I've actually been scrapping ... really, I have!

I just haven't posted anything in awhile. Christmas vaca was crazy ... trip to Arizona, and there we were at two different places (the in-laws' house in the Phx area, and their cabin up on the Mogollon Rim, which is at 7700ft altitude, had 1-1/2 feet or so of snow, and was freakin' cold!), decorating for Christmas, then un-decorating. We had a leak in our washing machine, which is right behind the under-stair storage closet, so we had to drag everything out of this closet (which used to be the closet we had designated as shelter in case a tornado hit, then eventually just became "the tornado closet" because it looked like one had hit it dead on! lol) -- luckily the leak had not gone through the wall -- then we decided we had to go through everything, sort, give away as much as possible (which wasn't really much, mostly just old purses and bags), then put the remainder all back in, with new Sterlite drawer units to help with organization. That took a few days!

Anyway, that's all just to let you know I HAVE EXCUSES -- uh, I mean REASONS -- for not posting anything.

I did some heritage scrapping at the in-laws' (of my family, ironic as that is), but none of those pages are 100% finished. Some of them need journaling, and for some reason it's just not coming.

But I DO have a finished page to show you. I decided I would participate in Patter Cross's 2010 Scripture Challenge this year. The first challenge is to scrap a Scripture or Scriptures that are meaningful to you about HOPE. There are tons of great verses in the Bible about hope, so I had trouble narrowing it down, but decided that this one really fit my life situation the last few years:


This is a 6"x6" digital layout. I know, it doesn't look like "real scrapbooking," but in the digital world you can do different kinds of things than you can do with paper, so I decided to go "artistic".

The photo is one we took when Bjorn and I went to Pt. Reyes in California over the summer while Aidan was at the National Junior Classical League convention in Davis. The waves weren't huge, but I loved the way they were rolling. I love the ocean more than any other of God's "scenic" natural creations, so it's always an appropriate theme for me when I think about God, my faith, etc.

As you know, the last few years have been tough for me physically. And since I tend toward depression anyway, they've definitely been a challenge as far as keeping my focus on Christ, on positive things, on HOPE. So this Psalm is incredibly meaningful for me.

Here are the ingredients for the layout:
Background "paper": Cheryl McCain "June's Cadence" -- DigiZines "The Studio"
Blending mask: Background Blenders -- Brandy Murry, ScrapGirls
Shell brush: Ronnie McCray -- "Clam Brush" -- Scrapbook-Bytes (this one is old, so I'm not sure if she was designing for them when this was made, or what)
Grunge edge overlay: Carrie Stephens -- ScrapGirls
Fonts: Bahia Script SSK; Artistamp Medium
Canvas style: Sarah Batdorf "SSStyles: Vintage Canvas" -- ScrapGirls
Drop shadow style: Sarah Batdorf "SSStyles: Basic Shadows" -- ScrapGirls

I've got two other challenges I'm participating in this year. Both are at Faith Sisters. Hopefully I'll have something to show for those in the next few days.

Hope you all have a wonderful year this year, full of God's blessings, provision, love and guidance!