KW Color Challenge # 48

It's been a few weeks since I've done Kristina's Color Challenge, and I had to make a birthday card for my niece (a belated one at that). So why not be really efficient and combine the two. I used the pindot Cuttlebug embossing folder to create texture on the tree. When it was done I thought it needed just a bit more so I added the blue "berries" on the tree. A blueberry tree?? I don't know, but it adds a touch of whimsy.

Day Five: Ready

Last summer I was fiddling with my camera and took a super close-up of my youngest son's face. It is one of my favorite photos of 2008. I printed it right away, and have had it hanging in various places in my stUdio. Most recently it made its way over to the magnetic strip over my desk (a sure sign I'm harnessing the energy to scrap it). Once I found the OLW (One Little Word) challenge through a blog I frequent, I knew I had the perfect inspiration (the challenge and designer Revlie's layout) to get this page put together. I dabbled on the page all day, adding a bit here and a snip there. Sometimes this really works for me in putting a page together, especially when the day doesn't allow me to sit for any length of time to work. It worked great today because there were lots of small chunks that went into this layout (and the boys had friends over to keep them occupied)."Time" is an underlying theme on this page, so this Heidi Swapp ghost clock face was perfect:

The cutout flowers are from Basic Grey's Romani line. And the felt flower was die cut with the Sizzix Flower Charms die. Felt accents have been a trend for some time, and it was fun to create my own. A bit of mini pom-pom fringe, snips of ribbon, and floss stitches create the stems on the flowers.

The word for OLW this week is "Ready". My journaling conveys my mixed emotions as I await my youngest starting school in the fall.

I'm not ready. To let this baby go. To release him to the care of someone else. To not know what he’s doing or how he’s feeling. I’m not ready. To be without him. To not kiss his little cheeks whenever I feel like it just because. To not have him by my side. I’m not ready. To see him cry because he doesn’t want to go. To feel empty after dropping him off. To miss him like crazy. I’m just not ready to let this little baby go.

But yet, I am ready. To enter the next phase of my life. To have quiet time for my own thoughts. To accomplish things without interruption. I am ready. To see if I can succeed at my own business. To have time to reach my goals. To embark on a new endeavor. I am ready. To do the things I want to do. To set goals and work to achieve them. To focus energies on things outside of Motherhood. I am ready. To create more. To dream bigger. To be more. But, I just don’t know if I’m ready to let this little baby go. It’s time to get ready.

Day Four: Halloween Fright Night

I'm all over the map with my layout topics these days: from Christmas to Halloween, three weeks ago to three years ago. I'm not a chronoligical scrapper. I used to be, but not anymore. It is crucial that I date my pages so that I'll be able to put them into chronological order in albums someday. Sometimes the date is in the title or journaling, but at the very least it's hand scrawled or date-stamped in a small place somewhere on the layout.

So tonight, I had these Halloween pics from 3 1/2 years ago. I went to my October issues of CK for a bit of inspiration, and inspiration did I find:

A few sprays of Archival Mist to neutralize the acid in the magazine paper and voila, instant accents and a title for my page. I just checked Amazon for the spray, and can't believe how expensive it is now (I picked mine up on clearance a few years back for a couple of bucks). Krylon has a similar product for a much better value.

I apologize for my poor photos, but I'm taking them at night and our tungsten lights don't make for great photos.

Day Three: Goodbye

I was able to scrape this layout together with just minutes to spare on Day Three. It's not a visually interesting layout, it's not filled with the latest products or trendy color schemes, but some layouts are just like that (especially those you pull together in just about 15 minutes!) What makes this page so special, and the whole reason I wanted to do it, is the journaling. It reads:

"In all the craziness of building a new home and packing up an old one, I neglected to think about saying goodbye to 44 Clews Street. After the boxes were packed and loaded into the truck, Perry & I had a few moments to stand in the empty stillness of our first home. I thought of all the memories made here: our wedding night, bringing home 2 new babies, countless days spent in the yard, and numerous nights hanging out on the couch. The tears streamed down my face as we embraced for the last time in our first home before closing the door forever."

I will never forget that night we said goodbye to our first home, and now that I've done this layout, I can guarantee that.

Sometimes the best pages are not the fanciest, but they're the best because of the story they tell.

Day 2: First Steps

It's actually Day Three on the calendar, but here's my layout for Day 2 of the 37 Days challenge.