Challenge Me!

I love a good challenge - a new task, a new skill ... and, of course, a scrapbooking challenge - especially ones that push me into new territories.  This month, I'm hosting the Design 366 (or Project Life, Project 365 / 366, etc.) challenge at Design House Digital and the Scraplift Challenge ... and my layouts for these ended up being two-fers with the Journaling and Swatch Challenges.  Phew! LOL

We also got through a great monthly speed scrap last weekend - so yeah, another 'challenge', but this one was for the players as I was already done.  Even better: German chocolate cake, gourmet hot chocolate, and snow -  I walked away hungry and wanting to build a snowman! LOL  My page for the speed scrap used a kinda traditional lovey-dovey couple kit, complete with a pair of doves ... but I used it for a picture of Stan and Haddie - Stan all dressed up in his Homecoming dance "suit" - black dress shoes, pants, a black and purple striped shirt, and purple tie.  Really, quite handsome and very put together.  I managed to grab a photo or two of "the kids" in the backyard before the sun went down:

The "two of a kind" tag really cracked me up - these two really are like two peas in a pod in so many ways, from food to sleep to loving being the center of attention.

This year I'm not doing the Project 365 / Project Life pages - but I live vicariously through those that are (they rock!).  However, last week we had a special date, October 11, 2012 - or 10.11.12 (yeah, for my Australian and European friends, the month goes first here - takes a bit of getting used to).  Out came the camera and a chance to record some everyday "stuff", including a trip to the dentist for Stan (two fillings) where I played with some of the toys (you know, 'cause I needed a photo, that's all ... uh-huh), and ending the day watching a baseball play-off game.  This ended up being a two-page layout - and came together easier than I thought ... I kinda miss having my camera out like that.  This year, without the benefit of P365, I've really only been photographing special events.  Nothing wrong with that, mind you - but you tend to miss the little things that can sometimes be taken for granted.

For something totally fun, I just finished messing around with color palettes for a 2Ps friend, Janelle - she's looking at taking over a room in her house and converting it to her scrappy room, but is stuck on what to use for color in there ... and she wants to keep her red couch and the yellow school-bus-colored wall.  You can find out about Janelle's dilemma here.  I took at stab at this and immediately thought of Pinterest and pinning items that I liked for color, pattern, etc.  I keep telling myself I will NOT get addicted to Pinterest, but I fear I'm fighting a losing battle. :P  *sigh*  Oh well, here's what I came up with:

Ooooh, baseball is back on - Tigers are shooting for a win tonight, which would put them into the World Series against ... well, not sure who yet - the Giants or the Cardinals. Just finished up US History homework and talking about the electoral college (silly system, if you ask me - I'm all for most votes = winner, period) ... so I need a chance to unwind.  Baseball fun will do it.

Until next time ...