Bee Happy DT Project #2: Altered Mini-canvas Set

For my second DT project for Bee Happy, I wanted to use the papers from the Flower Garden Wrapping Paper Book.  I had decided on altering a set of three mini-canvases that were around 3.5" x 3.5" in size.  It was a tough choice as all the wrapping papers were beautiful, but I settled on these three because they sort of match with the shabby chic color scheme that I was trying to achieve.

I covered the canvases with the wrapping paper and painted on a thin layer of white acrylic paint over certain areas so that there would be a bit of negative space where I can stamp the words "dream", "hope", and "believe", without covering the lovely designs on the paper.  After letting the pain dry completely, I stamped the words with Distress ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder.  I could've used clear embossing ink with with colored  powder, but this type of distressed look was what I was hoping to achieve.  I added some flowers, leaves, and feathers from my stash.  And finally some sequins (also from the Bee Happy DT package) to give it sort of a dream-like feel.

You can check out Bee Happy Arts and Crafts Supply Shop on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BeeHappyCrafts?ref=ts&fref=ts

Or order directly from their website: https://www.whizorders.com/beehappycrafts

Bee Happy DT Project #1: Prima Doll Stamp Tag

When I learned that I was chosen to be one the members of the Bee Happy design team, I was so excited.  When I got my DT package, I couldn't wait to get working on my projects.  I started right away then got stuck for quite a while, but last weekend I had to finish them as my term as DT member was only for the month of September.  It's always been a challenge for me to work on a creative project on a deadline, but I'm happy with how things turned out. :)

Prima Doll Stamp Tag: Natalie / Live the life you've imagined.

So here is the first project I made using the Julie Nutting Natalie Cling Stamp and the Pressed Petals Midnight Chic 8.5" x 11" Sampler Set from Bee Happy.

I already have a few of the Prima doll stamps, but this Natalie stamp is my new favorite.  I mostly have the little girl stamps that are all cute, but this one is of a sophisticated lady in a super smart outfit.  I stamped her on water color paper and colored in her hair and skin with alcohol markers.  Then I used the sampler set to paper piece her outfit out of different patterned papers that were so much fun to mix and match.  I added the tiny pearls so that she'd have earrings and a necklace, and a black fabric rose at her waist to complete her look.

I also stamped the sentiment, "Live the life you've imagined." on the background paper, which is a map of Paris that I found in an old unused notebook.  Then I embellished the tag with flowers, feathers, buttons, bling, ribbon, and Paris-themed washi tape from my stash.  The sequins in pretty colors were also from the Bee Happy DT package.

Here are couple of close up photos showing a little more of the details in the design.

The pearls are a nice touch to her sophisticated look.

If you can't tell by now, I really am a sucker for flowers.

You can check out Bee Happy Arts and Crafts Supply Shop on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BeeHappyCrafts?ref=ts&fref=ts

Or order directly from their website: https://www.whizorders.com/beehappycrafts

Mad props

Since it is the end of March after all, I thought that a graduation card would be fitting.  I am currently on leave from work (I teach high school Biology), but for the past several years, I've been handling seniors.  So during this time of the year, I make some sort of token for my students, and this usually involves some crafting. :)  And as you can probably tell, I love these stamps from The Greeting Farm.  I've already used these Grad Ian and Anya digital stamps last school year, right before I went on leave. 

And so here is my third entry for challenge #47 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  Still using bright colors and a celebratory theme for graduation.

Smile

Here is another bright and colorful card that was based on the card sketch by Melissa Bonifacio for challenge #47 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  I wanted to make a sweet little card for my friend who is on the mend from two surgeries this past month.  I do hope this makes her smile.

Lovely Day

It's been so long since I've joined any of the challenges on the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  And here I am trying to make the deadline, which I eventually do.  There is some measure of comfort in old habits.  For some time, I joined each and every challenge on the FSCB.  Even when I just barely upload my one entry moments before the deadline, I pushed myself.  But later on, I just got swamped with work and other things so I just wasn't able to do the challenges anymore.  And even then, I saved all the sketches so I might be able to use them later.  I love sketches. :)

 

So here is my entry for challenge #47 using a lovely card sketch by Melissa Bonifacio.  I used bright colors and a sunburst design... just in time for summer, too!

My first attempt at an altered canvas

The past six months just came and went.  You would think that since I am on sabbatical leave from work, I'd have plenty of time to spend on things other than work.  And I suppose that is what I have done, but unfortunately, updating this blog has been relegated to the back burner.  Which is just too bad, really, because there have been many many ATCs, cards, and assorted projects that have been made and given away in the course of the past six months.  And I would still like to post them all here, but I decided to start with my most recent crafty project and just work my way back.  I actually have a little over two months left before I go back to work again, so there's a lot of catching up to do before I actually get back on track.

So here is my very first altered canvas.  I have seen a lot of beautiful ones on google, pinterest, and youtube, of course... and I've wanted to make one myself.  But something seemed to be holding me back.  It was as if it was a bit too overwhelming to finish something like that.  Eventually, I just buckled down and started working on it.  It didn't even take me two days to finish, considering that it involved a lot of sitting around and waiting (for the adhesive, paint, and fixative to dry).  It isn't as elaborate as many of the ones I've seen online, but I'm  quite happy with it.  The picture on top was taken when I thought I was done.  But the next morning, I thought to add some white acrylic paint to shabby chic-ify it.  The change is subtle, as you see in the bottom picture, but I like it.  I plan to hang this in the craft room, which is still a work in progress, so that will be described in full in a later post when the room is all done.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but since I've been asked about how this project came about, I will just list the steps here:

1. I started with a canvas panel board.  The one I purchased has already been coated with gesso, which helps the paint (and most everything else you want) stick to the canvas.
2. I then decoupaged the entire surface with torn pieces of dictionary, music, and book pages.  I recently bought some old books from a garage sale, which I especially liked for the aged and yellowing pages (although you'll notice that I covered them up).
3. Next is a coat of white acrylic paint.  I deliberately used uneven brush strokes to give it more texture.
4. Then I inked the surface with distress ink (Broken China) but it bare near the edges, so that the white paint still shows.
5. I stamped the background using doily stamps (Martha Stewart Crafts Clear Stamps - Doilies) and some tiny text (Kaisercraft Clear Stamp - Dictionary Meanings) with distress inks (Broken China, Shabby Shutters, and Weathered Wood).
6. For the bird cages hanging from the branches, I spread some home made modeling/texture paste (white glue, white acrylic paint, talc powder) over the Birds of a Feather template by The Crafter's Workshop.
7. I also used a template for the wings (Prima), but this time, I spread some white acrylic paint on the wings and then I pressed them down on the surface (much like a stamp).
8. After the moldeling paste and the paint have dried, I added glitter glue to the little birds and the fairy wings.
9. The fairy itself was made by stamping the Prima doll stamp (Ruffle dress) on dictionary paper for the body and assorted paper scraps for the dress, shoes, and headband.  I fussy cut the images and paper pieced them to make the fairy look more dimensional.  Some glitter glue on the headband and glossy accents on the shoes also added some texture.
10. I added some lace on the bottom edge of the canvas.
11. Then I die cut the letters for the Mark Twain quote from brown cardstock (Wassau Paper) and glued them down, centered in the space between the fairy and the right edge of the canvas.
12. I glued the die cut shapes of the leaves (Sizzix Sizzlits - Flowers, branches, and leaves) along the corners and edges.  Then I glued on assorted fabric and paper flowers in the foliage.
13. To subdue the really bright colors of some of the flowers and the dark color of the leaves, I added a thin layer of white paint, just pouncing the brush and not really pulling it across in even strokes.
14. The last step is spraying on the fixative (Kuelox) on the entire surface of the canvas (make sure to do this outside, or at least in a well ventilated area).  This protects and waterproofs the finished project.

I hope I didn't miss anything here.  If you have any questions, leave a comment or send me an email (melaniecheng@gmail.com).  Thanks for dropping by.

Cutie Pie

So many baby pictures, so little time!  I have three nephews and five nieces, so there's plenty of baby pics that have yet to be scrapped.  This is one of my favorites and probably the earliest taken of any of my nieces and nephews.  Baby Danielle is barely a day old when this picture was taken and even then, she already stole our hearts.  

This digital layout is my entry to challenge #31 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog, as I am still not able to work in the craft room.  But I must confess, I am definitely warming up to digital scrapbooking.  I'm still very limited by my skill level though, because I still don't know how to use Photoshop.  Believe it or not, all of the digital work I've done so far has all been due to Powerpoint. :))

Here's the sketch provided as inspiration for this challenge.  It was designed by Melissa Bonifacio.

  

I used a lovely digital kit that can be downloaded for free from ShabbyPrincess.com.  It's the Spontaneous Delight kit created by Carrie Stephens.  I've been wanting to use this kit for a while now because the colors are just all of my favorites.  And then I made the title using the Messy Edge alphabet from Free Digital Scrapbooking.

 

Hello there

This is the first time that I'll be submitting an entry to the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog's card sketch challenge.  This is also the first digital card I've made and I used the Not Too Shabby Penelope sampler collection from ShabbyPrincess.com.  It seems that I'm slowly getting the hang of making digital layouts/cards, but I'm not ready to shift completely to digital.  I still love working with things that I can actually touch, but I'm unable to work in my craft room, hence the digital projects.

This card was inspired by a sketch by Melissa Bonifacio for challenge #30 on the FSCB.

Goofy Girl

I made another digital layout because I have no access to the craft room as of the moment.  I'll probably be able to get back to my regular crafty habits (as regular as it can be) in a week or so, when the craft room will no longer be occupied (it's being used as a guest room of sorts).  So for now, this will have to do.

I used a kit that I downloaded from ShabbyPrincess.com called The Promise Collection.  I do love the subdued colors and the pretty elements, which are all great for this page that I made about my youngest niece.  She's a very happy and active toddler, and she moves around so much that I have a hard time taking a proper picture of her sitting still and smiling.

This layout is my first (and hopefully not the only one) entry to challenge #29 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  It's based on a sketch by Melissa Bonifacio.

Crafty corkboard

This is probably one of the quickest crafty projects I've ever made.  I didn't check the time, but I'm pretty sure it took me less than half an hour to finish this.  And that already includes my OCD (hahah).  But kidding aside, this is very easy and a lot of fun to do.  All you need is a plain corkboard, paper/washi tape, and push pins.

I got the corkboard from our friendly naighborhood Japan Home (it seems they're popping up everywhere) store.  It's not that big, it measures less than 16" x 11", but it's sufficient for a few photos and post-it sized notes.  The paper tape I used here is wider that the wooden frame, and this is quite useful as I folded the tape over the edges to give is a more finished look.  Now be careful of splinters when you work on covering the wood.  The OC part of me wanted mitered corners, but this is not really necessary.  The pattern on the tape was small and dainty, that the breaks weren't really that obvious.  Now the push pins were a stroke of luck.  I bought them at NBS because I thought it was cool to have hooks on the push pin itself.  And it just so happened that the colors coordinated. 

When I bought all the three items, separately as it were, I hadn't planned on putting this project together.  But looking at these last night gave me an idea.  Now wasn't that serendipitous?

Page Remake: Nature Tripping

I wanted to do all the pages from our AL road trip in a series, but I still have a few more pages to go.  For this one, I was in a fussy cutting mood.  I had patterned paper scraps with these really pretty (and big!) blossoms that made me want to cut them out.  For the leaves, I embossed some off white cardstock and cut out the shapes as well to sort of balance out the bright colors.

Now, Mario is a picture taking kind of guy.  And he also loved to do goofy poses, hence the pic with him crawling in the dirt (he reminds me of Gollum, only happier :p).  And after a while he took a photo of me I looking tired (I actually was, in that bottom right picture).  And it's because I was wearing the wrong kind of footwear, not even shoes, just the kind of thing that you slip on.  So the hiking was a bit of struggle for me and I had blisters on my feet afterwards.  And I never wore those slip-ons again. :(

Journaling:  "Even though Rod & I had a tiring day (and night) with the wedding on May 27, we tried (well, I tried) to get up early and go along with what Mario had planned for us the next day.  Unfortunately, Rod couldn't come along as he was going to spend the day with Bryan and Sheryl (the newlyweds) and their other friends & family.  Mario and I headed to Oak Mountain Park.  The hiking was nice since we had great weather that day.  Also went to the lake to go pedal boating (not sure what it's really called :))and got to see a lot of ducks.  I found that the city of Birmingham, Alabama has the same feel as Baguio.  That made me a little homesick.  But I also had a nice and relaxing time. :)"

Materials: Patterned paper (K&Co), pen (Faber Castell), others - cardstock and rub-ons.

A Happy Kind of Tired

I have long been interested in digital scrapbooking, since grad school in fact, and have downloaded many many different kinds of digital kits and elements.  But I've only been able to try my hand at it recently, and although I've made a few attempts in the past few years, this is actually the first digital layout that I've ever completed.  I'm not quite sure that I'm comfortable scrapbooking like this, and to be honest, I still prefer to work with my hands, and in the end have something that you can actually touch.  But I think that this method has its own merits and is worth exploring.  Though given my own limitations, I probably won't completely convert to digital anytime soon (or maybe ever).  But we'll have to see, won't we?

One huge convenience is that you don't have to print out pictures.  And if you're like me, this entails selecting the photos I want to scrap (this takes me a long time, unfortunately), and then go to the photo lab to have them printed.  For now, I actually have plenty of pictures at home to scrap.  Blame it on my huge backlog!  But I can see that this potentially maybe a hassle because all the pictures I have from the past seven years are all digital and therefore will take a while to sort and file away, let alone find the ones that will go onto my scrapbook layout.  But I digress.

This is my entry for challenge #23 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  We're allowed to make digital entries now, so I decided to try it myself.  I made this layout using the Plentiful kit downloaded from ShabbyPrincess.com.

Page Remake: Quirky Photography

 

The real reason for our trip to AL in 2000 was that Rod was attending (and also singing at) his friends', Bryan and Sheryl's, wedding.  I on the other hand, just finished my preliminary exam (more like a thesis proposal defense) and simply needed a break.  If I remember, everybody encouraged me to do so, including my boss/adviser.  So there we went, and it was really very nice of the couple, whom I haven't met yet, to also invite me to the wedding.  I though I would mainly  be a spectator, because of all the wedding party, Rod was the only person I really knew.  But since it was mostly Filipinos there, it felt like one big family.

Now that long-winded intro has very little to do with the journaling in this layout, except that the pictures were taken at the reception.  We took many pictures and these were some of what I will call "outtakes".  Although this is on hindsight, as I thought they were legitimately serious photos when we were taking them.  For instance, that picture of me at our table looks like Rod was really taking a pic of the centerpiece and I just happened to be smiling in the background.  In the entry way of the reception hall, Rod took another picture of me that looks perfectly normal, except that there's a big plant behind me that it looked like I had this huge green head dress. :))  And then the picture of the cake table was just that, and  not all that good because the cake just looked washed out.  The blame is entirely on me, I'm really not much of a photographer. :P  I also included one piece of ephemera - my place card, which I actually kept because of some notes I wrote on the reverse side about a dance I saw at the reception.

Materials: Patterned paper (K&Co), pearl stickers & die cut chipboard accents (All About Scrapbooking), distress ink & ultra thick embossing enamel (Ranger), others: trim and DIY enamel dots (googley eyes painted nail polish); tools: pen (Dong-A), stamps (Inkadinkado & Creative Imaginations).

Sweet Boy

l've always been fond of layouts featuring a sunburst design and have been wanting to do one for quite some time.  So when I saw the sketch for challenge #22 (by LG Belarmino) at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog, I just knew I had to try my hand at it.

Believe it or not, all the patterned paper that I used  on this page are scraps from a project I did weeks ago (Father's Day ATCs).  The sunburst design is always a good way to use up those scraps, which would otherwise be lying around, and cluttering up my work area. :)

And despite the subdued color palette, the design gives it a cheerful mood.  The hand stitching also gives it a homespun feel.

Materials:  Cardstock (Elit), patterned paper, brads, alphabet stickers, & trim (All About Scrspbooking), pen (Stabilo), and embroidery floss (DMC).

ATCs: Dad, love you!

Another swap that I joined that had a Father's Day theme was an ATC (artist trading card) swap that was hosted by Kathleen Hernandez at the Filipino Scrapbookers Club (FSC).  It actually is a joint project among members of the FSC, Philippine Crafters Association, Treasured Memories Online Scrapbook Group, and Pinoy Scrapbookers.

I made nine this time because I joined two groups, which made this swap twice as much fun as the last one.  It was twice as challenging though, as I found it hard to come up with a masculine themed card.  So I ended up making ATCs that still had hearts and flowers, and flourishes and bling... I guess it is something a daughter would make for her dad. ;)

And some of the other participants admitted to me that they had some difficulty, too, and yet everyone seemed to be up to the task in the end.  There was quite a number of shirt-and-necktie type ATCs, but it was interesting to note that each has its own unique interpretation.

Materials:  Cardstock, patterned paper (All About Scrapbooking), vellum, paper flowers (Prima), gem stickers, jute twine;  tools: pen (Dong-A) and die-cutting machine (Making Memories Slice using the Vintage design card).

Tags: Dad the Best

Roughly a month after Mother's Day, of course, comes Father's Day.  I had to make projects for a couple of swaps that I joined for this particular occasion.  I made my set of tags for TeaTime and Craft's tag swap really early so that I can send them along with my Mother's Day tags (and get to save on shipping). 

It's a really simple tag with sentiments and a quote that goes, "To her, the name of father was another name for love," (Fanny Fern, Fresh Leaves).  I wasn't sure how masculine I wanted this tag to look like, but it turned out more with a nostalgic/vintage feel, which I'm quite happy with.

Materials: Cardstock, patterned paper (DCWV Heirloom Stack), paint (Reeves), gem stickers (All About Scrapbooking), ink (Ranger distress ink), others - eyelets, charms, jump rings, cord; tools: stamps (Making Memories & Nikki Sivils), die cutting machine (Making Memories Slice, using Vintage design card), hole punch (Crop-a-dile Big Bite), border punch (Carla Craft).

Mother's Day Card: MOM

 

Still working on backlog, as you can see.  This past summer has been quite busy, with back-to-back deadlines for projects.  And here is the last of the Mother's Day projects, a card for Memory Lane Store's Mother's Day card challenge. We were given this sketch by Kathleen Llanura (of KATSpaperfinds)  as inspiration for our cards, and I thought the sample card is just adorable.

So this time, I was leaning towards a shabby chic-style card.  I must confess, I am still trying to find my personal style (though I think I'm more of the clean and simple type), and it's so much fun trying a lot of different things out.  My card actually didn't take too long to make since I already had a design and color scheme in mind.  So after I set aside the flowers, lace, and ribbon that I wanted to use, I cut out all the shapes (bird, frame, leaves, and flourishes) with my Slice and then sprayed them with glimmer mist.  But before I glued all the elements down, I dry embossed the cream colored cardstock that went on top of the card base.  The finishing touches were the letter stickers that spelled out "MOM" (I love this vintage-type font) and a little bit of bling on the oval frame.

I'm actually very happy with the finished product given the amount of time I had to make it.  But I was sure that I wasn't going to win this challenge given the caliber and experience of the other ladies who joined (click here to see all the entries).  And on top of that, aside from a winner that is decided on by a panel of judges (Top Choice), a second winner (People's Choice) is determined as the entry that had the most number of likes, which I'm not so excited about.  I'm just not the kind of person who solicits for likes... any kind of challenge on Facebook that involves likes, I'm very weary of.  But I just joined this one for the sheer joy of creating something.  And for that, I got a bunch of freebies from Memory Lane Store. I was so happy when the package came in the mail. :)

Materials: Cardstock, glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), ribbon & lace (Carolina's), gem stickers, letter stickers, fabric flowers (All About Scrapbooking), mini paper roses (Kraft Yard); tools: Sizzix Texture Boutique (with Textile Texture embossing folder by Cuttlebug), and Making Memories Slice die cutting machine (with Vintage design card).

Mom, love you so. XOXO.

And so after coloring using watercolor pencils in my last project (Mother's Day ATCs) I wanted to get in touch with my inner child again by coloring some more in these tags I made for a Mother's Day tag swap organized by Ms. Sasa at TeaTime and Craft (formerly Graceful Crafting).  This time I colored in digital stamps that I purchased from The Greeting Farm.  I used these two in particular: the Cupcake Anya digi and the Valentine Anya digi.  Aren't they super cute?

So here I was, trying out different coloring materials - markers (Stabilo, Staedtler, Sharpie) and colored pencils (Prang and Staedtler).  I didn't dare try the watercolor pencils, because I knew they would run. And for this particular project, I wanted the lines crisp and really distinct because the stamps have a cartoon-ish quality that I really love.

And so with all the experimentation that I did, I ended up using different combinations of colors and some are more vibrant than others.  The ones with the subtler colors were done in pencil, and the brighter ones, of course, were colored with markers.  I've found that it takes much more effort to use the pencils than the markers (even if they pencils are better for detailed work), which why there are only three of them out of the twelve.  Markers or pencils, this is indeed painstaking work - coloring with highlights and shading in the hair, skin, and clothes.  But it did help that I was able to draw inspiration from Kristina Werner's coloring her stamped images, especially in this one card, from Day 25 of her 2012 Holiday Card Series.  Isn't she gorgeous?

I also anticipated that I had to do some fussy cutting here, and I practiced first.  Even though I've always loved paper crafting, I must say, I'm a little bit lacking when it comes to cutting with scissors.  I even have a hard time cutting a straight line with them, that I'd rather use a box cutter than scissors.  But the trick here is to try to cut as close to the outline as possible, but not to worry if you go beyond it.  You can always use a black marker to fix the booboos. :-)  In facts, I ran the black marker all around (along the edges) the fussy cut image to give it a more finished look.
 

 

All I had to do now was to assemble the tags.  I used assorted polka dot patterned papers for the background, which included assorted scraps from previous projects and newly purchased paper from Kraft Yard.  Stamped the sentiments, then added fabric and paper flowers, some ribbon, eyelets, twine and plastic charms and here they are the finished tags!  Whew.

My Mother ATC

This post is long overdue.  Back in April, I posted that I joined a tag swap and was so excited that I included lots of pictures (sort of a step by step) of the tag-making process.  Well, soon after that project, I joined another swap - with ATCs (artist trading cards) this time.  It took me quite some time (again) to figure out what to do, but in the end I was captivated by an image that I downloaded a long time ago from The Graphics Fairy. This image of a mother holding her sleeping child is just so sweet that it gives my heart a little tug every time I look at it.  The daughter is even holding a doll - how adorable!

I used watercolor pencils to color the image, as I wanted the bright colors to make it cheerful, but I also wanted it to have a softer look.  I also included a snippet from the poem "My Mother" by Ann Taylor, which is just as sweet.  And then added just a few small embellishments (gold ribbon, lace, and mulberry flowers with pearl bling for the centers) to finish it off.

I must admit though, that this project wasn't as easy and straightforward as it's described here.  It took me a while to figure out what paper to use - it's heavyweight paper that's more like watercolor paper than cardstock.  And what to use for coloring - I tried different kids of markers, colored pencils, and ended up with the watercolor pencils because they gave me the best results.  Although it took so much time (even to just finish five of these) because I had to wait for the paint to dry.  I guess it was a good thing on hindsight that this summer was super hot, so that it didn't take as long for the paint to dry.  But all in all, the effort was well worth it, as it is a very special ATC for a very special woman in our lives - our moms!

Special thanks to Ms. Kathleen B. Hernandez for hosting this Mother's Day ATC swap at the Filipino Scrapbookers Club.

Page Remake: Road Trip!

I really should include the before picture, but suffice it to say that the page I made was totally bare.  I relied on the placement of the pictures and that was about it.  And in pencil I wrote "Crazy in Alabama" which I thought was a plausible title, and the title of a movie that was shown not long before (1999) I made the page (2000).

It's a little more than twelve years ago, but the memories of that very first road trip I took when I was in the US are still very vivid in my mind.  My friend, Rod, was going to attend a wedding in Birmingham, AL.  I, on the other hand, just finished my thesis proposal defense and was badly in need of a break.  So we drove down to Alabama, and spent one long day getting there.  The trip was great though, we stayed at Mario and CK's apartment for a few days.  When we drove back, we left after lunch and got back in the wee hours of the morning.  It was exhausting, but definitely worth the long drive.

This is also my entry to Challenge #20 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  I've been a little busy with other projects (tags and ATCs) for swaps that I joined over the summer break (which I have yet to post), that I haven't done any layouts of late.  I think I might've gotten a bit rusty, but I still have many pictures from this trip that I plan to make several pages out of them.

Materials:  Patterned paper (K & Company), chipboard die cuts and alphabet stickers (All About Scrapbooking), pen (Stabilo), others - vellum, metallic paper, recycled paper bag.