Cool Under Pressure

What a lousy day its been here in South Jersey. As I was headed to work I saw the skies blackening and by the time I got there the skies had opened up and it was POURING. It rained for the majority of the day and all I wanted to do was go home!! I really wanted to come home and clean up my scraproom and get a jump on some neglected housework in anticipation of a very scrappy weekend being National Scrapbooking Weekend and all, however I had no "oomph" when I got home so pulled out my scrappy to-do list and decided to work on a layout instead!

This layout is my son Matt from last night's baseball game. I used the newest sketch at Once Upon A Sketch. Nadia - the site owner - is a terrific lady and a fantastic scrapper who many of you probably know from the several design teams she's on! She started this site and I've been there since the beginning and I have to say I look forward to each new challenge. There is always some criteria for journalling which I like because I tend to NOT journal lately and that was not my intention when I started scrapping many years ago. I wanted to tell our stories. Somewhere along the line, the "artsy" part took over and if I couldn't find a way to get the "story" on the page, I was happy to allow the page to speak for itself. I do still do that, but I also think that some stories still need to be told. The criteria this week was to use her sketch and journal on a "journalling spot". My journaling is about how I feel when Matthew is pitching. Its not his strong point and he's only put in when absolutely needed, but I am STRESSED OUT the whole time! Yet he does fine and sometimes does very well at pitching and really enjoys it. So while the layout is photos of him, its really about MY feelings. The sponsor this week is one of the few sites that I buy my scrappy supplies from too! There are only three that I frequent and Your Scrapbook Stash is one of them! The store owner, Erica, is super friendly and the service there is top notch!! On my last order, several items were out of stock due to circumstances beyond her control. As each item arrived, Erica sent them out to me separately which she didn't have to do! I felt bad as I was getting the packages because I know that her profits were low due to the postage in sending my order in multiple shipments. Its customer service like that which will always keep me coming back! Thanks Erica and the staff of Your Scrapbook Stash!!

I also was able to incorporate the "One Little Word" challenge over at Challenge Masters for this layout. The word this month is COOL.
I love when challenges combine even when you aren't really trying to do that!!

I used a background paper and embellishments (both chipboard and cardstock) by Theresa Collins from her Sports Edition II line. The strips of blue and red are leftovers from Scenic Route. I accented them with a white Signo pen. The bingo card is from Jenni Bowlin and the letters are Bella Blvd. and October Afternoon Mini Market. The felt baseballs I got at Michael's in the general crafts section. Some blue ink along the edges of the page and the first baseball layout from the 2011 season is in the books!!

I hope you will all take a minute to visit Once Upon A Sketch, Your Scrapbook Stash and Challenge Masters! They are all REALLY great scrappy sites!