Clique Kits November Pep Rally

Hi everyone! And welcome to the November Pep Rally.

The challenge for this month's blog share is to use the November Mood Board.

I have to be honest. Though I often admire mood boards, I haven't ever gotten around to creating from them. Until today, that is. The subject of this layout was inspired by the photo of the watercolors. I had a photo that fit nicely; Each year, in my preschool class, we give the children liquid watercolors and eyedroppers, and they drop the paint into ice cube trays. The children love the physical process, and they love watching the colors mix together. I always find the results beautiful to look at.

At work, I spend a lot of my time over at the art table. I just love giving small children experience with different media and tools, teaching them how they are typically used, and then watching what they do. So I paired this photo with another photo from one of my favorite places at work, and I built the layout from there.

Here is the list of everyone participating in the blog share. Visit them all and leave 'em some love! (And if you would like to mosey on over to the right and follow me too, I would be much obliged.)

Clique Kits

Gia

Jody

Erica

Lacey

Marcia

Mariah

Rosann

Tyra

Charity

Allie

Kat

Aliza (C'est Moi!)

Nicole

Stephanie

Sarah.

Carolina

Danielle

Cassandra

Alisha

Donna

On Bravery, Continued

A little while ago, I shared this layout:

And I wrote a little more about it here.

When I shared this layout in some galleries, one of the responses I got was that there are more important things to be besides brave. Which is music to my ears. And then I wondered about what I am, if not brave. I came up with this list here:

I made this layout with the Clique Kits' November kit, Homecoming. I loved the pinks and the whites, and the touches of gold, and the textures, and everything else about this kit. If you like it too, you can get it for 50% off with your subscription to Clique Kits. Or, in November, you can order this kit, and anything else from the store  and receive 25% off, with the code CKNOV25.

Botanical Gardens Layout

As I mentioned in my last post, Dave and I spent a few glorious hours at the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Such a momentous occasion definitely deserved to be recorded for posterity, and so I did just that using the November Clique Kit, Homecoming. The Lemon Owl and Webster Pages papers were perfect for this woodsy layout.

Aside from the beauty of the Lemon Owl papers, the patterns were subtle enough that I could print my journaling directly onto my layout. I describe my step by step process (including where to insert prayers that I measured everything just right) for printing onto my layouts, over at the Clique Kits blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Botanical Gardens

This summer, I finally came up with a plan to blog somewhat regularly. At least more regularly than once a month. At the beginning of the month, I think up a list of topics and projects to share, and assign them to specific days on a calendar. The best part is, if I don't follow my calendar, it doesn't really matter all that much.

One item in particular has been on my list for some time now. In June, I went by myself (crazy!) to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and I had a grand ole' time. Everything was pretty, and I could take as long as I wanted to take lots of photos, because I went by myself (!).

I loved my photos from that solitary excursion. and I made myself a little mini album because I loved them so, and I wanted to see some of them in print. It was in the making of this album, that I discovered how to make mini albums that I really like. The key being, to add as little as possible. When I start to add more to my mini albums, they start to feel haphazard to me. Keeping it simple, helps the design feel more cohesive. At least to me.

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The reason I finally shared this album now, is that I recently went to the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx, this time just with Dave, (crazy!) and again I ended up with lots of photos that I love. The moral of the story is, going places without children, frees you up to take a lot of photos. The only down side is, that they are not photos of my children. But, lovely photos, nonetheless:

Write.Click.Scrapbook November

I had a lot of fun making this month's layout for Write.Click.Scrapbook. The theme is  "glitter, sparkle, shine," and it was a great push to use all the beautiful gold products I have accumulated, but that I have not used too much.

And, because Comic Con always happens in the middle of October, and it's a big deal in this home, my November layout will probably always be about Comic Con in some way.

Even with all the costume planning, the morning of of Comic Con is filled with last minute adjustments: makeup to be applied, sheaths to be made, dire wolf ears to be re-attached, Bane venom to be sealed in its tubing, and tubing to be adhered to Bane's mask, etc. 

Something about these photos made me think briefly, that if I had girls, I would be the one on the bed, tweaking a ribbon or a bow, or something pretty and sparkly. And that is how this layout came to be: