Finishing Touches for Fall

 Here's another page I've made recently using a photo of Rainier dressed for the outside. It must have been taken in the beginning of Spring. She's got on a knit cap made by my Aunt's mom... it's so nice to have a warm cap of love to top off an outfit!

The theme of this post concerns my ongoing trials in journaling and title creating...and as the Virginia Slims of the past proclaimed, I've come a long way, baby! You can see that the layout was completely perfect as it was in the top photo. But it really comes alive when the sentiments are added, as you can see in the photo below. Like the hat Rainie wears, the difference is not overly obvious.  She could just as easily be wearing something from Target. My page could just as easily have been included in an album sans additional embellishments.
 

What area of scrapbooking could you leave out of the creative process and not miss too much?

 

I would usually choose to avoid the finishing part. The thinking of what to say. The figuring out a summarizing phrase that invites further reading into the story of the photo. The finishing touches that sometimes seem to take away from instead of adding to the over all theme of the project.  

I'm terrific about creating page kits! Paper hoarding, I get an A+++ in! Even putting together patterns and textures, balancing my layout with proper photo placement, adding more bling, tape, buttons, etc with abandon, and of course, enjoyment to the umpteenth power; all these come quite naturally and I could immerse myself in doing so for days (and have)!

I would still be satisfied, but would future generations, or even those reading through my albums now, be able to read between layers of pretty paper to find the reasons why I put these particular photos in between plastic sleeves of protection? I don't think so. And that is why, despite my underlying reluctance to share, the heartfelt sentiments I feel so passionately end up on show. I do it for "them." And me. And even you :-)

Just like that warm cap on her head, the journaling and title contain the warmth, show my love in written form, and invite the reader to participate in the art of story telling. Just as winter's chill brings on the extra accessories of coat, hat, and scarf, these words add a layer of love to my albums. And that, I can not do without...

As the weather changes, the boots and sweaters, knit scarves and caps come out, take a moment to add an additional layer of sentiment to your next scrapbook page or creative project- and yes cooking counts as being creative (I've been told)!

Warm thanks for stopping by today!

 

My Cute Cowgirl

 The girls and I had so much fun exploring the fairgrounds this year at the Western Washington State Fair.

 Formerly known as the Puyallup Fair, there seemed to be a childhood memory waiting to be re-lived for me around every corner! I was ecstatic sharing all the goodness with Rainier and Sunday. After all, they don't know what corn dogs and BBQ corn on the cob, and earthquake burgers, elephant ears, curly fries, and caramel apples and SCONES taste like, so they weren't disappointed not to be offered any. And there was no way I could share or withhold such goodness, so I was able to resist somehow as well :-) It's a good thing I never saw a pickle barrel, though, that might have snagged me.

We got to see a lot of our favorite animals, including, a Camel! By the time I was ready to leave, we were all pretty pooped (how could we have only been there for three hours?!), but I managed to get one more photo shoot in, and my cute little cowgirl hopped up on the hay bale before she realized what the reason was for. She never has been into smiling on command! Or photographic eye contact either. Hence, I got none of her looking adorable-y at me, but did get an adorable shot nonetheless :-)

The map print background is by Studio Calico, and I got it in a kit from a Creating Keepsakes class about Mixed Media. The kit included a piece of dressmakers pattern paper, which could have been adhered with decoupage techniques. I chose to just use my regular favorite Red Duck adhesive down the sides and then grabbed a couple border strips for the top and bottom.

Once I had figured out how I wanted all my layers to go, I got stuck. This layout sat for about a month on my desk, I couldn't figure out just what it needed. With the additions of the border strips and my journaling last night, I finally feel like it can be put in the album.

Whew! I don't like it when an unfinished something keeps getting in my way of creating something new, but it's almost a feeling of relief once I have it completed! And who would have guessed that pattern paper can work with our beloved patterned papers! Not me...

now where are all those old patterns I'm not using... 

Here's another shot with the flash on, so you can see a little bit different view.