A Few More NSD Projects

Wow!  So many fun scrappy challenges around the internet yesterday!  Did you get a chance to play?  I was able to finish up a few challenges today since many were posted long after I went to bed.  I will confess that I cannot wait to play along with challenges when I am back on the same continent! 

We are less than 60 days from flying back and the movers will be here in just 2 weeks.  Knowing that my stuff is going to be packed and moved across the Atlantic Ocean on a ship has certainly motivated me to get some scrappy time in this weekend.  So, without further unnecessary chatting from me, here are a few projects I completed for some of the Echo Park challenges that were issued yesterday.

First up, NSD Challenge #3, to Scraplift a Design Team Expert and I chose the cute card by Kandis Smith.  I used papers from Victoria Gardens along with embellies from the cardstock stickers.  I placed a foam dot behind the doily sticker in the middle and used some green floss to stitch down the middle of the design.

I also completed the NSD Challenge #4, Create a Layout Based on a Sketch.  I double dipped and used this challenge for the Big Picture Classes challenge to use a photo from then and now.  Yikes!  My girls have grown so much in 3 years!  I used the This & That Graceful Collection for this one.  Boy, I am in love with these papers and embellishments.

Finally, I completed NSD Challenge #6, Project Playground.  If you haven’t checked out the amazing free projects that the generous folks at Echo Park have on their site you are really missing out.  For this challenge we had to select a project from the site and then re-create it.  So I chose a This & That Graceful layout project and love, love, love the way the finished layout looks (and I really, really love the photo of my baby)!

So those are my completed NSD projects!  I still have my stuff scattered all over the table so I think I am going to jump back in and complete a few more things before I organize and pack up my scrappy stuff in preparation for our huge move. 

Thanks so much to Echo Park for offering such fun challenges and fab prizes and thanks to everyone for swinging by my blog today!

Echo Park NSD Challenge #1

The fabulous folks at Echo Park released a challenge to create a card within 2 hours.  While this card didn’t come close to taking 2 hours to create it took me a long time to decide on what line of amazing Echo Park products to use. 

I was in need of a card for one of my beautiful cousins who graduates from college today and decided to go away from a traditional cap/gown theme and went for a simple but pretty card made with Echo Parks This & That Graceful line.  I added some foam dots behind both flower for some pop and then some pretty pearls from Kaisercraft to finish it off. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

Sisters!

A rare photo of my girls actually liking each other for a few minutes.  We have had some mild temps the past couple of days and they have spent their time blowing lots of bubbles and playing soccer.  They love being outdoors!

More Barcelona!

We made a visit to Barcelona’s famous La Boqueria and enjoyed walking though.  There is so much to see here and it made me miss Seattle’s Pike Place Market, even though Barcelona had a few more interesting things for sale!

Produce beautifully and perfectly stacked, cups of fresh fruit juices glistening with moisture from the ice they rested in, seafood so fresh some of it was still moving and fresh meat from local butchers filled the spaces in this large market.  It was hard not to wish I was a local who could shop here daily for fresh food.    

The fresh fruit was super affordable and we picked up a large fruit salad for 2 euro and fresh fruit juice was around 1 euro per cup if you purchased more than one.  I had a blackberry banana juice and it was the best smoothie I have ever had!

We also spent a little bit of time on the beach.  The girls loved looking for shells and eventually I have to cut them off as our pockets were overflowing with small shells. 

The advantage of going to the beach in February is that it isn’t crowded but the disadvantage being it is February and too cold for swimming.  I love the beach…the sand, the smell, the giggles from my girls but hate the water!  So I don’t mind not being able to jump in. 

Since we were on the beach we found a place for lunch.  Sangria and paella!  Surprisingly, it is difficult to find a good paella place since so many places do not make it fresh but apparently dump it all in the pan from a frozen bag!  GASP!  The horror!  JG did a lot of research on this since it is expensive and you don’t want to get ripped off.  So we found a nice place near the beach and enjoyed our paella, served to us by the owner himself, with a fantastic glass of sangria.  It was muy delicioso!

Yes, lots of food in this post!  I love food…eating it, taking photos of it, admiring the beauty!  I wish I was a better food photographer but I hope you enjoyed seeing things through my viewfinder today.

Beautiful Sisters Layout

It has been nearly 6 weeks since I have completed a layout and while I was missing my scrapping time, I was busy and just couldn’t get to it.  We returned from a trip to Disneyland Paris last week and I was ready to jump back in.  I had a box of new supplies waiting for me from Emma’s Paperie when we got home full of Echo Park’s This & That Graceful along with some fun ribbons and the new Dear Lizzy line as well. 

Club CK posted a 1 hour recipe challenge and I knew I wanted to play along this week.  I remembered the cute sketch from Frosted Designs and pulled my supplies together and got to work.  I loved using this sketch and the gorgeous Echo Park papers.  I even used my sewing machine and stitched a quick border along the page and a zigzag stitch around the circle.  The yellow ribbon is from Maya Road and I just love it!  I bought a bunch of colors. 

I think this was the perfect challenge to jump back into scrapping.  I better spend more time on my hobby before all my stuff is packed up for a few months!  We are waiting for JG to get his orders so we can schedule the movers and then get our airline tickets to fly back to the USA.  Ohhhhh boy, I cannot wait to be back in the states..only 3 more months left here! 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Gaudi!

Barcelona is a pretty awesome city and we were totally fascinated by the architect Antoni Gaudi.  We went to a few of his buildings and enjoyed the uniqueness of each one.

Not too much to say about this right now but wanted to share a few of my favorite Gaudi sites!

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Sagrada Familia

February was a tough month here at the Gibson house as we were all sick at one point or another.  However, we had plans for a getaway to Barcelona and we had to press on .  The weather was lovely and a nice change from the 20 degrees we had been stuck with in Germany for nearly a month.  Highs in the mid 50’s with lots of sun made the days enjoyable.

We went to the Sagrada Familia on our first full day in the city.  Building began on this basilica over 130 years ago and it is still under construction!  The architect, Antoni Gaudi, stipulated that the construction should be funded by donations rather than taxes.  Knowing that little bit of information takes the sting out of the 17 euro per person entrance fee!  We did our part to contribute to the construction costs.  The cost did include a handy audio guide though and it was very helpful as we walked through the building.

This is also the only time that I have embraced construction bits in my photos!  So many places we have traveled have been under restoration that cranes and scaffolding take away from the beauty of the buildings.  But, at the Sagrada Familia I looked at it as a being a part of history in the making. 

Can you imagine spending your day in a harness?  I was surprised to see this guy hanging out here and certainly admire the amount of work and attention to detail! 

While the admission was a little more than we are used to paying it was worth it and the line in mid-February was only about 20 minutes.  If you decide to visit in the summer we heard that the lines are terrible but you can purchase your tickets in advance on the website and skip the lines.