With a bit more tweaking...

So tonight I decided to finish tweaking last night's layout. I added hand stitching to make the blocks look somewhat quilted together and button to finish off the corners of the central photo. It's shocking how long it takes to do a little hand stitching on the layout, but I'm really pleased with how it looks now. So here are side by side comparisons of last night (left) and the final (right). I probably spent the better part of two hours doing the hand stitching and the finishing the buttons off. Of course, that was with some minor interruptions to turn off the audio because I just couldn't stand to listen to the Winterhawks lose the opening game of the second round of the playoffs and start a new episode of Glee. Oh, and, of course, there were a few feline interruptions. Smoke came looking for a little love and some treats. Tigger took up residence in the spare craft room chair. I was cold this weekend and cuddled up in an afghan my mother-in-law made. I then left it on the spare chair and ever since Tigger's declared it as his own. Even Zoey came in to check things out tonight! She's a good looking girl for a 17-year-old!

Quilter tribute layout

So it seemed appropriate to go with a layout featuring blocks of patterns resembling a quilt for this page since my sister-in-law, Kim, made the gorgeous quilt covering our bed. I'm thinking about doing some hand sewing on the page to create stitches to make the papers look more tied together, but I'm getting tired (spent too much time fighting with the printer that didn't want to print my 4x6s), so I guess I'll leave it for tonight and see what I think tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I don't know what has gotten into Smoke. This normally very independent mancat has suddenly become a cuddler...

Another simple layout

I was a little tired tonight after getting home, working out, making dinner, etc. So I did just a quick layout while I watched another episode of Glee. Now it's off to bed. Boy, this working five days a week is really tiring...I guess I just got to spoiled with my four day work weeks the last month or so.

Charlotte and Grace

I was having trouble with the title for this page. I cut out some letters, but they just didn't look right so I realized the perfect thing was to write the title right on the page. Problem was, I had already constructed the page so I couldn't print them on my printer and my handwriting, well, it's just plain awful. So I broke out my new CriKit pens and found the perfect solution. It's a little nerve-wrecking to simply draw the title on a page that's otherwise put together, but it turned out perfectly.

It was also the first time I have ever stapled on a page too. I don't know why I haven't tried it before because I've had colored staples sitting my drawer for the longest time and it's such an easy technique. I just never thought about it before, but it was on the October 2008 minimaps layout that I scraplifted from and I'm so happy I gave it a try. I had absolutely no feline help on this one at all. It was kitty nap time on the cat post.

Another simple layout

I have accepted that I'm not the kind to make heavily embellished or fussy layouts. I buy embellishments. I have whole stacks and drawers of them that are gorgeous and I loved in the store and such, it's just that I don't seem to ever really use them. I just really love clean lines. So tonight while I'm listening to the Portland Winterhawks win the fourth game of the seven game series (go Hawks!), I played with this picture of the dear hubby at the game we attended on our sixth anniversary. I've already done the picture of the two of us together there, which is hanging in my "gallery" at work (come to think of it, I really need to change because I haven't swapped out pages there in quite some time). But I've had this one sitting on my desk for a while and decided it was time to put it together. I'm not sure what my title will be or what journalling I may want for it, but here's my work in progress...

Janette and Asa

I just love this picture of my sister-in-law Janette and nephew Asa. It's probably at least two years old now, but it's still one of my favorites. The sad thing is that this layout doesn't photograph well or maybe it's just that I don't have the photography skills I need to get a good shot of it.
Meanwhile, I've noticed that Tigger is a serial napper. He goes from place to place in the house and naps. One minute it's on the couch, then it's on the rug under the coffee table, then the kitty tree and so on. Lately he's added the little cubby under the oak desk in my craft room to his list of napping spots. I have to admit that I love it. There's just something very soothing to sharing my space with the little guy.