Friday, September 21, 2012

The challeneges - No. 1

Time to show off with my challenges layouts!

The first challenge was to scrap a layout about a special person in my life and of course say why he or she is important. There are four or five important and special people in my life, but this time I chose to do a page with and about my husband. Of course there had to be a picture and some journaling, but the idea was to use the things we learnt during the workshops, so I ended up with my first double page layout. I used the Summer Getaway kit from Scrapable to create the layout and I am happy with the results. I find it challenging to create pages where my husband is alone in the picture or pictures. I don't want to make it girly looking or too crowded, but I found all the elements I needed in this kit and this is the result:


The journaling says:

We met in 2003 and although it was not love at first sight, we fell in love in a very short period of time and after I got to know you I knew I wanted you to be the father of my children and the man I want to grow old with. We’ve been through ups and downs and stood against people who did not want to see us together. We did a lot of things to be where we are today. I moved to the other side of the world just to be with you and I do not regret it for a second.

We are not in the same place all the time and every time you leave home you take a piece of me with you. We are both working for our children and our future and it is unfair to be far from each other for so long, but we both know that in the end we have each other and three wonderful children and a place we call our home. I love you like I never thought I could love anyone and I promise you I will do anything in my power not to hurt you or make you sad. You are my best friend,my lover and my husband and I want to spend forever with you.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Last two workshops

Already past mid-September and I started working and Alex started grade 1. I am so busy I didn't even have the time to post some of the posts I wrote back in August.

Here are the last workshops from the set, so the next post is going to be with layouts I did for the challenges. I didn't win any of the prizes and I wasn't even a runner-up, but I am happy I took part in this contest and did some more layouts.

The funny things about these last two layouts is that I knew that one of the workshops was going to be a journaling layout, so I started working on a layout for the last poem I wrote for my husband. When I was just about finished with it I saw that the workshop was about title layering and not journaling and I finished the page by playing with the title. Also while commenting on the other designers layouts I saw one that was perfect for a double page layout - I told the designer and she did end up doing it as a double page layout and got a lot of positive comments on it. Now by the time I got to workshop 9 and saw it's not journaling, I knew workshop 10 would be it. I decided to make the second page of a double page layout for the last workshop and what better occasion to go with this poem, than my wedding day and a little story for Alex who although was there she was too young to remember.

Workshop 9 - layered title - kits used Classic Beauty and Summer Breeze by Just So Scrappy.




Workshop 10 - journaling - kits used Classic Beauty and Summer Breeze by Just So Scrappy.



Monday, August 27, 2012

Still workshop layouts

Workshop 7 - color extraction - kit used Fiesta by Mediterranka Design. I actually won this kit in the happy section from the Digi Shop Talk forum... you should check it if you like to win free kits and templates. I decided to do something different with this template and did it on a diagonal. I think it has a lot of dynamic.


I love her smile and her dimple... well I love everything about her:) after all she is mine!!!... I took this picture at the graduation ceremony from the basic school she went too. When Alex started school in Jamaica we enrolled her in the second term in second grade in a basic school close to where we live. However after a few months when I learnt that I was getting the full time job, we decided to move her to a school closer to my work place. It is not only a better school, but knowing her close to me at all times gives me peace of mind. She learns computers, Spanish and French and she did really good in all her subjects, so I say "Hat off baby girl! I am really proud of you!"

Workshop 8 - template - kits used from Life's a Rainbow Collection by Roseytoes Designs: blue, yellow and black and white. The pictures were taken in August 2011.


Friday, August 24, 2012

Summer contest part 3

I know I didn't put part 1 and part 2 in the title post, but if you are reading this post and you like what you see and you want to see more just check the posts before and after and leave me a comment or two if you feel like it:)...

Workshop 5 - blending - kit used Memory Lane by Jen C Designs. Jen C is one of my favorite designers and I have over twenty of her kits; some I bought and some I won on her blog or Facebook page or over at Digi Shop Talk. While I like the final result, I am not all that happy with the way the title came out,but that is something easy to fix. One thing I love though is when I can use elements from the kit as accessories and make it look like part of the picture - hint: see the flower in Alex's hair :)


I took this pictures with Alex this year at the end of April when we went with some friends to church. We don't go to church every Sunday, but now and then and if there's a special occasion. This time our friends got their little baby girl blessed and we were honored to be invited and be part of their special day. Of course I took my camera and took quite a few shots both with Alex and the baby. Over all it was a really nice day and no, Alex was not crying or being sad when I took the picture.

Workshop 6 - extraction - kit used By the sea by Just So Scrappy. Another one of my favorite designers and I probably have just about twenty something kits from her too... I managed to get a buy my store deal once and then hunted some coupons on Facebook as well as bought some of her kits. What I love about her kits is that they are huge! When you buy a kit from JSS you usually get over forty papers and over 100 elements and they are always very reasonably priced.


The picture was taken at the same baby blessing event and I love her expression. You might have noticed by now that I don't like very crowded layouts and I use as few elements as necessary to enhance the photos. Both layouts for workshop 5 and workshop 6 use both techniques: blending and extraction and although I don't use any of them too much, I think I did a pretty god job with these layouts. What do you think?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Still from the summer contest

Although I wanted to post two or three layouts in a post, the previous post was kinda long - I for one don't like it when I have to scroll down the page for five minutes and read the same post. Thus I decided that since some of my layouts will have a little story attached to them, not to post more than two. I hope you still go through my posts and check the layouts. Whenever possible, I will give links to the designers of the kits and the kit itself, but some of the kits I used are not available at the store I bought them from. However if you really like a kit, you can always contact the designer and ask where you could buy it from - most of them are really nice and helpful.:)

OK, so here we go again:

Workshop 3 - shadows - kit used Boys and Girls Mega kit by Megan's Creations


I love square photos and I think the stack papers used as a mat work really good in most cases. I also love to use fonts where I can use some of the papers from the kit. This photo was actually taken one morning on the way to school. Alex always know how to make the funniest faces and I think this one in particular works great with the title... 

Workshop 4 - white space - kit used Par-T-Que by Scrapable


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

back and forth

If you visit my blog and read through my most recent posts you will see that they are not in chronological order, but rather a mix between what is happening now with me and my life and what happened since last August. I promised to show you some layouts in this post, so I am not going to make you sleepy with too much writing.

Without too much introduction I am presenting to you my most recent layouts - well half of them - which I did for the Digi Summer Getaway 2012 at Scrapable. This was a contest I took part in two years ago so i was happy to do it again and I also needed the scrapping challenge in my life. There were ten workshops and then four challenges where we had to combined the things we learnt in the workshops plus to follow the rules.

Workshop 1-  composition - kit used Tall tales by Secret Stash and Modern June

As in most of my pictures, the main character is Alex - here at the end of the school year when she got a little book as a prize along with her test results: 100% score in all the tests.

Workshop 2 - clustering - kit used Cool Pool Party by Modern June



Monday, August 20, 2012

2011 and not only

Looking through my posts and making a little summary of 2011 for me... it might not see like a lot happened, but keeping in mind I've just moved to a new place, I think I did pretty good... anyways... here it goes:

  • - wrote 79 posts on my blog
  • - made over 150 quick pages for different contests and challenges
  • - won several digital scrapbooking kits
  • - took a couple hundreds pictures
  • - enrolled Alex in the Jamaican educational system
  • - got the paperwork that says Alex is a Jamaican citizen
  • - got a part time job which turned into a full-time one
  • - did the driving school - again - this time with the steering wheel on the right side
  • - drove a van, a standard car and now an automatic one
  • - learnt my way around town - only the parts I need to go
  • - ordered some furniture from different carpenters
  • - got a Kindle Fire which I am sharing with my little one
  • - celebrated my one year anniversary since I moved to Jamaica
  • - got the last of my boxes with books and clothes and toys and the rest
  • - upgraded from going to work by bus to driving to work
  • - learnt to appreciate some things people take for granted
  • - played a lot of Monopoly - the original one with the paper money
ok, I promise next post will include some layouts I managed to scrap this year:)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

August again

I've been planning posting some things on the blog even before I started my vacation and now it's the last week I am home and I have a lot of things to do before I go back to work and Alex goes back to school... so get ready for a shower of posts:)

Like I said my vacation is over, but I don't really have anything exciting to share about it. We stayed home most of the time and did some of the famous spring cleaning - well I know August it's not spring, but I live in Jamaica where is summer all the time...  I did put a couple of posts my other blog Mariance's other corner , but that happened because I had fewer things to put on there so I did it all in two evenings.

So now back to this blog. This was my first blog and I'd love to have more time to post here, but unfortunately when I am at work I don't have the time for it. So after this shower of posts, you might not hear too much from me again for a while.

So I hope you will have the patience and interest to go through my blog and look at some of the layouts I created and some of the pictures I took.

Thank you!

Monday, April 30, 2012


I almost didn't make it again. Who had any idea how difficult it would be to be almost a single parent and take care of a house and three dogs.. anyways here is my page for the April contest for Cool Scraps Digital. The contest ends April 30th, yes today, and here is my entry for it:



The page was created with a kit offered for this contest only and the freebie is a Personal Use page only. Here is the preview I made for the contest:



and here is my page with a photo in it:


Sunday, January 29, 2012

January contest

Finally got the time to make a new page. It is for a contest for Cool Scraps Digital monthly contest. The contest ends January 31st and here is my entry for it:


The page was created with a kit offered for this contest only and The freebie is a Personal Use page only. Here is the preview I made for the contest:


and here is my page with a photo in it:




Thursday, January 5, 2012

2012?!?

I can't believe almost a week passed since the new year started... Ever since I started working full-time and getting home around 7 in the evening, I've hardly had time to write on my blog, let alone do some quick pages or take parts in any contests. Of course I wish I had more time for the things I like, but I guess I am not the only one who wishes this.

Right now, all I wish for is a lot of health and strength for my family and friends and for everybody else, even people I don't know... I wish them all a better year than 2011 and may all their wishes come true this year... I have some wishes for the new year too and hopes, but they will remain mine for now and if they come true I might consider sharing them with you.:)

Most of the year it's just me and my baby at home - well she is almost six years old, but she will always be my baby. Now I am lucky enough to have my mom visiting as well as my husband home with us. Of course, my whole schedule is upside down with the two of them at home cooking and cleaning and taking care of the house and the dogs and all, and I know this is going to be one more reason for me to miss them when they go. But I know me and my baby will be okie and busy too... I think there will be another post on the blog soon with some updates about what happened in 2011, but until than stay safe and come visit me again.