Challenges, sketches and more...oh my!

I have been working on a lot of design team assignments lately, but also participating in a few contests.

The Crop Suey challenge for the next two weeks is to do a LO about something you collect.  I started collecting butterflies while I was in college.  I first got intersted in them when my advisor suggested a summer project where I explored the biodiveristy of buttefly species in different environments.  Well to do that, I had to learn how to catch them and identify them.  So I started a collection!  It become a hobby over the years, and i still love to go out into the field and ID them.  I can ID many right away, some even by just the way they fly.  There are some that are elusive to me as well: I have had dreams about the Olive Hairstreak, one that I have never seen, but would love to have in my collection.
I never collect more than one of each species, unless they have dimorphisms in the species.



So here is my LO, with a few photos of my butterflies and a photo of the case they are in.  I wanted to make these photos look like little polaroids, and used some digital notebook paper and real masking tape and staples to complete the look. I also stamped the wings on the background paper and misted the page with green and brown Glimmer Mist.

Next up is the Throwdown challenge at Memorable Seasons.  The first challenge was to do something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue! 

Something old: photos
Something New: lace
Somwthing Borrowed: Journaling was a note that my aunt wrote to me and she gave me these photos on my wedding day. It is tucked behind the photos...I have close ups in the gallery.
Something Blue: Blue in the papers (BG and MME and Pink Paislee)

This next LO I did for a blog challenge at Blue Moon Scrapbooking.  You had to use a vintage photos and a doilie.  I used this photo of my grandma from the early 1980's (OK, not THAT vintage, I know!) and a Wilton Cake doilie. 

I wish that my grandma was still alive and could have met Charlotte.  The title really works both ways: I know that my grandma would have loved Charlotte, and that Charlotte would have loved her.  Inside the envelope I wrote a message to Charlotte about her grandma.

This last LO I did for the Week 3 challenge at Scrapdango. For week 3 we had to scrap a childhood memory, use journaling of more than 100 words, and use a certain color palette from a choice of palettes.  I used a brick red, teal, sand, and gold color combo.  The journaling is about my 5th (or 6th) surprise birthday party that I still remember like it was yesterday! 

Lastly, don't forget to join us at Ch{all}enge Masters for this month's challenges!  I am the sketch team leader, and here is the sketch for February.  Also submissions are due my midnight the 28th!