LOVE AT FURST SIGHT

This is my latest project for Sketches in Thyme using the following design.  This is my daughter and her 150 lb furry cousin, Nittany.  She is the most loving, fluffy cousin a girl could ask for.  My mother in law was dog sitting for Nittany a few weeks back, and my children could not get enough of her.  (I think the feeling was mutual).  Nittany has no clue how big she is; in her eyes, she's a Yorkie.  Despite her size, Nittany is the most loving, happy puppy I've ever met.  So I decided she would be the perfect subject matter for this project.  I flipped the sketch since my better pictures were vertical.  Other than that, I followed the design closely and pulled it together using Doodlebug's "Puppy Love" paper collection.

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MY TWEEN

This is my latest project for The Memory Nest using the following sketch.  Typically, I look at a sketch and have a general idea of what I want to do.  This time around, I was clueless.  Triangles are not in my comfort zone.  I've been reading a book called I Am That Girl and recently finished a section about the need to move out of your comfort zone in order to push yourself into new territory.  I will say that this sketch certainly did that for me.  I played around with my Bella Boulevard papers for a few hours afraid to cut anything because I was so unsure of what to do.  I kept attempting to do what the sketch called for and it simply was not working for me as it was positioned.  So I deconstructed the sketch.  Rather than have four triangles all placed at the bottom, I decided to place the four triangles around the perimeter of my page.  By then I was having so much fun cutting triangles with my Cricut, I started placing extra triangles in the middle of the page to accent the picture.  And before I realized it, this project that had intimidated me for weeks was done. And honestly, I like how it turned out in the end.  In summary, a valuable lesson was learned on this project.  Sometimes the sketches that give you the hardest time become your favorites.

SUMMER

This is my latest project for Let's Scrap using the following sketch.  I am a seasonal scrapbooker who is holding onto summer for dear life right now.  While I do love the fall and am looking forward to the first snowfall of the season, there is something about summer.  (Perhaps it's because I'm a teacher...need I say more?)  One of the things I love about summer is my annual girl's trip to Michigan.  My friend's sister owns a house on Lake Huron, and we go there every summer at the end of the school year to celebrate.  It is heaven on Earth.  No schedules, no cooking, no running kids all over the place; just pj's all day, slippers, and an incredible view.  And this year we learned a valuable lesson about Gin & Tonics; DON'T DRINK THEM!   A severe reaction to the tonic water caused the ladies in the top picture to get matching "friendship bracelets" from the local hospital...exciting times indeed!  To pull this project together, I used Carta Bella's "Yacht Club" collection because the prints reminded me of the wind chime on the porch and boats sailing across the lake.

THANKFUL

This is my latest project for The Memory Nest using the following sketch.  My greatest scrapbooking weakness is fall themed paper.  I love the colors, the patterns, everything!  So being the seasonal scrapbooker that I am, I decided to go full-on fall for this project.  These pictures were taken seven years ago at my family's favorite pumpkin patch.  My girls were at such a fun age.   Both my girls would smile for pictures, hug their Mom...it was a good time in my life.  Usually at places like this, I was the one behind the camera. However on this particular day, my husband snapped this picture of me with my two favorite little people.   This was a day that I was so thankful for so much, so when I saw the banner sticker on Carta Bella's "Autumn Collection" sticker sheet, I knew that it would be the perfect embellishment for this project.

KLEATHER'S PUMPKIN PATCH

This is my latest project for Let's Scrap using the following sketch.  Since it is the first day of October, I decided it was time to go fall for this project.  My husband and I have taken our girls to pumpkin patches for years, but this was our first time at this particular patch.  It not only had pumpkins out the yin yang, but also had all sorts of Wizard of Oz memorabilia.  We had a great time exploring this patch even though we eventually had to click our heels together and say, "There's no place like home..."  (Sorry, Wizard of Oz humor).   I followed this sketch closely and used my fold out booklet to store extra photos from the day.  To pull this project together, I used a variety of Carta Bella papers from the Autumn Collection and Fall Blessings line.