February 2016 Planner Preview

It's February Reveal time at Gossamer Blue and I am planner obsessed. This is funny because I bought two planners last year and opened them multiple times but they just sat there ALL. YEAR. LONG.  The good news is that I plan to go back in one of them and document the highlights of 2015. It won't be as magical as this years but it will still be great.  And the other one offers 2016 refills, which I already have so I'm all set. That is the one where I keep track of all my crafty goals, deadlines, ideas, etc.

Today, I thought I'd share a preview of what my February planner is shaping up to look like.  This is also funny because I haven't shown you what January looks like yet.  All in due time though.  I'll have it here to share soon.  Let's just say a lot happened in January (2 trips, my birthday, Rob Thomas charity event, lots of kids' activities and more) and I didn't get it until the last week of January so I'm trying to stay in the NOW and will go back to do January.

So here's a peek at the monthly view for February. It's not very far along yet but it's progress, people, especially after last year's lack of progress.



I am using goodies from the Gossamer Blue February kit and add-ons.  I LOVE the red-ish / teal floral paper in the Basic Grey paper pad. I used it to create a pocket and used the leftover bits that I cut off to create a cute little border at the top of each page. I am using my 01 American Crafts Precision Pen but I also just bought some colored No Bleed ultra fine Sharpies. I just got them today so I still have to test them out on some spare papers.



Apparently almost every Sunday in February is going to be some sort of celebration but we'll have Tuesday to recover. lol. The blue airplane marks a business trip for my hubby. It's pink or red for me but I'm not going anywhere this month so no pink airplanes. The XOXO stamp is from the Gossamer Blue kit and the other stamps are from Hero Arts / Kelly Purkey. I think I will color in the birthday cake (and draw in the black lines that are missing - I never said I was a great stamper).  Stay tuned later this month to see how it all shapes up.



I hand cut this pocket but it was super easy to do.  I simply pulled 2 papers from a 6x6 paper pad. Then I folded the floral paper in half (without creasing it) and made the semi circle cut. Next I just folded the floral edges on the sides and bottom. Lastly, I trimmed down the red paper and adhered the scrap to the front so that I'd had some red oon the front and back of the pocket. Then I added some embellishments from the Gossamer Blue February kit.



I am using the Heidi Swapp Memory Planner. I actually bought this on Amazon through Supermart, which was one of the lower prices I had seen and it was shipping Prime and I've always had excellent luck with Amazon.  I placed my order on January 16. I didn't get a shipping notice nor did I get it within 2 days.  I kept checking and it kept saying processing.  Then a week later they cancelled my order.  Needless to say I was livid.  So I sucked it up and bought it on Simon Says Stamp with a coupon.  Now I have it in all it's wonderful glory.


I had also been eyeing a few of the Kelly Purkey planner stamps so I added them to my cart when I got the planner.

I can't wait to share more pages from my weekly spreads.  Check back later this month for more.  Oh and keep an eye out for January.  I have about half of the month done so far.

Project Life: School Fun Run

I've started a mini version of Project Life for each of my girls. It will be focused on school activities. I plan to do one for each year for them.  I am calling it a mini version of Project Life because I'm using the 6x8 Simple Stories Snap products. I have a pink one for the littlest since she's in preschool and loves pink. I'm doing the red album for my oldest gal. She's in 3rd grade and her school colors are red/blue.

I loaded up on supplies from the Paper Issues store and you can too! And if you use the Promo Code HEATHER at check-out you can save 20% on your entire order. Anyway, back to the album.

Paper Issues teamed up with Amanda Rose stamps for this week's mini blog hop. I got to play with the One Little Word...Recorded stamp and the bestie stamp! Oh my goodness, they were so fun and they stamped so nicely. I can totally see myself making cards, tags, layouts, you name it, with these stamps.

Take a look at my Project Life pages about the Boosterthon Fun Run at my daughter's school and then keep reading to see how you can get your hands on these fabulous stamps.

Supplies: Simple Stories Snap album, page protectors, Snappy Thoughts, Snappy Cards and Snappy Pages from the Paper Issues store

Did I mention that Cassie's Paper Issues Store has just about every scrapbooking supply you need (or don't need but really want!)? Everything is 20% every day off when you use my code - HEATHER - at checkout.

GIVEAWAY

Amanda will be giving away stamps to 3 different winners!!! Here's what you need to do to enter to win:

1. Do the mini blog hop and feel free to follow our blogs if you like what you see ;)
2. Follow Paper Issues on Facebook
3. Follow the Amanda Rose blog
4. Leave a Comment on the Paper Issues blog that you did both.
5. Link up a project on the Paper Issues blog for a bonus entry! Any project - how easy is that?

If you want the stamps NOW, you can always buy them. Amanda's running a buy 2, get 1 FREE deal! Get the details on the Paper Issues blog!

Now, go checkout what these amazing ladies did with their stamps and Project Life:

Heather <--you are="are" here="here" you--="you--">

Judean: http://sukeydookiedoo.blogspot.com/

Missy: http://www.missygener.com/

Kellie: http://www.kelliewinnell.com.au/

Aimee: http://aimeesarmoire.typepad.com/aimees-armoire/

Good luck!

Happy Go Lucky Backseat Driver

So I got this Facebook message a week or two ago promising me that I wasn't be stalked but that someone was looking for me. Apparently, they had seen my blog and thought my work was "fan-freaking-tastic" and asked if I'd be willing to be a guest blogger for them. After trying to figure out why they didn't just email me, I realized that I was not making myself accessible for opportunities like this.  I took three actions, checked out a site that in all honesty I knew about but forgot about (shame on me), accepted the offer and updated my blog to include my email address - duh!

Sooooooo, I am excited to be blogging for Scrapbook Steals.com today. Did you know that they not only have great daily deals but they have an inspiration blog too?  If you came here from the blog, WELCOME!

Anyway, today I am showcasing my love of Mr. Huey mists. I really enjoy getting dirty with paint and mists and such but it doesn’t always have to be make a mess, nor should it be intimidating, like many people think.

They asked me to share a few scrapbooking ideas and tips with you to show you just how fun the misting technique can be. I’ve been playing with mists for years but I fell in love with Mr. Huey mists last year after attending Kelly Purkey’s misting techniques class at CKC Houston.

Let's jump into my first scrapbook layout...I pulled out my favorite go-to kit club stash from Scrapbook Circle and I laid out all of my papers, photos and elements to figure out where I wanted everything arranged and then I took a visual picture in my head, removed everything from the page and spray misted with brown in the 3 spots you see below. I then pulled the nozzle out of the bottle and flicked blue mist onto the page over the brown to give it a splattered look.

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Scrapbook supplies: from Scrapbook Circle Remember This February 2012 kit - Crate Paper Love Letter paper, October Afternoon Farmhouse Flower Sack, Crate Paper Farmhouse Alpha Sticker Sheet, Whisker Graphics Chevron Aqua Bag, Elle's Studio Lil Snippets Treasured tag sheet, Yellow Twine, Whisker Graphics Large White Tag, My Mind's Eye Be Amazing Button Card. Scrapbook Circle Be Amazing Kit Add-on - My Mind's Eye Be Amazing 12 x 12 Chipboard, My Mind's Eye Be Amazing Brads, My Mind's Eye Be Amazing 6x6 pad (hexagon paper). Not included in the kit Mr. Huey Calico Classic Calico and Bonny Blue, Chocolate Zig Pen, jute twine.

I’m also a fan of making things pop on the page so I used foam squares to lift different elements off the page. Some but not all of the hexagons, word banners and embellishments are popped.

For my 2nd page, I chose to scale back a little with the mist but it’s still an important part of the story.

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Scrapbooking Supplies: Scrapbook Circle Best. Day. Ever. kit - Dear Lizzy Cheerful Notes, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan At First Sight paper, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Sunny Skip paper. Scrapbook Circle Scatter Sunshine Add-on - Dear Lizzy Date Roller, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Printed Chipboard Shapes. Not in kit: Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Hazy Horizon paper, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Buttons & Accents, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Fair Ribbon, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Letter Stickers, American Crafts Thickers, Core'dinations Color Core Cardstock, Mr. Huey Bonny Blue, Sew Stamper, Black Zig Pen.

These are Instagram photos with a filter to make them look vintagy so the splatter effect was called for again here. Usually I will do the splatter on my foundation piece before I start layering everything but since I was going for an aged look, I adhered all the papers first and then misted, hoping a few splatters would land on the different papers. I then added the photos.

I knew I wanted to add clouds to the top right corner of the layout so I flicked a little blue mist over there before I stitched the clouds to the paper. Also, the blue cloud was much brighter than I wanted so I toned down the color by spraying blue mist over it. Then I placed it so that the mist splatter would look like rain coming from it. It was a gorgeous fall day but I liked the rain effect.

So, those are my projects for today. As you can probably see, I really do love my Mr. Huey mists. Before I go, I thought I’d share a few tips to keep in mind when using your mists:

• I use an old 13x13x5-ish box handy for all my misting projects. I just put the paper or item in the box and mist away. This protects everything around me from getting mist on it. It’s fun to look at your box each time because you can see traces of all your projects in there.
• Use a stencil, die-cut or negative image from a die-cut to create a mask for misting.
• Use a stencil or die-cut and instead of using it as a mask, mist it up and press it over your project like you would a stamp. Lift to see your image.
• Mist your stamps for a really cool effect
• Heat emboss an image and then mist over it
• Alter the color of twine, ribbon, canvas, alphas, anything that will take color, including paper
• The possibilities are endless. You will learn by experimenting. Of course you’ll want to use practice paper if you are new to the world of misting.
• Last tip is to DON'T STRESS and HAVE FUN!

Thanks for stopping by today. If my pages and tips inspired you, and you are in the market for some FAB misting products, check out today's Scrapbook Steal deal on them.

She's Growing Up Too Fast!

My oldest daughter turned 8 on October 1 and all I think about when I think of her age is how fast it's gone by.  Seriously, too fast. 

We took the family out for a birthday celebration and let her choose the restaurant.  If you know my daughter, you would understand how WONDERFUL it was that she wanted to get so dressed up, from the headband to the fancy shoes.  Then, she was willing to pose for these photos...AMAZING, trust me!

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Fresh Picked October 2011 kit: Pebbles Fresh Goods Windows Display paper, Pebbles Fresh Goods Embossed Masking Tape Stickers, Crate Paper Textile 12X12 Random Collection Paper, Fancy Pants School Days No.2 Pencils paper, Studio Calico Scrap Pad, Pink Paislee Sawdust Wood Alphabet, Girls' Paperie Tiny Alphas Tinsel, .05 black pen, Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro, Close to My Heart Red Ink

I created this layout with the Scrapbook Circle Fresh Picked October 2011 kit and this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch.  This layout was a total breeze to pull together. I mean, I had to put some thought into the photos and sizes and do some fussy cutting and place everything "just so" so it still took me a while but not as long as usual.

The alphas are actually wooden alphas that I inked red and then stamped over in blue, using different stamp designs.  I love how they turned out.

What I don't love is how messy they made my layout, AFTER I ADHERED EVERYTHING TO THE PAGE! You see, after I glued everything down I wrote all my journaling.  When I was done, I looked at my layout and this is what I saw:

[insert GASP! here]  I looked around my page and as suspected, there were red and blue random smudges here and there.  I looked at my arm and yep, my palm and arm were covered in ink. I washed it off again and again and again. 

I debated on adding "artistic" smudges to the rest of the layout but it wasn't going to work and wasn't the look I wanted so I resigned myself to start over. FUN...NOT! Most of it came off the page easily, except the border at the top that ripped and the alphas and hearts that I glued with super ultra bond glue.  Can you hear my sarcasm as you read this?

Yay for me (again, sarcasm)! This is what I get for scrapping under the influence (of seasonal allergies) and being impatient waiting for the ink to dry. Luckily, I was able to salvage it but like I said, I did have to re-work the whole thing. Oh and I looked at my arm again 4 hours later, and I found a distinct backwards "ro" that I missed in my initial scrub-down. And there's still traces of ink on my hand and fingertips too.  [ sigh ]

Thanks for looking today. Tell me I'm not the only one who has had to re-make a layout for one reason or another.

Now head over to Sketch Thursdays and play along with us! You could something great from Let's Capture Our Memories

My "Tool Time" Video with the Imaginisce i-bond

Imaginisce asked me to do a Tool Time video to show the many things you can do with the i-bond cordless glue gun. 

Doesn't this tool and those gorgeous colored glue sticks look like so much fun? Well check out this video I made this video to show you a few of the things I have created with the tool. The video is packed with multiple projects, tips, techniques and ideas. So without further ado, here's some things I'd like to share about the i-bond....

Check out some close up photos of the projects I made in the video and then feel free to tell me what you think in the comments below AND leave me some love on the Imaginisce blog!

Little Cutie Girl Card - flowers embellished with purple glitter glue using the i-bond

Snag 'em Stamps Sweet Baby Doll stamped in pink glue using the i-bond

Little Cutie Boy line - buttons embedded in brown glue using the i-bond

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure to swing my the Imaginisce blog and leave a comment there as well for your chance to win your very own i-bond!

xoxo Heather

A Walk to Remember

Wow, 2 posts in one day. If you missed my news this morning check out my 1st post from earlier today.

I am SOOO happy to announce that I was selected to be on the Scrapbook Circle Design Team for the next 6 months. I loved their kits so much that when my girlfriend, Audrey, told me about the DT call I sent my application right in. I got my first kit, Happy Days, about a week ago and OMG it is AMAZING.  We have got some great things lined up for the month of February and I don't want to give too much away but be on the lookout for some HOPPIN' good opportunities to get your hands on your very own kit.  Until then, I'm gonna kick off the 1st project of February with something we like to call One Item Wonder.

Do you ever get something and WONDER what you will do with that ONE ITEM?  I am here to show you today what you can do with the transparency that came in February's Happy Days kit.  I also created this layout for the February Crop Suey Challenge, which is to use 9 different types of items on a project.

The dreaded transparency (actually, I am really fond of these but I felt it needed dramatic effect). The one I was given to work with is the yellow framed one on the bottom left with red metallic graph lines inside.

And now my layout:

Supplies: Pink Paislee Sweetness Pretty Lace Paper, Glitz Hoopla Polka Paper, October Afternoon Modern Homemaker Cheery Pie Paper, transparency, Basic Grey paper labels, Staz-On, Cosmo Cricket Alphas, Ribbon

 So, check out how I did it and then head over to today's blog post at Scrapbook Circle to see what Diana W did with her transparency (and to leave some LOVE):

1. I took my x-acto knife and cut out the inside of the transparency to make a frame and adhered it to the photo to draw attention to the cute little kiddos.
2. I stamped a swirly image using black staz-on to the leftover transparency.
3. I cut out 4 scalloped circles.  The transparency is SUPER thick and my punch would not penetrate it so I hand cut them. It doesn't have to be perfect because of what you will do next.
4. I took my heat embosser to them and melted away.  They ended up curling up A LOT so while they were still warm I just kind of scrunched them in my hands. Disclaimer: use gloves to avoid heat injury.
5. I re-heated them if I didn't like the way they looked when cooled and it worked like a charm. Some of the transparency turned white, I guess where I applied the most heat and I really liked the effect.
6. Once I was happy with them I applied them to my layout - 1 as an accent on the middle right and the other 3 are stacked on top of each other on the bottom left. 

Here's a close-up of the stacked "flower":

How cool is that?  And did you pay attention to what my 9 items were? I used Pattern Paper, a Photo Corner, Journaling, faux Lace Borders, a Transparency, a Label, StazOn Ink, Ribbon, a Button, Flowers, Alphas. Okay, so maybe I used more than 9 :) Make sure to head over to Crop Suey starting on February 5th to learn more about the challenge and how you can enter for a chance to win the prize from our fabulous sponsor.

And what are you waiting for? Lisa still has a few of the February Happy Days kits left so get yours hands on one while you can. :)

Holding the Future in our Hands

I LOVE the January challenge over at Crop Suey. Mia provided an ad as inspiration for us.  I used a sketch from the Design Dollies December sketch challenge. At first I was going to play off of the retro vibe and the tv and do a layout on my favorite classic Christmas cartoons but then I realized I'd be posting this well after the holidays so I switched gears. I looked at the ad more closely and had an A-HA moment.  I had the perfect picture and the title was right there in front of me.  So, here's the ad and my layout.

I wanted to keep this layout as clutter-free as possible because of the delicate nature of it. I found some really pretty black lace to help soften up the layout, added some flowers, including one hand-made from ruffled ribbon and added a little pearly bling.  I usually shy away from stickers but they were in the kit and I am so glad they were.  These are 12" border stickers that I cut up.  I applied them to the upper right of the layout. There are two there - one symbolizes the newness of bringing baby home and getting settled in to a routine.  I applied the second one to a darker cream colored scalloped border sticker which has a nice little design on it and says "November", which is when this photo was taken.  Thanks for looking.

Supplies: Scrapbook Circle Kit - Pink Paislee Amber Road Collection: Autumn Blossom, Apple Cider and Paislee Postcard pattern papers, Borderline Stickers; Jenni Bowlin Border Stickers Black; Cosmo Cricket Tiny Alphas; Handmade: ribbon flower at top; Tattered Angels Mist - brick & charcoal; CTMH: Pearls, Stocking Style stamp, white crocheted flowers, Garden Green & White Daisy ink; Glossy Accents; Other: black lace, flowers, journal blocks

Dash on over to Crop Suey to play along for a chance to win a mitten weather kit from Cosmo Cricket!!!

Christmas Tree Trio and Tutorial

I've been so inspired by all the beautiful Christmas papers and embellishments. I saw this paper by Imaginisce and immediately knew that I needed to make a trio of Christmas trees.  If only I had an i-rock, I could have adhered some serious bling. Hint, hint to anyone looking for gift ideas. ;)

Pint this Image & Tutorial to Pinterest: 

Ready to make your own set of trees?

Here's the supplies you'll need:
3 styrofoam cones (various sizes)
3 pieces of green felt (8.5x11)
1 piece brown felt (8.5x11) - I found some with texture that looks very cute in person
4 sheets green cardstock
2 sheets of Imaginisce Christmas Cottage Peppermint Stick (stripes/holly) paper or another paper of your chosing.
1 sheet Imaginisce Christmas Cottage All That Glitters (ornaments) paper or another paper of your chosing.1 sheet Imaginisce Christmas Cottage Winter Woods (trees) paper or another paper of your chosing.


1 sheet yellow paper for the stars
2" circle punch
Clear or colored embossing powder (& versamark) - optional. I used Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder (mustard)Christmasy stamp set (if you decide to emboss the stars). I used a Close to My Heart star stamp set
Glue Gun
Lots of glue sticks
Ribbon - amounts depends on your styrofoam size.  I used about a yard
Beads or small ornaments - I used a string of beads from Hobby Lobby

How to put it together in 10 easy steps:

Step 1: Turn glue stick on. HA - a nice simple first step to get things going. No picture for this. :)

Step 2: Take a piece of styrofoam and roll the green felt around it.  Cut green felt to cover the styrofoam. This is so that you won't see the styrofoam in case you have any spots that don't get completely covered by the paper you will be adhering to it. Make sure to cut a circle for the top. You will also cut the brown strip to cover the bottom to make a tree trunk. Hot glue all this to the styrofoam.

Step 3: Mist and/or emboss the yellow cardstock and cut out stars.  I free hand cut mine but if you have a star punch, then you are smarter than me.  I made 6 large stars and numerous small stars.  I used a tutorial from Scrapbook & Cards Today for the folding of these stars. Set the little stars aside and then glue the largers stars together (back to back) in sets of 2 so that you have 3 sets of stars now. Glue the stars to the top of the tree. No pic for this because I placed mine AFTER I adhered all the leaves and trust me, you want to put it before you add the leaves.

Step 4: Punch all 4 sheets of green cardstock and the 2 sheets of striped paper. Get as many as you can out of it. I believe I got 16 from each sheet. Ink the edges to give it some dimension.

Step 5: Fold the circle in half WITHOUT creasing the fold. Now fold it again and hot glue the inside corner. It's okay if that corner creases. I actually pinched it together after the glue was applied.  That will not show on the tree. It should end up looking like a fortune cookie.

Step 6: Start gluing the leaves you just made to the tree. I just adhered them randomly but you could place them in one direction if you like things more uniform.  Make sure to sprinkle the striped paper appropriately. Picture coming later tonight.

This is where it gets fun and easy so I did not snap photos of the rest of the process...

Step 7: Once you have all the leaves placed on the trees it's time to start decorating it. Adhere your ribbon to the bottom.  I looped mine to give it more dimension.

Step 8: Glue some of the real ornaments or beads (whatever you chose) sporadically around the tree.  I placed some of mine on ledges, in the crevases and even hung some from leaves.  This is also when I added the small stars to the tree.

Step 9: Cut out some paper ornaments from the All That Glitters paper and start hanging them from the leaves. Cute out some trees from the Winter Woods paper and place them on the base of the tree.

Step 10: Place it somewhere where everyone can see them and listen for all the oohs and aahs!

And there you have it - your own set of Christmas trees!!! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Pin this Photo and Tutorial to Pinterest:  

 Thanks for stopping by today!

Adorable You

Check out the first challenge over at Crop Suey, with the new owner and new Design Team. Mia challenged us to use at least 3 out of the following 5 items on our scrappy project/layout/card.

Here's the list of items and comments on how I incorporated 4 out of 5 of them in the layout below:

• White cardstock - it's there under all that mist.
• Buttons - I used square buttons as photo corners on some of the photos.
• Stamp - I used the reverse image of 3 stamps to create the journal areas.  Basically I determined the size of the stamp, journaled and doodled in the area before stamping, flipped the acrylic stamp over  so I could stamp using the back of it, inked it with Versamark, and added clear embossing powder.  I wanted to show the white underneath and use it for journaling but also to resist the misting.
• Ink/mist/paint - I inked the edges of the paper and misted the white cardstock.  I used Tattered Leather and Pink Bubblegum mist. I normally don't mist THIS much but I was going for that stamp embossing/mists resist effect.
• Distressing - not included on my layout unless you consider the inked edges.

Here's the corresponding sketch I created for this layout.  I love using sketches created by others so I thought I'd create a sketch for this layout.  Please let me know if you use it and link me to your layout.  I'd love to see your creations based on this sketch.

Check out what the rest of the Design Team did and be sure to play along with this challenge for a chance to be eligible to win 30 (yes, 30) 3' lengths of ribbon from May Arts, our November Crop Suey sponsor! You can see pics of the ribbon on the Crop Suey blog. You have until midnight EST on November 20th to submit your creation!

Oh and last but not least come back next week for the Hippity Hop Blog Hop.  6 challenge blogs have teamed together for a few days of fun and prizes.  You don't want to miss this!

Truly Madly Deeply In Love Sketch & Challenge

I've been playing around with creating my own sketches and challenges lately. In all reality we create our own sketches and challenges when we scrap; I just actually documented it. I don't plan to make this a recurring thing because I love playing along with sketch challenge sites but I thought I'd share the ones I do create with you. 

Here's the first sketch and challenge I created.

1. Alter the dominant paper using paint/ink/mist - the now brown areas on the left and right of my layout were originally black and were painted brown with Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam.
2. Think outside the box with your ribbon - I used ribbon to decorate the front of the photo/journaling pocket.
3. Use heat embossing on the layout - I heat embossed clear transparency to create the "X" and "O" letters and "in love" words. I also used Mist on the transparencies to give them more depth.
4. Incorporate a handmade flower - I fussy cut the flowers, painted and arranged them and voila, a handmade flower.
5. Include hidden photos and/or journaling. 

I have to add that I NEVER scrap photos that don't include a kid.  I don't have an album of just my hubby and me, other than what was done pre-kids.  I don't plan to start one at this time either.  I do, however, plan to scrap more photos of me, us, or him to include in the girls' albums.  They need to know more about us as individuals and as a couple.  I WILL scrap more photos like this!

Flock of Seagulls

I took a little more liberty with this Nuts About Sketches sketch than usual. I had a couple of events that had multiple photos but just couldn't get them to work the way I envisioned so I went with a recent trip to the beach that had fewer photos. There are 4; can you spot photo #4? As you look at the sketch, hopefully you can see that I did the left side of the spread using the top 3 photos, the title on the left, I turned the 6x5 photo into a background for the 3 photos and added the border at the bottom third.  As I was thinking about journaling options I went to a few of my favorite blogs for inspiration and remembered a layout that my IRL friend did a while back that I loved. I don't know if I scraplifted it subliminally or what but as I looked at the background patterned paper and border, it's almost identical so what the heck, I did a similar journal spot and titling. I was going to angle the photos where they would overlap a little bit but I really liked how Audrey did hers. Thanks for the inspiration, Audrey.

BTW, I am going to go back and scrap one more photo I took during this feeding frenzy moment, which was of Reese's daddy holding a cracker up with his hand while a seagull swooped in and ate it.  This was after Reese had attracted him so I didn't want it to take away from Reese's seagull moment therefor I didn't want to include it on the layout above. Reese was standing next to him so it will tie in nicely.  I think I will use the right side of the sketch for that.