Penpal Of The Week: #2

Ohhhhh! Colette & I are totally agreed that the worst bit of having this li'l challenge is having to pick just one to win! Not only do we love them all but having the slightest difference of opinion can make the decision even harder.
I really enjoyed Colette's challenge ... sometimes it is good to think a bit deeper about why we love the people that are special to us ... & right now was a good time for me to take stock and think! Although my page was all about my li'l one, I did get to thinking about the other special people in my life, what they mean to me & why ... I guess I have a lot to thank Colette for!
So before I get to the point - I just wanted to say (& I speak for Colette here too I think ... only with a completely different accent! LOL) that we think each and every one of your entries are amazing ... & you are all winners in our hearts!
I love Ruth's humour when thinking about her husband; My mum's thoughts about my own li'l guy; Nancy's page, which says something about both her own feelings & Bella's toward 'Nana'; Jodi's thoughts on her teenage guy ... & Jing Jing's page which didn't quite make it to the blog.
But the really tough call was between Jan's awesome page about Seth: fabulous photo, great layout & a li'l touch of humour in the journaling and Chantele's page, with it's slightly vintage feel & he said/she said journaling.
I have to say, it was the he said/she said that got me ... The way that in just a few short sentences I feel the love that this couple share ... From the lines when their thoughts are different, to the ones where there thoughts come together & reflect each other - I love this & it is surely the page I'd want in my album to look back on in 30 years. It was a tough decision but Chantele is our newest Pen Pal Of The Week & will be joining us for a guest spot on Challenge #5.
Congrats Chantele!!!

Thank you all so much for joining in with us so far ... we hope you'll continue to play along! And if you live in the UK ... c'mon guys! You're letting the side down! LOL
Check out Challenge #3 ... it's a goodie! & if you fancy a guest spot as our next Pen Pal, be sure to e-mail your entries, so we can put them on the blog for all to see!

Challenge #3 ... & Our First Guest Designer!

Colette spotted this fabulous layout by Jodi and immediately knew that she should be our first Pen Pal of the Week ... & obviously I had to agree!
Here's what Jodi had to say:
I am quite honored that you and Colette have chosen my page!
I didn't have a chipboard or ghost shape star the right size so I cut one from a milk jug! It was a little too plain so I put bold pattern paper on the back of it! I scanned my juice label, receipt, and jammie pants and added them to the "collection" of photos!

The journaling reads:
While browsing for some inspiration, I came across a magazine call
requesting lo's about how numbers play a role in your life. I instantly
thought "hhmm, not many in my boring life!" A few hours later, on my way
to buy groceries -again- I started to realize how numbers really do add up
to complete my life. This really was fun to work on!! Just to name a few:
today is 8-4-08
I am 40
my life is blessed with 3 great guys
I have 8 daycare kids
my house number is 1179
we drink 5 gallons of milk each week
there are about 60 monkeys on my favorite jammie pants!
I drink 8 glasses of water a day
my alarm goes off at 5:15
I love 80's classic rock
I run at least 6 loads of dishes a week
I spend over $200 for groceries and supplies
I walk 60 minutes most everyday
I wash at least 10 loads of laundry
I drink 8oz of grapefruit juice every morning
I have been married to my best friend for 11 years
Nearly 100 toys "decorate" my livingroom floor!
gas is an outrageous $3.67
I wash 80 icky fingers 3x a day
I prepare 23+ meals/snacks a week
I'm lucky if I get 7 hours of sleep
I have 18 shoes by my front door
Umpteen hugs a day make it all worth while!
So this week's challenge is all about the math: Make numbers the focus of your journaling.
Thank you so much Jodi, for sharing your work with us & bringing this great challenge to Pen Pals. I love the play on words in your title and the numbers that you have chosen to give us an insight into your daily life (even if gas is so much cheaper in the US! LOL) Great tip for the recycled star too!!

Have you got what it takes to be our next Pen Pal of the Week? Send your entries in (be sure to copy your journaling in to your e-mail too) and you could be joining us for Challenge #6 on this very blog! You don't have to be a scrapbooker - we are all about the words here - maybe you'd like to enter a card, altered item, blog post, journaling sample or a poem. So long as you use our 'numbers' theme, we'd love to hear from you. This challenge will end on September 11 2008 at midnight BST, so you have two whole weeks!

We'll be back tomorrow with another Pen Pal of the Week: Challenge #2's winner, who will be joining us for Challenge #5.

Ruth's Challenge #2 Entry

Ruth has also opted for computer generated journaling strips on this layout celebrating her husband. The journaling reads:
Reasons Why I Love You
You make me happy
You're you
You're a nice shape to cuddle
We're good together
You make me complete
You're generous
You love me
You make me laugh
You're beautiful
Just because
You give me strength
You're kind
You're fuzzy!
We belong together
You know me so well
You're my husband
You're caring
You drive me nuts!!!!
You tell it like it is
You're an annoying little g*t!
You're special
You respect me
You move before you fart on me!

Hmmmm ... gotta love that Essex-Girl humour! LOL. Thanks for sharing with us Ruth ... I love the mix of fonts used here & how they complement the words you have chosen.

There's still time to join in challenge #2 ... so e-mail your entry in & you could be chosen as our next pen pal of the week!

Lynne's Challenge #2 Entry

So you might recognise the papers, you might recognise the design ... & you might recognise the li'l lad too - yup! that's my baby there in a scraplifted layout - & in case you didn't work it out yet, Lynne is my mum (or mom if you're reading this in American! LOL) But we are all about the journaling here - so you don't have to be the next big designer to join in (in fact, you could write a blog post on the topic ... or just e-mail your journaling to us - the projects are an optional extra!!)
Anyway, back to mum's page! The journaling is very subtle & written in red along the bottom of the page. It reads:
I love the things we do together. I love the songs we sing and games we play. I love your smiles and jokes. I love your hugs and kisses. We love you.

You still have about 18 hours to join in this challenge ... go on, you know you want to!

And About Time Too!

Finally, here is my take on Colette's challenge. The picture was taken for a Her Space: My Space photo challenge a looooong time ago & seemed just perfect for this theme too! I haven't used journaling strips for a li'l while now, so I've shamelessly copied that from Colette! LOL
In my journaling I've used a doodled heart for 'love' but as I'm not a techie, I can't work out how to reproduce that here ...
so the journaling reads:
I love the way you turn everything into one of your songs
I love how you say you love me - a million times a day
I love how you giggle when you are pretending to be invisible
I love the smell of your freshly washed hair
I love your smile
I love that you are my very own sweet boy!

You still have a couple of days to send your entry in and join us as pen pal of the week on a later challenge!

Chantele's Challenge #2 Entry

Chantele is new to our challenges, so I'm particularly pleased to see her entry - we love new blood here! LOL. Here's what she told me:

I don't get to scrap as often as I want to but your challenge got me thinking and I quickly poured out this layout. Thanks for letting me participate. Oh, the journaling is a he said/she said every other line kind of thing. It says:

Me: I love you because you send chills up my body when you kiss me unexpectantly on my neck.

Him: I love the way you always stay close to me and hold my hand.

Me: I love you because you are my best friend.

Him: I love the way you snuggle into my chest every night.

Me: I love the way you hold me close every night.

Him: I love the kiss that's waiting for me everyday when I get home.

Me: I love how you always let me have the last piece of chocolate.

Him: I love how your always wanting to try new things like fishing, hiking, skiing, & motorcycling.

Me: I love how you can fix anything. There is nothing you can't do.

Him: I love to watch you jump on your bike and ride like you enjoy it and not because you felt pressured into it.

Thanks for sharing with us Chantele - I love the 'he said/she said' journaling style - & I bet you will look back fondly on these words well into the future. I love the style of your page too - it won't look dated in years to come!

Have you entered your project or journaling sample yet? Check out the details here and maybe you could be our next Pen Pal of the Week!
I will be back with my page ... but I haven't found my camera leads yet!! AAAAAAaaargggh!

Nancy's Challenge #2 Entry

I hope you never forget: the snuggles, the kisses and hugs, How good nana smells.

How beautiful she is inside and out. Her generous giving spirit. BUT, most of all HOW MUCH she

adores YOU.

Ohhhh! I have to admit being a bit of a secret Nancy fan (ooops! not a secret anymore. LOL). And I love this page too! From the embellies in 3s to the cute li'l row of buttons & pearly details - I'm gonna design like this when (if!) I grow up!! The journaling is short & to the point - I love that!
Thanks for sharing with us Nancy!!

There are more entries to be posted ... check back tomorrow for the next one. And my own page? Just as soon as I find my missing camera leads!