So Long Croptober

Can you believe it, we're at the end of a great month of challenges, delicious, low-fat Treats and, hopefully, a ton of completed pages! Between the almost daily challenges and a weekend crop jammed with more inspiration, it would have been hard not to complete at least one page. One more challenge, a super easy one really, and something you're probably already doing tonight anyway. Take a photo for today and link it up by Sunday night to be eligible for the final Cookie Jar Treat of Croptober-fest. It could be your bowl of goodies, your goblins, your carved pumpkins, the preparations for tonight's festivities, decorations you set out for the season -- whatever, just snap a photo and link it up! I have a couple more winners from the past week to announce:

• 10/25's Color Challenge -- Linda R. (yes, this time I was paying attention :)
• 10/28's Sketch and Altered Sketch Challenge -- Nitasha

It's going to take me a few days to round up everyone's goodies from the month and get them send out. If you are a member, you'll be getting your Treats in your next shipment. If you aren't a member, you'll be getting your Treats as soon as I can get them pulled, boxed up and out the door.

Alrighty, I have some things to do today -- my daughter is having a "party," meaning she's invited a few friends to trick-or-treat with her and I need to have goodies (and a semi-clean house) for later. We have an indoor soccer game. Church with a rush home to deck everyone out in their finery and send them off with Dad.

I hope everyone enjoyed Croptober-fest and found some great inspiration to keep them cropping or get them going.

Happy Halloween!

5 on Friday

Well, it's still Friday and my clock says 8:35. PM. That's the unfortunate part -- but Friday is Friday and there's a 5 on Friday to kick off. Must be the kids heading back to school has thrown me off. Or maybe I just plain forgot. So, below are your ingredients to work with for today:

• 1 sheet brown cardstock
• 1 sheet patterned paper with swirl/vine pattern
• 1 acrylic item
• 1 set of brads
• 1 length of ribbon

Outside of any journaling and a title, only the above ingredients are allowed. Because of my lateness with this challenge, and the fact that tomorrow is Halloween, this is due to be linked up by Sunday evening.

Have a great evening and a fun Halloween!

Snow Day, Part Deux

We knew last night that we would be home bound again. After about 12" yesterday they were calling for another 5-8" today, and judging from the backyard, I'd say we have that. The kids were thrilled. Then my daughter realized she'd be missing her dance lessons for their Halloween dance at school and making sandwiches for the soup kitchen. My younger son realized he'd be missing a field trip. Then it got worse when they realized that school might be closed on Friday and they'd all miss Halloween festivities. Truly horrifying! But they're managing to make the best of it -- enjoying a non-Sunday "big breakfast," sledding in the front yard, building a huge igloo in the back and my daughter is being a total couch potato. It's too bad the 1 y.o. is a total pill!!!! OMGoodnes, he's going to drive me insane. The whining is still ringing in my ears and he's been in bed for 20 minutes. You'd never know it, looking at these winter land pictures, but the boys started their igloo yesterday (the top two photos - though you can't see the igloo) and had taken all the snow from the lawn, down to the green grass. They had even taken the snow from the back patio. The bottom two show you what it looks like today -- no sign of missing snow. As much as I love snow and being home bound, there is something to be said about constant clean-up. Holy man, they just move from one mess to another. Summer wasn't that long ago, but how quickly I've forgotten. Or maybe it's just lack of mental prep. You know, you have a heads up for Christmas break and Summer break. You can gear up to it. But a snow day just hits you square in the face like a snowball. Oh, well, what're ya gonna do?

So, for all of us snow bums, the Little Witch is here to dole out a Treat without doing anything, except following along. I love those kinds of Treats. Congratulations to . . . lundgren79! Send me (lori@apronstringsdesigns.com) your shipping information and I'll get something in the mail to you.

Alrighty, then, back to cleaning after people and maybe a few peace-filled moments. I hope.

Snow Day!!

Yep. It's true. We have a snow day. We knew there was a big storm coming, anticipating a lot of snow. 8-14" over the next day and a half. Naturally, this happens on a day my daughter was to be in school by 7:30 a.m., so everyone was up EARLY, and they were actually on track to get out of here on time. I checked the school closing, saw the local public schools were closed and our school usually follows them. My first check online didn't produce our school's name, but I checked another station's website and there it was! The kids were so excited, they ran upstairs to change back into their pajamas. I'm going to make a batch of potato soup in the slow cooker and maybe toss some stuff into the bread maker to make garlic bread to go with it. I think I have some ham, too. Perfect snowy day meal. AND if it's in the slow cooker, that means there's time to do something scrappy! I think it's a great day for a sketch challenge. Below is the current sketch from Nuts About Sketches. I love it because it's a one-pager (I don't do many of those) and it has six photos on it! How great is that. There's a twist with this challenge, though . . . create two layouts to be eligible for the Cookie Jar drawing. One layout use the sketch as is and then on the other one alter the sketch; make it a 2-pager, rotate the layout, adjust the photos sizes, etc. However you choose to alter it.

Link up your layouts in the comment section by Friday to be eligible for a Treat.

The Croptober-fest is coming to a close soon. I'll try to cram in a couple more things before Saturday, but hopefully you've enjoyed the month of challenges, games and the crop and that your pile of completed layouts has grown.

Have a great day -- even if its not a snow day. :)

Quick Clarification

Just a quick clarification on winners I posted yesterday.

• Linda R. won the 5 on Friday and Sketch Challenge
• Linda (no R.) won the Go Green Challenge -- Linda, I'll need your address to ship out your goodies -- lori@apronstringsdesigns.com

Sorry for the confusion girls.

Monday Challenge #13 - Fall...Beautiful Fall

Happy Monday, ladies! How was your weekend? Did you get a chance to scrap? Well, I have to say that fall is my second favorite season. The crispiness of the air, the beautiful colors of fall, and kids playing with piles of leaves are some of my favorite. So, this challenge is to let fall inspire your LO or card. Put on a LO or card whatever speaks to you Fall. Here's my take on this challenge:

Remember, you have until next Sunday evening to link your LO or card for a chance to win a cookie jar treat...and talking about yummy delicious cookie jar treats...the winner for last week's challenge is Leighann. She did a beautiful LO. Thanks for playing, and a cookie jar treat will be heading your way.

Happy week,

Bessie

More Winners from Croptoberfest

I've been a bit of a slacker this week in terms of getting winner's names out for challenges this week, and I forgot to do the "overall" winner from the crop last weekend. So let's just get right to it:

• 10/16's 5 on Friday winner -- totally spaced because I was wrapped up in the crop, but Molly -- you've got a goodie coming your way!
• 10/20's Sketch Challenge -- selected by Random.org, winner is Linda!
• 10/22's Go Green Challenge -- some great project came in for this challenge, so Random.org selected Linda, again!
• 10/23's 5 on Friday -- hmm. . .this winner is going to be one happy scrapper -- Linda! Linda, looks like this was your week! Holy cow, Random.org loves you. I think I'll just send you a larger-than-normal Cookie Jar Treat to cover you for this week's winning.

Finally, I've sorted through the layouts from the crop last weekend and have the following three scrappers who completed all of the challenges:

1. Rebecca
2. Michelle
3. Bessie

Random.org selected --- Bessie! Congrats Bessie -- you'll be receiving one Gi-normous Cookie Jar Treat.

All the layouts from the various challenges during the crop are simply amazing! I have found a way to get them all in one place, I just haven't had time to gather the photos and upload them -- hopefully this week.

Now, yes, Linda and Bessie are big winners, but that doesn't mean the challenges are over and that the Cookie Jar is empty. Far from it. We have a week left of challenges and prizes. Don't stop the cropping! :)