Saturday, September 1, 2012

Challenge #205 and an Announcement!!!

Hi everyone!  It's September 1st and we are excited to bring you our new set of challenges!  Before we do though - we are SUPER EXCITED to introduce you to our two new design team members!

Please welcome HERMA and JESSICA!!!

Both Herma and Jessica have been dedicated, regular participants at Scrapping The Music, and are members of our Hall of Fame.  We think you will agree that they each have a unique and fun style that will be a great addition to our design team!

Here's a little information about each of them...

HERMA
I’m Herma from Utrecht, the Netherlands, and I’m very honoured to be one of the new DT members!!! My husband Jimi is a guitarist and musician, and we are married for 10 years now. I (okay, we…) have a son, Brian, who is 22.

I think I’ve been a scrapper all my lifetime, I never just glued photo’s into an album, no way! I always added something extra. And I’m totally addicted to ‘the real thing’ for about 7 years now. I’m a so called ‘budget-scrapper’, and I’ll scrap with almost everything I can find that looks scrappable to me… So my house is a mess, but I don’t care. There’s no money to spend,  I’m unemployed for about 2 years now, I wonder if I’ll ever get a job again… But on the other hand, where would I find the time to scrap when I have to work all days?




JESSICA
I am thrilled to be joining the STM design team!  STM was the first blog I started submitting challenge pieces to, and I've loved the songs, prompts, and DT inspiration since I first found it.  I'm beyond thrilled to be on board. Let's see-- I'm a mom of two girls - one starting 6th grade and the other a senior in college (gasp!).  I'm happily married to the sweetest man alive (IMHO) and have a wonderful life where I am a full-time artist. Most of my work is licensing my designs for greeting cards and table top ceramics. But I recently found the art journaling world and became hooked big time. Not having ever gotten into scrapbooking (don't know how that eluded me), what you'll be seeing from me is lots of mixed media, texture, collage, paint, etc.  I'm also a yoga instructor, and yoga philosophy definitely influences my work.  I look forward to playing with you at STM!

WELCOME HERMA AND JESSICA!!!



 AND NOW, ON TO OUR NEW SET OF CHALLENGES...

Our song this week is a super fun one that we hope you will like as much as we do! 

Challenge #205A:  Stray Cat Strut by the Stray Cats

It's not just for cat layouts either!  Click here to read all of the lyrics.  We hope you will find as much inspiration as we did!

Here are the design team layouts for "Stray Cat Strut..."

 Michelle
My boys Willie and Johnny are kings of napping!  They've never chased a mouse around as far as I know; but I do have to admit, they enjoy chasing the occasional bug!





Her


Our cat Cleo doesn't know what mice are, she had to stay inside because of the huge traffic, that's what my journaling is about.


My girlfriend's cat is so cool.  She's definitely got cat class!


Linda
Mrow!



This song is very much in my head and heart today.  Yesterday, we had to put down our wonderful cat Tory.  She was a rescue kitten who came into our family over 17 years ago as a present for my then 3 year old daughter, Mariel.  She was my companion through a contested divorce, getting my feet wet again in the dating world, several relationships, a new marriage, a new baby, moving to a new home, and transitioning from working as a lawyer, to embracing a new life as a yoga teacher and artist.  She was feisty and a diva -- she didn't like new people, new animals, or being transported to new settings.  She had a wail of a meow, and a purr that was so loud that it could be heard from another room.  As the lyrics from Stray Cat Strut go - she was a black and orange cat with class and style, who never bothered chasing mice around.  I will really miss her.  Although I don't often try to paint with any realism, this art journal page captures her and her regal, haughty expression.



Challenge 205B Prompt:
What song reflects an event in your life?


Her


Michelle
Early on in our relationship, I sent Michael this song in an email.  It fit how I felt about him so perfectly.  It became our song.  I still love it!


"I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden is a song that reflects the amazing moment that Anne was placed in my arms in Changsha, China!


Jessica
 Our family does volunteer work in Guatemala with a wonderful organization called "From Houses to Homes.". Http://www.fromhousestohomes.org. The founder, Joe Collins, recently returned to New Jersey to battle his second bout of colon cancer.  He is truly an angel among us, and this art journal page is inspired by and dedicated to him.  

Now it's your turn!  Show us how the song, lyrics, or video for “Stray Cat Strut” inspire you.  You can create a layout, art journal page, a card: whatever you like to make.  Or does the prompt inspire you to create something?   You can choose either or both.  Link us up to your creations by midnite on September 12th (Wednesday nite).
We can’t wait to see what you come up with!