7th Anniversary layout contest!

Time for another layout!  I really need to get faster at making these, but I'm such a dang perfectionist, I spend weeks obsessing about minute details that probably don't make much difference.  Then another couple weeks actually putting the layout together.  Anyway, I've finally finished a layout that I have been wanting to do for months!  And what better opportunity than for a contest by pagemaps to win a $200 gift certificate for ACOT!  OMG, I would be in heaven!  Seriously. 

Here's the contest page.

So this is the layout sketch we had to use:

 



I think I immediately knew I wanted to use a retired paper pack from "Close to My Heart", Dreamin', because I just love it and was saving it for a special layout.  Then I had to decide what pictures to use, but that wasn't hard because I'd been wanting to showcase these leaf pictures since I took them with my Dad's Nikon in March!  I finally had a reason to use my favorite paper, pictures, and my cricut.  Which, speaking of that, perfect timing because they recently had two free cartridges, The first few years, and When I was a kid.  That's where I got the lettering for my title, and some of the cool leaves. 

Okay enough blabbing.  Here's my take on the sketch!

I used the CTMH dreamin' paper pack, plus one of the harvest charms that matches the paper, arbor wooden shaped leaf, hmm, oh and one of my faves, burlap ribbon!

One night I sat in bed sewing paper leaves with waxy flax and tying teeny bows through wooden buttons:

I originally cut my dog out of one of the top pictures, but she looks so dang cute I had to squeeze her back into the layout:

I originally cut "The Life of a Kid" out using my cricut, but I couldn't make it work in this spot so then I decided to stamp the words using CTMH atomic caps:

I actually had this little flower border cut out months ago but couldn't work it in to another layout so it was just waiting for something.  This corner looked empty, and these little flowers seemed to fill up the space rather nicely!



 



 

So there you have it.  My almost month-long layout work!  I'm crossing my fingers I win, but even if I don't, I can be very proud of my work.  And we'll all have some beautiful layouts to look at years from now.  :)  Oh and if you're wondering why I have pictures of the girls playing in leaves, labeled "March 26th", we had some crazy weather this year in March.  It got really warm, and the leaves started coming in on our trees.  Then it got crazy cold, and the leaves fell off!  So we had a fall part two.