Challenge #7

It's time to start the week off with another challenge. I found this great poem in honor of Mother's Day this weekend.



Love in the Home
If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,
but have not love, I am a housekeeper - not a homemaker.
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,
but have not love, my children learn cleanliness - not godliness.
Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.
Love is present through the trials. Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.
Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child,
then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.
Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God's perfection of my child. As a mother, there is much I
must teach my child, but the greatest of all is love.

Here is another one:

Every mother knows...

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful to have been born the USA, the most powerful free democracy in the world.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for Velcro tennis shoes. As well as saving valuable time, now I can hear the sound of my son taking off his shoes-, which gives me three extra seconds to activate the safety locks on the back seat windows right before he hurls them out of the car and onto the freeway.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the recycling program that will preserve our natural resources and prevent the overloading of landfills.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for swim diapers because every time my son wanders into water in plain disposables, he ends up wearing a blimp the size of, say, New Jersey, on his bottom.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for fresh, organic vegetables.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for microwavable macaroni and cheese- without which my children would be surviving on about three bites of cereal and their own spit.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the opportunity to obtain a college education and have a higher quality of life than my ancestors.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful to finish a complete thought without being interrupted.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for holistic medicine and natural herbs.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for pediatric cough syrup guaranteed to "cause drowsiness" in young children.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for all of the teachers who had taught, encouraged and nurtured me throughout my formative years.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for all of the people at Weight Watcher who let me strip down to pantyhose and a strategically placed scarf before getting on the scale each week.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the opportunity to vacation in exotic foreign countries so I could experience a different way of life in a new culture.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful to have time to make it all the way down the driveway to get the mail.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the Moosewood Vegetarian cookbook.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for the butterball turkey hot line.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for a warm, cozy home to share with my loved ones.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for the lock on the bathroom door.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for material objects like custom furniture, a nice car and trendy clothes.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful when the baby spits up and misses my good shoes.
BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for my wonderful family
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for my wonderful family.

Please use one of these poems as inspiration for your next creation. You can use the theme, the poem itself or just a quote from one of them.

Email them to me at: thynner5@yahoo.ca and put "Scrapdango Blog Challenge" in the subject line. Everyone who does will recieve a ballot for this month's Blog Prize Draw!!

~Tara~

Tip Thursday

This is one of the best tips I ever recieved. My friend Deb taught this to me when I made my first real purchase.... Cutter Bee Scissors.
If you find that your scissors aren't cutting as good as they used to and are quite dull, just cut up a sheet of aluminum foil. The foil acts as a sharpening instrument. This tip has served me quite well and I am still using the very same pair today!
Also... if your scissors are getting sticky or gooey.. rub them with some undu. You scissors may stink a little bit, but they will be good as new.

If you have any tips you would like to share please email me at: thynner5@yahoo.ca and put "Scrapdango Blog Tips" in the subject line. You will earn a ballot for the Blog Draw!!

**UPDATE**

I wanted to add a great tip that Lois sent in to me. She suggested trimming aluminum foil in your trimmer to keep the blade sharp and crisp. Thanks for the tip Lois. You now have a ballot for the draw!

~Tara~

Blog Challenge #6

Today's challenge envolves distressing. I love to distress my pages. I get excited whenever I sit down to create. I grab my sandpaper, my scissors, my inks, my chalks or my paints. I tear, rip and crumple my papers. It is actually a very relaxing thing to do after a busy day at work and raising kids.

My challenge to you is to do some distressing on your next creation. Have fun with it.

Here is my layout of Paige. I did just about everything I could do to distress this page.

So... what is this month's blog prize??? Here is what you're playing for this month:

An Altered Board Book and some Daisy Bucket papers and embellishments. I'll post a picture tomorrow when the lighting is better.

Everytime you send me a challenge based creation, send me a tip, technique or tutorial, use a font posted on the blog or any other ways I post, you get a ballot. On the 15th of the month I will randomly pick a winner!! Couldn't be any easier!

~Tara~

Spring Dango Fever Crop

I have had a blast this past weekend with all the gals at our Spring Dango Fever Crop. It was a fast paced thrill ride of fun and excitement. There were enough challenges posted to keep everyone busy and inspired. For every challenge that was posted there was a game to play.

Thanks to all our current Dango girls and to all the new ones who came to join us for the crop. I really hope you will stay here with us. We are always ready to scrap!!

We'll be posting the winners tomorrow!

Keep your eye out tomorrow for the next blog challenge. I will also be posting the cool prize that is up for grabs as this month's Blog Prize!!

~Tara~

Blog Challenge #5

It's time for the first Blog Challenge for the new Monthly Blog Prize!!

I am feeling bright and sunny today because the weather has finally produced a beautiful day. The sun is shining bright and strong . I was inspired to create a bright and sunny layout.


Your challenge is to create a bright, bold layout. I would like to see you use up some of your older papers and embellishments. This is the time of year for Spring Cleaning so, use up some of your stash of scrappy goodies!


Here is my layout: Carefree Days




Please email your layout to me at: thynner5@yahoo.ca and put "Scrapdango Blog Challenge" in the subject line. You could also link it to the blog. Remember that you will recieve a ballot for this months draw. The draw will be the 15th of May. I will post plenty of opportunities to win an amazing prize.


What is the prize???? I'll post it tomorrow!!


~Tara~

Blog RAK Winner

Thanks again to everyone who helped make the first month on the blog so much fun and exciting!! I loved all the layouts and cards you have worked so hard on.
There were so many entries that I had to spreadsheet them and then use my random calculator to choose a winner!!

The very first Blog Prize Draw winner is...........................................LoisB!!

Congrats of winning the lovely Scrapbook & Cards Today special edition book. You are going to love this. Please pm your address to me and I'll send it out.

Tomorrow I will post the first challenge for the new Blog Prize Draw!! I'll also post a picture of the prize as well.

Happy Scrapping!

~Tara~

Comment Challenge

Tomorrow is the due date for this months Blog Prize Draw!! I have decided to give everyone another chance to win a ballot. All you have to do is please leave a comment on the blog. Let me know what you like, don't like or would like to see on the blog in the future.
I look forward to hearing everyone's comments on the blog. You will have until midnight tomorrow to post your comments and I will announce our first winner on Wednesday!!

Good luck and a big thank you to everyone who have taken me up on the blog challenges, submitted information and for being such great Dango girls!

~Tara~

Weekend Blog Tip

It's time to post a Blog Tip. I would like to post a tip every week related to scrapbooking. If you happen to have any you would like to share please email them to me at: thynner5@yahoo.ca and put "Scrapdango Blog Tip" in the subject line. Anyone who submits a tip to me will earn a ballot into the monthly blog draw!

This week I am going to give you a cool and funky way to use up those mismatched alphas you may have in your stash. I hate to leave letters unused in my stash nut sometimes I am at a loss as to how to make up a title with what I may have on hand. This is where an anagram site comes in handy. These sites take the letters you have on hand and unscrambles them to form words that you can ultimately use on a layout. Of course you may not use them all. The last time I used the anagram feature it came up with the title "Blonde Twerp". I didn't see how I could possibly use that and not upset anyone.

Here are a few sites to try out:

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/
http://www.easypeasy.com/anagrams/
http://www.anagramgenius.com/server.html

Now for the challenge!! You didn't think I would just post a tip and no challenge. Did you? I would love for you to try this out. Grab some random letters from your stash and play around a little. Find a unique word or phrase to base your next layout on. Email it to me at: thynner5@yahoo.ca or link it here to earn a ballot for the Blog draw. The draw will be on the 15th!!

I'll post another chance to win a ballot tomorrow!

~Tara~

Blog Challenge #4

It's time to challenge you once again. Since the weekend is just about upon us I thought I would make it an easy one. I would like you to think of one word, any word. Then I want you to go to: Dictionary or Merriam-Webster and do a definition search. I would like to see your word and your definition on your next creation.


Here is a layout I did for Lucy Chesna's Sketchworld Blog. I used the April Sketch. My word was:

Concentration:
1. The act of concentrating;
2. Exclusive attention to one object;
close mental application.

Journaling reads: "I really love these photos of you Emmy.
They were taken at your first horse show
of the year. You were so excited. You made
sure that you had everything all set out
the night before. You made me promise to
iron your show blouse and jacket. You shined
your boots and your helmet all by yourself.

You were really nervous when we got there.
We had never been at Eden Ridge before. It
was huge! There were so many riders and
horses.I loved how serious you were. You
would take in every little detail. You would
not let anything distract you.

The look of sheer concentration on your
face amazed me. Your focus and determination
to succeed made me proud. Winning three first
place and two second place ribbons made us
both proud!"

I would love to see what you can create for this challenge. Please email me at: thynner5@yahoo.ca and put "Dango Blog Challenge" in the subject line. Everyone who does will earn a ballot for this month's blog draw!!

Keep and eye out over the weekend for another chance to win!

~Tara~

Scrapdango Updates

I am contantly blown away by the response to the challenges posted on the blog. I have a few wonderful creations to share with you today.

Here is a wonderful layout that Taryn made for the Spring Bingo Layout Challenge. I just love the colors in this darling layout.

The coolest thing about issueing challenges is seeing how everyone interprets it. My last challenge was a font challenge. I found this great font to share and challenged you to load it on your computer and create something with it. Well.... it appears that everyone thought the font would be great on cards!

First we have Amber and her lovely, colorful cards:

Colleen sent me these two amazing cards using the font:

Suzanne chose to start a beautiful mini album using this font:

Everyone here will recieve a ballot for this month's blog prize draw. Look for more chances to win this week.

Thanks again for sharing all these wonderful creations with us!

~Tara~

Font Friday Challenge

Hello fellow font lovers! I was trolling the font sites and came across a wonderful script font at Abstract Fonts. It was only added to the site two days ago!! It's called: CAC Lasko Even Weigh.

Here is a sample:

You can download it here: Abstract Fonts

For those of you who have never loaded a font on your computer, instructions can be found here: Font How To

Now for the fun part!! I would like for you to download this great font and use it on your next creation. Please email it to: thynner5@yahoo.ca and put "Scrapdango Blog Challenge" in the subject line. You can also link it here in the blog.

Everyone who loads this font and uses it will get a ballot for this month's Blog Prize Draw!! The draw will be made on the 15th and there will still be plenty of chances to win!

Happy Scrapping!

~Tara~