Little Red Wagon #178

It's Wednesday and time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon!

It was my turn to post the challenge this week and I decided to do a color challenge.  I found this awesome inspiration photo to base the challenge on.

Such gorgeous, bright colors!  And here is my card based on the colors in the photo:

My design was actually inspired by a card I saw on the Two Scrapbook Friends Gallery that also featured a row of cameras.  Plus, I had this awesome die from Die-Namics that I was die-ing to use!

I would love if you joined us this week at Little Red Wagon.  Just create something using the colors in the inspiration photo and link it up!  Have a wonderful Wednesday :)

We Have a Grand-Puppy!

Our son, Tyler, has just bought a sweet little Airedale Terrier puppy and she is soooo adorable!  Her name is Sadie and she is only 8 weeks old.

She is still a little shy and she really didn't want me getting too close to her with my big, scarey camera, so she stayed in the comfort of her crate for most of my picture taking :)

She has huge paws and long legs that she will grow into.  She will end up being around 50 lbs.

We brought her a bacon-flavored chew-toy, but just like a typical kid, she perferred playing with the packaging rather than the toy!

 

 

It feels good to have a little fur baby in the family again!  I am sure she will be very loved and very spoiled :)

Little Red Wagon #177

We are very excited to welcome two new Girlfriends to Little Red Wagon!  Jayne Morgan and Carolyn Wolff have joined our Design Team and we are looking forward to seeing their inspiring creations each week.

This week Jayne has posted the challenge and she has chosen Easter as her theme.  Perfect timing for some Easter creativity as we will be celebrating this special holiday in just a little over a week!

I decided to go with something other than a card for my project.  I created a sweet little Bunny Treat Holder that will be gracing our dinner table on Easter Sunday! 

I used some bright pink heart paper for the bunny's ears, and then matched it up with some cardstock for the nose and paws.  (I know it looks red in my photos, but honest, it is a deep pink!)

I had to use googly eyes to give him lots of character and don't you just love his teeth?

I filled him up with lots of peanut M&Ms - oh yummy!  So now I only need to make up 4 more and our table will be all set!

Be sure to join in the challenge at Little Red Wagon - we would love to see what you create :)

Inspiration Elevator - March 2013

You may recall that the purpose of this monthly challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.

It was my turn to post the challenge this month and this is what I wrote:

"Inspiration Elevator has been such a tremendous experience for me! We have explored our style, stretched our single pages into two, documented our fears and regrets, scrapbooked our beliefs, worked with less than perfect photos and have even gone vintage! Hopefully we have each grown as a result of being a part of this group – I know I have!

One of the fun things about scrapbooking is working with our photos. We get to pick and choose our favorite photos and have fun recording the memories behind them. So this month, I thought we could stretch our creativity by having some fun with our photos!

I assume we all work with digital photos, so this month’s challenge will work for everyone. I want you to pick a photo and then alter it in some way using your favorite photo editing program. I would like to see something more than just making your photo black and white. Maybe use a special effect, add a frame, play with text, etc. There is so much you can do!

Play with your photo until it conveys a particular look or feel that will help you to express your memories associated with that picture. Then add it to your page! When you post your finished project, please share how you altered your photo, and why you chose the effects you did. (Maybe you could even post a before and after of your photo!)"

I had a particular photo in mind that I wanted to work with.  It is a photo that I took last summer of my niece Sarah.  As pretty as the photo was, I thought I could play with it a bit to make it stand out even more.

The is the photo I began with:

 

This is the photo after editing it in Photoshop Elements:

My hope was to create a more ethereal feel to the picture to somehow express how much I love my niece. I used three different overlays on this photo to achieve the look I wanted: Patchy Fog, Hazy Spots and Gold Light Streams.  The overlays are from Portrait Pizzazz for use with Photoshop. I was really happy with how it turned out!

Then I paired my finished photo with Kaisercraft's Pickled Pear Collection of papers and stickers to create my layout.

Lots of layering, some stamping (postage and coffee stain stamps), my favorite ribbon and a pretty little border along the top of my page completed the layout I was hoping for!

I hope you will stop by and see what the other designers on this adventure have created:

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker

Audrey Yeager

Lisa Moen

Laurel Seabrook

Ann Jobes

Cathy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

If you would like to take up the challenge this month, please post a comment below and I will be sure to stop by to see what you have created ♥

Little Red Wagon #176

Wednesday already?  Wow!  I actually took a few days off and went to see my family this past week.  It was a wonderful break and I so loved seeing my Mom and sisters and one of my brothers and a couple of my nieces and my adorable great-nephew!  Now, I am glad to be back and sharing this week's Little Red Wagon challenge with you.

Rosanne has posted the challenge for us this week and we are to feature a window on our project.  No problem!  I just happened to have a delightful image from Sassy Cheryl called 'My Favorite Kind of Weather' that I was waiting to color up and it has a window on it!

Isn't she adorable?  I used my Copic markers to color the image and I used an embossing folder to add some texture to the white cardstock background.

When I was digging through my wagon, I found the perfect orange ribbon to match the card.

Why not join us this week and show us your project that features a window.  Just pop on over to Little Red Wagon and link up your creation.  See you there :)

Little Red Wagon #175

Hello and happy Wednesday to everyone!  Our challenge this week at Little Red Wagon is to make a shaped card.  This is definitely something that I don't do very often, so it was a bit of a challenge for me. 

I immediately turned to my trusty Silhouette Cameo to cut out a gift shaped card and then I made up this fun birthday card!
 

When you pull out the top it reveals a sweet image from Sassy Cheryl called 'I have a Surprise for You'.  I colored up this adorable little boy using my Copic markers.  

The whole time I was coloring, I was amazed at how much he reminded me of our oldest son when he was little.  The knobby knees, the sweet little face, the running shoes!  That is why I gave him blonde/brown hair - just like our Tyler :)

Isn't he sweet?

I hope you decide to play along with us this week!  Shaped cards are so much fun! Just pop over to Little Red Wagon and link up your card.  We would love to see what you create :)

1000 Gifts

"When you are a follower of Christ and you stop counting, you've lost your way."  Ann Voskamp

I keep it on my nightstand within easy reach at the end of a day.  A reminder to pause and reflect.  To count the gifts, the many blessings in my life.  My gratitude journal is a simple black notebook; nothing fancy on the outside but filled with beauty on the inside!

- a cup of hot tea with honey
- easy laughter with friends
- the freckle on my son's nose

I continue to count.  It helps me recognize the hand of God in my life.  It helps me to recognize how small I am and how great and wonderful God is!

- my niece, Fiona's, newborn baby, Evan Richard

- a mother's heart being stretched with an unfathomable love

- the miracle of life
- the beauty of a snow covered morning
- homemade blueberry pancakes

Seeing God in the little things is simple when your heart is open.  He extends His love to every area of our life!

- sheets fresh out of the dryer
- a Rosary with heart-shaped beads (a prayer of God's love)

- pretty photo frames that hold happy memories
- my soul at peace

Will you join me in counting the gifts?  What has God gifted you with today?