RAK Winner!!!

My extreme apologies for being thoroughly negligent of my dear little blog. I miss scrapbooking. I miss my blog. I miss all of my lovely internet friends!!! But I waited so long for this job, I have to do my best. I'm sure you will forgive me.

Also, nearly forgot to announce that Jenny is the winner of my F{all} into Ch{all}enge Blog Hop RAK is Jenny!!

Congrats Jenny! If you pop by be sure to send your address details to paperheart[dot]project[at]gmail[dot]com. Otherwise I'll look for you over at Ch{all}enge Masters!

xxbesos

j.leija

F{all} into a Ch{all}enge

Welcome to the Ch{all}enge Masters F{all} into a Ch{all}enge Blog Hop! The challenge Divas have gotten together to create some fantastic Fall themed projects for you to be inspired and enjoy. You should have arrived here from Katie's Blog (our resident Altered Art Diva). If not, then you need to start back at Tammy's Blog (Stash & Tag Diva). We all have a secret word that you need to collect to spell an autumn phrase and to be entered to win one of the grand prizes. All the details are on Tammy's blog and you don't want to miss out on any great prizes along the way as we all have something special that you can win!

Here's my project for the hop. I can't claim that those pumpkins were my original idea, I know I've seen them somewhere but can't for the life of me think where!! But they're so cute and so easy to make :) All I did I was punch some scallops out of cardstock, folded them in half and adhered them together. Viola! Cute and simple and quick (which is what I need right now) sweet lil pumpkins.

Now we are sending the ch{all}enge out to you! We want to see your fall themed projects! You can upload them to the Ch{all}enge Masters gallery. You'll need to sign up to the forum and while you are there we hope you'll have a look at all the great challenges we do every week! You have until midnite on Saturday September 25th to upload your project and then the winner will be announced a few days later! You can win a fantastic prize pack!

And just for commenting on my post, you could win this fall themed RAK!

Here's my secret word, be sure to write it down so you can submit to the big RAK!

And now you're off to the lovely Karen P's blog. I'm sure she'll wow you with her festive fall creation! Happy hopping yall!!

xxbesos

j.leija

Hybrid: Photo Frames

Happy Sunday!! The second Sunday of the month to be exact :) That means, a new hybrid challenge issued for Ch{all}enge Masters!!

This month's challenge is to use a digital frame to frame your photo. I've been experimenting with this a bit in the last few months, as I don't have many of scrapbook supplies at my disposal (what with the living out of a suitcase and all). It adds a certain pop, much more so than plain old cardstock!

And this photo needed to pop off of that beautiful (frame worthy itself) vintage botanical/aviary patterned paper done by 7 Gypsies. I used a vintage frame done by Rhonna Farrer. Now, I plugged my photo in digitally, but you could also print it out and adhere the photo "manually" (wow that's a weird of saying use your hands) as well. When I was done, I simply printed it out using my 4x6 photo printer, cut it out using my trusty scissors, added foam squares to the page to give it some dimension and adhered it to my page.

Now I love this paper but it is so flat. Which is why I wanted all of my embellishments to have some dimension. Thus the Thickers, that gorgeous Jenni Bowlin vintage pin, and the lovely floral/feather accent done by K&Co. (had to reference back the birds).

I feel like I've been taking a page out of Stephanie Howell's scrapbook, using a generic type photo and using it to tell a story. This story, is the one about Matt and I living in the same city for the first time since we started dating, 1 year & 10 months later. I know it's crazy! It's so nice to have him around on a day to day basis, to do all those random things together, to watch that store of movies that I've been wanting to watch with him. It hasn't been perfect, by any means. But I'm just happy to have a real life boyfriend, and not a Skype version!

So if you have a minute, play along with my hybrid challenge (please, please, pretty please!!) This month's winner will receive a kit from My Scrapbook Nook! Happy hybriding :)

xxbesos

j.leija

In Memorial

It's been a year, today, that my uncle passed away. He valiantly staved off pancreatic cancer for 9 months, before finding peace on this day, one year ago. I miss him so much. It literally is still surreal to think about him being gone. I'm always half expecting to see him walk through the door at my grandmas.

My uncle was nothing if not loving. He loved his family so much and would do absolutely anything for anyone at the drop of the hat. And I know he loved me just as much as I loved him. When I was little he started calling me his Mamies, a nickname for me that was just his and no one elses. He use to hug and squeeze on me and Mama would tell him, "get your own Mamies!" Eventually, when Christina came along he did. He use to love to tell me that story. I must have heard it hundreds of times over the years. It always made me feel so loved.

Last year when he was sick I was unemployed. And for that, I am extremely beyond words thankful. I would never had had the opportunity to spend as much time with him as I did. Papa and I would stop by at least one afternoon a week, just to sit with him, pray with him, rub his back. Really just be with him, he hated so much to be alone. I'm grateful that I was able to be there for him, even if being there for him was just sitting next to him on the couch.

I'm incredibly thankful that he's now at peace and that he's no longer suffering. Even though we all miss him as much as we do. He will not and cannot be forgotten. We still talk about him all the time. Like I said in my journaling, his love for his family was his most enduring legacy. And because of that, he lives on.

Journaling Reads:

Dear Tio,

It's still so hard for me to believe that you're gone. That you won't breeze through the door of Nana's house, a fizzing ball of energy, exclaiming "Que chula mi Mamies!" and flashing that mega watt smile.

I'm so thankful I was in San Antonio, a place I hadn't called home in more than 5 years. I'm so happy I was close enough and able to spend the precious hours I did with you,. I would never had had the opportunity otherwise.

This is how I'll always remember you, plump and healthy and strong. I'm so grateful I have this photo of the two of us. Look, you were even in your jacket about to walk out the door.

I love you so much Tio and I know that you still love me. Your love for your family is your most enduring legacy. And because of that, you live on.

Carinos Tio! Te Amo

-Mamies

xxbesos

j.leija

Seasons of Change Blog Hop

Sorry, sorry, sorry!! This week has been absolutely nuts and I got this hop mixed up with another going on later this month. But I'm here now and apologize for the delay.

If you're a usual visitor to my blog and want to participate in the hop, you'll want to jump over to Pamela's Blog to begin at the beginning.

I love blog hops! And the Scrapbook Challenges ones are near and dear to my heart. It's how I first discovered this amazing community, way back in January. The ladies there are truly inspirational and always encouraging. I so hope you'll play along with us! I'm so thankful that I get to keep playing with them for another season!

As always our fabulous sketch master, Pamela, turned out an awesome sketch!

My take: Forgive the irony, but time and the lack thereof have been a big theme in my life these last few weeks. I constantly feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything that I want to do, done. Hence my no-photo layout, about my rapidly dwindling social life.

Since I went to Lizzy's class last week, I had plenty of left over Lizzy goodies to play with. Pamela's design lends itself beautifully to showcasing several blocks of "patterned paper". So once again, I turned to that gorgeous fabric paper. I love the look of frayed ends and ran my scissors along the edge to give them more gusto.

I also did a bit of stamping on patterned paper. I just got the Tattered Angels Time Traveler stamp set and have been dying to use them on something. I figured the clock and pocket watch were perfect accents for my page about time. I use charcoal chalk ink a lot, and just recently purchased a dark brown color. It added a lovely vintage vibe to the page.

Then I went back and added a little cluster of circle embellishments at the bottom, to give it some balance. It still doesn't feel perfect but I think I'll leave it for now. I incorporated lots of fun things, buttons, brads, stickers, punched patterned papers. Ya know, pretty shiny stuff :)

There you have it, that's my take! And if the sketch isn't enough inspiration for you to play along, they maybe I can interest you in a prize or 2...

1. Everyone who leaves a comment on all of the blogs in the hop will be entered into the drawing to win the new "Restoration" line from Crate Paper. [Seriously ladies, I'm so jealous of whoever wins this one!! It's one of my must-haves from the Summer CHA and have yet to see it in stores]

2. Everyone who does a layout based on the above sketch and posts it in the Hop On section gets entered into the drawing to win the new "Pixie-Licisous" line from Cosmo Cricket, inluding the 12x12 sheet of chipboard! [Oh lala!]

3. Everyone who joins the group this weekend gets entered into the drawing for a Prima pack. [Because you can never have enough flowers, truly!]

4. Everyone who invites someone to the group this weekend, through the invite link on the main page, gets entered into a drawing for a Prima Pack. [They really are awesome at what they do!]

5. Lastly, there will be another prize in the Hop On section.

You can check out Pamela's blog for pics of all these goodies! And next on your hopping adventure is Natalie's blog, for more scrappy goodness. Happy Hopping!

xxbesos

j.leija

For all you ladies who commented on my other posts, don't you worry. I got you covered! Thanks for commenting:

Christy

Jackie

Amanda

heather_graham

Erika

dknox614

Diane

Janet Murie

Brittney

Peggy

Jessica

Brenda H

Bev