I love to record everyday memories. While I diligently photograph holidays, birthdays, and school milestones, life is made up of more everyday moments than big events. I find it is these little memories that I don't want to forget.
The pictures on this layout bring to mind a fun day during a painful season in my life. It was the summer of 2014, less than a year after losing Dave. We were generously given a week at Camp of the Woods in Speculator, NY. We had a handicap accessible cabin right on the lake, and there were all sorts of activities for the boys and my mom and I to do. We also had the dining pass where we got three delicious buffet meals. These pictures were taken in the dining hall during dinner one night.
I don't remember what these two found funny, but they were in rare form. They were smiling, being silly and then decided they needed to hug each other. Their laughter and antics brought me so much joy. I found while living with profound sadness I grasped at anything that brought a smile to my face and a little joy to my heart. To see these two boys smiling, laughing and hamming it up gave me a reason to get up in the mornings and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Now anytime I see this layout, I smile at the memories, and thank God for the blessings of these two boys. How could I not smile when I look at these little faces.
Scrapbooking Tips
I created this layout using a sketch from on online class I took from Allison Davis. It was called Sketches for 6x6 Paper Pads and I strongly encourage you to check it out if you need inspiration. It is well worth the $15 dollar price tag, and I go back to the sketches from this class over and over again. To purchase this or another one of Allison's self-guided classes visit Scrapbook Generation.
One thing I purposely wanted to do with this layout and is create a happy mood to match the memory. I chose bright rainbow colors in a hue that would also compliments the boys' shirts.
I die cut hearts using my all-time favorite dotted dies from The Stamps of Life, then I stitched around each heart. It did take extra time to do all the stitching, but I just turn on a good movie and enjoy the process.
I also followed the sketch closely by stitching a border around the right-hand page. Because I matched my thread color to the color of the hearts, I decided to do the same here. When I was poking holes to stitch in, I made sure to poke one where each color met. Then I simply changed my thread when I got to that point.
Same Design Multiple Ways
I loved this design so much I have used now four times! I when I copy the same design, I just make sure the layouts end up in different albums. I did this same concept for one of the layouts in a cruise vacation album I did.
For this layout instead of hearts I used hibiscus flowers I die cut to create a tropical feel. Another major difference is that I did not add any stitching. The flowers were so detailed and colorful I did not feel they need any extra embellishment. I also adhered them using foam adhesive so there was already a lot of dimension on these pages. I also added a cluster of hibiscuses to the right-hand page, so I did not feel the need to stitch a border.
Both layouts have the same design but also have their differences. I love how both turned out, and most likely I will use this versatile sketch to create more layouts in the future.
Supplies Used:
Brotherly Love
Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - Sunny Studio 6x6 paper pad & Bella Blvd. for the green mat underneath the photos
Title - Silhouette font
Embroidery Thread - DMC
Beautiful St. Maarten
Cardstock - Bazzill and The Stamps of Life
Hibiscus Flower Dies & "Beautiful" Die - The Stamps of Life
Pattern Paper - Simple Stories
Letter Stickers - American Craft Thickers
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