Inspiration Avenue Challenge-Outfits for All Occasions

Over at Inspiration Avenue this week, I had the pleasure of working with a special co-host for our weekly challenge.  Jez, a regular participant in our challenges, offered to present a challenge on fashion.  She created examples that were lots of fun and even wrote a tutorial to show how one of her creations was made.  I decided to illustrate a fashion faux pas that I learned as a child.  Here is my entry.

As always, I'd love to invite you to follow my blog if the mood strikes you.  I would also like to suggest that you pop over to Inspiration Avenue to see Jez's fabulous images and the other entries for the challenge here.  If you'd like to be a co-host, just leave a comment here or on the IA blog.  Thanks for stopping by!  Oh, and get lots of wear out of those white shoes between now and Labor Day!

Credits for Image Components:
Itkupilli, Holliewood, The Maltese Scrapper, Cajoline, and BitsnBobs.

Mermaid Queens and Treasure Chests

Credits for image components:
Finecrafted Designs, Eena's Creation, Courtney's Digiscrappin, Scrap and Tubes, Carena, Raspberry Road, APD (My Warehouse of Dreams, Tigroune, Created by Jill, Marisa Lerin, Scrap Em, Country Liv's Graphics, Prairie Song Scraps, Image Village, Pewter7, and Granny Art

Alone in a Blue Room

Credits for image components:
Marta Van Eck and Rucola Designs (Deviant Scrap), Aimee Harrison, Scrap and Tubes, and Far Far Hill.

Almost a Self Portrait

If I had a gypsy caravan, I might decorate it like this.  The cat, of course, would be a full time resident.  Wouldn't it be lovely if we could wear orchids for clothing?  Starting tomorrow at Inspiration Avenue, we're having a great co-host who will challenge us with a topic related to clothing.  I can't wait!




Credits for Image Components:
Pink Lotty Designs, J. Baechtold, Creative Elegance, Nothing But Freebies, Angel Baby Scraps, Farrah's Designer Scraps, Studio Emka, and Far Far Hill.

Digi Blog Train-Fibromyalgia Awareness

Hello there!  Our Digi Blog Train group was started so that we could create digital scrapbooking freebies and increase awareness to various issues that are important to our members.  This month, we chose to bring attention to a chronic pain condition called Fibromyalgia, that affects an estimated 10 million Americans. It occurs most frequently in women but does strike men and even children.   It can affect all ethnic backgrounds.  It can be very debilitating for people who have severe symptoms and can often interfere with daily activities and routines.  For more information visit the National Fibromyalgia Association here.

This is the color palette we worked from.

 Here is my contribution.  It contains 7 papers and 17 elements.

Download the Mini Kit here

Like most other designers, I am very appreciative of your comments.  Please take a moment to let me know what you think about my mini-kit.  I'd love to have you sign up to follow my blog too, if the mood strikes you.

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to visit all of the other sites to download their freebies.  I know I'm going to visit them.  Here is the complete list:

Patty B Scraps
Mama’s Designz
Becky’s Creations
Dakota Winds Graphics
Shuckclod’s Stuff
Xelax Scrap Free
Touched By A Butterfly
Sugarbutt Designs
Kreations By Sparky
Jenny’s Designz
Marniejo’s House Of Scraps
Star Creationz
CL Graphics
FB Queen JJ Creations
Aprilthescrapaholic
Leterati Artful Scraps
Caroline B.
Made By Keuntje
Speyegull Designs
Callaluna Creations
Misplaced Mermaid - You Are Here
Crazy Tiffs
Designed By Laura Wellighoff
Jody M Designs
Dezines2Amaze

Scrap Matters June 2013 Color Challenge-Free Papers

I joined an online group called Scrap Matters.  They were having a challenge with a really pretty color palette so I created a set of six digital scrapbooking papers.

Download them here

Visit Scrap Matters to see the beautiful layouts and kits created by others here.

Inspiration Avenue Challenge-Birds

My friend Maggie challenged us with creating an image about birds this week.  I love using birds in my digital collages and decided to put a piece together using some Victorian scrap pictures of birds.

Credits for image components-Granny Enchanted, Busy Crafting Mommy Designs, Scrappiness Down Under, Aneczkaw, My Warehouse of Dreams, Ditz Bitz, Booland Designs, 2 Curly Headed Monsters, Lavender Designs, and Ruby Blossom.

The Language of Flowers

I recently participated in a swap hosted by Alpha Stamps.  I created three ATCs on a theme entitled The Language of Flowers.  It was lots of fun making the ATCs and, as usual, I really wanted to keep mine.  Of course, if I kept them I wouldn't get three wonderful surprises in the mail from other swappers so I diligently mailed them off.  I can't wait to receive them!  For now, I'm sharing the three I made.

 

These are screen shots from the Alpha Stamps site.  You really should go to their gallery and see all of the beautiful ATCs.  For that matter, there are other wonderful things to see there too.

 Here is the link to the gallery

Inspiration Avenue Challenge-Nautical

I love to make shadowboxes with lots of compartments.  They are usually created around a nautical theme, with mermaids somewhere in the mix.  This digital collage was inspired by that idea. 

Credits for image components:
Beth Rimmer (Deviant Scrap), Courtney's Digiscrappin',  Finecrafted Design (Deviant Scrap), Raspberry Road, Cajoline, and Dover Scraps.

Inspiration Avenue Challenge-Memorial Day

I chose Memorial Day for this week's challenge because the first day fell on Memorial Day.  I thought of the 7000 military personnel we've lost in the two wars we've been fighting for over a decade.  I considered all of the men and women who have served our country and died to protect it.  Then I thought about my cousin's son, who survived the war in Iraq but committed suicide after arriving home.  I never realized that more veterans kill themselves than die from combat.  There is an epidemic of suicides among American veterans.  It doesn't help the situation that there is a monstrous backlog of applications for veterans' disability claims. There are 600,000 pending claims and no solution to speeding up the process in the near future.

I hadn't planned on creating a collage filled with sorrow, but I couldn't forget that every soldier who lays down his or her life for our country is someone's son, father, nephew, cousin, niece, daughter, mother, uncle...well, you get the picture.  I believe they all deserve recognition for their sacrifice.

Credits for image components: Marisa Lerin-Pixel Scrapper (Navy Kit), Pewter7, Far Far Hill, and Land of Nod Studios.