Sugar Rush reveal!

 February's Sugar Rush kits are completely lovely- so pretty and girly.  Even though I was at first a little bit scared off by the pink, I figured out how to make them work for me, and I"m super happy with the layouts I did this month. As always, I push and push and push paper around until I have something I like. My slow scrapbooking process is one I've come to terms with, but not really conducive to having a deadline and a full time job! Add to that a hubby who left for a week in Mexico in business, (we will not discuss it!)  and I was a little behind the 8 ball in terms of time. ( ***Note*** The links won't work until midnight tonight unless you're a subscriber!)

Here are my 2 main only layouts:

This beautiful baby boy is my friend Erin's 4th baby, and her 4th BOY, hence the title of my page. ;) I had the immense honour of seeing this little guy being born, since Erin had asked me to photograph the birth, and I went back to her house 6 weeks later to take the photo above, among others. I knew I wanted to use the hearts as a focal point on the photo, and I chose 4 of them to signify her 4 children. I was originally going to print out my text directly on the patterned paper, but decided to soften it up, and printed it out on vellum instead. Love the effect. The poem is one by ee cummings, and  is one of my favourites. I think it's so beautiful and moving, which is how I feel when I look at this photo- the vulnerability of this little guy snuggled on his Mama's shoulder. So precious. 

I really wanted to sew those hearts down, and the vellum as well, so once my machine is going, I will do so, and repost an updated shot. 

This layout uses an older but beloved photo of my son that I've scrapped before, but I was never completely happy with that layout. I decided to print it out big, and love how it looks grainy and gritty.( bad camera settings!) and the contrast of the b&w pic with the colour. I love his face in this photo, how he is holding that pug ornament with such care, and the story behind it. It was the start of his love affair with pugs, and he still keeps 'Paul' on a shelf beside his bed to this day. :) For the background, I used this cut file by Geralyn, and somehow managed to size it so that the only small circle punch I own fit perfectly into the grid. Total fluke, but I was pretty thrilled! I typed out the journaling on my typewriter on plain printer paper, punched them out, and just popped them in with a dab of glue. Super simple.

The 'Bobby-ism" layout uses a combo of the 3 add-on kits, Gumdrop, Jellybeans,  & Rock Candy. I've started throwing everything all together once I'm done with the main only pages, and I like the free rein of just grabbing stuff. The paper, the stars, and the wood grain were all more masculine feeling ( yay!), and I made this page in under 30 minutes, just adding the words in the speech bubbles and stamping with the main kit stamp.

This is my lovely Mama as a teenager. I have held onto this photo for a long time, waiting to scrap it, and when I saw the gold dipped leaves in the Gum Drop add on, I knew right away it was perfect. I've been dying to try incorporating script onto my layouts, so I typed out the verse on Neenah ( no texture) and used gouache to paint my title. I practiced a few times on printer paper, and then just went for it. Sort of scary,  but I love how it turned out. And an FYI about the gouache versus acrylic: I've tried both, and am not really a fan of the acrylic. It didn't give the opaque, bold black I wanted,  and I was super happy to get that with the gouache. I'm also going to try India Ink and see how that works.

This last page is hybrid, and ultra simple, trying my hand with some of the digital stamps in the shop. 

I wanted to keep the focus on the photo and let it take center stage. I printed out the layout, and decided to back it with some cardstock for a bit of bulk, and a wee strip of the arrow paper from the Jelly Bean add on.

That's it for this month's kits- thanks for visiting!