I am me - FP Challenge Prompt 12

This month's challenge over at Forward Progress is about letting go and free ourselves from the expectations of others.

This was a difficult challenge for me. It kept lingering in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew I'm not there yet ... I'm not free from the expectations of others. My life is filled with expectations ... I expect a lot from my family, my friends, myself, and I know they have certain expectations from me. I really don't know how to go through life without expectations, so why would I expect others to expect nothing from me? The only sense I could make out of this, the only thing I've learned through the years, is to not let it bother me all that much if I don't live up to someone's expectations. With me, what you see is what you get. Expect all from me that you want, but if I can't live up to your expectations, that's your problem, not mine...

So here's my take on the challenge. It's a 9x9 page, the first page for my BOM album.

I had problems putting this into words for a LO, but when I found this "Ralph Waldo Emerson" quote, it knew instantly it said all I wanted to say:

"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I looked someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I and only I could answer. It took me a while and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself."

This album will be all about me (as the name says duh LOL), about my random thoughts and feelings. I'm thinking most of them will be inspired by song lyrics or quotes, as I've never been any good in just putting my thoughts on paper. I've tried started a journal several times, but I've failed miserably each time. I need to be inspired first LOL.

Obviously this is a very plain LO, but I love it, the pic just doesn't do it justice. In future, I'm hoping this album will have the look of an art journal, but for this particular assignment, I wanted the LO to reflect me ... plain and simple, no frills, true to my "what you see is what you get" theme.

I'm hoping some of you will find the time to play along with us this month, you still have two more weeks to submit your entry. Even if you haven't "progressed" in a certain area, you might, like me, find that that's okay too. Life is about evolving, we can't expect to have everything sorted out right now, right? If ever...

Love xxx Peggy

FROM SCREEN 2 SCRAP October Challenge

I managed to enter one challenge this month, though just in time...
I made the following LO for the "From Screen 2 Scrap" October Challenge, which was a beauty, and I had just the perfect pics! There were quite a few criteria to follow, but I managed to do them all (feeling pretty proud of myself right now LOL).


The translation of the title is "Careful", and the red dymo letters say: "Hold on tight" and "Use your hands and feet".

Journaling:
This picture tells it like it is!
Christina is perfectly happy at the bottom of the ropes. She has always been the kinda scared one.
Yannis would love to join Chloë at the top, but his careful nature spots too many dangers.
Chloë on the other hand ... Chloë doesn't see any danger. From the moment she could walk, she was climbing on every little thing (and I do mean every little thing), and that hasn't changed. This means I'm never at ease when we go to the playground. It seems I spend most of my time shouting for her to be careful, to hold on tight, because you see ... not only does she always climb to the highest point possible, she does this in a way that makes your heart just plain stop. She jumps from one rope to the other, letting go of both hands and feet at the same time... have fun baby girl, but please, be careful!

I didn't get any pics of her letting go of both hands and feet, because frankly, I was too busy holding my breath. To give you an idea of what it looks like when she does that, I added the image of the monkey... scary right?!!

I painted the background with watercolour paints on plain white cardstock. I like painting on watercolour paper better, but since I only wanted to create a background it didn't matter all that much that the paint dried to quickly for the colours to blend in nicely.
I handmade the title (with an ordinary yellow marker), and I stitched the red ropes which were out of the picture (inspired by the pyramid as part of the challenge - you gotta love those challenges, they provide so much inspiration!).

For me, this really is the perfect scrapbookpage, though it might not be as "beautiful" as some of the creations found on the net ... you know what I mean right, I'm not saying this page isn't beautiful, because I do think it is LOL, but it doesn't have that WOW factor. However, this is why I started scrapbooking, to tell a story made prettier with pictures, not the other way around. I'm so in love with this page. This is how I want my art journal to look like, if I ever have the nerve to start on one LOL.

Thanks for looking ladies, and thanks for your comments, I hardly say this often enough, but I do so appreciate all of you taking the time to do so!

Love xxx Peggy

KREATORVILLE KRAFTS

I have some exciting news, my very good friend Keandra, aka Kiwi the kreator, has started her very own kit club, KREATORVILLE KRAFTS, and I'm proud to be one of her designers!!!

Her first kit will be revealed and available for sale on November 21st. Now this kit isn't just like any other kit ... Keandra's kits will always include her handmade painted or glittered titles and embellishments! Those of you who know Keandra, know that she ALWAYS has the best titles and embellies on her LO's ... just check out her blog to see some of her awesome creations! And keep checking my blog and the other ladies' blogs in our team as well ... we'll be posting kit creations regularly!

If you are interested in putting our November kit (pics will be available shortly) on reserve, please email Keandra or Taj (our design team coordinator) at:
keandra@kreatorvillekraft.com
tajkorekreator@kreatorvillekraft.com
The kits cost $37.50 plus shipping for a one time purchase or $32.50 plus shipping for a 6 month subscription. Trust me, with the handmade titles and embellies, you won't be disappointed!
The Kreatorville Krafts blog will go live in a few days, so keep your eyes open! We'll have great prizes for people subscribing to the blog and/or kit!

Next to the kit club, this amazing lady has also started her very own etsy shop, Aptly Titled, where you can buy her titles and embellies seperately.
If you should buy a kit AND items from the etsy store, you can save on the shipping costs ... smart right! So go check out those titles ladies, I promise you, it'll be worth your time!

So, high time to show you some LO's I made with Keandra's titles.

This is my son Yannis, standing in the corner (his "time out") for the first time. We don't put him in the corner anymore, but he does still needs his time out's every now and then ...
Journaling: "On seeing this picture I was a bit shocked at how early on we put Yannis in the corner after having been naughty ... he was soooo young! I remember how surprised we were of him actually staying in the corner after we put him there ... We had expected him to just walk out when he decided he'd had enough. Yet, up until today, he still stays put until we give him permission to come out. It has proven to be an effective punishment though... usually he feels he's been accused unjustly, and he does need that time out to cool down before he's willing to listen to what we have to say"

Like I said in the journaling, i was really surprised at how young he was when we first started doing this, in this pic he's only about 18 months old. I do remember why though, he had hit his baby sister, Chloë, who was 3 months old at the time, on the head with this toys. I guess with Yannis it was all about having to grow up a bit too quickly ... he was only 2,5 years old when his second baby sister was born ... yes yes, you can do the math, I had three children in a period of 2,5 years time ... all I can say is, we had fun LOL.

I inked the wings with Ranger distress inks and covered them with glossy accents ... ah how I love the look of glossy accents!!!!!

Here's Yannis again, showing him at all ages from 0 to 5. I looooooove this LO, and it all came together so nicely. I actually worked around Keandra's title for this LO. Because of the multiple pics, and to show of that gorgeous yellow title, I decided to print the pics in black and white. I recently found the best tutorial ever for altering pics into black and white on Kimi's blog. You can find the tutorial here. Let me tell you, those pics are gorgeous in real life, Kimi knows what she's talking about. Of course, it takes a little more time than just simply pushing the "convert to black and white" button, but it's worth the effort, trust me on this! Anyway, I chose the colour of my cardstock to go with the title, and decided to use a red thread for the leaves to add some contrast. Now the red didn't show on the green cardstock, so I used some masking tape to fix that problem. Turned out pretty neat huh? I used Coordinations cardstock, so I put some chipboard numbers underneath the CS and started sanding away, which left the outline of the numbers on the CS ... I swear, I so love that CS. I then stitched around the outline, just to give it some extra dimension. After stitching the leaves, I decided the CS could do with some more sanding, leaving a "smear" here and there, but I unintentionally hit some of my sewing thread. I was all panicky at first (if you knew me, you'd know how panicky I can get when things don't go my way LOL), but ... I decided to sand on the rest of the thread as well, which gave it this really neat worn look ... gotta love happy mistakes (right Sharon?). That's about it I guess, expect for the yellow stitched frame ... I didn't think the LO looked finished, and again in coordination with the yellow title I stitched the yellow frame ... amazing how things can come together so quickly when you focus on one feature of the LO! And what better feature than Keandra's titles????

This is the first and probably last LO I have made in half an hour! I guess it shows too, but I don't mind, I love it. I love the look of it, the way all of the colours contrast, the doodled flowers and ... haha there's nothing more ... still, I love it!!! Chloë, who is featured on this LO, didn't like it, she thinks the LO is too plain. I blame it on her youth LOL, she doesn't like anything that isn't stuffed with goodies. I on the other hand love it ... did I say that already LOL??? I guess I'm saying it so often because this is the first LO I made after having lost my mojo (remember my previous post) ... The title says "summer freckles", which reminds me ... I should also mention that Keandra can also do custom titles... just mail her and she'll let you know the cost and extra time involved. She can ship up to 20 single or double word titles or graffiti letters in one flat envelope for a flat rate ($ 0.80).

Thanks for making it all down here ladies, you're the best!
Love xxx Peggy

yeah!

One of my LO's (the symbol of Paris) got published in Scrapstreet.com Magazine. You can find it here.
Hihi, this probably is one of my shortest posts ever, but I just had to share ...

Love xxx Peggy

Forward Progress Prompt 11

Hi my sweet blogging friends!

First of all I'd like to thank everyone who sent a little mojo my way, I'm glad to say it helped! I've made 4 LO's in one week ... I think that must be a personal record LOL. I've been totally neglecting all other responsibilities, I've just been scrapping every day ... how wonderful to be able to create again.

As it happens I can only share one LO with you today, you'll have to wait just a little bit longer for the other 3. I made those for a very special occasion, something I'm really excited about and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Later, I promise ...

I made this LO for the current challenge over at Forward Progress. Not many people have entered this challenge yet, and I was so hoping some of you would decide to play along this month! We have a beautiful prize for the winner, and even without the prize, the challenges over at FP are really worthwile. Each and every challenge I've done for FP has made me think about my life, my decisions, my relationship with others ... and made me understand a few things about myself in the process as well.

This time around the prompt is this:

I have always felt that me, as a person and as intense as i am, left an immediate and definitive mark on where I have been and whom I have met. but do I? am I profound? am I in my lines? or do I blur them? This month's prompt is about touching people's lives ... it's not who you touch but how ...

Here's my take on the challenge:

This really was a difficult one for me! I'm a bit (understatement of the year!!!) insecure, and to say that I touch people's lives ... Well, do I really, I wonder? The only persons I could really think of, of course, were my children. But then again, they touched my life as well, they changed me completely, they changed the way I feel about things, how I think, how I love, they changed the way I look upon life itself. I didn't really know how to put this into words, so I used the lyrics to a Martina McBride song, "In my daughter's eyes".

I used to think a lot about my place here in this world. When I was younger, I really wanted to matter, to make a difference in the world. I never did of course, which made me wonder about the meaning of it all. All of this changed when I had my children. I didn't have to look for a purpose, for "the meaning of life" anymore, I had all the purpose I needed and still need. The only thing that matters to me now is creating a warm, loving and safe home for my children, giving them a good start in life, teaching them to be good and strong. I guess I still want to matter, but now in my own little world, I don't feel the need to matter in the whole world anymore. I guess to me the meaning of life is just being happy, and trying my best to make sure that the ones I love are happy as well.

Lyrics:

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
World is at peace
This miracle God gave to me gives me
Strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
Around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
Has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daugter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
She made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

This song says exactly what I want to say, how I feel. I'm sure I touch their lives in a profound way, but really it is a two way thing!

As soon as I saw this picture, I knew I would use it with these lyrics... The LO came to be surprisingly easy. Normally I can't decide on anything when starting a LO, it takes me forever to decide on the slightest detail. However, this LO just seemed to make itself, though I ran across some problems along the way ...

I knew I wanted to use glimmer mist for this LO, to create just the right feel to it. Since I only have one colour of glimmer mist, the choice was easy LOL! I also knew immediately that I wanted to use my "new" stamps (I've had them for several months now LOL). Those of you who follow my blog regularly, know my fear of stamping directly on a page. I'm so proud of myself for finally doing it LOL! I even used my sparkly embossing powder ... talk about taking a risk huh LOL!!! The stamped images were pretty even without the embossing, but with the embossing, wow, they came to life!

And then the problems began ... my sewing machine didn't want to cooperate at all on this one. The stitches were uneven, it got stuck several times, started stitching without a thread leaving just holes in the page ... ah well, it doesn't show all that much, still I didn't get the effect I was after. I had planned on only stitching, but because of this bad look, I added some ink on the edges of the page ... big mistake!!!! It was horrible!! At this point, I had already glued down my alphas, wrote down the journaling, so I just didn't want to start all over again. So I decided to paint over it, using some mesh as a mask. It still didn't give the look I was after when starting this LO, but as it turns out I still love it! I think my daughter will love this one one day ...

Be sure to check out the Forward Challenge site, you won't be disappointed. You still have about a week to enter the current challenge!
Love xxx Peggy

Forward Progress Challenge #11

Hi my scrapping friends, just a little post to let you know that the new challenge over at Forward Progress is up, and it's a beauty! If this one doesn't get you thinking, I don't know what will... It may seem a difficult challenge at first, but don't discard it, it has the potential of creating a really powerful LO! If you feel you have come to a point to take your scrapping to another level, Forward Progress is the place to be!

I hope you will check it out, Lisa and Jocelyn both made beautiful LO's that are sure to inspire you, and this month there's not one but two prizes to be won, so do try to play along!

My LO will go up at the beginning of the new month ... I don't have any sneek peaks to show you though, my mojo's still on holiday :-( I do have the LO worked out in my head, now all I need is a little push to create ... thank god for deadlines LOL.

I also want to thank every single one of you who left a comment on Christina's LO (previous post), you've all made her so happy and proud and I so love you for that!

xxx Peggy

Christina's entry for TAAFOMFT

This is Christina's (my 7-year old) entry for the TAAFOMFT challenge.
Her favorite food without a doubt are "smoskes", which literally means "making a mess". It consists of putting as much vegetables between two slices of bread ... yummie!!!!


To my great pleasure, Christina really is interested in scrapping. Chloë sometimes scraps along with us, but she's too impatient to really finish a page. Christina however loves it, and I'm sure she'll keep on doing it. The only problem is she doesn't allow any help. She reluctantly listens to suggestions I make, and then she does it her way anyway. I see improvement though, she's stealing with her eyes I guess. And she's just like me, very careful with her stuff, every stamp and brush is cleaned right after use LOL, unlike her big sister, who thinks the fairies will come to clean everything up LOL.

Anyway, this is her entry ... I'm sorry to say mine will be finished too late. I had a huge problem with this challenge, I don't have any particular fav food, I love all of it LOL, especially if it's bad for the figure ... sounds familiar????

I haven't had time to scrap lately. I've just finished painting my son's room, and I'm still working on arranging all of his stuff into his new bedroom. I did have some time to scrap, but I just wasn't in the mood ... I don't know what's wrong with me!!!!! Ah well, I'm sure this won't last long, and in the meantime I'm having fun catching up on all of your blogs.

Talk to you later my friends.
xxx Peggy