I haven't forgotten......

.....about blogging! I do have an article or 2 to post, and I am starting school this week. Please bear with me as I get re-organized and into a new routine. I will also have some LO's to share this week as well!

Happy Monday :)

Scrapfit - a way to stay in shape with your LOs

I just discovered a new blog and wanted to share with everyone. It's Scrapfit and it's a great way to stay in shape with your scrappin'! The blog posts challenges 2 times per month and they have awesome prize packs!



Here's my version of Workout #1:
The challenge was to use water & ink on your layout. The photo is me in Eleuthra, Bahamas during our honeymoon. I'm standing on a rock cliff above the bay. I'm not sure if you can really tell in this photo, but I've inked the edges of the pages. From a sustainability standpoint, I re-used some scraps of paper for my journaling, and re-used scraps of paper for my palm tree.

This challenge is due on the 14th, but stay tuned for their 2nd challenge for the month of August!

A 'green' cleaner for your rubber stamps!

Here's another great article I found. This is the first 'green' cleaner for die cuts and rubber stamps. Yeah!

www.sbwire.com/news/view/29407

Great idea!

Great mini article on Going Green with Scrapbooking

I stumbled across this article and wanted to share it with everyone. I found it at Examiner.com and it's written by Denise Bertacchi. I thought it was super and I love the arms hugging the tree!

Go green with your scrapbooking

Mykl Roventine

It seems that "going green" is all the rage with other parts of our lives...but can you really go green with a paper intensive hobby like scrapbooking?

Sure you can.

Recycle. Not the big green can in your garage, but recycle the scraps of paper from other projects. Save all the used bits of paper left over from today's layout to use again tomorrow. Don't throw out any paper that's big enough to use as a photo mat or journaling box.

Reuse. Turn scraps and leftovers from other parts of your life into scrapbooking material. Why buy buttons when you can reuse REAL buttons from an old shirt? Use interesting art from junk mail and magazines in your scrapbooks. Just remember to use archival safe paper for your backgrounds and anything that touches photographs. Better yet, only use copies of photos, not the original, for cropping.

Reduce. Simplify your scrapbooking supplies to avoid waste. Pick a few favorite colors and stick to them. Use up all your old supplies before buying new. Use digital mats to highlight photos you print yourself.

More Info: Here's some tips on environmentally friendly scrapbooking from the tree experts at Abundant Forests.

August PageMaps Sketch Challenge!

I love challenges! Especially those that come with a sketch - it makes scrapping a page so much easier! When PageMaps came up with this sketch for their monthly blog contest, I knew I had to participate:

Here's my version of the sketch:

The contest allows you to use the sketch how you see fit. In other words, you can rotate it, or use another size besides 12x12. I reused some little shells that I had picked up at a thrift store a long time ago, and that is really the only repurposed material on the page. I'm just trying to use up my supplies - I have way too much! I also broke out the sewing machine and sewed a border around the page, and I decided to journal as a border.

I had won a gift certificate to A Cherry On Top and bought some gold Glimmer Mist. I never used it before, so I decided to give it a go on this LO. The 3 black circles I cut from scraps and then sprayed them with the Glimmer Mist. Cool stuff - here's a close up:

I also like my pop dots, so I added a little dimension as well:

I hope you like this LO. If you have some time before 8/16, you can also join in on this challenge. Click here for the challenge.

Happy Scrappin'!