MS Spartan Shadow Box

Happy Tuesday everyone.  I sure hope that wherever in the world you are you are enjoying beautiful weather much like we are here in Florida.  I had so much fun being outdoors this past weekend and even got in some training for my next OCR (obstacle course race) but before I tell you about that I want to share a shadowbox I finally put together from the first race I did with my 19 year old son. 

 

We did this race last October in Kiln, MS and if you've been following my blog for any period of time you've seen some scrapbook pages from this race as well.  As you can tell this is us after the race and I definitely enjoying my banana.  :o)

 

For my shadowbox I used a couple of different files.  I used the Mud Run file from Marjorie Ann Designs for my boy.  Admittedly I did change him up just a little bit.  In the file he's has mud in his hair but I swapped that out for a headband and he's also holding a trophy which I swapped for a medal.  The medal is from the Cricut digital cartridge Track and Field.

 

Hopefully my next Spartan Race for this year will be a Super this October, and if all goes well my oldest daughter and I will be running that one together.  In the meantime I have a few runs in FL and AL that I'm doing.  My next one is coming up on the 16th so in preparation I spend some time outdoors with my "toys" doing some functional training.  I can't afford the time and expense of a Crossfit gym and this works so much better for me because I can go at my own pace.  So this weekend I was out there doing circuits of

• tire flips with a 200+ pound tire - 5 flips one way and 5 flips back
• Hit that tire with my 8lb sledgehammer, alternating arms as I swing for 20 hits
• slinging some battle ropes and I have no idea what those things weigh but they are heavy and it's not as easy as the pros make it look ;o)
• 20 squats while holding on to my 30lb sandbag
• bucket carry - I didn't measure my distance but I just walked the length of my yard and back at its longest point.  And I have no idea what my bucket weighs but it's 3/4 full of rocks like they made us carry at the Atlanta Sprint this past March
• finished it all off with a few spear throws as this is an obstacle that is nicknamed the burpee maker and I for one am tired of doing those burpees

Later I was off to the gym for a 3.56 mile run so that I could complete my Remember the Fallen virtual race.

 

And that was my Sunday Funday......

Emerald Coast Mud Run Shadow Box

Anyone who knows - or follows - me knows that my favorite sport right now is Obstacle Course Racing.  There's just something about the excitement of setting your fears aside for a while and pushing yourself to do things you never thought you could or would do.  Up until a little over a year ago I never thought I'd "play" in the mud for fun.  And I certainly never thought I'd go crawling under several yards of barbed wire or scale slippery muddy walls......but I do and I love every minute of it.

 

The only drawback to it all is that there aren't a lot of them close to where I live.  That means I don't get to participate in that many, but that's probably a good thing because I'd go broke from all the entrance fees. LOL

 

So today I want to share with you a couple of pictures I put into a shadowbox from my last Obstacle Course Race (aka Mud Run) in May.  The Emerald Coast Mud Run is a local obstacle course race that is put together by Heart of the Bride ministries to help support their missions work in Africa.  And let me tell you, these guys put on a great race every year.

 

Anyhow, for my shadowbox I used two cuts.  (Sometimes simple is better)  The tennis shoe is from the Cricut digital cartridge Track and Field.  This is a cartridge that while small in number of cuts has come in rather handy for scrapping my race pictures.  Oh and that mud - well that's from an SVG file I purchased from Kadoodle Bug Designs.  It's actually the top of what was a mud pie.  How fitting is that?

 

And since there's no time like the present and time is running out I'm running off to go enter this into the Take Me Out to the Ball Game Create a sports related project challenge that's going on over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge.

Race Day Memories

Last year I was bit by the 5K race bug and participated in my first ever mud and color runs.  My husband participated in the mud run with me and decided that running wasn't for him.  So now he sticks to lifting weights and being the photographer at any run I decide to participate in.

After several months though I finally made myself sit down and create shadow boxes of each event.  Just in time too because I will be participating in my first Spartan run next month, and that will kick off my year.  Not that there are that many races in which I'll compete but there are at least three: the Spartan, the Mud Run in May and the Color Run which will be in November.  Heck I might even find another one or two to squeeze in there somewhere.

But I digress.  This blog is about crafting and not my fitness journey.  (You can find that blog here.)

So for these shadow boxes I used two cartridges for three different cuts: 

I used the Track and Field (mini digital exclusive) for the runners in the top right of the two mud run shadow boxes.  In my husband's shadow box I cut off the "ribbon" part of the original cut and added some bakers twine to give it a little pop of color and texture.   Then for the "mud" splashes behind the runners I used the Home Décor cartridge.

For the color run shadow box I wanted to have the "splashes" of color like when they throw it on you as you go through the stations.  So using Home Décor I cut the same cut I used for the mud splashes but this time  I cut  it in two different sizes. The smaller ones I embossed with coordinating embossing powder/glitter from Stampendous.  I then pop dotted them on to the larger cuts and BAM, I got my pops of color. 

My husband had a great idea of hanging these on the wall in what is going to be our workout room (once our son moves out in a couple months).  This will also give me plenty of space to add more as I continue to run my races and maybe one day branch out to other fitness arenas......