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!

5 on Friday

First things first. Props to Jennifer H. for having her layout selected on Club CK for this post. Scroll down about six layouts and you'll see hers - under Yellow. WooHoo Jennifer! Congrats. Second, I've got plenty to do today, starting with helping my daughter oversee our part of the neighborhood garage sale (she's got big plans for any money she makes). Luckily the weather is cooling off big time and rain is coming, so we won't be sitting in the sweltering heat we've had lately. With the boys off fishing again, maybe I'll get a little scrap-time in sometime. Probably not gonna happen today though. (shrug) I'm sure you all are looking for your 5 on Friday and here it is:

• 1 sheet cardstock - neutral in color: brown, kraft, white or black
• 1 set of patterned paper SCRAPS (no whole sheets allowed)
• 1 set of alphabet SCRAPS (no complete set allowed)
• 1 set of left over buttons
• 1 set of ribbon SCRAPS (no lengths longer than 12" allowed)

Hey, it's garage sale day - clear out the bits and pieces! Remember this along with the other two challenges this week are due by Saturday evening to be eligible to win a Cookie Jar Treat.

Have a super weekend!

Sketches on Wednesday

Oh, billing day. Part one is over; the printing, replying, running, more replies, more printing and more running because the ran off down the hall. Tomorrow begins part two; the boxing, labeling and sealing. So because I love multi-tasking, for fun I'll piggy back that stuff with getting the DH and older boys out for fishing trip #2 on the hottest day of the year; record tying or breaking. Super fun. But, there are more fun things on the horizon, like today's challenge with a sketch from Nuts About Sketches. It's fun, it's six photos and it's two pages! Now that's hot. :)

This along with the rest of this week's challenges are due on Saturday evening. Stay cool!

Much Ado About Monday

Oh, it's Monday and even though there's no school (insert happy dance here), there's a plate full of things to do. None of which I am currently doing, mind you, but the list is there nonetheless. I'm blaming the heat and humidity for my lack of productivity. I was productive in the scrapping department last week - completing my Basic Grey June calendar page, finishing one 2-pager that I started my last "session" and then doing four more 2-pagers. And. . .drum roll. . .my December Daily photos are now happily in their mini album! And the Bonus. . .I started printing off the remaining photos for my Project 365 '09. It felt so nice to get to those things! This weekend will be a repeat, after I get shipping done. And Kristin, I don't know. . .the laundry sitting and waiting for washing certain smells worse than fish, so it's entirely possible the boys were sent home. Though not before capturing six delish White Bass. I hear they cooked up nicely. The fish, not the boys. :) Now, let's see:

• Check out Jennifer's blog here, for the cake that goes with her pink poodle invites. How cute is that! I think cake might be on order for dinner tonight. White cake with Cherry frosting.
• On June 18th, wander on over to Bella Blvd's blog to win an Apron Strings kit and see some layouts from some gals you may know. Don't worry, I'll remind you. :)
• This week over at Sketch Inspiration, you can grab this week's sketch challenge, a sneak peek of Apron Strings' Sous Chef layouts based on that sketch (a couple anyway, I said "sneak"), but there's a shot at winning an Apron Strings kit there too.f
• Have you been following along with Kristi's June Journal on her blog? It's a great way to snapshot the end of school and summer break for this year. Once a day photo and a quick layout make a nice way to remember this summer.

Let's see oh, winners from last week. Shoot, no, two weeks worth. What the heck? How did I miss that one? Okay, well here you go:

• 5/24- 5/28 - Winner is Molly! Your goodie will be in your next shipment.
• 6/1 - 6/4 - Winner is Deanna! Your goodie will ship with your order; I think you have another prize, too.

And finally - today's challenge; I can just get it in. I'm sweltering here in the heat and humidity, so work with something "cool." Create your layout using cool tones: blues, greens, crisp white, purple. I'll give you a bonus toss in the drawing if you scrapbook something cool. This will be due, linked, by Saturday evening.

Hopefully, it's cooler where you are. Happy Monday.

5 on Friday

You know I thought about this post at least three times today, but was quickly distracted by various things. So, because of the lateness, this challenge along with the prior two from this week are due, linked to the various posts, by Sunday evening (instead of the usual Saturday.) I've been lucky enough to enjoy a good part of the day scrapbooking with my sister. She showed up around 1 pm and we sat down to work. I finished up one layout, did my June calendar page and have the better part of another layout stuck down, and it's only 6:30. Prime cropping hours are still to come. Especially since we've eaten dinner and have made a run to DQ for a cool treat. Tomorrow night I'll be scrapbooking some more with two of my three sisters! Things are very laid back with the DH and two older boys are out fishing for the weekend. Here are you five goodies for today:

• 1 sheet cardstock
• 2 sheets patterned paper
• 1 felt embellishment
• 1 chipboard embellishment

Remember, outside of journaling and a title, only the five ingredients above can be used on your layout.

Hope your Friday is the start of a great weekend. Here - no soccer! No volleyball! No school to prep for! And only half the family! Scrapbooking here I come! (Yes, I miss my boys, but I know they're having a great, no shower, eating whatever I wouldn't want them to be eating and enjoying all day on the lake kinda time.)

Sketch on Wednesday

Short and sweet on this second to last day of school for my kiddos. I'm attempting to help DH get ready for his annual "boys only" fishing trip. He and our older sons, meet up with DH's brother and some other friends for a few days of fishing, cookouts and no showers. Sounds like fun. Not. Today's sketch comes from Sketchy Thursdays, one of their more recent ones.

Like the other challenges from this week, this one is due by Saturday evening.

Happy Wednesday. Next time we chat, I should be a summer-vacation mom.

Mon. . Tues. . Wed? Challenge

Monday. Holiday. Tuesday. Slipped by. Wednesday. Sketch as usual. First - soccer. Both boys, in two separate tournaments, did not make it to the championship brackets, though both played well and their teams did a great job. Now, we push on to tryouts this Thursday and Friday and we can call it quits until July. I refuse to think about how short a time that sounds. Second, join Kristi Bergin-Smith (designer, student, mom, wife extraordinaire) is hosting her annual June Journal on her blog. It's another fantastic opportunity to document your daily life. If you haven't had a chance to take part in this type of activity, I highly recommend it! Next, if you participated in Melanie's blog hop, did you check in to see if you won any of her great prizes - one of which was a goodie from Apron Strings :) Okay, so onward to today's challenge, so I can move on to tomorrow's. Create a layout using papers you keep passing time and again when searching through your stash. No passing those papers by this time!! Link up your layout by Saturday evening to be eligible for Treats. Hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday and that your short week has started off nicely.