It's OCTOBER!!!!!! Time for a totally non traditional, totaly awesome True Xoxo Girls Challenge!

Hello scrap happy people!
It's October 1st.
I hope you have your kid's costumes ready.
Stores are only stocking the minimum holiday items this year due to the economy so it's either buy full price OR make it yourself.
Guess which one I chose?
YUP!
I'm buying one.
I can see myself happily making a costume.
I also see myself sitting in a Caribbean beach sipping an obscenely large frozen Margarita and reading a book.
Both are pure fantasy.
So off to the store I go.
Lola wants to be a T-Rex or a "ceratops".
I need to find a costume that says "I'm a T-REX!!!" but not "I'm a BOY!"

This month the True Xoxo chicks have quite a challenge set out for you.
Scrap your Halloween photos.
DO NOT use the traditional colors of orange and black.
I would add that you should try to restrain yourself from using up all your spider/monster/pumpkin/haunted house stash on the page as well.

I was SO EXCITED- S.O.  E.X.C.I.T.E.D- to be using my stash I forgot all about the actual challenge of it all so I made two pages.
Here's the first:

One of my ALL TIME favorite collections EVER- American Crafts Nightfall- orange, black and sky BLUE! LOVE it! Plus the alphas and black chalkboard stickers are so amazing! I some Martha Stewart paper stashed since 2009, Uni-ball white gel pen, orange vellum  and some Studio Calico veneer banners; I was good to go.

Also- A Flair For Buttons Vintage Halloween buttons- awesome!

Here's the one you'll see posted.
SO different from what I usually make but really I was just glad to stop over thinking and just use paper in this thing- sometimes breaking out the paint just makes me all jittery.

I finally uses the My Mind's Eye paper I bought a while ago- who can resist that Polaroid frame print? Alpha tiles, mini brads apple sticker from from American Crafts. Prima leaves and Diamond Stickles (my favorite kind).

My Mind's Eye gorgeous chipboard. LOVE diagonal stripes mixed up!

Amy Tangerine roller date stamp has the cutest saying.
Perfect for the tiny banners in this print.
I used grey chalk ink pad from Paper Source.

True Xoxo wants to see how you handle the challenge.
Swing by, leave some comment love and link up your project.
I can't wait to see what you made!

Michelle

Scrapliftin' FOOL!- A True Xoxo Girls Challenge

Ah the Scraplift.
That venerable tradition where you STEAL (OOPS! LIFT! I meant lift!) an admired scrapper's work and make it your own.
Some would say you should give credit where due.
Others reply "It's JUST PAPER AND GLUE!"
As usual, my opinion lies somewhere in the middle.

BEHOLD!!! The April True Xoxo Scraplift another team member design challenge!
I chose Kimmie Jaster's Pancakes page and used DCWV Snapshot for this.  My final scraplifted page didn't look like "me".  I was so annoyed! I hit the side of the paper with my elbow by mistake and cue angel chorus- I had my page.

There are so many people working, so many sources for inspiration and so many similar themes, trends and pre-designed products, it's inevitable that eventually something you make takes after someone else's project you dug and stuffed away in your lizard hind brain.
And there it lay. Waiting to come out at some later point.

Kimmie's original page- sorry the photo is so small.
http://lostinadreamofjosh.blogspot.com/

I know because it's happened to me.
I've never been accused of copying (OMG that sounds SO 4th grade!) but I've seen replicas of "my" pages in other people's galleries that were made BEFORE mine was and my question has always been:
Where the heck did I get that idea from anyway? I've never seen this page before.... have I?
TUN TUN TUUUUUUUUUUN!

If the page was made AFTER mine I think:
Am I REALLY so awesome that this random person would "steal" from me?
And my lizard hind brain answers:
 "YEZZZZZ! YEZZZZ!!!! Zat izzz yourzzzzz!
BE HAPPY!!!"

Because I always have another ace up my sleeve. No, it's not an actual ace!
It's a state of mind.

That comic book word bubble deserved it's own page!

You will ALWAYS have more ideas and there will ALWAYS be more opportunities.
There is a giant sky-wide PIE of creativity so vast that there is plenty to share.
PLENTY TO SHARE.
So scrap lift away amigos!
If you mention me- awesome! I'll get over it if you don't.
Like this:
GET OVER IT CHELLS!

But not if you're a retailer.
If I saw one of my pages or photos on an advert I'd be hella PISSED.
(AC Moore recently grabbed some Easter projects they spotted on Pinterest, smashed them onto one of their sales flyers then tried to say it was ok because they were "just for inspiration")
Shame on you retailer! SHAME!
Don't you have a creative services department?
GET ONE!
Pay those crafty folks!!! They deserve it!

LOVING the white lines on black Polaroid!!!

This month's True Xoxo challenge is too juicy to ignore.
There are so many fantastic designers on the team and the styles differ so greatly it would be a SHAME to pass this chance up.
So swing on by and have FUN!
http://truexoxoscrapbooking.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/challenge-28-were-scraplifting-too/

OH! And before I forget! True Xoxo is also running a Blog Header design contest! It's a great way to showcase your work! After all, it's the first thing any visitor sees!
Swing by and check out the details!
http://truexoxoscrapbooking.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/blog-header-contest/

Neon- it's SO COOL!!!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
Michelle

Scraplifting with us at XOXO

WHAT? It's June 16th!!!! Is it me or is time speeding up?
And you- dear reader- have you checked out True Xoxo and tried to lift one of the pages there? There's a fantastic prize just WAITING to be snatched up!

This page was intended for May but has been moved up to June. Perhaps it inspires you to make one of your own?

Xoxo went through a transition but now we are back. A team of wonderfully diverse pages awaits the adventurous scrapper.

I know my page could use some improvements- like a plain colored background on those photos which currently get lost in the Crate paper stripes.
But I digress!!
Check out the other challenge page s here: Xoxo Design Challenge 19

Someone PLEASE explain how plain water in the bottle is YUCK
but plain water in the bottle cap is ok. As long as she's drinking....

MuChoS SmOoChes!

Michelle

XoXo- I heart U!

Have you not tried a scraplift challenge over at True Xoxo Girls? Really? No way! 

The prizes are always AHHMAYZIN'! 

The design team is wonderfully diverse so you are sure to find a style you can "lift" each and every month. I encourage you to head on over and try it out.

Here is April's lil ditty from moi:

BUSY BUSY BEE
MATERIALS: MLS City by the bay paper, SC cloud rub-ons, airplane and yellow alphas,
Bee and circles from DCWV Artful Life pad.

 It was late. Miss Lola was giving us hell. I was worried about MIL in hospital recuperating from operation (Get well Reyna!). Anxiety attack! So I started putting strips of paper on this LUSCIOUS piece of buttery yellow MLS paper (which I got for the brick pattern on back). I added a salvaged piece from previous night's MAJOR PAPER DRAMZ- 

(an SC Schoolhouse red bottle that I spilled onto my fave grid print- THE HORROR- seriously- I wigged out) and a cut out bee from a FABULOUS DCWV Artsy Life pad and... Whaaaaaaa?... 

Something happened- 

MAGIC!!!!!!!! 

A page I LOOOOVE. 

Red/white/blue twine? HEART U!!! Got it at reallyreasonablereason.com

How much do I covet that yellow fabric print from MLS?
MUCHO MIS AMIGOS!

First handmade embellie- K and Co handmade fabric

New avatar I'm trying out still love the old one.

Quick enlarged look- I need to rethink my 3 column blog design. ;)

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
MICHELLE