Ten on Tuesday

1| I am currently living in this skirt from Old Navy and a gray tank. Very comfortable.

2| I've been watching Wimbeldon the last two weeks. One of my dreams is to attend all four Grand Slams. Maybe. Just maybe. If the stars align, I'll be at Wimbeldon next year.

3| This past weekend, I played tennis two days in a row. This made me very, very happy. My oldest niece has become interested in playing, which is so cool. I hope we play a bunch more this summer.

4| Unfortunately, no big firework show for me this year. I am bummed.

5| I've started doing yoga everyday. It's really helped my neck and back tension from the car accident. When I first started, I was distracted by everything around me; the dishes, the many piles of paper, etc. But then something amazing happened when my breathing and focus became one. It's very restorative and calming and I'm loving it.

6| I saw Larry Crowne. I was disappointed. I thought it was very disjointed. The evolution of Julia's character was not believable. I did enjoy many of the supporting characters though They delivered most of the funny lines in the movie.

7| Devouring a couple of gooey, totally delicious Smores to celebrate the 4th makes me happy.

8| I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Josh Ritter's interview with Katherine Lanpher at Upstairs at the Square. If you don't have time to listen to the entire interview, listen to the last two minutes. You'll see why I love him so much as a singer/performer.

9| I can't believe I am already seeing previews for new shows debuting this fall. I. am. not. ready. for. fall. I suppose school supplies will make an appearance too. Ugh, please let us enjoy summer!

10| This week is going to be pretty low key. I'm looking forward to finishing a couple of projects that have been on my to do list for far too long.

Snap & Scrap Your Summer

Two Peas in a Bucket has an event going on right now called, Snap & Scrap Your Summer. Everyday they have a new post with great ideas for scrapping your summer stories. They also have a challenge on each post. You should definitely check it out.

One of the challenges is to use non-themed product on a summer page and another is to use smaller photos. I combined the two to make this page.

A couple of close-ups.

I really love how this turned out. Isn't it fun when everything comes together so nicely? I "shopped" my stash too; trying to use up some older product. That always feels gratifying.

The next two challenges are to make an in review page and to use a bunch of embellishments. I combined the two to make this page.

A couple of close-ups.

Since I was using smaller photos, I decided to make an 8 1/2 x 11 page. Shocker, I know. Quite unusual for me. I made the photos strips using the contact sheet option in iPhoto. Super simple and I love how they look. I also painted the white tags blue. Don't you love those little birds? So cute.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a fantastic and safe holiday weekend.

Giveaway Winners!

And the winners are....

Christine Zani said...
You're famous! Congrats!! Very cool accomplishments :) you deserve it!
June 23, 2011 5:36 PM
and
Olivia said...
Congratulation on having your work included! Looks like a fantastic book :)
June 29, 2011 4:41 PM

Congrats ladies! Please email me by July 7 at sara{dot}benzkofer{at}gmail{dot}com and I'll send you a code to get the ebook.

If you didn't win, you can still get your copy here. Pick it up! It's a great price for all that you get!

I'm off to take an ice bath. With the humidity, it's over 100 degrees here today. Totally a Minnesotan things to say, but uffda.

Have a good one.

Stretch Your Sketches No. 6

I'm back today with sketch No. 6 from the Stretch Your Sketches challenge over on the Ella Publishing blog.

I stretched the sketch a bit by using three photos instead of two and I also added my journaling below the photos instead of to the side. I had fun using a bunch of little strips of Jillibean Soup paper. I love their paper so much that I use it a little bit at a time to keep it around longer. I added three buttons gradually moving to the top of the page to mimic growing up.

Here are a couple close-ups.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to soak up some sun that has finally decided to stick around for awhile.

Have a great Wednesday.

Ten on Tuesday

1| Sigh. This picture makes me very happy. I met Josh Ritter! He is my favorite singer/songwriter. He was so wonderfully gracious and kind. He had this super long line of fans, but he spent a good chunk of time with each of us. I love his music. He's a fantastic performer. You see him once and you'll be hooked. And now he's an author too. Just released a new book, which I can't wait to delve into. By far, one of the best evenings of my life.

2| The night before seeing Josh, I saw Ann Patchett. One of my favorite authors. She did an interview and a book signing. I've been a lucky gal lately.

3| I plan to participate in Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project in July. I say this every year. I love the idea of this project and I love seeing what other people create, but I always end up not doing it. I think it's because I don't feel like I do enough in a regular, mundane day that's worthy of documentation.
But this year will be the year, darnit! You can read more about Week in the Life here.

4| I succumbed and finally joined Groupon....a couple of months ago. I never saw anything that caught my eye, until a few days ago. I got one for $1 AMC tickets. Wahoo! I snatched those up real fast. Already planning on seeing Larry Crowne.

5| I finally made it to the Farmer's Market. I loaded up with green onions, snap peas, radishes, spinach and deliciously small, tender strawberries.

6| I've been devouring book after book lately. Don't you love when that happens? When you have a big stack of really great books waiting for you. I'll do a review of a couple of them soon. What are you reading?

7| Two Peas in a Bucket has an event right now called Snap & Scrap Your Summer. There's a bunch of fun interviews and a plethora of challenges all about scrapping about summer. I like that word plethora. But I digress. Later this week, I'll be sharing layouts I made for a couple of the challenges.

8| I'm coveting this top and this skirt. (Only I want the red and cream color skirt which isn't pictured online.) I'm currently strapping myself to a chair, so I can't run out to buy them. A bit extreme, you say? Ok, ok, you're probably right. Maybe I'll just buy one of them then.

9| June has been incredibly busy and so much fun! I can't believe July arrives on Friday. Someone could make a lot of money if they thought of a way to slow time. My July is looking a tad bit meager. Will have to get some fun things on the calendar. I'm always looking for ideas. What are your plans?

10| The giveaway for a free ebook from Ella Publishing is still open below. I can understand if you're saying to yourself, I'm not single, so that book isn't for me, but it is for you! It's full of ideas for current and former singles on how to document your life in fun and unique ways. Check it out!

Scrapbooking Your Single Years Giveaway!

I"m very excited to announce the new ebook from Ella Publishing, Scrapbooking Your Single Years by Stephanie Baxter, has been released! Wahoo! I am thrilled to be one of the contributors. I am in such great company. This is the first time I've been published, so I am incredibly excited.

I've had a chance to look at the book and it's fantastic. It's full of awesome layouts and tons of ideas. My mind is already spinning with additional layouts I'd like to make.

Ella has been so kind and has given me TWO copies to giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. You can double your chances by becoming a new follower of my blog and you can leave an additional comment indicating you're a new follower.

ETA: Be sure to either leave your email address in your comment or come back for the announcement to see if you won. Otherwise I won't be able to find you!

The giveaway will close at 10 p.m. CST next Wednesday, June 29 and I'll announce the winner on Thursday morning!

If you can't wait to get your hands on the book, you can purchase the book here, Scrapbooking Your Single Life.

Good luck and enjoy!

Summer Bucket List

Since I'm still looking for a new job, I knew my summer bucket list would
need to be primarily free activities. Surprisingly, the list came together really
quickly. I can't wait to get started!

//See an amazing firework display.

//Spend an entire day outside.

//Play lots of tennis.

//Have a water fight.

//Eat Smores

//Go to the arboretum (at least once!)

//See a movie at the drive-in.

//Eat as locally as I can. (The farmer's market is one of my favorite parts of summer.)

//Go to a Twins game.

//Attend free outdoor concerts. (There's one every week in a nearby park. Score!)

//Take a blanket, find a place away from city lights and enjoy the starlight.

//Visit another city in MN I've never been to before. (Still deciding where.)

What is on your summer bucket list?

See more of my lists here.