Very Mary: Another Challenge! (With Laura and Lovely)

Do you ever walk into your studio/scrap space and feel totally overwhelmed by the endless options? That would be me, staring at the piles of ribbon and mounds of patterned paper while my creative time trickles away.

Enter: the challenge.

Not only will challenges get us scrapbooking, it will also help us scrap faster (in my case, this would be a small miracle) by having a starting point. A suggestion from a blog reader and fellow scrapbooker, Lisamarie, has inspired my good friend Laura and me to attempt challenges on a more regular basis. Every two weeks (if we remain ambitious).

Our challenge:

1. The color pink. As the mother of a daughter, I have a mega-stockpile of pink. What color are you stockpiling?

2. Flowers. I am admittedly flower-challenged. Does anyone else have this problem?

3. KI Memories patterned paper. Ooooh, baby, do I love me some KI paper!

4. Sticker letters. All I can say is that I have many, many stickers to use up.

AND as a fun twist, we hoping to include a "guest challenger" to participate and show an additional take on the challenge.

For the kick-off, we invited the talented Miss Lovely Cutler. I met Lovely at a scrapbook store in my hometown, and I knew we were going to be friends when the first words she said to me were, "So, are you totally addicted to scrapbooking?" I know a kindred spirit when I see one.

Lovely is one of the most charming, funny, and humble people I know. Her signature style often includes fabulous, fabulous enlargements of her sweet little daughter. Here's Lovely's page (more details HERE):

And a closer look:

Love that she included the layer of vellum over the patterned paper, and the multiple rows of scallops are the perfect girly touch for this page about her little girl. And btw, isn't that little sweetie completely adorable?

And here is Laura's fun interpretation (more details HERE):

A closer look:

Laura is a pro at combining fun, colorful elements but still keeping the design clean and focused on her photos. Love that she used the photos and the mega-sized purple brad to create a visual triangle that moves your eye around the page. And isn't her little sweetie also completely adorable? (I think we have a trend here...can you guess what my page is about?)

In case you weren't sure, here it is:

When I made these cards a while back, I noticed that the American Crafts Detailed embellishments matched these photos of Sadie shredding flowers. So when "flowers" were suggested as a challenge item, I can't say I was exactly excited, but I was game for it! I pulled some matching American Crafts paper and paired it with this KI Memories paper from the Holiday Collection. In case you can't see it, the paper reads "LOVES ME LOVES ME NOT" which is a very happy find for a page about a petal-plucking baby. Here's a closer look:

If you've managed to read this far, you might just deserve an award. Or maybe just the promise of another challenge in a short two weeks. In the meantime, feel free to play along and if you do, send us a link to your layouts!Thanks Laura and Lovely for a great challenge! And big thanks for being so patient with me while our self-imposed deadline WHOOSHED by!

Supplies on my page: Patterned Paper: American Crafts, KI Memories; Stickers, Ribbon, Brads, Flower: American Crafts; Chipboard: Heidi Swapp, American Crafts; Stamp: gel-a-tins; Buttons: Chatterbox; Journalin Card: Lisa Bearnson Kit of the Month - April 2008

Comments

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what fun! thank you so much for trusting me to participate in this crazy-fun way of chopping down papers and stuff. i immensely enjoyed it even in the middle of my panic attack!
it is so very interested that the 3 of us came up with 3 different fabulous pages. i really had fun! honestly. is quite addicting actually- it helped me think on something else. i love everybody's pages... i feel like i can't stop prasing and thanking you. help! somebody needs to yank me away from my keyboard!

hugs,
Lovely

Posted by: lovely cee | November 15, 2008 at 11:13 AM

Nice challenge and great pages. Thanks for sharing!

Posted by: Deneen | November 15, 2008 at 11:53 AM

What a great LO!! The colors here are just beautiful!! I will probably have to participate!

Posted by: Carla | November 15, 2008 at 06:10 PM

I just love these challenges! Your title is PERFECT for those CUTE pics & I love how you added the flower for the O! Another FUN challenge brilliantly done!

Posted by: Sara Rossi | November 15, 2008 at 09:00 PM

another fun challenge we came up with ... so loving these! i actually like being told what to use on my layouts ... you know how indecisive i can be. lol! just love the layout you came up with ... perfect!

Posted by: laura vegas | November 16, 2008 at 01:24 AM

Here's my LO for the challenge...
http://in-time-out.blogspot.com/2008/11/challenge.html

Posted by: Carla | November 16, 2008 at 02:20 PM