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Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge

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This month's blog hop challenge was to use nontraditional colors to create a holiday card. I started off with a totally different color combination and made six cards with slight variations. Then I realized I'd substituted Select White for the Soft Stone since I got a sharper image on the white. You won't see those here because some of you are sure to receive one of them in the mail. When I started over, I chose a totally different color scheme, one I definitely wouldn't have chosen for a Christmas card, but I rather like the results. Here's the color palette:

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Although the color's not listed, there's clearly some cream in the inspiration post, and I added a Vintage Cream tag. Everything on the card is Papertrey:  Sweet Blush, Scarlet Jewel, Dark Chocolate, and Avocado Green cardstocks, and  Sweet Blush ribbon. I used the Herringbone Impression plate, the chevron dies, Block Alpha, and Tag Sale #3. For some reason the Scarlet Jewel isn't showing up particularly well in either photo.

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It was fun to break out of the Christmas red and green box for awhile. 

Scrapbook a Sign

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The challenge this month at Simple Scrapper is to scrapbook a sign. When I put together the collage of welcome signs from our road trip this summer for Rinda's scavenger hunt, I printed a copy of it. When I saw the challenge, I knew it was time to put it together. This may be the busiest page in my album, but I did want to use the road map patterned paper.

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We never saw a sign for Kansas and somehow I didn't find the photos of a couple other states, so I decided to take the set of Studio Calico stamps and stamp the names of ALL the states we traveled through during those three weeks onto two Paper Source tags. The little car that connects them was cut from a piece of Imaginesce paper as was the border across the bottom. Both came out of a travel folder I keep and I've had them for ages.

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I trimmed around a Technique Tuesday journaling card; the little Drive medallion came from a set of Little Yellow Bicycle stickers. The alpha is still my all-time favorite from SEI. I bought multiple sets of it in both red and blue before it was discontinued.

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Once I finished the page, I realized I haven't scrapped many photos from the trip at all. Guess I should get on that!

Birthday Wishes–A Two Challenge Card

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I'm trying to get all the birthday and anniversary cards that I need for the rest of October and November done before Sarah and Caleb arrive later this week. I wanted to participate in the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge again as well as the CAS-ual Friday challenge. CAS-ual Friday is about to release their first sets of stamps later this month. They've had lots of great sneak peeks this week. You can check it out here.

Here's the sketch:

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And the CAS-ual Friday challenge is to have an element hang off the edge of your card. Once again these challenges worked well together, and CAS is definitely my preferred style.

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Here's what I came up with. I'm trying to use some stamps I haven't used in a while, so pulled the Modern Wood Mats set off the shelf and stamped it onto a Mat Stack 1 die. Then I die cut Bloom Builders #3 in two different colors and used the smaller dies to create this flower. The center is an old Making Memories brad, and the leaves are Tender Leaves by Memory Box. The sentiment (stamped on a Double Ended Banner die) is from Round and Round. Everything except the leaves and brad are by Papertrey Ink.

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I'm thinking this will be heading to one of my nieces for their November birthday. Thanks for your nice comments on the new profile photo. My son-in-law took this when we were in Hilton Head. He was looking for some new head shots and I surely needed one, so it was a great trade. Just took me two months to get it changed!

Take Twelve: October

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I finally got a couple of layouts photographed and thought it was about time to get the Take Twelve layout for October published. This was really such a typical day, so no photo was shouting to be taken.

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The woman in the bottom left photo works at a local photography gallery & printing shop. I've worked with Beth a couple of times on personal projects, but on this day I picked up a photograph of Tracy's step-father that had been seriously damaged during the fire. It was my mother-in-law's favorite photo of Bill, and Beth did an amazing job of restoring it. Here's what it looked like before:

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And here's the restored photo:

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Here's a close-up of the journaling:

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I determined before I began this layout that I would use products exclusively from this month's kit from Studio Calico, and I did with the exception of the tag from my stash and some woodgrain Washi tape. Washi's becoming a staple here. I loved the patterned papers; one is from American Craft's Ready, Set, Go line and the other is a Studio Calico paper. The photo template was cropped from one by Shimelle.

Early Morning Walk

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A friend and I took an early morning walk along the Erie Canal this morning. I decided that I would take all my photos for Capture Your 365 with my iPhone this month. I didn't do anything except crop and sharpen them a bit in PSE. I think our foliage is just about at peak now. It's beginning to cloud over, and we're expecting rain later so it was a good thing we got our walk done early. 

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We just came home from a two hour work session at the Community Garden. A lot of great work was accomplished, but I think I am likely to be very sore later. Have a great weekend!

 

The Farmer’s Market: Hybrid Scrapping

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We've always loved farmer's markets and have enjoyed ones in Oakland, CA, Princeton, NJ, and Ithaca, NY. The last three years, we've had a very nice one right here in Brighton at the high school. We rarely miss a Sunday from late May to the end of October. Two weeks ago I took a group of photos and popped them into a template by Paislee Press. I added a digital paper by Alexa and then printed it out and adhered it to a piece of patterned paper by My Mind's Eye.

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I printed the journaling on an Avery tag and added (once again) a Flair button. If every layout I made came together so quickly, I'd have a lot more pages in my albums!

Friends

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One of the nicest things about traveling is getting to spend time with old friends. We've been friends with Dan for nearly 15 years now. He and his wife, Nikki, kindly invite us to stay with them whenever we're in Denver. Dan's brother, Steve, is also a good friend and had just moved to Denver the week before we arrived. We all went out to dinner the last night before we headed home, and I just love this photo of Matt and his (our) friends.

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The inspiration for the layout came from a layout I saw on the Simple Scrapper Blog by Jean Manis.

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I started with some patterned paper by MME and then found some coordinating patterned paper by the same company but in different collections. Once again, there's a Flair button and some Washi tape (I see a pattern here). The tiny word sticker came from a very old Making Memories sheet that I stained with some Papertrey Tea Dye ink. The journaling card from Cosmo Cricket has also been in the stash for a long time. The American Craft Thickers are newer, arriving in a Studio Calico kit not long ago as did the tiny arrow that's part of a new Amy Tangerine collection.

Anniversary Take Three

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It’s not often that I can combine a group of challenges with cards I need to make. I had a few Flair for Buttons badges laying on my desk thinking I’d use them to make some anniversary cards that need to go into the mail in the next few weeks. Then late last week, up popped several challenges that all worked together. I started with a new sketch challenge: CAS(E) this sketch!

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I punched hearts and a circle which qualified the cards for the Simon Says Challenge: Use Dies or Punches. 

And finally the CAS-UAL Fridays challenge:  Put Your Heart Into It.

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Here are the three cards. I started with the Flair button and chose the patterned paper and cardstock based on the colors in the button.

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All three cards also qualify for a challenge on Moxie Fab for “love” cards.

(Cardstock:  Neenah & Color Mates; patterned paper:  MME: Stella Rose & Happy Go Lucky, October Afternoon: Cherry Hill; buttons:  A Flair for Buttons; and sentiment stamp: Savvy; Punches: McGill)

 

 

 

 

Make A Wish: Two Challenges

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I'm getting this card into the Embellish Challenge just under the wire,but it's been on my to-do list since I first saw it.

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Once I saw this week's Retro Sketch I thought they'd go together nicely.

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Here's my take on the challenges. I think this card would work for a guy, a gal, or a teen.

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Cardstock:  Select White & Enchanted Evening (PTI); patterned paper: Bitty Stars (PTI); foil paper & glitter twine: Paper Source; gem:  Mark Richards; star punch: McGill; stamp: Think Big Favorites #1 (PTI)

It's a beautiful fall day here, but very chilly. Tracy left to golf. I think his fingers may be frozen by the third hole! I'm happy to have nothing on my schedule but the gym.

Ten on the Tenth: Caleb

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This post was ready to go when I found out this morning that my dear blogging friend, Deb, has lost her mother to ovarian cancer. Marti was such a lovely, strong woman and she will be sorely missed by her family and friends. I feel blessed to have had a connection with her through the mail this past year. Deb and her family are being held close to my heart today.

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It's Ten on the Tenth again. September flew by, and I thought I'd better share some photos of the darling Caleb taken in August before he arrives here in just a couple of weeks for a visit. He's already grown quite a bit from these photos, and is now crawling and pulling himself up. I'll try to be more timely for the next set of photos. So here are ten of Caleb:

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Possibly my favorite, but when I asked Sarah to pick one for my photo-of-the-day, she chose this one:

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I love this litte suit that protects Caleb from the sun. Less sunscreen to apply.

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In general, this is one happy baby!

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Even before he could crawl, he could scoot across the floor on his belly. One morning he got himself all tangled up in his carrier.

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Caleb and his mom

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At Zoo Atlanta with Grandpa

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Playing with a bag from our shopping spree at the outlets.

Sarah and Caleb are coming for two weeks the end of this month. It's been a year since Sarah was here. I hosted her baby shower a year ago. The extended family hasn't had a chance to meet Caleb, and we'll be going to my brother's for a couple of days while they are here. I'm already counting the days.

Take Twelve: August

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I intended to spend yesterday making cards since I missed World Card Making Day while I was in Canada. But instead, I got busy scrapbooking and finished a three layouts. I started with my August Take Twelve photos. I've already posted September's but August 12th was right at the beginning of our summer road trip, and the project seemed to get put on the back burner.

Take12August

Thanks to Melissa I finally got a shot of two pages together, although it's still not quite right. You can click on the image to make it a bit larger. (The background papers are BoBunny Dark Denim Dots, and the yellow border is from Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook series. The American Craft Thickers (Eric) are the perfect blue, and came in a Studio Calico kit. I used a photo template by Kitty Designs to organize the photos and do the journaling.)

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Like a Flower

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I had time this morning to make a card for three challenges (and with a birthday greeting inside), another card for upcoming occasions. First, for the Retro Sketch Challenge which I love:

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Next, the ColorQ Challenge:

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And, lastly, the CASual Friday challenge:

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The three challenges seemed perfect for one another. The ColorQ and CASual Friday challenges both celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness. CASual Friday's was to celebrate the women in our life. The sentiment from Floral Frenzy (Papertrey Ink) seemed just perfect.

Friendship

I used Raspberry Fizz cardstock for the base, and all the other papers came from my scrap drawer. In the photo, the sentiment block almost appears white, but IRL it's a definite pink.The scalloped border was made with a Fiskar's border punch, and the flowers are old, old Prima flowers. I gave away most of my flowers but, fortunately, saved one small box of a variety of flowers. The ribbon came from Michael's.

September Recap

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September was a long month for us, and I'm quite sure I would have rarely picked up a camera if it weren't for the Capture 365 project. But every month it helps me capture our activities, and gives me an opportunity to summarize what I've done during the month. Somewhat like the Month in Numbers that many of you do (and I love.)

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I raided my stash of Studio Calico kits (I have bits and pieces left from several months) for the materials on this layout. I found the Flair button and the woodgrain paper first and then worked from there. You can also see some Washi tape! (The patterned papers are Studio Calico, My Mind's Eye, and American Crafts; the clip is also My Mind's Eye and the wood veneer camera -colored with the Chai Tea ink pad by Papertrey- is by Studio Calico. I cut the title with my Silhouette.)

Here's a better look at the monthly photos:

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And the journaling:

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September’s was a hard month here. Bill has been in the hospital and rehab the whole month, and decided at the end of the month that he was ready to go. He waited for Marcy to come home from her trip, and now he’s resting and being given comfort care. Ellie is still living here, and her life is such a roller-coaster of emotion. She supports Bill, but is devastated at the thought of losing him. The insurance has finally been settled for the B&B, so she’s had to deal with the loss of her home and possessions all over again. Tracy and I do what we can to support her as does the rest of the local family. It was a long month.

Tracy and I did get away one weekend to the Adirondacks. Tracy and Bob backpacked for two days, and Cathy and I “camped out” in Lake Placid at the Lake View Motel overlooking Mirror Lake. We had a lovely time, eating at favorite and new-to-us restaurants and doing a bit of shopping. We also made a road trip to Buffalo with our book group.

With everything going on here, keeping up with a photo-a-day was much harder. I resorted to a lot of plant photos, but honestly, if it weren’t for this project, I probably wouldn’t have picked up the camera at all.

I finished two books:  The Violinist’s Thumb (for book group) and A Wedding in Haiti. I learned quite a bit from the first one, and loved the second one as I have everything by Julia Alvarez. I completed seven cards and four layouts. I also joined a study group at church where we’re reading the Psalms through a process developed in the 1600’s by an archbishop in England. I’m fascinated by the reading, and enjoying the small group discussion as well as the staff worship service that follows our group each Tuesday.

 My social life didn’t suffer:  lunches with Marie, Jane, Maureen, and Tina; duplicate bridge at Jack & Cathy’s (we won for the first time in over a year!); and dinner with Susan. My volunteer commitments were really heavy this month for all three Presbytery committees. A dinner with the Children’s Agenda was a highlight.

We're off to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario for the weekend with our good friends, Karen and Mike. We have tickets to see the musical "Ragtime" and dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants. We'll visit a few wineries and wander through the town. The four of us have been going each fall for nearly a dozen or more years and it's always a great time.

Sad News

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My mother-in-law, Ellie and Bill 

Tracy's step-father and the Grandpa to my children, passed away last night. Bill was a wonderful man, kind and caring, intelligent and witty, and a wonderful step-dad to Tracy, his siblings, and all the grandchildren. He will be sorely missed. He'd been in the hospital and rehab since the end of August, and as time went on it became abundantly clear to him that he was not going to recover enough to live an independent life. He was 91, and five days ago decided that he had had enough. He was able to say his good-byes to his daughters, all of us, and especially to Ellie. Please keep her (and us) in your prayers. Although she supported his decision to stop treatment, it is a devastaing loss to her. Given the awful fire in January where she lost her home and nearly all her possessions, this has been one year of terrible loss.

Casual Friday Challenge & Papertrey Ink Make-It-Monday

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I haven't played along with a Casual Friday challenge in a long time, and it's been even longer since I participated in a Papertrey Ink Make-It-Monday even though I do look at them each week. This week, however, the two fit together perfectly. Casual Friday's challenge is to create a card based on your blog header. Since Random Reflections is the blog, and I almost always have a photographic reflection as my header, the Papertrey Ink technique of creating reflected sentiments couldn't have been more timely. I was quite pleased with my first attempt at this, and know I'll give it a try again.

ReflectedWishes

I started with stamping the sentiment (Think Big Favorites #16) in Smoky Shadow ink and then doing the reflected sentiment.Then I used the Herringbone Impression plate (PTI) to emboss just the top half of the card front. I found the perfect patterned papers in the 6X6 Calico Classics paper pad (Studio Calico) and used the Happy Hexagons cover plate (PTI) to cut and arrange the hexagons. A small strip of one of the patterned papers and three woodgrain stars (Studio Calico) that I colored with Copics finished the main card. I mounted it on a Smoky Shadow mat, and then on a card made from Soft Stone (PTI).