Some of your oldest paper
• Left-over stickers

Now, go off to scavenger hunt through some of your nearly-forgotten supplies. You CAN use other supplies, but the four listed above have to be included on your layout. Link up your work in the comment section of this post by Tuesday evening to be eligible for a Cookie Jar Treat.

Croptober-fest Challenge #1 Winner

I'll make this short, so you can go back to finishing up your 5 on Friday layouts and get them linked-up by this evening. Thanks ladies for your wonderful layouts for Challenge #1, based on the Nuts About Sketches sketch. Random.org has selected Molly -- Congrats, Molly. The layout of your daughter getting ready for a ride reminds me of similar photos I have. Two little kiddos with helmets bigger than they were getting ready for a ride with Dad. Keep playing ladies -- plenty of challenges to do and plenty of goodies to grab.

My Big Plans . . . a Little Trouble

Picture the scene: My husband has taken our two older boys out to Kansas to do some end-of-season fishing; the only lake they had serious success on all year. My daughter has plans to have a friend sleepover. The baby, who missed a nap and didn't sleep the best for the one he did take, will be heading to bed early. Chipolte for dinner, aka no clean up. Home to settle in for the night, baby is bathed and in bed. Daughter and friend are quietly playing Rock Band -- two difficult things to do; play Rock Band quietly and be two 7th grade girls playing Rock Band quietly. By 9:00 it is just me and my scrapbooking supplies. I begin working on a layout I had started a couple weeks ago, which happened to also work for a layout that I needed to do for a Big Picture class I am taking. I'm getting into the groove around 10:00 when my youngest can be heard over the monitor. NOOOOO! I give him a second to quiet himself, but I realize pretty quickly this is not going to happen. Let's just say that at 12:30, the dream and euphoria are long forgotten as I stagger down the hall to put him in his own room, only to be waken at some dark point in the early morning to bring him back to my room, where we sleep until 7:00. He greets me with smiles and happy chatter. I decide to blow off most of my Saturday chores and play. In the end I finished the layout, seen below and catch myself up on my class, which included embellishing the class binder. Now I just need to do this week's. I'm feeling pretty good.

Hopefully, you're feeling pretty good, too, in taking on the couple of challenges so far this month. I'll be heading to the comments to see who did what and announce a winner later . . . baby isn't quite himself today and needs me.

Croptober-fest -- Witch's Cauldron & 5 on Friday

Ah, the end of a week. This will be a great weekend -- no soccer!! My DH and my two older sons are taking advantage of the no-soccer-weekend and heading out to western Kansas to do some fishing. That means it's just me, my daughter and the baby. How awesome is that? No soccer, no cooking and virtually no cleaning. All weekend!! But of course I'll miss my boys.

There are a few things to do today. First, Croptober-fest challenge #1 is due tonight. If you haven't already linked it in the comment section of that post, you have until this evening to do so. Next it is Friday, so we have 5 on Friday. If you haven't ever given this a shot, now's the time, during Croptober-fest. It's the time to step outside that box. Here is your ingredient list, with a bit of an October flair:

• 1 sheet black cardstock
• 1 set of designer brads, meaning something other than circles or squares
• 1 length of ribbon
• 1 something made of fabric
• 1 sheet of patterned paper

Outside of journaling and your title, only the above items can be used on your layout. Have your layout linked in the comment section by Saturday night to be eligible for a Cookie Treat. Next, we have our little witch, cooking away, and she's ready to toss in the first name. Who 's it gonna be? Let's have a look: CJS -- Congrats!!

Alright, CJS, email your address to me at lori@apronstringsdesigns.com.

Do you want to be next? It's easy. If you aren't already a "follower" of the Apron Strings blog, just register to be one. Names are drawn from the followers at least once a week during Croptober-fest.

Croptober-fest -- Here We Go!

Are you ready? Got your photos? Got your kits? Got adhesives at the ready? Great . . . then let's get this party started!! First, there are great challenges coming your way this month, along with an online crop during the weekend of October 10th -- so block out some time for yourself now because it'll be here before you know it. This weekend, especially, the slow cooker will be your best friend! We're planning a little blog hop at the end of the month to those ladies who participated in Croptober-fest. If you'd like to have your blog hopped to, email your blog address and as we get closer to the end of the month I'll email the blog hop list so you can be ready. There's even prizes for doing nothing -- how great is that? If you aren't already a registered "follower" of the Apron Strings blog, you may want to do that. Get registered that is, because a little witch is going to be cooking up some great fun by adding the name of a follower to her boiling cauldron at least once a week. No, not like the "I'm going to cook you with carrots and potatoes, my pretty" kind of way, this is a good thing because that lucky person will be the recipient of a little goodie! See fun!! We're going to start with a great sketch by Shawn Lahr, from Nuts About Sketches (a favorite here at Apron Strings because her sketches are very usable and she provides photo sizes). I'm a big fan of multi-photo layouts, so I'm going for a sketch with six. Shawn's design team is wonderful, if you need a jump off, you can find the examples using this sketch here.

To be eligible for the first Croptober-fest Cookie Treat, link your layout to the comment section of this post by Friday evening. Then be sure to clear a spot on your scrapbooking table and get ready for the next challenge.

Let's have some fun ladies!!