Happy Life

This Life

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

With Spring finally arriving it seemed an appropriate time to share this double-page layout. We have had cool and rainy days in our neck of the woods for weeks. The grass is finally growing again, and so are the dandelions! Every time I look out the window, and see the dandelions growing, I am reminded of this very special day in my life. My sweet grandson Ben, just 2 at the time, rang my doorbell holding a bouquet of dandelions. Imagine my delight, a special bouquet picked just for me! But as life would have it, that isn’t quite how the story ended.

Here’s the story I journaled on this layout: “Ben – today you showed up with some beautiful flowers you had picked in the park. Nana, these are for you!!! But as you began to hand them over, you quickly snatched them back. No, Nana – I’m going to take these home!!!” Well, either way, you made my day! I knew this precious memory needed to be documented for prosperity.

I chose the gorgeous Mamarazzi paper, cardboard stickers and paper die-cuts from Mintay Papers to document this memory. The specific papers used in this collection were numbers 02 and 04. The combination of the yellow florals and cameras made it an instant hit with me. I was attracted to the frames used in these papers and utilized them to highlight my pictures. Several elements from the paper die-cut package were added, some with a layer of fun foam to add dimension and texture.

I kept all the embellishments to a minimum. I did not want to distract from this beautiful background paper. A couple of floral clusters were added to enhance the right-hand page. Phrases from the cardboard stickers were included on both pages of the layout. And the title “This Life” and all remaining embellishments were added using Vicki Boutin’s “Stories of US” Thickers from her Fernwood collection. The date was added using Paige Evan’s “Happy Life” Thickers.

The Mamarazzi paper collection is highly versatile. I have used other papers in the collection to document some of our travel pictures and will share them with you at a future date.

Thanks for stopping in today, I hope my precious memory has provided you with a little laugh and made you smile. Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Everyday Moments

~ dddesignz ~ 2 Comments

Even though we’ve been living through a pandemic for well over fifteen months now, it’s still easy to find joy in everyday moments. My daughter is so good at sending me random pictures of our grandchildren, and she knows every picture brings a huge smile to my face. Back in May 2019, she sent me this picture of herself and her youngest, Ben. I was overjoyed to see her beautiful face in this photo. Her two oldest children were in online school at the time, and nothing special was going on. It was just a perfect moment to capture Mom and baby in a photo for prosperity. This picture just fills me with love and joy!

I used Carta Bella’s Flora No 3 collection pack for all of the patterned papers in this layout. I love the soft feel of this paper line and it coordinated beautifully with the shirts Ben and Lindsay were wearing. The background paper is the reverse side of Elegant Stems patterned paper. The layout frame and matching cutouts for the title and floral cluster came from the Elegant Large Floral patterned paper. The photo was matted using the backside of two coordinating patterned papers from the collection called Elegant Small Floral and Elegant Journaling Cards.

I chose two cut files from Peartree Cutfiles for this layout. The title cut file Everyday Moments was cut from white cardstock first. It’s such a versatile cut file and was one of the free weekly cut files from the Peartree Cutfiles Facebook Group. Usually, I offset the cutout letters and back fill the title, but for this layout, I decided to keep them the same size as the original title. First, they were cut from coordinating patterned paper and then they were backed with Taylored Expressions Foam Sticky Strips to provide the texture and dimension.

I altered the second cut file called Floral Bunny Ears to suit my needs for this layout. By using the knife tool in Silhouette Studio Design Software, I was able to separate the bunny ears from the gorgeous floral cluster. This technique is also a great way to stretch some of your cut files. Once the floral cluster was sized properly, it was also cut from white cardstock. I used the Silhouette Studio software and the Fill Pattern function to plan out which coordinating patterned papers would be cut to back the cut file. I use this function often when backing an intricate cut file.

The final touches on the floral cluster were adding a few acrylic dots from various collections. The date was added to the left of the photo using rose-coloured thickers from American Crafts, called Happy Life.

I’m so pleased with the delicate feel of this layout. It helped me preserve a very precious moment in time between Mother and Son. If you’ve hesitated scrapbooking day to day moments, jump in! Our scrapbooks should be filled with memories of everyday moments, good and bad, in addition to the highlights like birthdays and vacations. What will you work on next? Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!