Where did August go?

Where have I been? Certainly not around here LOL!! I've been working on a large project over the last month which I've wanted to finish before sharing.

Friends are having a little girl towards the end of September. This will be their third child. Although Sharon has shown interest in my scrapbooking, I'm not sure whether she would like to give it a go. I suspect as a mum to two young children aged four and two, expecting a third, caring for a menagerie of pets, working part time as a registered nurse, and being a (house)wife, Sharon just wouldn't have the time! But maybe if I made her a baby album she might change her mind?? Well that's the plan LOL!

I thought I'd go with a 9x9 format. Quite a few years ago I attended a Making Memories trade class in which we created complete 9x9 albums using their Fresh Anthology range. I really enjoyed the size .. the album came together relatively quickly and easily. Little did I know when I started this project that 9x9 is no longer a popular format! Little did I know how much difficulty I'd have finding an album!! Little did I know that I'd have a huge, big, fat D'OH moment .. when I bought the album it said it had 15 pages in it. So I was thinking (in My Special way) all I needed to do was 15 pages. Easy peasey right? Wrong!!! Of course 15 pages means 15 page protectors which means 30 pages!!!!!!!! How could I be so stupid LOL?!?!

When I sat down to start the album I was at a complete loss. It was going to take me forever to scrap 30 pages. Where on earth did I start? I printed off a couple of PageMaps sketches to get me going. They provided a springboard for inspiration and gave me the idea to create seven double pages which I would then replicate but with different papers. I used patterned papers from the same collection to keep things simple. I decided it would be easiest (and provide me with more working space!) if I created the bases of all the pages first, and did all the embellishing later. I needed journaling spots for all the pages so again, I did those in one hit .. stamping them, and then cutting them out whilst watching TV one night. I wanted to make my own flowers to keep costs down but ended up making a mountain of flowers in the wrong colours. Oops! Most importantly I wanted to, needed to, keep it simple. I didn't have the time to do my usual 'arty farty' stuff, and I wasn't sure that someone unfamiliar with the scrapbooking world would appreciate my usual style. Plus the album was for a baby girl so I wanted it be soft and sweet and (mostly) pink ..

Sugar & Spice

products used:

cardstock - Bazzill, Prismatics, American Crafts, Kaisercraft

patterned paper - DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl

embellishments - Prima flowers, SU ribbon, bling and felt flowers, Kaiser bling, SEI buttons, lace trim, shabby flower trim, handmade flowers and buttons, heart topped sewing pins

punches - SU, Martha Stewart, Fiskars, McGill

stamps - Li'l Davis Designs

fun stuff - Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

Where's the 30th page??? In the album waiting for bubs to be born so I can add her name and birth details. Like her parents, I'm sure, I can't hardly wait!   :)