FRESH START!!

OK, so ya sick of me yet??

Moving took more of a toll then I thought... I am starting to think that when we move again in December, I should take month off from everything!! :)

For those of you that check us out regularly, I AM SORRY!!
I need to get a grip... SO, I am going to play a snaffu (How do you spell that??)
I am going to announce the winner of the last challenge tomorrow, and THEN I am going to launch the next challenge THIS Wednesday... and I VOW to keep on track!! WOW!!

I need to have someone other than me post, so I can get a break when I need it! In the meantime, I will play a little catch up!!

Thanks for your patience!!

NEXT week, be watching for a RAK!! Once I am back on track (since I pretty much was off the tracks and crashing off into a tree!) we'll get everyone watchin' again (a give-away can help with that! {wink}), and I will do EVERYTHING I can to keep people CHALLENGED (regulary!!)!! :)

Thanks ladies!!
Your patience is SO appreciated!

OH... and to all of you that send your gallery and link for the DT call, THANK YOU!!
(Since I have not had a chance to focus in on that either-sigh-if you would still like to apply before I hunker down and take a serious look at all the fab applicants, feel free!!)
How will I EVER pick someone out of all the talent!!
We WILL have someone new this challenge, and hopefully the other person figured out by the challenge after that!

Thanks AGAIN!!! :)

Another challenge (FINALLY!)

I am almost done moving! This move took SO dang LONG!!
I promise when the dust settles I will have a more regular schedule!
I appreciate all of you that have been supportive and patient!

OK, so there is the deal, everyone that enters a layout this time around is eligible for a RAK!!

I will make sure it is fabulous!! Promise!!

So there is the challenge... :)

Someone awhile back brought this to my attention, and I think it will not be as hard! :)

I mean, it is like Mad Libs! Anyone do Mad Libs??

Fill in the blanks, make about it yourself, your child, WHOEVER, or a THING! Use it like an interview, or use one of two lines of it... your choice!!

But HAVE fun, and let the creative juices flow!! :)

”I Am” Poem

I am (Two special characteristics the person or thing has)
I wonder (something the person or thing could actually be curious about)
I hear (an imaginary or actual sound)
I see (an imaginary or actual sight)
I want (a desire)
I am (the first line of the poem is repeated)


I pretend (something the person or thing could actually pretend to do)
I feel (a feeling about the imaginary)
I touch (an imaginary touch)
I worry (something that could really bother the person or thing)
I cry (something that could make the person or thing sad)
I am (the first line of the poem is repeated)


I understand (something the person or thing knows to be true)
I say (something the person or thing believes in)
I dream (something the person or thing could actually dream about)
I try (something the person or thing could make an effort to do)
I hope (something the person or thing could hope for)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)

And from our designers... Kim Garner is so busy with her Rusty Pickle Goodness, she will have to step down. And Kate, please keep praying for her!! I can't imagine what it is like to have to deal with the aftermath of such storms!

Next challenge we introduce a new designer, AND I am having a DT call for one to 2 more!! Interested? Just email me your gallery... :) Journaling encouraged!!

Theresa:

I am sweet & beautiful.

I wonder why…

I hear my favorite song and start to dance.

I see the good in the world.

I want to follow the yellow brick road.

I am sweet & beautiful.

I pretend to be a princess.

I feel pretty.

I touch the sky.

I worry if I have to go to school today.

I cry for Mommy.

I am sweet & beautiful.

I understand the importance of taking turns.

I say “for real” all the time

I dream of being a ballerina.

I try to do cartwheels.

I hope I can do backhand springs someday.

I am sweet & beautiful.

Candi: Sasha:

I am silly and outgoing
I wonder what tomorrow brings to my smile
I hear silent cries
I see tears of joy
I want more peace to my heart.
I am silly and outgoing

I pretend everything is perfect
I feel stronger
I touch whispers
I worry about my family
I cry because I am human
I am silly and outgoing

I understand life is what you make it.
I say make it do what it do
I dream the unimaginable
I try to live for me
I hope for a beginning to an end
I am silly and outgoing

Tina:
Ashleigh:Post by Sunday Oct. 5th at Midnight Cally time! :) (Link your blog entry to gallery link!)

The Winner IS...

ALL of you!! :)

THAT'S right! I decided that I would just share the wealth and give ya all a little prize!!

They were all great, and we couldn't pick, so there ya have it!

Email me at pennyscrapbooks@aol.com.

I do NOT mail quickly, especially now (STILL moving!!) But I'll get ya!

Thanks for sharing yourselves with us!!
AWESOME!!

NEXT CHALLENGE: Everyone that enters, will be entered for a RAK!! But ya have to PLAY to WIN!! :)

OK, so I PLAN on always launching on Weds... and today is Weds... but I have to admit, it will be tomorrow! Sorry!!!!

See ya there! Tell your friends-RAK!! :)

IT's ABOUT TIME!! (Challenge #5)

CURRENT EVENTS... what about the world affects you??

OK, this is NOT as hard as you would think.

Besides taking forEVER to post our challenges lately- :) -I was talking to some people about this challenge blog, and more than once I have been told, they are hard. Or that they took thought.

OK, I am NOT apposed to that!! I'm NOT! But I don't want you to pass the challenge by either, because you perceive it too hard.

Either way, I want you to join us... because your story matters. Because all we have is this very moment... then the next... and that last moment, you might want to remember what it was like to love that moment. Scrapbooking is good for that.

So current events that affect you... the war, the economy, our schools, the housing issues, gas prices, hurricanes, tornadoes, a local issue... what affect that world, and then affects you.

Tell us about it. Share the story that you can look back in in more detail.

OK girls... I will give you a couple extra days... God knows I have been needing extra time lately!!

Post by Sunday night the 21st at midnight, Cali time... I look forward to your layouts!!

And from our designers NOT being affect by current events, that have power... etc... PLEASE, again, keep Kate in your prayers-and all the people dealing with the hardships caused by the current hurricane activity!!

Sasha:
We all may not agree with who should win
We all may not want a black president
We all may not want a women VP
We all may not be ready for change
but this is history and either way
rather we like it or not you know
History is being made as I type.


Ashleigh:Theresa:
Holy crap...the gasoline prices...
The electric bill is going higher & higher
It is going to cost double what it did last year
to heat hour home this year.
With everything going up,
what does that mean to our family?
It means less driving.
Less eating out.
Less SHOPPING,
Heavy sweaters in the winter!
It sucks!!
I just want it all to STOP!

Candi: (Digital)Penny:Tina:

NEWS

OK, girls... new challenge, by the end of night-I certainly hope. :)

For this challenge also, Kate will be absent, due to being displaced due to the hurricanes in Louisiana!!!!!

I am a prayer... so anyone else that is :), please include her and her wonderful (LARGE) family in your prayers! I cannot imagine having 6 kids and having to deal with this!! WOW!!

We MISS you Kate!!!

But don't worry about us!! We'll be waiting for your fabulous works when you can get back to it... whenever!!!!!!

Thanks ladies!!!

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Sorry for the DELAY!!

THE WINNER IS!!!!
Simona!! You will receive a prize package from Scrapaganza!! :)

We LOVE Your LO!!! We loved ALL the LAYOUTS! Thanks for making it so HARD each time!!!!

See girls, it didn't have to be so hard!! :)

OK, so here is the deal... I know busy. But I also want to keep you interested too...
Anyone that refers a friend and they do a LO too, for the next challenge... they will get two votes for every vote they get for their LO from our design team!! And THEY will get an extra too!!

Just have them post in their comment who sent 'em!!!

Also, I want your input!! Would you prefer a Flickr account to upload to?? I am not so advanced on such subjects... and I hardly have the time to update my blog, let alone have more random accounts, but I will do whatever you want!! :)

OK, girls! Here are the other (excellent) layouts... and the next challenge SHOULD post tomorrow!! {wink} :) ((and I KNOW, the slide show is kinda weird... just trying something out. If it bugs ya, don't hesitate to let me know!! :) AND if you want to see the LO's bigger, just click on the picture, and it will take you to a NORMAL slide show! :) ))

Also, please be patient! I am moving into my in-laws basement-nuff said!! :) We are building a house, and it is the most practical and economical option... even if it is a 100 year old 1000 square foot 2 bedrooom bungalow that will be filled with 7 people and a dog!! :)

Thanks ladies!! See ya soon!!!!

Challenge #4 Who's in that Family Tree?

Promise me something... you don't let this one scare you away!!
Don't make this any harder than it has to be!

Family Tree: Are you related to someone famous? Do you have a story about someone in your family you know hasn't been written down yet, and now is the time? Is there something interesting in one of the "branches"? Are you adopted and have found your bio. family (I am, and wish I had that story!)? Do you have a real "character" in your family? Has someone in your family been a movie extra, modeled, sells cars and puts out original ads :)? The stories are ENDLESS!!!! I think I really was pushing my designers with this challenge, so I am giving you more ideas than I had them!

Our Guest Designer this month is Kelly Peterson. Kelly has been scrapbooking FOREVER! OK, not that long-but since Creative Memories was the driving force in scrapbooking. She was selling insurance, and one of her friends kept shamelessly bothering her about opening a scrapbooking store! :) She is create and fun, enthusiastic and compassionate! Kelly has been published in two Pine Cone Press books, and teaches every WEEK! She really knows the meaning of customer service! When they talk about Scrapbooking's Funniest-she's it! Her sense of humor is... well, she's a HOOT! Scrapbooking is her passion! She is partner in the ownership of Scrapaganza, a store in Davenport Iowa! Scrapaganza is ALL about service! They don't just want you to buy a tool, or product, they teach you how to use it... There are many classes each month, including the largest "Scrapbooking Club" of a single non-chain store with over 120 members! If you are ever in the area, be sure to check them out! Be sure to check out their blog here!

The designers of the store include a Rusty Pickle "chef", they have all contributed to a book for Pine Cone Press, two have designed product, one has had layouts in Scrapbook Trends, several have won online and national contest and been published in online "ezines", a couple are on manufacturers design teams, or online publication design teams, AND a couple are on challenge blog design teams including (ya saw it coming) The Story Matters!... who knew such talent could come from this "small" brick and mortor store (in Iowa none-the-less)! Scrapaganza hopes to move at the beginning of the year to a larger storefront!

OK, enough about that! :)

Layouts are due (post a comment with a link or a C&P-able link in this comment section) by midnight PST (CA time) Friday September 5th!

From our Guest Designer Kelly Peterson:
(I posted the angled picture cuz those darn mirrors (embellishment) are so hard to photograph! :) )
What a great way to include a large amount of journaling!

Journaling: The funny thing is….I always knew that

I was a princess. Turns out that might not

be so far from the truth. My grandmother

(my mother’s mother) is a direct descendant

of Charlemagne, “Charles the Great,” King

of France. He was born April 2, 742. Until

the 1800’s, every branch of the Stewart family

was royal. Our family tree goes back to the year

609 AD with Arnold, St. Arnuf of Metz. Royals

married royals in those days, and the list of my

relatives are amazing. I was always told that we

were direct descendants of Charlemagne, and

Charles Stewart, the “Bonny Prince.” I was

surprised to learn that other relatives include:

Sir Robert Howard and Lady Margaret Mobray of

The house of Albinia, 1387. (Charlemagne’s direct

Descendents.) Prince Thomas Plantagenet, son of

Edward I, King of England. Then there is Edward I,

“Longshanks,” King of England born June 17^th, 1239.

Henry III, “Lackland,” King of England who was born

December 24^th, 1166. Shifting from England to France,

Louis VI, King of France to Philip I, King of France.

The list goes on and on. Our “House of Stewart” book

is several volumes thick. WHO KNEW!!!!! We joke

that we should walk up to Buckingham Palace and

knock on the door, and say, “HEY COUSINS!!”

(We could be arrested though.) After learning

this information, I do feel like a princess. What am

I saying, I’ve always BEEN the princess. Anyone

related to me who is looking at this page, take a look

in the mirror. Do you see royalty? I do!

From Our Designers:

Theresa:

Ashleigh:

Penny:

Journaling: I often wondered and even dreamed about knowing about my "branch" of the family tree. Sure, I'm included in my adoptive families tree, but what about those people I don't know that are my "blood"? Adopted, or not, we don't choose the families we are born into. We DO get to choose who we "carry on" with.! I choose to dwell on what the future holds & on the children I love and adore. Not those who gave me up. Sure, O would love to know... I would. It's and odd things to dwell on... But knowing where and by who I came from. But I have a father I adore and a husband I adore, and the result of that are children I adore... One of which is adopted. History repeats itself. But she is part of our "tree"! Just like me!

Kim:

Tina:Journaling: James and I started dating in 2001. I was 18 and he was 20. we got married in 2004. Had our first child Summer in 2004. We have been married for 4yrs. Now were thinking of adding one more to this family. But for now it's the 3 of us facing this world together.

Candi:(...wait for it... a couple more examples coming very soon! :) )