Safe as Houses

Any Depeche Mode fans out there? If you are a fan, you may recognize part of a lyric from one of their songs. I felt it worked well as the title here. I am sure some of you may remember me blogging about our cat who we almost lost a few months ago. These photos are part of the time when we knew he'd be ok. Boo was  now well enough to not have to separated from our other cat. One of the first things he did, was to stay close by my son. Where my son went, Boo went. So for many nights in a row, I tucked the cat into bed with my son and our dog. I think Boo wanted to feel safe and being near to his family helped him feel that way.

Pencil Lines sketch 248
Frosted Designs Fab. Fri. challenge for 8-5-11: colour on it
Crate Paper Neighbourhood Collection papers,die cuts, stickers
Dew Drops
Craft Affair heart brad coloured with Bic Mark it in Desert rose
Bic Mark it in woodsy brown
American crafts rub on alphas
Basic Grey Life of the Party alphas

I chose Crate Paper's Neighbourhood collection for this page because the papers reminded me of soft, warm blankets. The colours are sweet and gentle. They perfectly convey the mood of being wrapped up safely at home in your bed.
  While my son cuddled Boo, I snapped a close up of Boo's paws. When Boo is very happy, he flexes and curls his paws. I thought it would be neat to show some signs of a kitty who was happy once again.

Scraphappy.org August sketch
Crate Paper Neighbourhood collection papers, stickers
K and CO. pink frame, cut apart
Foof a la button with Prima e-line Pearl
dew drops
Craft Affair heart brads colourd with Desert Rose Bic Mark it

So while the events of Boo's illness may not have been one of the happiest parts of our life, I am grateful for a happy ending to document.

Mad Libs...the Scrapbook version

 Mad libs are so much fun! I used them to help teach my son the parts of speech. What child wouldn't want to do school work when it's mad libs? So, when the chance came to play a scrappy version of the game I just could not resist trying it out. To play the scrappy version, you send in a list of paper colours, embellishments and a one word title. The hostess mixes up everyone's items and then sends a list back to you. I received the colours green, blue and purple. My embellishments were ribbon and brads. The title word was "happy". At first, I was very stumped. The colours seemed to me to be too strong if I used them as Jewel tones or too feminine if I used them in lighter tones. I began to flip through my papers searching for the right ones. I finally settled on K and Co.'s Poppyseed line. The colours were perfect and the hint of charcoal in them gave me the idea to use a Black and white photo.

K and Co. poppyseed papers
title and birds cut from K and CO. borders
Crate paper ribbon
all papers inked with SEI ink blue ink
Playful purple Bic Mark it
Basic Grey Brads
Scrapbook Challenges Sketch 250

  I love the results of the colour combo, so much that I made a second page. Stay tuned to see it later on.The base card stock is actually a little more white, but shows as a light purple in my photo. I love it when a hard challenge comes together in a good way. I often find I love the page because it's so different from what I usually make.

In the Sweet Sunshine

As some of you know, I am participating in LOAD211. Inspiration does abound everywhere... though sometimes it's presence is overwhelming. For this next day's prompt, I was asked to find inspiration in a song. It sounded easy enough. However...there are so many songs...so many choices. In my search, I came across a little challenge spot called Scrapping the Music. The song choice for this particular day was to scrap the tune "New Shoes." I am quite enamored with shoes. I am not enamored enough to scrap them right now. ( maybe I need to buy some some). Anyhow, as I perused the lyrics of the song, the lyrics" in the sweet sunshine" caught my attention. It seemed the perfect fit for the title to my summer album.

Club CK one hour  challenge page
Two Peas in a Bucket Sketch

    I decided to use the Two Pea's In A Bucket January Stretch your sketch. It worked perfectly with the photos of my son and husband's shadows. I love how I captured them holding hands.The red happy pattern of My Mind's Eye's Penny Lane reminded me of the sun and the Lush Flocked chipboard was the shadow. I dotted the eye with a random sunshine button from my stash. It was so nice to find a use for it. It had been hanging out in my stash for quite some time. Since I did not have the perfect mini alphas, I made my own with a pen and some scrap paper. I cut a cream border using the reverse side of the paper and layered red tulle across the top. Kraft paper toned down the bright burst of red.My new favorite pens(Bic Mark it's) came to the rescue: tuxedo black for hand stitching and rambunctious red to color a Maya Road chipboard accent. A few stick pins(salvaged from the packaging of my husband's new shirt) added the final touch.