Finish The Race

Bi Monthly Lisa (Raining) has a really cool challenge that she does for us over at Scraps Of Darkness 
called Skeletons In The Closet.  The following are the rules for the July-September challenge:

1. You must take a photo of an inanimate object. NO PEOPLE on your layout.

2. You must use a saying we would all be familiar with, a quote, or a movie/song title that obviously relates to the photo and also translate to something in your life.
    ( A few examples to clarify would be- photographing a tree and using a saying like "Roots or Roots to the Past" and then letting us know how that relates to your life.  Photographing a bridge and using a saying like "Building Bridges" and letting us know how that relates to your life. Photographing grass using a saying like " The grass is greener on the other side" and letting us know how that relates to your life. - Get the picture? )

3. This challenge is an exercise in getting you to scrap something that is an object and getting us to feel it. Give it life. Get us to see what you saw in it and how you fit it into your emotional life.

4. This doesn't have to be deep and dark and it can be light and fluffy. Take a photo of a road ( All roads lead to home) I hope I have given you enough ideas to make this less scary!

5. Use any products- all are welcome to join- invite your friends! Out of courtesy please refrain from mentioning any other kit clubs ( What??? other clubs exist??? No way???)

6. You have until 9/15 to get the party started!

The following is my take on that challenge using this month's Scraps of Darkness Kit. My quote is "Finish The Race" and comes from the Bible Verse "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." This saying and verse transcends into every aspect of my life. Whether it be doing those daily grind jobs that I get sick of, raising my son, my marriage, running, biking or whatever, I set a mental finish line and tell myself "Finish the Race." Don't get a few feet from the finish line, and give up-finish. It is the same philosophy that I raise my son with to focus ahead and get where you planned to be.

I wanted a real gutsy, industrial look to the layout. My son and I love to hang out in the Art District close to where we live. We bike down to it and spend time in the shops, restaurants, and art museums. Everything  has an industrial feel to it, because all the buildings are the old industrial buildings that once housed so many of our jobs. I wanted to capture that look and feel, so I started with some card stock from this month's add on for the base layer, added a second layer from the pp in the kit, that I deeply distressed, ripped and inked.

I then took a brick stencil and created "bricks" randomly out of Snow Tex, and painted them with glam and accented them with black paint. I then took a kit pp and made a 3rd distressed and inked layer, then a strip layer that I inked distressed and punched, then a photo mat out of the card stock add on. The photo is one I took of my running shoes in some wicked light that I had to wait for, one morning  then I grunged up the edges in PhotoShop and put the Bible Verse onto it.

 

I then took some of the kit trim and trimmed out the bottom of the photo. I used some Grunged Up Chipboard Gears in Rustic and a Corrugated Flower piece that I carry in my Etsy, added the metal flowers from the Flora & Fauna Add On and some Tim Holtz metal gears and formed the side layer and the gear peek a boos.

I created a rip on the side of my layout, set eyelets and laced it up with some black tennis shoe string, and popped a brad behind one of the punched crowns.

Thanks for letting me share a little piece of myself with you, and remember in whatever you are doing-Finish The Race! ~ Renea