Love the unique things...

Although I don't usually have much free time when I go to a conference, I try to get out and walk around the town a bit no matter where I go.  This time I had a walk built into my daily schedule because I didn't stay at the conference hotel (it was sold out).  But that was okay by me.  I found a lot of really cool things walking around the town.  One of my favorites was a map of the United States poured into the concrete patio outside of the convention center.  I walked by it every day and it really made me think about how amazing it was to be a conference where every state on the map was represented (at least I'm pretty sure they all were). 

But it also made me think about how far away from home I was and how much I was really looking forward to going back, which became the inspiration for this layout.  I used a PageMaps sketch that I had pinned on Pinterest, but my link back to the original pin has a warning and since I've already gotten one virus through Pinterest, I wasn't tracking that one back to give you the source. I tried looking through the monthly PageMaps sketch releases (yes I have them all printed and in sheet protectors in a notebook), but I still could not find it.  So while I don't have a link to this exact sketch for you, I encourage you to go check out PageMaps sketches.  I'm sure you'll find many sources of inspiration.

Since this single page will face the other half of my actual divided pages, I had the same dilemma as yesterday of how to use my quickly dwindling supply of Pink Paislee Portfolio materials.  Fortunately, this sketch, like the other, let me use small pops of the Portfolio papers on a background of plain cardstock.  I used the same ink and paint treatment around the edge so that these pages will all have a cohesive feel.  I have a few more inserts to do and I'll find some way to bring that in on those too.  I also included a reference to the week in my journaling.  One thing I love is that the page this one will sit next to had some red on them from my button and badge, so by using the hearts on this layout, I was able to bring that red across and make it all tie together nicely.  I just love how that worked out.

 

I'm really having a lot of fun with this.  I guess I had forgotten a bit about why I fell in love with scrapbooking in the first place.  It's nice to be reminded.  One thing I realized again is how little embellishing I really do.  I love designers like Shimelle Laine who can turn a pile of supplies that would surely look like a jumbled mess if I tried to use them into something truly amazing.  Their pages look nice and balanced, while I always felt like mine look plain in comparison.

But in the last few weeks of working on this, I realized that I don't really care that my pages are never going to look like all those designers out there turning out amazing work.  I'm happy with how my pages look.  I have a very simple, clean style and there's nothing wrong with that.  This is about making myself happy and I am happy with my simple pages.

Just last night, hubby and I were talking about just how happy I am right now despite all the reasons why I shouldn't be right now.  I thought about it a lot last night when I couldn't sleep because my head was pounding from our lovely change in weather.  I came to realize that I am happy with our quiet little life.  It been nice these last couple of weekends being just the two of us, hanging out together, doing things that need to be done (like laundry, grocery shopping and house cleaning) but also doing things we love (playing in my craft room with him sitting in the next room playing some Xbox game with a manual the size of a thesaurus just so he can find his way home). 

It makes me think back to a quotation I read a while back about needing to stop in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.  I know I wrote that one down somewhere because it was so thought-provoking.  I'm going to have to dig it out and do something with it sometime soon.  But I feel like maybe that's what this last week and a bit has been for me - just taking a little time to just be happy with what I have, who I am and where I am.