Feeling Better

So last week's ho hum projects are in the past and I am digging this layout.  It's an inspiration photo week at Hand Stamped Sentiments and at first sight I was panicking again.

 

I ended up heading to my Pinterest scrapbook layout board first and found this sketch and the light bulb came on! (So happy when that happens.) I went looking for some tree decorating photos and a few hours later I had these pages:

Remember when I said I keep it simple when I have to do two...well that went out the window this week. 

Pre-kids I always put up a beautiful tree with breakable ornaments that are perfectly spaced.  Well, I'm a bit OCD and didn't want to give that up when kids came along...so, we have two trees.  (My) tree is in our upstairs living room and that is where we place gifts from us.  (Their) tree is downstairs, by the fireplace so Santa can leave his gifts.  It's full of ornaments that are stuffed from when they were itty bitties, and all of the ones Saint Nick leaves in their shoes every year.  It has been fun to photo them every year next to the tree and see how much they have changed. 

I ended up making 34 ornaments using my 1 1/4" and 1/2" circle punches.  I don't own the ornament punch or the new framelits :/  I pulled colors from the photos:  Primrose Petals, Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue (can't remember the last time I used that color), Gumball Green, and Starfruit...I actually had pulled Daffodil but didn't like it and thought Starfruit looked better--maybe I'm warming to it after all!  From there I just went crazy.  I heat embossed the snowflake from Jolly Bingo Bits, I inked embossed with the stripe folder, I pulled out Circle Circus, I went digging in the button drawer, I even made a little window bulb.  I wrote most of the title with the new gold pen-I'm loving these pens, also comes in Silver.  Here are a couple of closer views:

I had a roll of thin wire I used for the hooks, but you could use paper clips.  Now be sure to head over and see what the rest of the team has designed.

On a personal note, I started this blog in March of 2011 not knowing if anyone but my mom would ever look at it.  When I went to write this I noticed I went over 10,000 views sometime this weekend.  Thank you, thank you.  Please know I love to read your comments as they warm my heart, and if you are only a stalker that's okay too..as I stalked many of my HSS friends for years. :)