I'm Challenged

But you knew that already

I've been soaking up every challenge I've had time to read about.  Some on Gossamer, Studio Calico and on Two Peas.  I've got sketches and notes all over the place, scribbled on anything I could reach at that moment.  One may have been on a bill and another on one of the kids', luckily already graded, homework.

I am in the middle of a "hobby-life" reboot, I think.  Things just seem to grab a hold of me and don't let go until I get them down on paper.  I have dreams about how my layouts should look.  It'd be nice if Ryan Gosling showed up every once in awhile, but no...all about paper.  It's almost like scrapbooking is my job now.  When I have 5 minutes to spare, I'm down at my desk.  I work on something EVERY DAY.  And...I like it.  I like the way I feel; like I've accomplished something important.  I know, I know...it's not like I'm just sitting on my ass normally.  Raising this beautiful little girl does take some work.

But I have something tangible.  Something I can show to someone else and say, "look what I did!"  My work with the kiddos won't be done for years yet.  :)

Anyhoo, I was trying to use up the last little tiny bits of my Studio Calico kit, and was bombarded with ideas about a completely different page inspired by several challenges for the 213 in 2013 on Two Peas.  Love this series of videos, btw.  They are just awesome inspiration.  It really helps see how just a couple prompts spark something amazing.  And, not that I think my stuff is amazing, but this is prally a good place to show my page.

So, a few of the prompts were:  use bright colors, use water color or mists in a new way, and use gesso on your layout.  Celine Navarro showed how she uses a plastic card to apply the gesso, no brush strokes.  So I tried it, with mixed results.  I was probably doing it wrong, though.  Then I used water color paints to add the green/aqua to the bottom right of the page.  That I had fun with.  I can see me painting on many more layouts.  :)  And finally, you can't get brighter colors that Amy Tangerine Sketchbook.  Neon bright, love it!  Oh, oh!! I almost forgot the best part...I, me, all by myself, sewed on my page, with my own flippin sewing machine.  I threaded it all myself and everything.  HOORAY!!!  I only had a slight panic attack doing it.  So proud of myself!  (Working on trying to overcome my fear of the sewing machine.  I wanna make cute stuffs!! )

So there you go...in between a sick baby girl and running all over this city this week, that's what I've done so far.  I'll post it on Two Peas, too.  I worked to hard for other peeps not to see it.  :)