did you hear the rad news?? pink pineapple is now doing a monthly challenge!! so rad. so excited. so inspired. i have to be honest, i have never considered doing challenges until gloria mentioned that she does them as often as she can. and she loves them. i tried {for my very first time} to tackle this challenge thing and i have to admit, i am also a fan. i {of course} started with pinks challenge. i did these babies a week {or more ago}. do you do challenges?? do you like them?? i truly encourage you to give it a try for the first time, or give it another try if youre not so much a fan. mama likey!!! here is the information for pinks challenge, straight from their email. orrrrrr,, you can go to glorias challenge blog.

Every month, Gloria, Pink Pineapple's Head of Design Team will post a new challenge. You can email your submissions to pinkpineapplescrap@sbcglobal.net, bring them into the store, or mail them to us. We will choose one winner each month. The winner of the challenge will be announced on the blog and his/her layout or project will be displayed for an entire month on our blog and/or in the store.

The challenge this month is as follows:

Design a layout using any Valentine paper line of your choice and you MUST incorporate some Hambly product on your layout!

Entries are due by Thursday, February 26th at 5:00pm via email, dropped off at store, or by mail. Winner will be announced on Sunday, February 28th.

here is my first entry,,,

and {honestly} im so inspired i did a second,,, im not sure if i can do that, so we will see,,, but i did it anyway. whatever, at least its helping me on my way to my 365 layouts, yes??

i honestly do like em both. for different reasons. so i think you should try the challenge as well!!! do it!!!

~xoxo~

i love scrapmojo. i went through some of their older challenges to see is anything struck my fancy. just for fun!! there was a ton of fun challenges that inspired me and made me happy. i know i cant enter it, but i thought that challenge number 21 sounded perfect. i have always thought the whole *my child*,, blah, blah, blah bumper sticker was, well, interesting. just not my thing. anyway, when the whole *my child beat up your honor student* come along {as a bumper sticker}, i remember the first one {it was on a red ford ranger when i was driving in temec}. i died. too, too funny!!! anyway, like i said, i know i cant submit it, but no the less, i wanted to play along. this, is what i came up with and i love it!!! scrapmojo does something to my creative mind and i love it!!!

dude, daniel is so rad!!! i love this picture ~ taken like a few days ago,,,

~cheers~

as i had mentioned, {a while back now} my mother in law turned 50 this last month. we had a party for her on the saturday after her birthday and i made a book for some precious photos and room for people to sign their love to her. i couldnt find the album i had in mind so i made myself. from scratch. i stitched the edges of the pages and cant express how proud of this little piece i am. its perfect!!! and it was a hit. the cover was inspired by an class that carrie is taught at the pink.
i love this feeling,,, when a project is all you pictured it to be,,,
have a good day
~peace~

look,,, i made a little gadget to keep you all updated on my progress!! there is one at the bottom of the page {above my music box}, but its kinda hard to see,,, anyway, moving right along,,,, :-D

~ciao~

i am totally addicted to challenges at the moment,,, how much is too much had a challenge to use 19 different brands in your layout. a challenge indeed. and very fun and totally inspiring. here is mine,,,kinda random and crazy, but a ton of fun!!! here is the break down, so you know i didnt cheat!!! alright, im off to pink to teach my card class!!! have a wonderful sunday,,
~cheers~

supply list for tomorrow card class :-D
please bring with you
* crop-a-dile
* glue dots
* red ink
* tape runner
* corner rounder
* paper trimmer
* scissors
* bone folder
see you sunday {tomorrow that is}!!
~xoxo~

alright, i couldnt stand to miss another challenge deadline, so yesterday i whipped this baby together for the olw challenge. challenge #44 word is living. this is what i came up with. a little different for me, but i likey,,,*i am living a life that far exceeds what my dreams were made of*
~*~*~yeah, hi little {side note action} ~ just spell checked my post, turns out i have a little spelling problem in my word *exceeds*,,, man, am i ever gonna get these challenges right?? geezzzz,,, bummer dude!!!! man, i so should have known better too, i know my spelling is, how you say *not so much*,,,,~*~*~
~ciao~

*~*~*alright, so im lame,,, i went to *submit* my layout, and im too late,,,, bummer dude*~*~*
gloria has inspired me to do more scrapbook challenges. she loves them and encouraged me to give it a try. *thank you gloria*. i knew of a few scrap challenge blogs out there so i started with scrapmojo. their challenge 29 was this,,,

Our next challenge comes with a big "POW", "CRACK", "BOOM". Everyday life can be stressful. We know you all have your own mini adventures going on around your house and some might even call you a superhero. We fight battles big or small and fix many many things. We want to know what superhero name you would give yourself. It can be something silly or maybe something really heartfelt. Whatever it may be we want to see you scrap it. The second part of the challenge is to tear something. A paper or a book page anything just tear it and use it on your creation.

here is what i came up with,,,, *i am the pink ninja* :-D fun!!

likey?? i do!! thank you gloria for the inspiration and thank you scrapmojo for a fun first blog challenge for me!!! ekk,,, i hope i win!!!!

~loves~

still sick. still oh so sick,,,, :-( ~peace~

i went ahead gave my little shoppie shop a refill. only with scrapbook paper kits. no layouts. i am a tad under the weather {tad!?!? did i say *tad*, this is the worst ive felt in a very,very, very long time,,,} and decided to save the pre made layouts for another time. as far as the *youer than you* album kit slash cover page?? well, it sold before i was able to list it {thanks girly}. if you were interested in the album, which is super awesome by the way,,, email me and i can make another order and get things rolling for you. no worries. xoxoallyserrato@aol.com {ohhh,, ive always wanted to make a post on my blog about this},,, if you ever email me, i always, always email back. promise. if you email me and dont see a response, check your spam. it will be there if its not in your regular email box. not sure why that works that way, but whatever. now you know. :-D how am i supposed to get better with two wild children running around like crazy peps?!?!? help!!!
~xoxo~

as if cha wasnt awesome enough, i decided to join carrie, gloria and elena for a celine navarro at scrapbook oasis. such fun times!!! she was a doll and had so many unusually fun ideas for layouts!! check out her supply list,,,
*FOUR 4x6 pictures (color and/or b&w) - one has to be developed in a photo lab (no ink jet)*THREE 3x2 pictures (color or/and b&w)
*masking tape
*gesso
*acrylic paints
*watercolor paints (four colors : yellow, red, blue, green)
*one of two sheets of newspapers
*pizza cutters
*paper brush edge distresser
*Staz-on ink
*Versafine black ink
*punches
*cutter
*scissors
*glue
*white gel pen
*black gel pen
*double sided tape
yes ~ pizza cutter!!! she actually had an amazing technique using it!!! its so amazing to me how different artists and their minds work. i love this industry. here are a few photos from the amazing evening,,,
i took pictures of her layouts, these arent mine,,, although i wish they were,,, :-D

thanks ladies for spending the evening with me!!! so much fun!!!

~xoxo~