Something sweet and some challenges

I am now officially a Candy Shoppe Design Lollipop Girl, and my lollipop name is Lemon Zinger (I don't know if you remember but Celestial Seasonings used to have a wonderful tea named that - maybe they still do but living in Colorado when they first started, I worked for a printing company that did some of their printing and they used to bring me tea when they came in to check proofs so I have a soft spot in my heart for them - even though I know they were bought out) - sweet and tart. Above is a layout I did to show my new lollipop name - I painted part of the background and made the straw flower on my little loom.

Then, the first Candy Shoppe Design challenge for the year is up - show us something about you and be sure to use an "I" prominently in the layout. Check out the great DT layouts. I decided to do a little something about what I hope to accomplish in 2010 - I want to paint a lot more, to love spontaneously a lot more, and to laugh out loud a whole lot more! the background is Cosmo Cricket Early Bird, the small frame paper is Webster's Pages Home for the Holidays, the alphas are thickers, the rub on is lilybee, the lace is Prima, the fabric is Amy Butler, and the flower is an orchid from Michaels. This challenge runs until the middle of the month so check it out!

Over at Scrapgal we have several contests and challenges going on so be sure to come over, sign up, and join in with the fun on the forums and gallery. The above layout is #1 in our Sketch contest for January. I sprayed and masked the background with 2 shades of glimmer mist and the winter trees glimmer screen. The papers are Basic Grey Nook & Pantry and Webster's Pages, the rub ons are Hambly, and the stickers are Basic Grey Indian Summer. The photo is of Brian long ago in Aspen. Every October on the weekend near my birthday we would take a long weekend and drive up to Aspen to enjoy the changing color of the aspens and maybe a dusting of snow. We always ate breakfast on Sunday at the Hotel Jerome, and one year John Denver sat at the table next to ours. He was obviously a regular and went over and grabbed a pot of coffee off the sideboard, filled his and his companions, and then asked us if we wanted a refill - what a great memory! There was also an incredible outdoor crepe wagon that made the most delicious cinnamon crepes (I think I have a photo of that place - I need to scrap it). Our last year in Colorado we actually drove down to Santa Fe and Taos, and it is one of my favorite sensory memories - it was late late afternoon as we drove into Sante Fe and you could smell the spicy mesquite fires burning - it was so cozy - the hotel had a big fireplace in the lobby and it was so romantic and exotic - great memories!

Well, this started out as an intro to Candy Shoppe and an invitation to join in challenges on CSD and on Scrapgal, but it became a trip down memory lane, or should I say, a trip up memory mountain - thanks for reading and have a great first week of 2010!

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