Scrap Within Reach - My 2 Boys minibook!

I am so honored to have been asked to work with the April Kit from Scrap Within Reach as their Guest Designer! This kit features their "Cottage" collection with it's beautiful blues and greens, and lots of coordinating embellishments!

I created my custom "My 2 boys" minibook by cutting the base of the pages from scrap chipboard, using my Pazzles Inspiration and a cutting file that I created myself (I ♥ my Pazzles!). After painting the outer edges of each page (and the back cover), I covered each page with paper or cardstock from the kit. Then I went about embellishing and adding photos of my two adorable boys! I converted all of the photos to b&w except for the 3 color photos on the “tag page” that I inserted near the end (created from the two large tags in the kit). Those I left in color for an unexpected “pop”, and since that photo just happened to match the colors in the kit so wonderfully! Other than stamps and ink and the ribbons tied to the binder rings, everything is from the kit.

behind the plate

I completely LOVE this Industrial Park line from Scrap Within Reach! Great, distressed patterns, perfect for boy pages. I've had these pics for a while of Ryan playing as catcher in Little League a couple of years ago, and thought these papers worked perfectly!

You can find the sketch for this page in the Allyscraps Gallery!

Journaling:
Clearly, the catcher’s equipment was made for someone a bit bigger than you. You could barely stand up wearing the shin guards, chest protector, and everything else. But that didn’t stop you from doing your best to get to the ball and throw it back every time.

planting seeds

This is my page for the Allyscraps March Design Team reveal, featuring the theme "spring"! You can check out all of the girls' pages on the Allyscraps blog!

I have to confess, I didn't really see this Pebbles Inc Downtown line as a classic choice for a "spring" themed page when I got it. But then I noticed all of the blue in the boys' and dh's clothes, the orange shirt on Tyler, and thought that the orange/yellow/brown color combo was just perfect for the photos as well as the topic of "planting seeds"! I love how the page turned out.

Journaling:
Well, it was a nice idea. After collecting a number of “whirlygigs” – the little helicopter-like pods that fall from the silver maple tree and hold seeds – we thought it would be fun to plant a few. Ryan and Tyler worked with Daddy to fill a pot with soil, find a few perfect seeds, and carefully nestle them down into the dirt. After some water and strategic placement in the not-too-direct sunlight, we waited and watched for a seedling to grow. But alas, our horticultural experiment was not a success. After several weeks, we accepted that no tree was going to materialize. Still, it was a good bonding and learning experience, one that I suspect we will try again.