Things are sort of settling down around here after a long week of scrapbooking. It feels tremendously good to have accomplished four layouts in one week and amazingly, I still have the urge to scrapbook some more..this week has served to remind me that August will be my final month to focus solely on this hobby. Starting September first, I'll be attending the University of River Falls as a full time student. I keep wondering if while in school I'll have the necessary free time to partake in scrappy endeavors as I'll be plenty busy with classes, homework, part-time work and the little guy once I'm fully invested as a student. Because I'm not entirely sure of the answer to this conundrum, I wholeheartedly appreciate the free time that's been available to me this week to work on scrapbook pages. I've really enjoyed it and am sort of sad to see it come to an end. I imagine this feeling is a minor indicator of what's to come in the very near future, yet at the same time, I look forward to what lies ahead for me. I've always wanted to achieve my bachelorette degree in business (marketing specifically). Taking time away from this one passion will ultimately result in my achieving a long awaited goal and for far too long, I've been putting it off. This Fall is the optimal moment for me to begin college once again and I've promised myself that I'm going to follow through all the way to the very end, no matter what sacrifices have to made along the way. In the long run, it'll be the degree that will establish the kind of future I want for myself and my son. You may notice that around September, this place will slow down some. A layout or small tutorial will pop up here and there, but mostly, my hours will be devoted to school and family. I mention this now because I wish to give enough forewarning of the changes you might find here after September 1st. Being that September is only a month-in-a-half away, it won't be long before I find myself beneath a pile of books, ten page essays and final exams. Somewhere amongst all the chaotic changes, I hope to fit in an hour or two of scrapbooking & blogging and when I do, you'll definitely hear about it here...just know that updates won't be as frequent as they are now. Fortunetely, this Summer has been very good to me :) I can't believe how much I've been able to accomplish thus far into the season - both here and at Crate, but that's a whole 'nother story. Moving along...
Above is a peek at my final layout for Crate Paper just prior to CHA and in debut with Crate Paper's new releases, which have been premiering on the Crate Paper blog all week. Believe it or not, this is #3 of the four layouts I created this week..the fourth I created for Elle's Studio in conjunction with their new, upcoming online class, "Journaling in Your Own Words". If you haven't heard about it yet, I'd recommend a quick hop n' jump to the Elle's Studio blog to find out more about this awesome three week event! It's absolutely free and as rumor would have it, Ali Edwards is contributing as well along with a host of other talented designers! Below is but a small (I mean small) look at what I came up with for the class (shhhheeee, don't tell anybody I shared this):
Isn't it delicious!? Oh my goodness, the colors are breathtaking!! I'm suddenly in love with pastels...maybe it has something to do with Sassafras's latest release, "Indie Girl". I included the collection on much of this layout and boy, let me tell ya, this is a splendid collection to work with. Limes & blues fair well with just about anything, including Peach! I was so very happy to have found this by my door last week...I couldn't wait another day to dig into it, so of course, I had to use it on this project...what do you think?! Do you like the colors? Do tell me...I'd love to hear your feedback :)
I suppose I should finish sharing images of my "Snow Days" project before the night leaves me for good.
I covet circles. I used them again on this layout, but instead of topping them off with stars like I had on my last layout, I used them to frame a colorful new pattern paper from Crate Paper's "Snow Day" collection called "Candy"..fitting, eh?! I say it's quite adorable indeed!
This sort of shape is easy to trim from any style pattern paper - I used a mini size die-cut page as a template and traced around it. I then trimmed the tracing from my pattern paper and layered it with dark color cardstock for added dimension..super easy I tell ya! No guesswork involved here..no siree!
Not sure what it is about me and layered paper tails, but I've been working with them quite a bit recently because they're wonderful for creating directional movement and for accenting lone standing embellishments on my layouts. By laying them down at varying angles, they take on a whole new look and definitely help to create a little bit of excitement on a project..doesn't take much paper to create them either - love that!!
Yes, this is an image heavy post..be wary! Laugh. Just had to leave you with this cute lil' bird..and few "real life" images of the new "Snow Days" collection..see below:
Have a wonderful Friday my dear blog visitors! It's time for me to run off and catch some zzzzzzz's...wait, one last item - Crate is giving away the Restoration collection tomorrow at their blog! How cool would it be have this collection to play with over CHA? Visit Crate Paper's blog tomorrow afternoon to see what all the fun is about..ohhhh Restoration..happy dance everyone!! Ok, I'm done being silly..can you tell it's getting late? I certainly can..take care you guys!
