A Different Kind of Challenge.... 33

Hi Everyone! I appreciate all the sweet comments that have been left regarding my creations :) They sure are encouraging & greatly appreciated!
Today I have a different kind of challenge... You know how fashion goes around & around, never really changes, just comes full circle? Well, I feel like that is what I have done: I started sewing when I was 16 as a necessity to mend my clothes, (growing up with 10 siblings), to making my daughter's dresses & quilting during the long cold winter days & nights in Buffalo, NY. I then adventured into scrapbooking, scrapping my children's photos & making memory books to sell. My girlfriend, Dianne, & I had a wild idea that we could actually make $ selling little memory books at the Hospital Holiday Bazaar. LOL! That was a bust but we had a lot of good laughs & that is when I met my 1st SU Demonstrator, Shana, who introduced me to stamping & has become my dear friend. Consequently, Shana welcomed a set of wonderful twin boys & rarely gets a chance to stamp anything these days & Dianne took on a job requiring 4 out of 5 days of traveling & doesn't even step foot into her Craft room! As one of my New Year's resolutions, I have promised myself that I am going to complete some of those unfinished scrapped books :) I have "met" many cyberfriends, if you would like to see some awesome creations, please feel free to visit their blogs. In no particular order: Diane, Kim, Carole & Susan to name a few! Which leads me to today's post - Are you still with me? :)

Here is my 1st page from our trip to Europe 2007- Venice One think I find very challenging is choosing which photos to use. We always take a million! These 3 are some of my favorites. I love the largest photo which is a "street" view of Venice taken from the water taxi. Of course, I had to get a few pics of the Gondoliers & their beautifully ornate Gondolas.

For sketch inspiration, I turned to the gals on Splitcoast Stampers for some inspiration, SBCS68, to get my scrappin' MOJO flowing :) I tweaked the sketch a bit to "fit" my photos. I "flipped" it & eliminated the big circle because it just didn't look right with my photos. I hope the SCS girls don't mind :) In my search for inspiration, I came across a few awesome sites, but if any of you scrappers out there can recommend some, my "eyes" are wide open for suggestions :) Please feel free to email me or pass the information on in a comment, I read them all!
As you can see, I love to layer my pages as much as my cards :) This is a close up view of the little blossom on the left I made using 3 different sized Spellbinders Scalloped Circle dies & 1 tiny Blossom die. The ornate center is a Making Memories brad.
I made this "Post Card" embellishment from a free digital print of a map. I downloaded the image, scaled it the size to fit my page then hit print! Easy as that! I never knew just how many freebies are out there on the www! I inked up the Post Card image from the SU Winter Post set with SU Chocolate Chip ink & stamped it near the top of the map. I crinkled it up for a distressed look & smudged some Ranger Tim Holtz Vintage Photo ink on the edges as well as the print. Using my distressing tool, I roughed up the edges, layered it on a piece of Bazzill brown cs, then stitched it into place. I found that gorgeous button at the "garage sale" at my LSS :) The little postage stamp image inside the fancy Tim Holtz Ideology bookplate is from a Hero Arts multi-package. I inked it up with SU Rose Red ink then cut it out using a Spellbinders Oval die.
To make this little tag, I inked up the Hero Arts Italia image with SU Bordering Blue ink, stamped then cut it to fit inside the Cuttlebug postage stamp frame, layered with a piece of Bazzill brown cs & set aside. The tag itself was made by first stamping the Waltzingmouse image with SU Chocolate Chip ink then by centering the Spellbinders Labels 4 die right over the image, then sent it through my Sizzix Big Shot Express machine. The tag topper was made from inking up the Waltzingmouse image with SU Old Olive ink, centering the Spellbinders Labels 4 die & repeating the cutting process. I repeated this step again by placing a Spellbinders Scalloped circle die over the image. Topped it off with a little clip from SU.
This big blossom was made by layering the beautiful, whimsical MTME © Fluttering-by digi paper & K&Company DPcut with the Spellbinders Dahlia die then distressed. The center has a Tim Holtz Ideology flower embellishment & pearl Paper Studio brad.

So there you have my first scrapped page of 2010 :) There will be many more to follow. I would love to know if you are a Scrapper as well as a Card Maker? Be Sweet!

Stamps: Hero Arts Italia Tower, International Cancel Post, SU Winter Post, Waltzingmouse stamps, various free digital images
Paper: MTME © Pretty Printables: Fluttering-by, K&Company DP, Bazzill Brown, SU Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgandy
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Vintage Photo, SU Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp, Bordering Blue, Old Olive
Sprinkles: Spellbinders Dahlia, Blossom, Oval, Scalloped Circles, Labels 4 & 5, Tim Holtz Ideology hardware, Paper Studio brads, Making Memories hardware, Sizzix Flourish #2 die, Cuttlebug postage stamp die, PTI twine & button from stash