November brings an abundance of love!

i LOVE fall! The richness of the colors, the briskness of the air! But how to capture that on a scrapbook canvas? This is a layout that I created for my monthly Word Puzzle Workshop about a very special Sunday happening! For a closer look at the layout, click here.

The journaling reads:

"So Nicholas’ 5th birthday began as most of our family parties start…surrounded by love and laughter…me stressed out as I try to finish the last minute details…and the kids being completely wound up by Uncle Michael and Uncle Chad! We had dinner, and it was just as we were getting ready to have cake when Uncle Chad started asking about presents…he teased that I would just love the gift that he and Laura had gotten for Nicholas. He is such a child at heart…always the one that can’t wait for the presents! My thoughts were to pop him one because far too often, Uncle Chad LOVES to find the perfect gift to delight the kids…but annoy his sister with…Elmo’s that do the chicken dance…need I say more! After cake we all gathered for gifts…Chad was insistent that everyone had to watch Nicholas open his gift and he instructed Nicholas that Mommy might need to help him with the tape. I tried to brace myself for an extravagant toy that was going to rattle my nerves. Nicholas opened the present and there taped inside the box was not a toy that sang a song or repeated “cleaning crew coming through”, but an ultrasound picture! I was ecstatic! Nicholas was indeed going to be a big cousin…and myself an Auntie! I have been hoping and dreaming of this day…I have longed for my children to have cousins close to their own age and for my brothers and their wives to experience the pure joys of having a child. And although Nicholas didn’t quite understand this very special present, it was definitely the best present he received…one that money could never buy. We are so truly blessed and I am honored that Chad and Laura included Nicholas in their special announcement."

Supply List:

Autumn Teracotta & Barn Red Cardstock & Exclusive Inks

Gold Brads

Versa Mark Ink

Gold Embossing Powder

Vellum

Enchanted B&T Paper

Goodness of Life Stamp Set

November World Puzzle Stamp Set

Say it in Style Stamp Set

February Word Puzzle Stamp Set

I love the richness of this layout! The combination of the intriciate details from the stamp set, and the use of the Gold embossing powder created a "Wow!" in my opinion. I wish the photograph could do the layout justice...but the richness was difficult to capture with the camera.

Sadly, both of the stamp sets that were used are retiring on December 31st. They can be ordered on MYCTMH website by clicking the title of each stamp set. And remember, through the month of November, the stamp sets are all Buy 2 Get 1 Free.

Goodness of Life C1286 $18.95

November Word Puzzle D1312 $22.95

My future little teacher!

Nicholas has been "teaching" his brother and sister all week...I documented the conversation (or rather directional dialogue) that he had with his brother and sister during their pretend school session and created this layout to tell their story. For the layout design, I referenced back to CTMH's How To Book Imagine.

This layout will be the layout for the Month's Fly By Series that features the Monthly Word Puzzle Stamp Sets. To find out more about this workshop, or to sign up, click here. To see the details of the layout or to read the journaling, click here.

Fall Scrap Challenge: #13 Use a bracket shape.

Circles, circles, and more circles!

Circles everywhere! Circles can add another dimension to a layout! Many times, the artist will cut the photographs in the shapes of circles to incorporate the shapes into their layout. Here, I choose another route--I left all of the photographs in rectangles (except for the one that is 4x4" in the bottom right corner), and then created circles around them! To keep the continuity, I added buttons around the focal picture (5x7"), and rub-ons around two of the curves of the supporting circles. For a more detailed look, click here.

Supplies used: Summer Craft Buttons, Assorted CTMH Rub-ons, Animal Cookie Creative Basics Collection, August Word Puzzle Stamp (soon to retire), Bold Color Ready Alphabet; Dutch Blue & Tulip Exclusive Inks; Coluzzle Cutting System.

I am teaching this layout a part of the Month's FLy By Series Workshop that features the monthly Word Puzzle stamps. The workshop will be this Thursday, August 27th from 6-8:30PM in Broadway. The cost is $16. $14.00 for club members. There are still spaces open if anyone is interested. E-mail me for details.

For those following the Fall Scrap Challenge, I completed :

#10. Use either real stitching, marker stitching, or rub on stitching somewhere on your layouts.

#12. 11.Use a circle on a layout - the top of a brad, a button, the circle made by an eyelet or a window charm does not counts towards this :)