Social {Media} Butterflies July CHA INSPIRED Blog Hop

I hope y'all are having a lovely weekend. I myself have been busy scrapping with friends and attending our local pro tennis team's matches where my youngest is a ballkid. I have been jockeying my time between friends and family with more time today to do both. Today also happens to be my/our 17 wedding anniversary and the weekend will most likely wrap up with a family movie outing and a low-key dinner out with the hubster. So truly blessed to have that man in my life, by my side. It's been a great and crazy fast 17 years. Looking forward to many, many more. Love ya Mick!


Anyhoo, moving away from the personal affairs and onto the reason why you are here today: amidst the taxiing around town to and from my scrappy retreat with friends and the tennis matches, there is a little {Big} event taking place; the July issue of Social {Media} Butterflies Blog hop!!!

 Can I tell you how excited I am to see what the other members have created for this month!!? I am so stoked! Our mission/assignment was to find an image of anything from the recent Summer CHA event (on a blog or at the convention or whatevs) and use it as inspiration for a scrappy creation. To narrow down the inspiration to one thing was not such an easy task as the manufacturers and designers knocked it out of the ballpark with their creations and designs! Ultimately, my project was inspired by this design that jumpstarted my creative mojo. It is by the crazy pants talented Lisa "Glue" Truesdell.
And here it is:

I am always, always inspired by Glue's designs, but this one really got me thinking! I love everything about this layout but the arrows, triangles, rainbows, and stitching truly "had me at hello." (Jerry McGuire reference).

And on to my design. Here ya go! (Excuse the pics today-I am not at home and only have my iphone at my disposal white balance is way off).

I was really inspired by the triangles Lisa used and the multicolored/striped piece of pattern paper (right side of layout) and wanted to incorporate arrows and the sense of movement across the page to correspond/complement the photo of my eldest DS "Moving Forward" to High School (eep). I purposefully placed the triangles at the ends of the titlework to mimic/create arrows. As I nearly always do, I added some stitching and textural elements to complement my design. I decided to type my journaling this time as I wanted to keep the graphic feel going on this layout and not take away from it with flowery penmanship.

So there you have it! Please hop along and leave comments to win an awesome giveaway of the "new release" CHA goodies, the likes of which you can read about on Shay's blog, the Social {Media} Butterflies Facebook wall and Twitter. Leaving comments here, following this blog, and following me on Twitter ("SuzMannecke"), will earn you extra chances to win!

Would you like a chance to win a goodie bag FILLED with awesomeness from CHA? Please hop along with us. There are several ways to enter!

• Tweet about the blog hop, tell us your favorite project using the hashtag#SMBiGbloghop
• Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite product from CHA is.
• Follow my blog and leave a seperate comment letting me know you did.
• Follow me on Twitter: "SuzMannecke" 
• Follow me on Instagram" "SuzMannecke"
• And continue hopping! You gain another entry for each other blog you comment on!   There are some fabulous new CHA items peeps, so don't miss out and be sure to hop along and leave some love on the other contributor's blogs today to increase your chances of winning!

The giveaway will close at Midnight EST on Wednesday and winners will be announced Thursday on Shay’s blog.

Next up is the lovely Sabina (aka VixenDeity). If you came here via Shay's welcome post, just click on Sabina's link below. If you missed the "Welcome" (trust me, you will want to check out the details) please be sure to click on Shay's welcome link to get all the info you need to be inspired and to win yourself some fabulous CHA goodies!

Here is the BLOG HOP ROLL ORDER from the beginning "Welcome and FYI's" to the fabulous end:

Welcome. [on Shay's blog]

http://sbookinshay29.blogspot.com/2012/07/welcome.html

>>>YOU ARE HERE>>> Suz   http://livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com/     SuzMannecke

Sabrina     http://vixendeity.com/     vixendeity

Erika     http://erikabardo.wordpress.com/     erikabardo

Angel     http://kindlelover.blogspot.com     akochmcelroy

Kristin     http://rukristin.blogspot.com/     rukristin

Margrethe      http://onelifedocumented.com/?p=2440   margrethe_

Amanda    http://somethingsorta.blogspot.com/2012/07/crafty-julys-social-media-blog-hop.html     mandadej

Shay     http://sbookinshay29.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-smbigblohop.html  sbookinshay29

Monica     http://monicalifeasme.blogspot.com/     MonicaB

Mary Pat     http://siehledwithakiss.blogspot.com/

Melissa P     http://www.melissapriest.com/   click click

Trisha    http://blissfulwander.blogspot.com/ trishacakes instagram, trishacakes24 on SC

Enjoy and HAPPY HOPPING! Don't forget that by hopping along all of the contributors' websites increases your chances to win the new CHA loot! :) :) :)

Social {Media} Butterflies Blog Hop Today 1PMCST

Trust me on this one, you don't want to miss it!!!!CHA inspired creations by our group contributors and lovely (no, make that AWESOME CHA giveaways to be won!) Pics of the giveaway items will be/are posted on the SMB Facebook Wall. Come along and join in the fun!

xoxo

Suz

And Then There Were Two...

...two newly promoted FIRST DEGREE BLACK BELTS in the family that is!

Our boys have dedicated themselves and spent countless hours practicing forms and techniques for nearly three years now...and as of about a week ago, their hard work and dedication has paid off.
Mick and I are so proud of them.

Here's a few pics documenting the big event:

Way to go boys! We are so very proud of you! MOM & DAD

And I guess I should mention that Mick and I were promoted to 4th degree red belts too. Slowly working our way to black belts. Just trying to enjoy the journey along the way.

So, what have y'all been up to this summer? Inquiring minds want to know (me). Leave a comment and share! :)

Back in a few with some scrappy creations!

Scrappy Play | Studio Calico Elmwood Park/Four Square and Brooklyn Flea

Finally got a chance to scrap a bit this week and these are two layouts I was able to complete.
Really enjoying cracking open some Zing and taking it to the sheets (instead of sheets-80s music reference-no? not following my crazy-minded self? No worries! As you were. Moving on to the layouts! :)

I really, really had so much fun playing with my embossing gun and the Zing! Fun to break it out once in awhile, even if it gets a bit messy! LOL

     

     

When I captured this little guy perching on the decking at my local tennis club, I KNEW i had to scrap his beautiful chevron legs (or maybe he's a she? Anyways...)

I used my Silhouette to create the chevron and lifted up some of the chevrons to give added texture and dimension.


Off to go fold some laundry and make some lunch! Back at ya later!
xoxo
Suz :)

Little Black Dress Designs | July DT Gallery

Hi All,
Stopping in here for a quick breather from the stifling heat we've been experiencing here in this part of the world. CRAZY, sweltering heat!

Anyways, the LBD July kit is filled with smoking hot scrapping sassiness that is sure to dress up your summer layouts.

Here's the majority of my gallery. Don't forget to click on the LBD icon link in my sidebar to take you to the other design team members creations and to get yourself a kit or two, find yourself some A/C and start scrapping!

As neon colors are all the rage of late, I was pleased to find the lovely Heidi Swapp Day-Glow neon photo corners in this month's kit. I used up every.single.one!

I loved using them as the "v" in chevrons here:

 And the jumbo Pink Paislee London Markets numbers? Pure awesome sauce. I used several and have plenty left for many more creations.

 This was the first layout I created. I knew immediately the pictures I wanted to use for it. The pics are from my YS's 10th bd celebration at a local arcade called "1984" that is bringing it back old school and merging generations of love for vintage arcade games. The bathrooms are the coolest ever! Glow in the dark foam shapes of Pac-Man characters and Space Invaders.
**Note: Items that aren't in the kit are/will be listed over on the LBD website. For this layout the non-kit items were the Studio Calico "hello" stamp, K& CO washi and the chevron "Duck Tape" (from Wal-mart).

On our road trip to FL, we stopped in Memphis at one of Guy's recommended diners from Diners, Drive-Thru and Dives.

 It did not disappoint! Awesome food. Kinda in the shadier part of town 9bars on many windows of buildings) but the police were there eating lunch and everyone was super friendly, so it was all good.
The boys both said it was the best fried chicken they had ever had.

Close up: A new technique I tried that turned out with just the effect I wanted. I partially cut out the title work using my Silhouette and left the letters in place.

Subtle so the focus remains on the pic.

I channeled my inner "Chabby Chic" and my "Girly Girl" for this card and added vintage type to complement the vintage papers and trims.

My niece, the World Traveler. Oh, the places she went and will go in the future. So excited for her new journeys ahead with college life.

On the road trip home from my niece's grad the boys convinced me to shell out 50 cents to try their hands at the "Crazy Claw" at Steak and Shake. They had some playful fun with the prize Ethan won. The whole.way. home. we go to enjoy the entertaining audio features of the "Big Bang." (Think Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy here. The.whole.way.home. Ha!

That's it for now, I have a mini I may get finished up soon and post here too. But for now, head on over to LBD and check out the creations and inspiration there!

Stay cool!
Suz

Random Winner of Social {Media} Butterflies Blog Hop | Miriam

Miriam!! You are the winner of some Studio Calico wood veneer embellies. Please contact me via email or post a comment here (I won't publish your snail mail addy) and I'll get your little lovelies out to you as soon as possible! Thanks for joining in on the fun everyone!! I'll be back at the end of July with another round of the blog hop and more giveaways!

In the meantime, head back here later this week for the reveal of my July Little Black Dress Kit Designs.

Happy safe and FREE 4th to those that celebrate it here in the States. Remember to thank those who have fought and are fighting for freedom everywhere. Remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.