April Scrapbooking Challenge

I hosted this month's Scrapbooking Challenge at my online group, R-C-S. The challenge:

1 - 2 -3 Challenge

1 - Use only 1 word for your title

2 - Use 2 photos on your page, and only two.

3 - April showers bring May flowers so use 3 flowers somewhere on your
page



My title was actually 2 words but 1 phrase - Honolulu, Hawaii. Both of my photos are looking down on Honolulu from Round Top Drive. Amazing views, huh? Lot of concrete! I have three flowers along the middle of the page along with lots of circles, buttons, and chipboard buttons. I don't use lots of circles on my pages and I don't really clutter things like this, but I love the way it turned out. Here are a few close-ups of the circles and flowers.









Thanks for dropping by!

I am Alive

How horrible of a blogger am I? Having a career seriously cuts into time that is normally spent doing fun things. I might have to rethink this whole having a job thing. However, I am hoping to get with the program and start updating this thing and visiting all of my scrappin and stampin friends more. I miss ya'll!

At my online scrapping group, I am hosting a monthly scrappin challenge. The challenge this month was presented by a lovely lady, Sandy, and her challenge goes as follows:

Are you ready for the January 2009 Scrappin Challenge?
January is the month everyone seems to be into goals and
resolutions.......feeling the need for a new start......decluttering their
lives.

My challenge is a one or two page LO (digital or traditional) of your goals
for 2009. I don't care what kind of photos you add to your LO, be they
objects, scenery, etc....But, there must be one current photo of yourself on
the LO.

Most scrappers find themselves behind the camera, not in the photos at all.
I know I just printed 200 photos from March-June 2008 and I am in only one
of the photos. It will be hard for my family to find out what I looked like
last year. This way we can leave at least one for 2009.

Also in keeping with the decluttering theme you must only use supplies from
your stash - no purchases!!!

REMINDERS:
1. Scrapbook goals for 2009
2. At least one current photo of yourself
3. Only stash - no purchases

So lets get started and remember you must have your LO posted by January
31st at midnight.

Here is the page I created for the challenge. I used all scraps and things I recieved from my Secret Santa this year. She did a fabulous job getting me things like those cute chipboard buttons. The paper is from TLC - the Sweet Pea kit - which I receieved from my friend M-C but hadn't used yet. I took mty Storylines Stencil and created the wavy edge of the patterned paper just to break up the colors some. The photo frame is also from the kit. Speaking of the photo, this was taken on New Year's Eve so I thought it appropriate to place on my first layout of the new year. It is also one of my favorite photos of Brian, Shrek, and myself.



I used these great chipboard buttons that I got when I was living in Hawaii. I can't believe I still have letters left! I thought Goals was a more appropriate term since I can't seem to actually keep a resolution. Perhaps it is the wording, right? I really like how the chipboard buttons and letters add depth to the page. I added two tags to the page; one says Happy New Year! and the other says 2009. I used white ribbon to attach those to the "L" chipboard letter and placed another chipboard button in the middle of the "O". I suppose you guys are wondering what my goals are. Thank goodness for my digital camera because now you can just read them youself...

I added the definition of goals to the journaling. Now sure why but I thought it was appropriate. If you are interested I am posting my progress on my goals at my other blog, Carolina Transplant.


Now this page is, in my honest opinion, too cute to place in an album. Plus, I think having your goals in a place that you can see them and be reminded every now and then is a good thing. Therefore, I placed them on the side of my scrapping storage bins. I really like how it looks there.



For the readers:

1)What are your New Year's Resolutions or Goals?
2)How are you putting those on paper, whether on a scrap page or in a journal?
3)If you have scrapped a page, share it in my comments. I would love to feature them!

Fun October Pages

Hey everyone. Remember that October challenge I posted a while back? There were so many great pages that I just had to share.

Lori did an amazing job with this digital layout. Isn't her title FUN?







M-C put together this DPS. Her page has so many details. Did you see those crazy pumpkins?


















Here is Lynne's page. Her title font is so cute and I love the stripped paper.











Some of the gals uploaded their pages to Webshots so I was unable to download them. However, no worries. You can still check out their pages. Here is Kate's page. I love the digital layout she did. Last (but not least, I hope) if you missed my page you can see it here.

If you completed the challenge and I missed you, could you please leave me a comment with the URL of your page? I would love to post it!

Thanks everyone that played along. October was so much fun. I will be posting the November challenge soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Liluokalani Gardens

Liliuokanli Gardens is located in Hilo on the Big Island and I had the pleasure of visiting during my Christmas vacation last year. I did not plan on visiting on my first day in Hilo but upon touching down at the airport we discovered that it always rains in Hilo. During a break in the rain we headed for the gardens to a quick peek before the rain started up again. Well, we got caught in the rain anyway but it was well worth it because this place was gorgeous.

Here is my page for the Gardens.

I did some really cool elements on this page. First, the little envelope is one of my favorite embellishments for scrappin pages. The envie opens to reveal the name of the Gardens and the date we visited. Second, the cute tag at the top swings around and reveals my journaling for the page.



I enjoy finding different ways to journal on my pages, especially when things are a surprise. You can click on the photos to see a larger, more detailed image. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day Holiday Everyone! I am working on all of my Hawaii pages but yet to get half-way through because it seems like I am so busy these days (which I am clearly not). Last week I had an interview with a company that I am very impressed with. Isn't it great when you find a company that you would enjoy working for day in and day out? I was lucky to have landed that interview. I will be even luckier to hear good news.

Friday was also MY BIRTHDAY! I turned the big 2-4. We spent the day in downtown Denver shopping (mostly browsing) the stores on the 16th St. Mall. I fell in love with Breaking the Mold Candle Company and decided my b-day present was going to be a locally made vanilla-Tahitian candle. Isn't it gorgeous?!? If you are ever in Denver you must visit this place; the candles are delicious! We finished up my day at the Cheesecake Factory where I had a yummy lunch and Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake.

Now, back to the programming. During our Christmas Island-Hopping Vacation last year, we visited Volcano National Park and was amazed with the sheer size of the volcano's and lava fields. It was by far one of my favorite places we visited on the Big Island. On our first day, it rained (of course), but we decided to hike anyway. Well, as this first photo will show you, I was not happy. The hike was abut 2 miles across lava fields in the rain. If the sun had been shining I would have enjoyed it but, alas, only rain.



The second page shows the lava fields that you drive through on the way down Crater Rim Drive; it was a magnificent site. At the end of the drive you can hike the half-mile or so to where the latest lava flow covered the road. You can see the thickness of the lava in the photo of Brian. That road sign was almost completely covered. The third photo shows the volcanic smoke coming from the Halema'uma'u Crater. Kilauea is a live-active volcano so you are able to see the eruptions and lava flows. Check out the webcams in the park to see the action.



Here is the complete DPS. I love how this turned out. I don't do many DPS's...but I should.

Pana'Ewa Rainforest

Hey everyone! Things are starting to settle in. I have a second interview tomorrow so I am hoping it goes well and I can get off the unemployed list soon.

Anyway, the other night I took out what little stamping things I have and was settling down to make some cards when I realized I have only 1 sheet of white cardstock and nothing to hold my cards together. No tape. No glue. Not even a glue dot. Nothing after the move. So, until I can get a job, so I can get a car, so I can get a ride to someplace that has these things I will be sharing older things I made but never got a chance to post. See why I need things to move along...so I can get some tape! =)



This is a page I did of the Pana'Ewa Rainforest Zoo on the Big Island in Hawaii. I loved this little zoo! The white Bengal tiger was just amazing and I got to get so close I could touch him with a stick. Not that I would have wanted to... If you are ever on the Big Island, Hilo side, check out this zoo. It is free too, by the way.

The paper is from a paper pack that I can't remember right off the top of my head. I got it in a kit. The bubble letters came from the same kit. I used my monkey stamp by Mindy Terasawa then a paw print stamp from Nicole Stamps along the right side as a border. My journaling is strips of white cardstock. I really liked how this page turned out. It is fun...just like the day I had. I think this is the good thing about scrapbooking...we get to reminisce about the great times we have had.

Thanks for stopping by!

All Me

Aloha everyone! I just love this simple page. It is an 8x8 page for my "All About Me" scrapbook album. Everything you see is from my American Traditions Beach Paper Pack with the exception of the flower; I grabbed those out of the clearance bin at my LSS.



I just love the photo too. Mahalo for stopping by!

Maui No Ka Oi

No Ka Oi is a frequently used Hawaiian phrase and translates to "Is the Best." I love Maui and this is a page of the Maui Ocean Center that we visited on our vacation. It is a very simple page because I had this great ocean paper from American Traditions. I simply matted the photos and mounted them on the paper. To finish it off, I added a title piece with brads that is also from American Traditions and wavy journaling to match the paper.



I just love it when you find the perfect paper that brings everything together and really speaks for itself. I know you ladies know what I mean! LOL. I tried to explain it to my boyfriend and he just couldn't comprehend. lol. The jellyfish photo is one of my favorite photos from Maui. :D

Mahalo for stopping by!

And just for clarification:Someone posted that they knew what Mahahlo means from watching Lilo and Stitch. Aren't cartoons some of the best educating tools!?! :D For those of you that are not sure, Mahalo means 'thank you.'

Who doesn't love the water

and crazy photos? I had this cute water themed paper and knew that I just had to do a snorkeling page. Aren't these pics great??? We're such goobers :D The sketch is pretty self-explanatory so I will just leave you with a basic recipe.



Paper: American Traditions
Embellies: The border, letters, and Life's A Beach is from American Traditions; stickers are from Jolee's I believe. They came in a Christmas gift. :) I used a glitter gel pen for all the doodling. The S is a chipboard letter from American Crafts.

Mahalo for stopping by!

I Love the Virtual World

The virtual world of scrapbooking, that is! Two weekends ago was SPLITCOAST STAMPERS Virtual Scrapbook Night. I was super busy preparing but I did manage to find time to complete two pages.

The first page was for Sally's Jefferson's Challenge and the mail focus was that arrow. You guys know the Jefferson's theme song: ♪ Movin on up ♪ Hence the arrow :D I really loved the circles in this sketch and was excited to give it a try. The circles were made with the Creative Memories Cutting System and layered over the best toes photo ever!

The second layout was for Jennifer's challenge to use a TV logo. What better logo for ziplining than SHOWTIME?!? The sketch came from the weekly sketch challenge. This was awesome! Not sure how many people would zip across a 300 foot canyon flying at 65 miles an hour---but I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Here's A Challenge For Ya

Aloha everyone! How are those holiday tidings coming along? It is very close to Christmas but the holidays did not put a damper on scrappin challenges over at SCS. I was a guest hostess for this week's VARIETY CHALLENGE. My challenge for the ladies was TO FIND A CREATIVE WAY TO USE ENVELOPES ON OUR SCRAPBOOK PAGES. You can click the title there <---- to see all the details. Here is my sample for the challenge.

I played a lot with this sketch before finally finding a layout that I liked using these photographs. I really like this layout! The focal point is a chipboard letter "B" with the rest of the letters spelled out with stickers. I adhered those stickers to a neutral cardstock then punched them out with my circle punch. I used the SANDING TECHNIQUE BY MEREDITH on the photos before matting them. I used decorative scissors by Provo Craft to cut them out then doodled with a glitter pen around the mats. For the edge border, I used the EYELET DOODLING TECHNIQUE FROM PEGGY for some added jazz.

Next came the envies, the part of my challenge. I downloaded a template online for mini envelopes then followed the directions to make these cute additions. You can find a template for the envelopes HERE or HERE. I added min square brads to keep the envelopes closed on two of them and assembled some flowers for the bottom one. I think these are just awesome. They add a lot of character and texture to my page. The solid green is made with BAZZIL and the top two were made with MY MINDS EYE.

I hope you find some inspiration here. Give this a try and stop by SCS to check out other challenges! Mahalo for checking in!

The Joys of Summer

I know all your mainlanders are pretty cold right now so here is a little something to warm you up :) This is for another VSBN challenge over at SCS.

Now that the weather is cool...I am starting to miss summer. Scrap a page about a tradition you have in the summer. It could be that you eat meals out on your porch or it could be a 4th of July celebration. These are just a couple of ideas...let's see some summer pages! Bonus points if you use glitter.

I just love this photo of the weiners cookin on the grill. My boyfriend had dropped one down in there so I was trying to get a pic of that. LOL. You can see if you look hard enough :) It is charred and definitely not edible. Everything on this page came from the American Traditions Beach Fun paper pack. The layout was a sketch from Valerie's Sketches. Valerie has an awesome sketch blog. You should check it out! I double matted the photos first with tan and then beige. I had never matted my photos with neutral colors but I really liked how these came out. The inside of the journaling box is popped up with dots to give the page some added dimension and I journaled with a glitter gel pen.

Mahalo for stopping by! Stay Warm!

Dream Wedding

Aloha everyone! Time for another scrapbook page. I was on a card kick and hadn't really gotten around to pages. Well after completing these pages I realized just how much I love to scrapbook. Not sure why I like pages more than cards. Personal preference I suppose. Anyway, this page was for a VSBC at SBS.


Well, one tradition that I have been creating or carrying on at the moment is getting ready for my wedding. There are so many things that you must do before the BIG DAY! Find the guy, get the ring, pick the dress, pick the bridesmaids dresses, cake, decor, church, music, flowers... oh man the list goes on and on and on....

My challenge to you is to scrap a page about preparing for your wedding. If you don't want to include photos you don't have to, but the journaling better be there!!!!

If you are yet to be married or find the guy scrap a page of what you dream your wedding will be like!



Since I'm not married I decided to scrap my dream wedding. The paper is from Paperbilities and I assembled the flowers with brads. I stamped flourished from Rhonna Farrer in Versamark Black. The best part, this page won the Challenge! I was blown away when my page actually was selected. How fun!

Mahalo for stopping by. Take some time and scrap it!

I'm Going Nutty

Aloha everyone. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday! I have been doing nothing but scrapbooking lately and I am loving it! This is a page I did as part of my All About Me book. The challenge:

Now, many of you know that I think chocolate is a vitamin, so my challenge shouldn't surprise you:

Every holiday needs family; every family needs fudge at the holidays! Bring them together for the perfect scrapbook theme:

"Families are like fudge: mostly sweet with a few nuts."

Scrap pictures of family members acting nutty using this saying on your page. Or journal a nutty family story. Use a color scheme that includes chocolate tones, chocolate designer paper, or chocolate stamping. Bonus points for embellishing with "chocolate chip"-board. (any chipboard will do, but extra bonus points for chocolatey chipboard)

*Warning: please be sure to have edible chocolate nearby during this challenge so you won't be tempted to nibble on your layout.



Since I love chocolate too and I think that me and my boyfriend are a little nutty, then this is the perfect page for us. I love this photo too. The paper if Paperbilities cardstock. I think the rest is pretty simple.

Mahalo for stopping by!

My Fur Baby

Aloha everyone. Well, I am slowly having a mental breakdown and my brain will probably be mush at the end of the next three weeks. School is getting to be a pain in the you-know-what. December 7th can't come fast enough!

With that said, I had an awesome time playing with Colleen's Thursday Throwdown. Her challenge this week ---> Use Tags. How much fun. I don't use tags hardly at all on my pages but after this challenge I think I will have to make room for them! I loved tags so much, in fact, that I added tags to a scrapbook I am working on for my Mom. I can't post that one thought just in case my Mom decides to peek :)



Well, here is my page. It is an 8"x8" page done with American Traditions Beach Fun paper pack. The large S is attached with ribbon and comes from the same paper pack. I think the rest of the page is pretty self-explanatory. I loved using the tags to spell out my Pooches name-Shrek.

Mahalo for stopping by! Check out Colleen's blog for tons of inspiration and this Thursday's Throwdown!

Christmas Time is Comin

OI VEY! This week has been crazy. It is that time in the semester. I had a big exam this week and for the next three weeks I have major assignments due. With that said, I will try to post but they may be brief. On the other hand, I might need to let off a little steam :) Before I hit the hay from a long long day of studying I will leave with you a little Holiday cheer. This is one of my favorite photos of Christmas time in the islands. Santa giving his shaka! LOVE IT!

Mahalo for stopping by and wish me luck for the rest of the semester!

Mmmm...Pet Peeve

So, if anyone really knows me they know that my numero uno pet peeve is Snoring! I hate it. For some reason I just get enraged when I hear snoring. As luck with have it, my boyfriend is a snorer. We tried everything and nothing we could find would work so the compromise: I wear earplugs to sleep. Sad, I know, but we are both happy now and I don't have to hear him infernal snoring.

What does all this have to do with scrapbooking? Well, one of the challenges at SCS for the VSBN was to use a sketch and keep it real. We were supposed to scrap a pet peeve or something that is quirky about us or our family. Hence the connection.



Again the page is pretty self-explanatory. The page is an 8x8. The papers are from American Traditions and their Beach Fun Paper Pack. The alphabet that is stamped is from Hero Arts. The flowers are from Green House.

Under the Moonlight

Aloha everyone. It is getting cold everywhere! I just talked to my Dad and it was 23 there the other morning. Crazyiness! I can't even begin to imagine how cold that is anymore. 70 is the way I like it and even that is a little chilly now.

However, because the weather is always fantastic here we get a lot more opportunities to do things like sit at the beach and watch the moon rise and stare at the stars. This page depicts just that. I made this page as part of my All About Me scrapbook for VBSN at SCS. The challenges were so much fun.

For this page I used an 8x8 piece of purple Paperbilities and scalloped the sides with my corner rounder. The borders were made using coffee filters. Yes, that's right...COFFEE FILTERS! I used my star and moon stamps inked in Versamark Black and stamped on crumpled coffee filters. I really like how these came out. The filters really absorb ink very well. I layered the photo on a piece of silver and then created photo corners. The moon as hand-drawn using yellow Paperbilities card stock and a black crayola colored pencil. I attached silver brads in the corners of my journaling and that was that! I really like the colors in this page.

Mahalo for stopping by!

Warm and Cozy

Aloha everyone. I have another scrapbook page to share with you. This is from the VSBN preview party that I had tucked away and forgot to post. The challenge for this page was:

Scrap a Warm and Cozy Morning!
Every Thanksgiving morning since I was a little kid, my family would cozy up on the sofa in our warmest comfiest PJ's to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. The only times I have missed the parade in 36 years were the years I was actually there!
For this challenge I want you to scrap your Thanksgiving Morning tradition using warm cozy colors, and lots of texture! Use colors that are soft and warm and use textures like embossing, fabric, fur, cotton etc! Get yourself cozy and show me your best morning traditions!

How fun was this challenge! As a child my Mom always got me up on Thanksgiving Day to watch the Macy's parade with her. Now, while I do love watching the parade, I cherish my sleep more. So, my page depicts what I would rather be doing on that cold Thanksgiving morning :)



This page must have said Warm and Cozy because it was one of the winners in the challenge. I am so excited! I can't believe that I won! I hope you enjoyed the page as much as I did making it.

Aiea Loop

So, I had a very exciting weekend of virtual scrapping over at SCS. I think I completed 11 of the 12 challenges. Well, let me tell you. After awhile, your brain starts to rot away and you have to find inspiration in all kinds of places. A few weeks ago we battled, quite literally, the Aiea Loop here on Oahu. I came out from that 5 mile hike covered from head to toe in mud! It was a great time though and some of the scenery was beauitful!

I got my inspiration for this page from Beate and her wonderful weekend sketch. I really like how this page turned out. It is a lot of fun to see how to take a card sketch and create a memory! I think this page is pretty self-explanatory. The patterned paper is from American Traditions. The card stock is from Paperbilities. The flowers are dollar flowers from the Wal-Mart. I think these are very cute. I layerd white and blue ribbon and wrapped around the main layers of paper. The stamps are from a wonderful package I recieved from my Mom. She is the best!!! They are the Hero Arts Alphabet stamp set and I have gotten a lot of use out them lately!

Mahalo for stopping by. I have a lot of scrapbook pages to show you so stay tuned!