I {heart} challenges

I am generally inspired by an outside prompt and that's why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE challenges. They have been a great foundation for me to start projects. Here's some of my most recent ones.

One little word- JOY
The latest word is JOY. They've actually done the word before but I didn't mind. The word still brought "joy" to me. Get it!? hehehehehehe. Anyways here's my take on it....

The Joys of Motherhood

When I think of the word Joy, my kids always come up first. That's why it's not hard for me to make a page about my feelings about my children using the word.

I wanted to paint my reality as a mother here so I focused on some of the negatives and shown the positive side of these "trials"/hardships.

Journaling:
Being a mom has been hard for me, even from the very beginning. I don't have easy child birth stories to share, but I did have beautiful babies to show off; I can't say that I'm the most patient parent around, but my kids do know that I mean business when I start yelling their full names; and it's harder now to juggle everything since I'm working part time outside of the home , but we still manage to keep the routines going. I'm sure the road won't be straight and easy to trek but I'm always comforted to know that despite the hardships of being a mother, my life with Marcus and Madelyn in it is a very joyful one. May/ 2009

Q&A

this one was for the latest challenge over at American Crafts Studio blog. We were to use red, white and blue in our layouts.

I didn't want my page to be too close to the theme of the most recent holiday so I used the color scheme to make a page about me instead. It just so happens that it works here since what I'm wearing in the picture IS the same color scheme.

I took the q&a questions I had to fill up for my Crazy Daisy kit design team "getting to know" you spot. I think it was a great little reminder of the "me" right now so I saved it as a layout.
Journaling:
1. I can’t imagine my life without …
my family and papercrafting. Life without scrapbooking is just boring and life without family is unimaginable. What will I scrapbook if I didn't have my family. *smile*
2. My least favorite chore is …
cleaning the bathrooms. That's why I'm glad that I don't live in a big house. I have two bathrooms and I already dread everytime I have to clean both.
3. I would love to win a shopping spree to …
Scrapbook store and Target. But then again I pretend I'm in a shopping spree when I go to those stores. I always end up spending way more than I've planned.
4. My must have treat and music when scrapbooking is …
treat- none. I'm kinda clumsy so food and papers don't really go well with me. Music- anything upbeat, lately it's more toward pop and r&b music.
5. When scrapbooking, I love to use …
my fiskars border punches and pop up dots. I love em!!!
6. My favorite creative project is ...
Mini albums. There's a lot more room to add photos, journaling and products.
7. I thought I would never …
Go back to the work force.
8. My worst habit is …
too much computer time. I spend waaayyyy too much time surfing the net.
9. If I were a superhero, my super-power would be …
Stopping time. Imagine the amount of things I can do while my kids are frozen in time. (just kidding)
10. You would never guess it, but I …
thought I didn't have any creative bone in my body when I started scrapbooking, 5 years ago. During my school years, my artworks would always be average. Nothing too fancy with them, that's why I even surprised myself when I've realized that I CAN be creative.

American Crafts products used:
Pattern papers- Travel line
Letter stickers- assorted Thickers line
Ribbon (circles)- Elements
Embellishments (chipboards, flower and felt)- Everyday line
Frame rubons- Accents book two

and finally a card...

Let Freedom Ring

over at the Cuttlebug blog, the latest challenge was to make a card/project that has red, white and blue scheme plus stars and bonus was to use swiss dots. Got them all here and I enjoyed putting them all together.

I went a little bit vintage here, using Jenni Bowlin Studios buttons, journaling block and letter rubons.

I cut out the star die cuts from Cuttlebug and added a white strip in the middle of the card with embossed swiss dots on it.

Thank you for looking. And if you're looking for some creative jumpstart, click on the links I added for each of these challenges and play along. You never know how it will help get those creative juices flow.

Till next time,
Grace