And you thought YOU were behind!

Ever feel like you'll never get "caught up" scrapbooking? I know it will never happen for me. I've decided that the process is more important for me - it's my creative release, after all. So I tend to scrap whatever I feel like at the moment.

My oldest child just turned 9 last week, so I'm feeling a little sentimental. And to be truthful, longing a little for the good old days when she acted sweet and didn't sass back! So I've been scrapping photos of her from 2003. The terrible twos don't seem so terrible from this distance, and I feel like I still remember everything so well from 7 years ago.

So here are the results of my recent efforts!

As a bonus to delaying, I can wait until I have the perfect papers. I admit to having the entire Cogsmo line (Cosmo Cricket), but I never thought the colors were quite right for these pictures. I finally broke down and bought the Tinkerin' line from Close To My Heart, and the colors are awesome! I did add some Holiday Red CS because I wanted more of that color and it's not a main color in the kit.

I added nothing else except an alphabet stamp set (Field Trip, CTMH), white pigment ink & embossing powder, and some foam adhesive tape. I used the foam tape to pop up some smaller gear Stickease on top of some larger ones. It's really a fabulous effect in person.

The next layout is an Easter egg hunt, but I don't care for most Easter themed paper. I used CS from CTMH in Ocean (back side of textured), Topiary, Tulip, and Bamboo. All of the flowers and pretty embellishments are from a Making Memories embellishment kit I picked up at Tuesday Morning last year. I love using those cheap stickers to make a patterned paper; it's perfect for when you just need a little bit of pattern, and it matches your other embellishments perfectly!

The final layout uses papers from Close To My Heart's new Splendor line. Right now I only have these two papers from a "sampler" type pack I bought to use for giveaways and make & takes. I love the bright fun colors in this kit so much, I can't wait to buy the full paper pack, the MyStickease, the matching Designer Brads, and the coordinating Over the Rainbow stamp set! Like everyone else, I need to budget my money and these are probably on the list for June.

My favorite thing about Close To My Heart's papers is that every pattern is a B&T Duo - full color design on one side and monochromatic version on the back. That's why it looks like I have three patterns here instead of two. The Goldrush pattern on the top strip is actually the back side of the floral pattern on the right page. Double duty supplies make things so much more versatile!

My embellishments on this page are just some flowers cut from the patterned paper, with some Orange Marmalade Stickles added to the centers. I used the Field Trip alphabet again, as well as a "friends" cut from the Walk In My Garden cartridge for the Cricut applied directly on top of my photo.

Now go find some of your favorite old photos and scrap!