Forever & More Layout Berry71Bleu May Challenge

It's my turn to host the monthly challenge over at the Berry71Bleu blog!  For this month I felt that mom & the concept of motherhood needed a well deserved tribute. In several parts of the world, including the United States, May is the month where we celebrate Mother's Day. With this in mind--the challenge for May is: All About Mom - Pay tribute to your own mom or create a project based on your own thoughts & feelings about being a mom.

So here I am with my own little guy. He's my one & only & I can't even put into words how complete he made me once he came into this world. There's not one day that he doesn't make me smile or forget about my worries. All he has to do is hug me & all my stress is gone. I still find it amazing to see a little part of me running around--he's got my eyes, my sense of humor & my wit. He's a small version of me & he encourages me to stay young at heart & reminds me of the innocence of child hood on a daily basis.

Being a mom is a very fulfilling emotion mixed in with anticipation--since I wonder daily about the man he's going to grow up to be--joy, love & a pinch of fear since I worry daily if I'll be equipped to get him adequately prepared for all the obstacles, ups & downs he'll encounter along this long journey we call 'Life'.

The mood board was created with several thoughts & quotes on mom or motherhood along with photos that I felt represented the bond between a mother & child.

As is customary with several of my layouts--I utilized several layers as part of the design.  The layers are compromised of both designer papers & embellishments.

I kept the design of the page fairly simple.  I wanted to draw attention primarily to the photo of me & my son.

All the papers used are from Authentique's Classique: Beauty collection.  These papers are composed of primarily yellows, blacks & grays.  I added a pop of color by mixing bright red colored flowers & embellishments.

The butterflies are items from my Etsy shop.  I felt that the sentiment 'You are my sunshine' was befitting for this layout.

These square chipboard embellishments are by Um Wow Studio.  They are one of our sponsors for the month of May & are generously offering up a prize to one lucky winner! I kept the chipboard in it's raw state since it combined nicely with the color scheme of my layout.

Sometimes the paper itself make for the best sort of embellishments.  To add a bit of dimension to my page I rolled up several pieces of left over scraps & randomly adhered them to the background of my layout.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Flowers - I Am Roses, The Kreative Korner, Wild Orchid Crafts, Chipboard - Um Wow Studio, Wooden Embellishments - SA Crafts, Butterfly Embellishments - The Kreative Korner, Flair - Panda Eight Designs, Other - Red Rhinestones, Mini Flocked Teddy Bear, Red Tulle

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure to head on over to the Berry71Bleu blog--the challenge is still going on.  Play with us for the chance to win some fabulous prizes.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Stay Little Forever (Please) Layout

Today's page is one that I made a few months ago.  I've used one of Authentique's latest collections--'Playful'--for this page.  I found this colorful & bright collection to be perfect for documenting memories & events related to children.  With this in mind I created a page with a photo of me & my son taken last Fall.

The title of this page represents the feelings towards my son.  Call me selfish, but I want my little guy to stay...well, little forever!  Please...

Everyday he gets bigger & bigger & while I'm overwhelmed with happiness to see him learn a new word or discover something new about the world around him, I can't help but get sad at the fact that with every passing day he's growing more & more into the man he's going to be one day & in turn he's growing just a bit further away from me.  I'm going to have issues 'letting go'!  :-)  I'm predicting that very early on...

I found this fantastic sketch by The Nifty Pixel that coordinated perfectly with the collection.  The sketch is random & askew just like some of the papers in the 'Playful' collection--so it went along just right with the overall theme of my page.

To further decorate the background & give it more of a design--I did a bit of stamping.  The stamps consist of splatters, splats & stitched circles.

Behind all my layering & the photos, I've tucked in a small kraft paper bag containing a tag that holds my journaling.  I used one of the elements from the 'Playful' collection as my makeshift tag.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Flowers - Petaloo, The Kreative Korner, Flair Buttons - UmWow Studio, Panda Eight Designs, Stamps - Prima, Recollections, Paper Clip - Freckled Fawn, Other - Mini Flocked Teddy Bear, Doily, Kraft Bag

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the week!