Finding Time

Ok, I'll admit, most of websites I visit aren't scrapbook related in anyway. Why? Because I'm always looking for alternative sources of inspiration. I'm drawn to patterns, illustrations, funky color combinations, art and all things unique. Don't get me wrong, I frequent scrapbook websites like crazy, but sometimes, I crave something a little different from the usual. I think we can all relate to this and I'm almost certain I'm not the only one who searches high and low for cool, alternative design sites from time to time. While perusing some of my favorite design sites this evening, I found a few things I wanted to share with you guys. I also finished a two page layout..it felt soooo good to sit down and scrapbook last evening. I'll talk more about that a little later.

Patti Young's "Andalucia" fabric line has me jumping for joy. Seriously. If I had half the skill this talented graphic designer, photographer, and clothing designer, I'd be as happy as a plum. Now I'm just going to wait for her to release a scrapbook collection to match her latest fabric collection. Num.

Found these at Patti's blog. I think I may be in the market for a new camera strap. Find'em here (though most are already sold out. Bummer.) Will have to wait until January. The owner of the "My Funky Camera" is on vacation until the new year.

Jillian Phillips is an illustrator who's work I really enjoy. It's lighthearted, retro-ish, and quirky. She mixes a lot of patterns with lines and seems to have a knack for combining muted colors with bright, vivid colors...something I'd like to do more of on my layouts.

 

Emily from "Inside a Black Apple" is offering up these free printable gift tags. I'm thinking I may have to print these out for myself, though not for gift giving. They're great illustrations for adding to a layout or two.

 

 

After feeling rather "blue" this week, I finally sat down at my desk and spent a full evening on a two page layout. It felt tremendously good to scrapbook, though it wasn't enough to cure me of the unexpected sadness that has entered my daily existence once again. I can't thank all of you enough for your encouraging words of support in response to my last post. There's been a wave of grief I've been riding these last few days. I know it's temporary. Once the holidays are over, I'm hoping some of the grief will subside.

We celebrated Ethan's 2nd birthday a couple weeks ago at my parent's home. I took a fare number of photos during the celebration. I chose a select few to use on the multi-photo layout above. It's not obvious from the photo's above, but Ethan wasn't really sure how to blow out the candles on his cake. After a few unsuccessful attempts, his cousin Myles helped him blow out the candles. After those candles were gone, Ethan ate a large slice of cake in addition to extra frosting...he has a sweet tooth like his mom. Love frosting...mmmmm.

I'm not one to use a lot of chipboard on a single layout, but this Basic Grey "Urban Prairie" chipboard is irresistible. I layered various pieces of chipboard on this layout using foam core pop dots and accentuated some of the chipboard pieces with mirrored cabochons from K & Company. I also trimmed some of the chipboard pieces to better fit the layout. The colors of the chipboard pieces are bright and cheerful and invoke a sense of celebration and playfulness. I thought they were a great option for a birthday theme layout.

Hope all of you are having a wonderful week! More a little later...