I'm Lovin' It (da da da daahh da)

One thing it seems I can't express enough is how much I freaking love paper! One of the best feelings is finding papers that look great together and then when they perfectly compliment your photos, it's like all is right in the world. A little dramatic? Yes. Sound crazy? Absolutely. However, I know there are people out there who know exactly what I mean and that's a good feeling too. This page is one of those moments when paper and photos come together to make a fun layout.

I've had these pictures on my table for awhile just waiting for me to find the right paper. Last month new Simple Stories lines came out and I loved the arrows paper. I'm trying to get away from buying papers just because I like them and stick to buying papers that I know there's a plan for. I strayed away from that plan for the arrows paper and it ended up working out.

The papers are Simple Stories from their "24/7" line. I cut the title on my Cameo then added the usual suspects of mini markets, October Afternoon stickers, and enamel dots. I'm also happy to say the yellow and blue strips below and under the photos were cut from the barcode strip of the pattern papers. On double sided papers, the vendors will give a preview of what's on the flip side. So I cut and used those pieces to leave the rest of the 12"x12" piece intact. I told you, I love paper. Every little bit of it.

 

If you want to see my friend's page using the same pictures, check out her blog here http://justmylife-erica.blogspot.com/. Prepare to be impressed!

Once in a Lifetime Opportunity

In the not so distant future I'm going to be starting my last year in my twenties. I realize this isn't such a big deal to some people, but it feels a lot like a PRETTY BIG DEAL to me. It also tends to resemble a panic attack. I tend to feel like I'm not doing enough or not doing something well enough. It's not a matter of being lazy, it's that I expect a lot from myself. So the other week when I was awake at 2am worrying about my personal life and professional life, I started making a list. Not a list of things I wanted to do (although I do have one of those), but a list of things I have done. It made me feel better. Just because we haven't achieved everything we wanted to, doesn't mean we haven't done anything or we've failed. There's always room for improvement, but to give myself more credit (and a bit of a pep talk) it felt nice to focus on the good things I've done. Now I'm taking my list and scrapbooking it. Two birds with one stone type of thing. Look back on the fun I've had in my twenties so far and get some pages done.

This is the first page from my "Done That" list. After graduating college (on the list) I went to Europe for two and a half weeks. One of many memorable "done that" items was water ski in Greece. The only other place I've water skied is on our lake in northern Indiana so skiing on the Aegean Sea was very, very cool.

The papers are by Studio Calico and I managed to mix in my favorite mini market letters from October Afternoon and My Mind's Eye enamel dots.

 

Later this month I'm going on a scrapbook retreat (over my birthday weekend) so it'll be the perfect time to work more on my "Done That" list.

Project 12: March

It's the second week of the month, so time to post last month's project 12 layout. Still loving this process and I feel like I'm learning to pay attention to more details. Getting lots and lots of practice at layering and I love it. This month I used Dear Lizzy's "Neapolitan" line. Most of the pages came from the 6x6 pad which worked great having smaller patterns.

 

The left page talks about our springtime snow fall and Indiana's typical crazy weather. (Is it crazy if it's typical?) Also added in a few spaces for one of my new favorite movies.

 

Right hand page is mostly about Easter and St. Patrick's Day. This page also gives you a visual if you've ever wondered what fifteen pounds of jelly beans looks like. Also reason #118 why my dad shouldn't be allowed in Sam's Club alone.

Last month I started playing with adding inserts and sewing pieces together for extra space. This month I did the same thing by sewing an extra 4x6 flap into the middle of the left hand page. I took a lot of pictures around my house of the snow and wanted to include all of them while still having space to journal. Adding the extra space was the perfect solution.

 

 

Dodge felt left out so he decided to sneak in for a peek. I kinda love that he matches my wood floors.