Leaping Lizard! {How Much Is Too Much #138}

So, my sweet little beardie Stumpy just died a couple of weeks ago, and I bought another little guy last week. He's so tiny and adorable but SO skittish, and that got me remembering this old childhood memory about a lizard I once had. I scrapped about it for this week's challenge at How Much Is Too Much? Amanda made a challenge based on the word "Summer," and we had to use:

S - stamps (dig out those stamps that you never use!)
U - at least one photo of U! (ok, so I took a little liberty with this letter haha)
M - metal (brads, staples...use any kind of metal)
M - markers (yup...do some doodles or marker work)
E - embellishments (use lots and lots!)
R - ribbon (use at least 3 different ribbons)

This was a really fun challenge. Got me to dig out some stuff I haven't used in a while. Just about everything on this page is really old. Somehow I didn't get the "different" part of the 3 different ribbons until after I was nearly done with my page and was checking back at the challenge. I did use 3 pieces of ribbon, though. And I'm terrified of doodling (afraid I'll irreversibly mess things up), so I used my marker to outline the letter stamps and the deco-scissored edge of my circle. 

(A note: I was stuck where to start, and as I often do when I'm stuck, I pulled out my swatches from Color Combos Galore and chose an older color combo--#64.)

To read the sad tale of the leaping lizard, click on my layout for a larger view.

I love the Night Light papers by October Afternoon, especially the little monsters on the Louie print, and I love it when there's a perfect opportunity to use them! Ribbon always stumps me on these challenges, and at the last minute, I thought of adding a ribbon to the little lizard. With the ribbon, he sort of looks ready for take-off, doesn't he?

Word stickers are one of my favorite ways to embellish my pages, and I love finding just the perfect ones for my pages. I found three to go with this page: departure, lost and found, and secrets.

I think I earn points for breaking out my Poetry Dog Tags that were all the rage about 7 years ago and using them for the metal part of the challenge--they don't photograph well, so in case you can't read them, they say split, free, and dead.

I used Studio Calico letter stamps and mounted some of the letters on pop dots for a "leaping" effect. I had my letters all picked out and discvovered that this sheet of letter stickers didn't have any A's. How weird is that? But I was all set to use those letters, so I decided to turn a V upside down.

Come take a look at what the rest of the team did with this challenge, and I hope you'll play along with us. There will be a really fun RAK this month!