The challenge is to create a kit using supplies you have on hand that includes:

• 10 patterned papers 
• 5 sheets of cardstock 
• 1 spray ink (Mister Huey/Glimmer Mist/etc.) 
• 1 stamp set 
• 1 Alpha Sticker large (Thickers, etc.) 
• 1 Alpha Sticker small (mini alphas)
• 1 sheet of bling/embellishments
• 1 pre-made/cut die cut accent
• 1 set of border strips

Then use it to complete as many pages, cards, etc. as possible.

I chose to do some stash-diving when putting my kit together and mix my older supplies with some of my new loves. Here is my kit:

I went stash-diving to pick my papers. I’ve been eager to make a dent in some of my older papers since there are so many new ones I’d like to buy. I picked papers from My Mind’s Eye (Fine & Dandy, So Sophie, and Follow Your Heart collections), Crate Paper (Toolbox and School Spirit collections), October Afternoon (Night Light collection), and Cosmo Cricket (Social Club collection). Also visible is an old Technique Tuesday frame that I’ve been wanting to use. I substituted this for border stickers, because I simply couldn’t decide on any. Hope I don’t regret that when I go to use the kit.

I chose American Crafts red Patchwork Thickers for my big alpha and My Mind’s Eye Lime Twist ‘Genuine’ alpha stickers for my small alpha. My bling is from Bo Bunny Mamma-razzi collection. And I chose label stickers and a die cut from My Mind’s Eye Miss Caroline collection.

I also added a few sheets of cardstock (kraft, french vanilla and dark grey) and a stamp set from House of Three that I have yet to use. I also plan on using some Arctic Blue Glimmer Mist.

Now to find the time to start using this kit.

This is a memory that I am so happy to have scrapped. It’s about one of those moments that are so easy to let slip by in the busy-ness of daily life with little kids, but are also so important to save because they are so fleeting. Colin was almost two. There had been a thunderstorm that had his older brothers very excited and had made him rather nervous. Then it was over and it was bedtime, but I took a moment to look outside for a rainbow and sure enough there was a brilliant one. So I showed Colin. His brothers weren’t too impressed, but it rocked his world. He talked about it for days. ‘Maino, me see maino’ he’d repeat.

But I did find time to stop by an LSS, visit my favourite scrappy message boards, chat a bit and check out the inspiration and challenges. And there were a lot of them to choose from.

• My favourite Canadian online store, The Paper Passion has a number of challenges still going on until Monday evening. I have a few ideas in the works, but will have to work hard to get more than one or two done tomorrow.
• I also looked in on the celebrations at 2 Peas in a Bucket. Too much to keep up with on the boards for me, but I did like the look of a couple of their challenges and loved the fun badges they award for participating in the celebrations. It’s a little thing, but I appreciate them.
• Simple Stories blog has a couple of challenges that look like fun and the deadline is a very doable June 1.
• Scrapbook & Card Today had a blog post an hour yesterday, with a great mix of challenges and inspiration or techniques.

So what are your favourite places to look for inspiration and challenges?

These would be great if my twine was on large spools:

Credit: www.yourhomebasedmom.com

Credit: thetwinery.blogspot.com

Credit: www.homemadesimple.com

These looked really cute:

Credit: www.mymaysunshine.com

Credit: www.scraplifters.com

I opted to try this idea because I happened to have a bunch of clothes pins on hand:

Credit: www.travelfoodartanddesign.com

And then I needed a container for them, so I altered a plain wooden planter-style box from M’s to sit on my table. Here’s my twine stash in it’s new home:

It looks like I might need a few more colours to fill it up a bit more, don’t you think?

My first page for the May Layout a Day challenge. The prompt was to scrap a self-portrait so I went on a hike with my littlest this morning and snapped a few photos. I also was inspired by a challenge to finger paint and distress by hand from last weekend’s Cocoa Daisy crop.

All times are EDT. Hope you can come and play along!

I played along with Shimelle’s And Now for Something Completely Different class on the UKScrappers message boards last weekend. This is a photo from our trip to Turkey (before kids) that I’ve had sitting around for MUCH too long (years!), so was eager to follow along and get it scrapped. It felt odd following directions because frankly, it isn’t something that I do well, or often, but I’m pleased with the results. Also good to do some stash diving and use some of my older papers.

This is from our summer road trip last year. We stopped at the memorial for the Frank Slide in southeastern BC. I remember stopping there as a child and was amazed at how little has grown back in over 100 years.

Simple, fun page I did of my oldest at the beach a few years ago. Not sure what this was waiting for – a date perhaps?

This one was waiting for some journalling. It’s about one of those turning point moments in my life. When I was thirteen, I borrowed my brother’s camera while our family was on vacation. While taking photos in a park before dinner, I was transported to another world of beauty and wonder as I discovered the power of art. Of course, the photos I took didn’t reflect the ‘vision’ I had, because I still didn’t know how to operate the camera other than pressing the shutter release button, but my world has never been the same.

Lots more to share soon. Lots of pages and projects inspired by True Scrap 3 in the works, been doing some reorganizing of my stash and I still have pages to complete from a weekend crop a couple of weeks ago. I love to get away for a creative weekend, but somehow rarely compete my pages while there. Crops are more about socializing than pages for me, I guess.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

I’ve been thinking about starting a Project Life-style project lately. Which really surprises me, because my first impression of PL was that it was full of ‘rules’ that would take the fun out of creating. But, I like the idea of capturing the fleeting bits of everyday life without doing a layout about every little thing. I’ve been going through some old photos of the boys lately, and am amazed at how much our everyday life has changed in just two or three years. I’d like a place to capture and record some of those details and I’d like a project that would inspire me to take more of those everyday life photos. I also like the idea of using my stash for the project.

What I don’t want is a creative chore. I don’t want to start something that will hang over my head and nag at me to ‘keep up’ or ‘get caught up’. The rules will need to be minimal and flexible. I don’t want to have piles of albums to store if I keep at this for years. I’d like to put it together monthly, but that might not be often enough to make it a habit.

My first question is how to collect my notes for the project. I considered using a notebook, but know that I often just can’t stop to write something down. I’m thinking Evernote might be my best option since I can use my phone and I seem to have become a modern tech-dependant gal somehow. I’ve considered using Twitter, but not sure how much I want to broadcast. I suspect I’ll be gathering ideas and notes from a bunch of places – my calendar, my planner, my journal, Twitter, and all those scattered notes and bits of paper that constantly find their way to the kitchen counter. The challenge there will be to snatch them up before my husband throws them out.

So I’m going to jump in and work out the details on the fly. This weekend I’ll be going to a crop with a few friends and acquaintances. I’ll play with scraps to start a spread or two and see where it goes from there.

My ‘rules’:

• It’s about the details of everyday life, not capturing the minutia of every day
• When in doubt, choose the simpler option
• It’s OK to repeat elements because there’s a lot of repetition in our lives
• It’s OK to take breaks

So, I’m wondering, do you have a project life album? Do you use the official kit, or make your own? What are your rules?