Design Team Call!

Hi Divas! I'm hosting a Design Team Call over at Creative Scrapbooking Divas. I hope you will play along as we've got a really great bunch of gals - and guys too! As you may know, many Ning sites are closing due to a price increase, but we are staying open thanks to the help of our fun-loving Diva members. Stop on by and play along even if you don't want to go out for the DT - we've got a lot going on and you are sure to have some fun and find some inspiration. The call is as follows.

Creative Scrapbooking Divas is excited to announce that our Ning site is remaining open and active thanks to all our great members! To celebrate, we would like to announce a call for two additional Design Team Divas.


The call is open from May 22 – June 18 with the announcement on our site June 26. This will be a six-month term and only those who promise to fulfill the following criteria will be considered.

Who are we looking for?

• A Diva who is willing to dedicate time to our site by being active in the forums, commenting in the gallery, welcoming new members , wishing Happy Birthday and spreading good cheer on a regular basis.

• A Diva who endeavors to inspire by hosting one challenge per month and offering a small RAK to the winner of their challenge, and by posting tutorials or tips from time to time.

• A Diva who can respect deadlines and is a good team player.

• A Diva who will help promote our site and upload their work in the gallery for inspiration on a weekly basis.

How Do I apply?

Email the following to Admind Diva Theresa at okispice@hotmail.com (that's me!!!)

• Full name, email and mailing address.

• A link to your blog (if you have one).

• A link to your online gallery.

• A short bio including why you think you are a Scrapbook Diva. Also let us know if you have a specific skill or area of interest (for example, sketches, cards, altered art, digi).

• Your take on the attached sketch (from Page Maps).

Good luck everyone!

How to make Origami Flowers

It's been a while since I've had a chance to post as I've just moved into my new place and my scraproom is still in boxes. So I've decided to share with you my most recent post at Design Each Moment- just in case you missed it there of course.

I received this Petal Pink Grid Paper from Tami Potter and Mosaic Moments at a perfect time of year as April in Japan turns pink with the blossoming of all the cherry trees. Though in the US pink is associated with little girls, in Japan the color pink has a masculine association. The spring blooming of the cherry trees is said to represent the young Samurai warriors who fell during battle in the prime of their life.


Everyone in Japan celebrates the arrival of spring with a picnic or a stroll through the park simply to take in the pleasure of all those pink blossoms. Rain or shine, it’s a celebration and gratitude just for being alive. Though our stroll under the cherry trees was taken on a very rainy day, it did not take away from the pleasure of viewing these beautiful blooms.

As I began to scrap my cherry blossom photos, I looked for a way to add dimension to my mosaic page. Why not layering? This page used four 4x6 photos and one 5x7. Once my 4x6 photos were in place, I trimmed around the main subject of the 5x7 and placed it over the mosaic. The tree is a piece of Microsoft clip art enlarged and layered over the mosaics. The title – which says Sakura (cherry blossom) -- is cut from a package of cherry blossom noodles (yes, this time of year everything is made from the edible blossoms) using an EK success extra large retro flower punch. The cherry blossoms are origami, made by folding a 1 ½ inch square of paper. I’ve included a tutorial at the end of this post on how to fold the origami flowers for those who are interested. It’s my first video tutorial so please go easy on me!

Okinawa Bound

Well, here I am moving again! After leaving the beautiful island of Okinawa 10 years ago, we are once again Oki bound!

I cannot explain it any better than Virtual Okinawa so let me quote them for you:

An ancient kingdom of glittering seas, lush green islands, and fields of sugarcane, Okinawa enjoys a measured pace of life that's far removed from any hectic city routine. A sub-tropical climate keeps Okinawa pleasantly warm even when the rest of Japan is shivering, and in the scorching summer months it is a kaleidoscope of brilliant flowers, dazzling white beaches and stunning coral, making the islands perfect for diving, water-skiing, sailing and every other form of ocean recreation. Okinawa also has a proud artistic and musical tradition, and is home to many unusual and beautiful species of flora and fauna.

You can see why this Florida girl is delighted to return. The culture of Okinawa is so different from that of Japan and I will miss life here on the mainland immensely. I leave a peice of my heart here in Japan, but look forward to what the future holds in sunny Okinawa. While I sort and pack and make my arrangements I may seem missing in action for awhile, but check back because you know I'll have lots to report.

PS: Like my mosaics? Check out Mosaic Moments for tips on making them and for purchasing the grid paper. This month's featured paper is Cypress Green.

Divas Spring Break Online Crop!

I just realized that I am about to make my 100th post here at Sunshine Memories! So what could be better to post about than the Spring Break Crop that we are organizing at Creative Scrapbooking Divas!

Join us on Feb 20 -- We've got a brand new DT and lots of fun and exciting games planned!

Joining Luisa, SheShe, Toccara and me are

Lora, Ann, Lori and Alecia!

We are all so pleased to be working together and have such an exciting crop planned. There's Bingo, Photo Hunts, Steal the RAK, Sketches, Scraplifting, Recipes, Altered Art, Card Making, Stamping, Color Prompts

PLUS

Lots of Tips & Techniques to help you learn and grow while you are having fun!

PLUS

PRIZES! PRIZES! PRIZES!

Where do you go? Creative Scrapbooking Divas!

What is happening? Spring Break Crop!

When?  Feb 20th!

See you there!

Silly Time!

This week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch arrived about the same time as these cute pictures of my grandsons. The sketch calls for 3 photos on a patterned background as you can see here:

But since I had four photos I decided to blow one up, turn it to a green duotone and use that as my base for the other photos. The little cameras are die cuts from paper-intelligence.com and the clock face is a Making Memories Vintage Findings. It just happened to fit perfectly in the hole in the die cut.

Since I'm such a sloppy scrapper I had to use the white camera to cover a big glob of something-or-other that stuck to my page. I think because I kept it white it does not distract too much from the design of the page. LOL! A little black backing behind the die cuts, main photo and patterened paper grounds the page. The stripe is made with one of my favorite scrap items right now - MT masking tape. It's sold everywhere in Japan in about a zillion colors -- but if you have deep pockets, you can buy it online under the name of Happy Tape. Click on the link on the right to be taken to MT's home page. They do have an English Menu so you can translate and read all about the company. Kind of a fun read! Customer Service par excellence! (And while you are there, check out my LO in their gallery made with a rainbow of MT colors.)

I love that my daughter-in-law Jenny shares moments like this with me. She is a military wife whose husband is deployed and it helps me to worry a little less about her and the boys when I see their playful smiles. We must never forget that those who wait also serve. God Bless them all!

And thanks to Sketchy Thursdays, another page in Jenny's 2010 album is complete!

Grooviest Birthday Bash Ever!

What a fun month it has been over at If It's Groovy! Celebrating the site's first birthday as been so fun and I've gotten so much inspiration from all the challenges over there. And because Groovy Deb opened up a Ning site we have all had so much fun chatting and getting to know one another while ooohing and aahhhhing over all the birthday pages. Of course Groovy Deb is still keeping the blog open and that is where you will find the names of the winners in the Birthday Bash Challenge.

My challenge was to add a birthday card to your LO. One of my favorite albums is the one I made for my husband in honor of his 50th birthday. I took all the cards he received and added each one to a page with a photo of the sender and sometimes an extra message or a cute embellie. To view the cards in the album, I just cut a slit in the page protector that goes around the card. Now, instead of throwing out those cards - you know that is what happens to most of the cards we receive, such a shame - the cards are kept for future enjoyment.

The winner of my challenge coincidentally made a 50th birthday page! Here is Kathy Williams take on my challenge. Head on over to If It's Groovy to see the other winners from the other fun challenges! Congratulations Kathy! Look for your RAK in the mail.

Sketchy Funday?

When I saw the Sketchy Thursdays sketch this week with all those circles, I immediately thought of the setting sun. And I knew I wanted to use my new Martha Stewart Glitter to bring those circles to life. I just love the way colors sparkle on a black background. My photo is of a favorite sunset viewing spot in Indialantic Florida (recently in the running for Most Romantic City in the USA - vote here).

I had a bit of a mishap gluing the circles to my page. I was using Scotch Scrapbookers Glue which has really great hold, but the top fell off and the glue smeared all over the bottom of my page. I'll never be able to enter the page into a contest with that glob on there, but I will still cherish it in my own album. And because I love the

 black and the bling, I'm challenging you to show me your own Black and Bling on Creative Scrapbooking Divas.

Come on over to my Funday Monday Challenge to play along!