Last year when I joined Big Picture Classes, I felt like I had walked into the Candy Store of scrapbooking!  The first page I tackled was from Paige’s Pages 11.  I was beyond thrilled that I could make something so cute from a simple little punch and a few embellishments!  I learned quickly that for me, I needed to try and stick to what the talented instructors are trying to teach me and then after practicing the lesson I could then add my own spin.  It was a central part of what had been missing for me as I tried to make 12×12 scrapbook pages,  I had not been patient enough to learn techniques and actually try them as they were.  I have learned so much more than techniques and ideas by slowing down and being willing to be a student.  I have learned more about what I like, what gives me joy in the process and what I am willing to hang up on my walls!

Books are a serious thing at our house!  I have always been a reader and Hannah is a voracious reader!  She learned to read early and has never stopped!  Very early on, I gave up buying books and instead we make great use of libraries!  I think being a home school kid, she has always had more time to read which is a great thing!  When I first got Oh My Heart I knew one day I would go crazy with the books and book paper.  I fussy cut like a mad woman this week, cutting all the books and also the 6×6 sheet of flowers.  I tinkered around with a few different layouts with the books and then settled on a pennant arrangement.  It seemed to show them off the best without overtaking the whole page!  I chose one of my many library photos for the layout!  I have the digital version of Oh My Heart as well so I used one of the open books from the paper and typed on it in Photoshop for a little journal spot!  I had a few of the Books and More Books cards from the multiple paks of Die Cuts I have gone through, so I thought using both of them added to the visual story of how much she reads!  Thank you Paige Evans for making such a wonderful Oh My Heart collection!!

I thought I would punch some circles from the 6×6 Turn the Page Paper pads and then see what happens!  I fiddled around with the circles cut in half for quite awhile and then settled on a similar design as my Love You Lots layout.  I don’t mind repeating a design that I love, it turns out differently anyway!  This time I filled in half circles all the way to the center and then stacked my photo and embellishments on top!  I used the gorgeous yellow fantastic title and carpe diem chipboard arrow from Take Me Away by Paige Evans & Pink Paislee.  The rest of the pretty flowers and banner clip are from Turn the Page.  I adore how it turned out.  So colorful and fun!

I decided to go big with my photo on this layout.  My wide format printer is being persnickety these days so I printed it on 8.5×11 photo paper.  It leaves a nice border around the edge of the 12×12 page so it’s all good!  I used some random labels for my journaling and fussy cut the start here arrow from one of the Turn the Page 6×4 cards.  I played around with all sorts of embellishments and then tried a chipboard arrow and loved it.  So I found all the arrows in the collection and tucked them around the journal labels.

For some extra layers I stamped the flower and leaves from the Turn the Page Stamp Set onto white cardstock and fussy cut them.  They bring the perfect amount of black onto the left side to balance the black in the photo!  I love how the page turned out!  Turn the Page by Paige Evans & Pink Paislee has so many different options, I see something new everytime I work with it!

Recently we colored my daughter’s hair with temporary bright color!  She had been wanting to do it for a long time and the only thing in the way was me!  Of course if it was going to happen then there needed to be loads of pictures, this photo was my favorite and the Take Me Away collection by Paige Evans & Pink Paislee was such a perfect match to show it off!  The brave wings pocket card said it all for me and that was my jumping off point for the layout.  I punched butterflies from the 12×12 papers and spread them out in an ombre effect from the bottom.  A few gold accents and Take Me Away paper clip finished it off!