Challenge YOUrself Blog # 108 - Use Black and White Photo(s)

Hello Scrappy Friends!

I hope you are all doing well and want to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!

It's time for December's Challenge at the Challenge YOUrself Blog! 

I decided to use the awesome new Print Shop Collection by Vickie Boutin -that I purchased from My Little Scrapbook Store to document a memory from our 40th Anniversary Trip to Gloucester, Mass, this past October.  It was a rainy day and we had fun exploring this unique castle!

I decided to stay with the Black and White theme and picked one of the pre-made base pages, and used a handwriting stamp in some places. I added some red by using enamel hearts, and the new Ranger Distress Oxide Stain - Lumberjack Plaid - by inking the edges, kissing and splattering some too!  I used the fun stamps, rub-ons, chipboard and ephemera from the collection too! - Oh and I purchased a pin from the castle while we were there and used it as an embellishment too!

Here are some close-ups for you:

Thanks so much for stopping by - please head on over to the Challenge YOUrself Blog for challenge info and more great inspiration from the rest of our Design Team!

I hope you get some YOU time to play along with us this month!

Wishing YOU and YOURS a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!!

((HUGS)) ~ Sherri

Challenge #107 - Documented!

 Hello my Scrappy Friends!  I hope you are all doing well!  I can't believe it is November already!

Today I'm sharing a layout I created for the Challenge YOUrself Blog #107 

- Show us your handwritten journaling and include YOU on your layout! - If you don't usually journal or write on your layouts - come on - give it a try! Check out the CY Blog for all of the other great inspiration layouts from the rest of the Design Team!

Here is my Design Team layout for inspiration:

I used the amazing Fernwood Collection from Vicki Boutin!!  If you don't have this collection - you really do NEED it!  It is so versatile and so fun to play with!  I purchased mine from Michelle at My Little Scrapbook Store - a great family run online business - you should check her out - Here is a link to what she has left in the store - and once it is gone - it is gone - so don't miss out!!

I added lots of handwriting in addition to the card I journaled on. I am so happy I was able to "DOCUMENT" this wonderful visit we had with my friend Krista, who I met through Instagram. We had been "Insta-friends" for years, as we both have/had Portuguese Water Dogs. Krista's dogs have since passed over the Rainbow Bridge, but she has a few other 4 footed friends who's adventures she share on Instagram as Ticaperrita - you should follow her, if you don't already!

Krista is a wonderful and caring Doctor at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. When she heard about my husband Phil's massive heart attack back in August of 2021, she reach out to me and helped me through many very difficult days. Just knowing she was there - just a phone call or text message away, to be my sounding board, and second opinion was a true blessing. 

When our nephew was married in Ohio, this past July, we were able to arrange an in person get together at her home and more importantly an in person ((HUG!))  We also got to meet her 3 amazing pigs, Ms. Zumi, Stanley T, and Cleveland.  Her Tortoise Ms. Marion Louise was in her specially built outside summer house, but we got to peak at her and say hello.  Mr. Dewy Lewis, her little rescue dog was so cute and cuddly too! It was a wonderful day, and I think the 3 piggies enjoyed the watermelon we brought for them to snack on too!

Here are a few close ups.  I inked all my edges with Ranger Ink Black Soot. Everything else on the layout is from the Fernwood Collection, except for the paper twine, and an older Vicki Boutin script stencil that I used on the left side of the layout.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope I've inspired you to play along with us at the Challenge YOUrself Blog.

Please visit there and check out all the details of the challenge, along with all of the other beautiful layouts from the rest of the Design Team.  We hope you find time to play along with us this month too!

Be Well and Stay Safe!

((HUGS)) ~ Sherri

Just a bunch of layouts!!

Hi there scrappy friends!  I'm sharing a few layouts I created over the past few months for different challenges and for the Design Team at My Little Scrapbook Store.  I hope they inspire you to "Get Scappy With It!"  Now go create!!

((HUGS)) ~ Sherri

 

Costume Contest - Challenge #106 - from the Challenge YOUrself Blog

 Hello Scrappy Friends!  Happy October!!  Can you believe we are almost through 2022??!!

Today I am sharing my Design Team Inspiration Layout for the Challenge YOUrself Blog.

This month, we are providing you with this awesome and FUN sketch - *It doesn't have to be about Halloween - and please be sure to visit the CY Blog to see all the great layouts the rest of the Design Team created!!

I decided to scrap a selfie I took last year, when I organized a virtual Halloween Happy Hour for our Sales Team at work!  I sent special Halloween Cookies out to everyone's home, and decorated my office with some ceramic pieces that I made - about 30 years ago! Everyone had a great time and I was voted as 2nd place! 

I had lots of fun using a stencil and stamps, some fussy cutting, splattering and blowing some of the mica stain around to make some creepy purple lines!

Here are some close ups for you:

I hope I've inspired you to play along with us at the Challenge YOUrself Blog this month! It is a really fun sketch.  Head on over to the CY Blog for more inspiration and check out the challenge rules and this month's prize!  I hope you play along with us!

I am also playing along with the October Challenge from the More Than Words Challenges Facebook Page!

or check out their BLOG too!

The Prompts are "Strange" and "Get Inky!"

Check their page out - lots of FUN stuff going on there!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
I'd love it if you left a comment.

Have a HAPPY Halloween!

((HUGS)) ~ Sherri

Items used:

Papers:  Vicki Boutin's Mixed Media Foundation Paper

Doodle Bug Designs - "Pumpkin Party" Collection

-Itsy Bitsy Spider and Party Pinwheels

BoBunny - "Back to Basics" - Tangerine Beadboard

Echo Park - "Chillingsworth Manor"

- Apothecary Labels

Vicki Boutin Sweet Rush Stencil

Ranger Distress Inks : Villanous Potion, Twisted Citron, Ripe Persimon, Squeezed Lemonade

Ranger Distress Mica Sprays: Wicked Elixir, Fortune Teller

Ranger Distress Oxide Spray: Mustard Seed

Close to my Heart - Wicked Stamp Set S1108

Baker's Twine

Let's Celebrate!! - September Challenge #105

 Hello Scrappy Friends!!!  Can you believe it is September already!!!  I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful summer!!

Today I am sharing a layout with you that I created for the Design Team over at the Challenge YOUrself Blog.  This month we want to see a photo with YOU in it - showing us how you CELEBRATE!!

This year, I turned 61 !!!  Not really sure how that happened, but I sure am thankful it did!!  I selected a photo that was taken a few days before my birthday, when I went to see The Music Man on Broadway in NYC with my girlfriends. Afterwards, we came back to NJ and had lunch outside in Weehawken.  It was such a great day!!

I used the fabulous PhotoPlay "Add Another Candle" collection for this layout. I love how HAPPY this collection is!

I sewed around the edges of the layout and as you know, I love lots of layers and added some sequin clusters too!

I love this fun "Insta-camera" Flair and here is another fun sequin cluster tucked in the stickers and ephemera.

I used a Vicki Boutin Stencil and some Ranger / Tim Holtz Saltwater Taffy Distress Oxide ink, and then a few splatters of a yellow and blue Distress ink all over the base I created from white cardstock - it was so much fun.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my layout! I'd love to hear from you so please feel free to leave a comment on my "This is Sixty One" layout!
  I hope I've inspired you to play along with us at the Challenge YOUrself Blog and show us how YOU Celebrate!!
((HUGS) ~ Sherri

My Hero - Challenge YOUrself Blog's Challenge #104 -Tough Times

Hello Scrappy Friends! It's time for the next challenge from the Challenge YOUrself Blog!  

Challenge #104 asks you to document a Tough Time in your life, and to be sure to include YOU in a photo on your layout.

I am documenting a very tough time in our life.  My husband Phil had a Widow Maker heart attack on August 13, 2021.  It is a true MIRACLE that he is still with us, and we are blessed that he has a great team of Doctors caring for him. His heart was severely damaged and he was put on the heart transplant list as a "6."  A person with a 1-4 status is someone who is in urgent need of a new heart.

At the end of November, Phil's condition had seemed to worsen, so his Doctors had him go back into New York Presbyterian hospital for a right heart catheterization on December 1st, 2021.  They had anticipated that he would be bumped up on the list to at least a 4, and told us it was very possible that he would need to remain in the hospital and await a new heart.

We still put up our Christmas Tree at home before on Thanksgiving weekend. The BIGGEST one we have every had, and prayed that God would get him and our family through this very scary time.

The GOOD NEWS was that his heart function was not as bad as the Doctors had thought!!  They were also able to clearly see an old blockage on the right side of his heart, ( he had a silent heart attack years ago they said, and we never knew about it!) and come up with a plan to have one of the best Doctors in the world go in and try to clear that blockage. *That 4.5 hour SUCCESSFUL procedure took place on December 27th, 2021!

So here is my Design Team Inspiration layout with a photo of the 2 of us in his Cardiac Intensive Care Hospital room at NYP during his early December 2021 stay. 

49 and Market's Spectrum Sherbet Tidal Pool Collection was the PERFECT choice for making a layout with this photo. 

This man is my HERO , My HEART, My ALWAYS and FOREVER- he is certainly very BRAVE and STRONG, and UNSTOPPABLE, LIKE NO OTHER! These days, with the help of medication, diet, exercise, (and me hovering over his every move! poor guy!) he is back to cutting the grass, tending the plants and flowers around the yard, even doing laundry!!  He had a pacemaker/defibrillator "installed" in  April and has even been moved to a "7" on the heart transplant list - which is an "on hold" status!!!  He is certainly my Miracle Man for sure!!

We have a follow up appointment in Mid-August and are praying that his heart function has improved, and for continued good news! Please keep Phil in your prayers - we truly believe that the Power of Prayer got him where he is today!

Here are some close ups for you:

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my story.  It is fun to document the FUN times, and can be tough to document the TOUGH times - but they are BOTH part of our lives, and saving those tough ones, is just as is important, so that we don't forget how strong we can be, when we have to be!

Stop by the Challenge YOUrself Blog for all the Challenge, Entry and Prize info and I hope you play along with us this month!

Sending LOVE and ((HUGS)) to you and your family!

Take care, be well and stay safe,

~Sherri

Challenge #103 - Challenge YOUrself Blog -" FAMILY "

Hi everyone!  I hope this post finds you and your family well!  Today our family is off on an adventure! We are driving from NJ to Cleveland, OH to attend the wedding of our nephew this weekend!  We rented a large van and 7 of us are driving out there!!

Spending time, and taking adventures with my family is one of life's best BLESSINGS! 

I love the prompt for this month's Challenge YOUrself Blog!  

Life to me is ALL ABOUT FAMILY!

I selected a photo of my parents, husband, 2 sons and me from our 2015 Disney Cruise to Alaska!  This photo was taken one of our excursions. The color of the lake is amazing and we will never forget all of the wonderful memories we made on this trip!

I used the beautiful Vicki Boutin's Fernwood Collection for this layout.  

I even had some fun and used my sewing machine!

Thanks for stopping by!  

I hope I've inspired you to play along with us at the Challenge YOUrself Blog!

I can't wait to see what YOU create!!

Stay Safe, Be Well, LOVE your Family!

((HUGS)) ~ Sherri

Challenge YOUrself #102 "Fun in the Sun"

 Hi Everyone!  HAPPY JUNE!!  

Can you believe we are halfway through 2022?!!

I'd like to share my Design Team Inspiration Layout for the Challenge YOUrself Blog's June Challenge #102 ! This month we are asking you to use this beautiful MOOD BOARD as your inspiration.  You can hope on over to the Challenge YOUrself Blog's page to see the challenge rules and prize info - and LOTS more amazing inspiration from the rest of the Design Team!!

I selected a photo of my hubby and I at Horseshoe Bay on our NCL Cruise vacation way back in October of 2019!!! - We were there celebrating our 37th Anniversary that day and it was beautiful!

I used the FAB-U-LOUS Sun Chaser Collection from Heidi Swapp. 

I love the colors and thought they worked great with the photo and the Mood Board too!

Here are a few process photos using a stencil and Distress Inks and Oxides on the base page:

I used a different circle stencil and some pearl colored Nuvo Mousse to create the bubbles and also added lots of fun splatters too! On my finished layout, you can see that I outlined some of them with a black Sharpie marker.

And here are a few close ups for you:

How FUN is that velum pocket and sweet tag!!!

Thank so much for stopping by - I hope I've inspired you to play along with us at the Challenge YOUrself Blog!  I'd love to see what you create!

Happy Scappin'

((HUGS)) ~ Sherri