Special moments with ______________.

Don't you just love the layouts that chronicle important moments of your life?  I know that there's a lot of emphasis on scrapping the "everyday", but some moments just can't be replaced.

Like this one, where I met my new niece last October.

Oh, little _________.

Based on Creative Scrappers Sketch #186 by Juliana Michaels

When your parents first named you, I thought they were crazy.  But honestly, I find ________ kinda catchy.

And you can bet there'll never be another one in your class.  You'll never have to be _________ A.  Just plain ol' ______________.

Yep.  Lucky ghost-girl.

Super-shiney-sparly-prettiness.

 My friend Leena got married last summer.  And wedding photos?  Means beautiful-shimmery-flowery-sparkly-scrappy goodness.

As in, so-shiny-I-can't-find-a-way-to-photograph-this-without-a-glare goodness.

Swoon.

Coral. Hmmm.

Remember when I mentioned that coral is a tough colour for me to scrap with?

Well, lo and behold, I have a top that photographs as coral.  Plus, I won a coral-based s.e.i. paper pack last year at a crop.

Add that to Creative Scrappers sketch #177 by Kristine Davidson, and you get:

 I'm thinking I can get used to this new colour palette.

And maybe I need to take more photos in that top.

I wanna be little again.

Here's a fun little layout of my niece and nephews at the park last summer.

What you don't see is that I wanted to name it "Not too big for the slide-rs".

No, I'm not jealous.

But I would have slid the heck outta that slide, I tell you what.

Rock in the Rain

Sometimes, Cliff and I get to do some pretty cool stuff with his work.

One of the highlights of last summer was the Rock-It festival.  All day.  In the rain.  Rockin' out.

Based on Sketch #184 by Kristine Davidson at Creative Scrappers

 Right on, man.

I mean, live music and I get to use that little black umbrella that's been in my stash for years?

It doesn't get any better than this.

Out of my comfort zone.

Sometimes, you just have to do something out of your comfort zone.  Don't you agree?

Speaking of which, here are the last two layouts that I finished at the crop in February.

First, here is my best friend's beautiful little girl, Kiele, and the thank-you card her Mommy gave me:

Based on a sketch by Kristin Davidson in "Creating with Sketches" (top of page 23)
and made from my February Counterfeit Kit!

The balance in that one is unusual for me.  It's almost-but-not-quite symmetrical.  But, that's why I love working with sketches.  Kristine Davidson is a creative-boundary-pusher-genius!

Here's another one that was a little out of my comfort zone.  This time, it was in the use of product.

Based on a sketch by Kristine Davidson in "Creating with Sketches" (bottom of page 23)

Theresa Collins?  Butter-cream yellow?  Paper with un-cover-upable vintagey goodness?

I've always loved them, but have never been sure how to scrap with them.  I think this begins my foray into wonderful new territory.

Also out of my comfort zone?  Skydiving and close-talkers.

But I think I'll stick to vintagey-goodness.

Thwarting would-be internet stalkers. Take that!

Here's a layout about my sister's beautiful growing family, made from my February Counterfeit Kit:

Based on a sketch by Kristine Davidson in "Creating with Sketches" (bottom of page 22)

I know you can't actually see them.  But trust me.  They're gorgeous.

(Also...happy birthday, Mom! xoxo)

Let's just keep this between us, shall we?

So, here's layout four of seven that I completed at the crop in February.  My beautiful ghost-sister and her beautiful ghost-daughter.  I think this is one of my favourite layouts to date:

Based on a gorgeous sketch by Kristine Davidson in "Creating with Sketches" (top of page 19)

Something I forgot to tell you about the crop is that, to prepare, I created a two giant kits based on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge's February challenge.  Multiple benefits of this process:

• I was forced out of my comfort zone with colour (I rarely choose coral or peach, but it worked well here)
• I had far less to cart with me to the crop, but still had plenty of supplies to choose from
• I got to buy more stuff at the crop because "I didn't bring anything in yellow!"

That last one's just between you and me.

I love this photo of Cliff and the dogs.  This is pretty much a standard scene at our house.

Based on Kristine Davidson's sketch in "Creating with Sketches" (top of page 24)

Maggie and Cliff wrestle-cuddling.  Molly supervising.

I'm loving those BG Bloomers with the handmade flower I won from Jen at Scrapping Daze!

Yep.  That's pretty much our life in a nut-shell.

PS:  This was another layout from my February Counterfeit Kit, just so you know.

Childish

You know what's lucky about coming from a big family?

Your siblings will probably have kids that you get to scrapbook and who are stinkin' cute, too.

Based on Kristine Davidson's sketch in "Creating with Sketches" (bottom of page 11)

I mean, these colours would be kind of odd on a layout about Cliff and I, right?

Although, we are kind of juvenile.  I think I even have a picture of Cliff in a swing like that.

The first of seven.

***Editor's note:  I used my February Counterfeit Kit from the Counterfeit Kit Challenge for this layout.  I was just too dang excited to tell you about it the first time I posted.

So, I just got back from a weekend-long crop at the hotel-motel-Holiday-Inn.

It was quite the weekend.  48 hours.  7 layouts. 1 happy scrapper.

Here's a layout of my little sister's newborn:

Based on the first sketch on page 19 of "Creating with Sketches" by Kristine Davidson

This layout was heavily influenced by Jen from Scrapping Daze.  First of all, see that layered-circle flower?  She made that.  By hand.  With no tracing. (And if you get that reference, we should do lunch).

Second, I followed the little do-dad tutorial she posted here.  Notice the way your eye is drawn across the page?

Note the swag from Ninabrook Designs?  I'm loving those BG Bloomers!

Of course you did.

Third, Jen recently posted about this e-book of sketches from Creative Scrappers.  That is one awesome sketch-book, man.  I used it all weekend!

So overall, it was a great weekend.  Thanks to Jen my sister for having a baby for me to scrap.

Umm...that doesn't sound right.

A comeback, of sorts.

Oh, hello.  I didn't see you there.

I bet you're wondering where I've been.  Right?  Of course you were.

Well first, I flew around casting Harry-Potterish spells, and then I belted out a brand-new song in public and got a recording contract, and then I found the best second-hand store where I bought a vintage Coca-Cola cart for $15 to use as a bar in our rec room.

Oh, wait...that was my dream last night.  Ahem.

Anyhow, though I haven't been blogging, I have been crafting.

In fact, check out this haul I recently took home from Ninabrook Designs:

 All this swag?  I paid around $120 or so.  Free shipping.  Boo-yah.

Oh, and this includes two page-kits (Basic Grey's Kioshi and Max and Whiskers), like this one:

It's not quite Harry-Potter-level magic, but I'll take it.