Packrat's Nest

I have really been enjoying Spring! I guess it's finally here to stay! Yesterday morning I was sitting in my craft studio with the window open, a soft breeze and the chirps of the birds drifting in while I enjoyed my daily Hazelnut Coffee. So peaceful!! I love my children dearly, but this was one of the occasions when I appreciated their being grown up. I didn't have to rush anywhere or do anything in particular other than just enjoy the weather.....and it was GLORIOUS! I hope everyone else's days are becoming just as enjoyable.

Just a note before I get to the crafts: With a little tutoring, I'm actually getting my act together and this is starting to look like a blog that was done by an adult rather than a Kindergartener! Thank you Lynda and Wendy!

This was a layout I did for a challenge/contest on Paper Patch Crafts with a fixed design sketch for National Scrapbooking Day this past Sunday. The owner of this store, Anne, had contests going on all day. I really pooped out on all the others but I won this one. My prize is a large stack of paper and, as y'all know, you can NEVER have too much of that wonderful item. The letters were done on my Cricut Expression and stickled with dots just to bring out the color a bit more. The flowers are Primas with micro beads and a little touch of fine glitter for the centers. The swirls are Fancy Pants stamped in gold and then copper on top of that. This is a whole different style than I've ever done before and I'm having fun with it.

This second layout, "My Three Sons", is all Cosmo Cricket paper and now I'm in LOVE with their whole line. The lettering was done on my Expression and the swirls are Fancy Pants with some brown glitter on some of the swirl parts to highlight them. The journaling was done on the computer on a transparency then attached with eyelets. Never tried that before but will be doing it more often since I'm not crazy about my handwriting anymore. The centers of the flowers are brown buttons from my large stash. I love to distress and age my works but this didn't need it at all because of the style of the paper...was already done for me. This was a specific layout design that I tried to stick to pretty close. I haven't shown it to my sons yet but I'm hoping they will like it. I can't believe they're so grown up!