I Am Perfectly Pearl!

I was able to get 2 layouts done this evening. The first one was for the tenth sketch in the pearl series for Scrapbook Steals. Here is what I came up with, based on Pearl #10:

I love working with a black background and for this one I had some B&W pictures just waiting to be scrapped. I added an additional photo to the layout, but kept with most of the style set by the sketch. I am not a fan of round elements, so I used my 1" square punch and gave the round part some more angles (much more my esthetic). I really like how the black allowed all the color from my papers to pop. The paper squares and strips are all from Doodlebug's Hello Spring line and the flower and butterflies are once again from the DCWV Glam Gal papers. I also used Thickers for the title and find they filled the "white" space well and kept the black from being too dark. My littlest girl has only been crawling for a few weeks now. These are pictures from when it was still relatively new for her to get around. She just loves motoring everywhere!

My second layout of the night is of my oldest girl. The paper and all the embellishments are from My Mind's Eye (Indie Chic - nutmeg and ginger). In fact, the embellishments and journaling card were all things I won for one of the previous Mojos by Scrapbook Steals. I have come full circle!

This was such a fun day. She was all smiles! Face-painting, a fairy wreath and ice cream? What more could a little girl ask for?!

Now, I have to mention that I was having a conversation with one of my scrappy friends about something she saw on tv last night for the 9-11 stories. She had seen a story about a family where the mother was one of the ones lost on that awful day and the father was left to care for two 18 month-old girls. The story was about how he explained that he used to make fun of his wife for always taking pictures of EVERYTHING. She was a fan of the day-to-day stuff and documented her entire pregnancy as well as all the daily things the babies did once they were born. She had even been taking pictures of their messy faces at breakfast on that final day of her life. It turns out that the father decided to take up where she left off...This is why I scrap...I want my girls to have lots of memories documented for when they are older and I am not around to tell the stories (or can't remember the details any longer). I want them to see that even on a regular day, they were happy and loved. It's not about all the "special occasions"...those are easy to focus on...it's the days when my oldest got her first pedicure, my youngest was having fun crawling around and then managed to get stuck...it's the messy faces while trying to eat on their own for the first time...it's the quiet moments when I wonder what they are thinking...it's the emotions, the faces and the crazy expressions on their faces that make them who they are as individuals. It's all of those things. It's their story and it's where they came from and who they are and will be...I love this hobby!