May 29th...SMU Reveal

Its reveal time at SMU....we offer you reveals to get your mojo flowing every other Saturday.

This time around, I challenged the team and our Guest Designer to work with black and white. Often times scrappers find a colour combination difficult to work with.

Black and white being one of them.

We have the talented Leica Forrest with us this Reveal.

http://www.10-4livingoutloud.typepad.com/

Hi my name is Leica (pronounced Lisa) I am 33yrs old, married for 9 3/4 years to Jim (love this man!!!) and we have 2 wonderful busy boys; Riley 6 & Jager 4, and baby girl Ireland 21 months old. I am now a self employed SAHM.

Currently the contributing editor and special events coordinator for Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine, she has fun writing articles, designing and educating internationally because she LOVES to travel.

A style that is everchanging as she loves to try new things. But you can guarantee it involves lot's of colour, paper layering, distressing and collage in some way.

Always living life to the fullest, full of laughter and smiles.
here is Leicas take on the challenge..

Karan Gerber

Patti McCarthy

Sandie Vincent


Michelle Kerrigan

We are using Mr Linky, feel free to link to your creation should you happen to take part in our challenge

SMU-May 15th Reveal...

It is Reveal Time again at START ME UP!

A chance to play, create and push your creativity to its LIMIT!! This reveal we have asked the very talented Leslie Ashe to put forth a challenge for the team and our readers.

Leslie's challenge is: to step outside your box, your comfort zone & do something you haven't done yet. Something you haven't tried...

For Leslie, the hardest challenge is to NOT use cardstock.
"I want to reach for it EVERY time I do a layout. In fact...I did at first then remembered, OH WAIT!
So I've completed the layout for this challenge using no cardstock. Another thing that used to be challenging for me, but it's like an old comfy blanket.. I mix and match papers, regardless of their colors/textures/patterns. I love color and will splash it in there whenever I can".


Our Guest Designer ..............Leslie Ashe.

Leslie Ashe

Hi! I'm Leslie Ashe and I'm SO excited and HONORED to be your guest here at Start Me Up. I live in Fort Worth, Texas (home of the Stockyards, Dr. Pepper & yummy Mex Tex food) with
my sweet hubby. We're soon to experience something new in our lives...an empty nest. Our oldest is off at college & the youngest starts this fall...wow! No matter the distance, they will
always be the center of my pages. they are my true inspirations and treasures!

I love to scrapbook. Its' my home away from home...even when I am home, hee hee! I love it! I seriously must create something every day or my day isn't complete.
I've been scrapping for over 13 years now. It's my passion!

I've been so lucky and feel quite honored to have some of my work published in Scrapbook Trends, CARDS, Simply Handmade along with several Scrapbook Trends Idea Books.
I have an upcoming first time publication coming up in the July/August issue of Creating Keepsakes.

Current DT's:
The Girls Loft (kit club)
Shimmerz
Shabby Chic Crafts
The Button Shop (Tessa Ann Designs)

Thank you Leslie for being a part of Start Me Up and sharing your amazing talent with us!

Patti McCarthy
(Patti used AC paper line and pastels)

Karan Gerber

(used canvas along with some sewing)

Sandie Vincent

(Sandie used all cardstock)

Michelle Kerrigan

(Michelle use journalling in her own handwriting)


We are using Mr Linky, feel free to link to your creation should you happen to take part in our challenge!

SMU First Reveal...

Good Evening and welcome to our first Reveal here at Start Me Up....We are very excited to have you here reading our blog and dropping by. We will be posting our Reveals and sending out our challenges to you, every other Saturday!

We have some awesome Guest Designers lined up and we know you will be back to see who is next! I issued our first challenge! I challenged the team and the guest Designer, to "get Hip with CHIP." Yes, I wanted to see different ways of using chipboard on your project. Chipboard comes in raw as well as various colours, shapes, sizes and fonts. Chipboard can be painted, misted, inked and covered.

Lets take a look to see what our guest Designer and our Team came up with.

Our First guest Designer is......Melody Ross

Melody Ross

What can I say about Melody Ross other than she is a beautiful woman inside and out, she inspires us creatively with her endless designer talent and creations. Her zest for life is an
inspiration to many. She is the mastermind behind The Brave Girl Camp - Art+Life Retreats.

Thank you Melody for sharing your talent with us on our very first reveal here at SMU.

Karan Gerber

Patti McCarthy


Sandie Vincent

Michelle Kerrigan

We are using Mr Linky, if you happen to create a project using our challenges, feel free to link up so we can peek too :)

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!

Share It UP

I received a few bits of eye candy in our 'mailbox' the other day and thought I'd share. Thank you to Sarah and Carla for sharing your layouts with us!!

Sarah Buck

Carla Robinson

If you have some creations you'd like to share please email them to gonnastartmeup@live.com We'd love to see them and share them with our readers on our Monday Share it Up day!!

Stash it UP!

I thought a little 'impromptu' challenge might be fun while waiting for our teams first reveal on May 1st.

Whatcha say, are you up for it?

Create a layout using SEVERAL of your 'old' stash items!

Here is my layout using a Junitz Zipper, Ki Memories Die Cut Cardstock, Queen and Co. Felt, Cherry Arte Rub ons and some Paper House Fabric ~ real old eh!!

We'd love to see them!! Send your layouts to gonnastartmeup@live.com with subject STASH IT UP in the subject line!

Meet The Team...

Hi everyone..i know you are excited to hear the announcement. I first want to take a moment and thank everyone who took the time to send in their application to Patti and I, we are both excited about our new creative venture together.
Without further a-do...here is the team....

we look forward to having our readers come back often to see the reveals

Patti McCarthy

http://www.dailycrimesofpassion.blogspot.com/

Hi!! I'm Patti and I live in Alberta with my husband Glenn and our two boys Joshua and Jared. These three special guys are the centre of my photographs and scrapbooking obessions!

I love 'white' space, layering, lots of embellishments on my designs and have been told by many they can recognize a 'Patti' layout anywhere... I def. take this as a compliment! Scrapbooking masculine layouts is def. in my 'realm' but I've been pushing myself more to be more versatile and be intouch with my feminine side. lol!! MOJO is my best friend and no matter where I am or what I see I am inspired by everything is some shape or form.

I am excited to begin this new chapter in my "creative life" with my friend Karan. We have a lot of great ideas, surprises and inspiration coming your way. So sit back, turn it up and get ready to START ME UP!!!

Karan Gerber

karangerber.blogspot.com

Hi Everyone my name is Karan Gerber, I reside in Sebringville, with my husband Glenn of 15 years and two boys Elijah 13 and Galen 10. I love clean designs but don't mind junkin' it up. I love texture and you will often see dimension and a variety of techniques on my work. I mainly work with a format of 12x12 but I love mini albums and altered projects too.

My pages revolve around sharing my love for my family. Having only a handful of pictures of myself growing up, I feel it important to capture as many memories with my two boys and hubby as I can. My passion for this hobby definitely shows in the pages I create. I’m never at a loss for inspiration to scrap. I gain inspiration from magazine ads, clothing, color palettes, other scrappers, on-line galleries….just about anything in my everyday living.

I am excited to be involved in a new venture with my friend Patti and I look forward to bringing you some great ideas and inspiration for your own scrapbook pages. We have some uber talented Guest Designers lined up and I cannot wait to Start YOU up!!

Michelle Kerrigan

http://mickerr-treasuredmemories.blogspot.com/

Hey there fellow scrappers, my name is Michelle and I am very excited about this new blog. Back in 2004 in when I started scrapping it was so hard to find “boy” themed embellishments and papers, and being a mom of a beautiful son....he was really all I had to scrapbook. Since then our family has undergone some changes and we are now a blended family with the most wonderful man Rob and his 3 beautiful daughters. The problem was....I did’t know how to scrap girl. I would walk into a scrap store and go straight to the boy stuff and often forget that I have 3 girls to scrap too. Luckily this has been an excuse to fulfill my need to buy scrappy supplies, and I have an overwhelming amount of girlie stuff now too.

After taking a break from scrapbooking, my return in 2009 was committed to scrapbooking strictly for myself. Back in 2006 I was contracted to an album for someone and after so much time and effort, I just had no mojo left. So now it is all about my family, and I am loving it! Since my return I have made a Design Team, invited to be a guest designer for a LSS, and I am very excited about being invited for publication for the first time in the upcoming Memory Makers book due out in May 2011.

I am very excited about being a Designer here! An all boy blog....I am so in my element!
This is going to be a lot of fun and I know that there will be a lot of inspiration going on around here, can’t wait to see what is in store.

Sandie Vincent

http://allscrappedout.blogspot.com/

Hi I'm Sandie, I'm 34 and from the UK, I'm married to Rich and we have 3 children together. I started scrapbooking in July 2005 and soon became hooked on a very addictive hobby. I have been on various Design Teams, and now teach scrapbooking regularly at my LSS and at a local craft club. My passion is paper, and I love finding new ways to use it on my pages!