Outside the Box

The way I have been creating (scraplifting everything!) is so out of the box for me.  Prior to this year, my effort went into creating layouts and albums that were of my own design or from sketches.  In the past, it was vital that most of what I created be my own creation and not "inspired" too much by what I was seeing.  ie, not scraplifted.  Because of this "mine" mentality, right now, today, here where I am, I am faced with 

1. Too much stuff that was purchased and not used.
2. Too many photos that were not scrapped or even revisited.
3. Too many empty albums.
4. Too much time spent staring at blank pages struggling to create original designs. 

Last night, my tally for layouts sat at 56.  Wow, I cannot tell you how happy this is making me.  

One of the promises that I made to myself at the beginning of the year was to spend some time everyday creating.  Last year there were many times where I did not even go into my creative space for days or even weeks.  Now, I visit it and put my hands on things every.  single.  day.  I am loving it!  Our busy time is coming up so I know that I won't be able to maintain this level of creating but I am vowing to continue to at the least spend some time on most days.  

Really looking forward to the love and visiting that gets done during the spring and summer for our little family.  We are 3 now but come 2018, we will be 2.  Our youngest is going off to college.  I miss him already!

I have a couple of layouts to share today.  The first one was inspired by Stacy Cohen.  She has a beautiful style and her layouts are all over pinterest.  Her blog (click on her name for a visit) is full of inspiration but I found the layout that inspired the one I created about my Christmas tree here on pinterest.  ...  

This one is probably one of my favorites.  As I was sorting my photos to put in albums, I came across the 2 that are on this page.  One of me in grade school and one of my daughter at about the same age.  Love how this came out!

My favorite detail other than the photos is the tag with the center cut out.  If I could or would change anything on this page, it would be swapping that kraft tag out for a dark brown one.  It really fades into the background too much.  

That's it for me.  Off to workout.  Thanks for stopping by:)