Time to Switch It Up a Little!

If you're looking for the Kenny K blog candy post, click here.

Happy Monday, all! Are you getting back into your normal routines now that the holidays have come and gone for another year? I decided it was time to mix it up a bit and so today, I'm going to talk about a scrapbook layout I made for my beautiful granddaughter for Christmas. It's been quite a while since I posted one and even though I love scrapbooking, I don't get the chance to do it as often as I'd like. I had one heck of a time finding a photo of her that I really, really loved and that I thought she would love too. Most of the recent ones taken of her were taken with a cell phone camera and the quality just wasn't good enough for my purposes. Well, I found this one and with only minor manipulations in my photo editing program, I was able to get it just the way I wanted it.

The next thing was to find the right colors to set off the picture.  I really thought she was a "summer" person but much to my surprise, I discovered she's a "spring"! I had some beautiful papers from their Julie Je T'aime collection left from my guest designer spot with Quick Quotes last year that looked perfect with her coloring. I added to that a scrap of some DCWV Lemon Flower paper and distressed with Quick Quotes Powderpuff chalk inks in matching hues and aside from flowers and other embellishments, I was there.

I admit to being slightly biased but this young woman is very striking with her long, silky blonde hair, blue, blue eyes and 5' 9" frame. I call her my sweet Amazon princess! I'm not sure she sees the humor in that as she ususally rolls her eyes in typical teenage fashion but she's never asked me to stop. LOL!

I used a variety of embellishments from several companies such as Wild Orchid Crafts, K & Company, Prima and Jolee's. If you click on one of the pictures, you can better see the rose I made in the bottom right corner. It's the one that is pale aqua on the outside and yellow with a little blush on the inside, just above and to the left of the lilac and yellow smaller roses. I had been saving that rose for well over a year and finally found the perfect place for it. The rest of the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The title was taken from the little bumblebees I used on the layout. You can see one perched on top of the second "e" and 2 more flying around the photo. There is a tag with a special message from me hidden behind the photo. The yellow ribbon tab with the flower attached (on the left side) is used to pull the tag out. This is a good way to add journaling to your layout that you don't necessarily want everyone to read.  I just created the secret compartment by popping the photo up on foam tape but you could also make a sort of envelope to hold your tag and attach it directly to the back of the photo before you mount it on the layout.

After I was completely happy with the way it looked, I framed the layout so that my granddaughter could hang it on the wall in her bedroom. Her parents are having all the flooring redone in their house so it hasn't been hung up yet, I'm sure, but I had been promising her that I would do a layout just for her and I finally kept that promise. I hope she likes it and can feel the love with which it was created. She is and will likely remain my only granddaughter so she is a very special person to me.

I am entering this layout in the following challenges:
Pause Dream Enjoy - #1 Use Ribbon
Artistic Impressions - #22 Add a Bit of Sparkle
The Crafty Bloggers Network - #7 Flowers

Created With Love - CWLC 23 Anything But A Card 
Creative Creations #1 Anything Goes
Make It Monday - #122 Anything Goes (Linky Party)
My Grafico - #143 Anything Goes
Sarah Hamer Designs - Link Up Tuesday (Linky Party)

I made another layout for my son and daughter-in-law that I will share with you another time. This is it for today. May your week be productive (and short!) and I hope you find some time to be creative. Until next time...

Happy crafting!
Anniebee