Year 3 comes to an end...

My little guy Sam turned 3 in the fall and I'm just getting to his birthday layouts now! Oh well, I guess 6 months behind isn't that bad!

I organize Sam's scrapbook albums by year of his life. His scrapbook (who am I kidding...scrapbook? More like scrapbooks!) for year 3 ends with his birthday layouts (just like year 1 and 2 did). These layouts are the last ones I have left before moving on to year 4...OMG! My kid is in the fourth year of his life! Where did the time go?! So, it was bitter-sweet to create these layouts.

Layout #1: Birthday Meal /  Diego

This first double-page layout is of Sam having his birthday meal and cake. My little guy isn't complicated: he likes chicken fingers and fries. I tried to sneak some veggies on his plate but he's too smart to fall for that. At the time of his birthday, he was obsessed with Diego. Consequently, I asked our local bake shop to make him a Diego cake.

I used Bazzill cardstock for the background. The wonderful pattern papers are from the Ad Lib line by Bo Bunny. Bo Bunny is one of my favourite scrapbook companies. I loved this line so much that I used every single paper and then bought a second pack!

My first page looks simple enough but the layering of different pattern papers took me forever! Everything except the cardstock is from the Ad Lib line. The colours go so well together!

I used two different border punches on this layout. I love border punches! I think I must have about 7 or 8 of them and that's no where near enough!

I try to use the letter stickers that come with the line. Bo Bunny always does such a good job with their embellishments, including stickers.

I used a lot of the same techniques on the second page, including using border punches, sanding the edges of the pictures and using embellishments from the line. I also added a twine detail along the paper border. On the first page, I used a journalling box included in the kit. I couldn't find one that I liked for this page so I created my own.

As a sidebar, I want to put a shout out there for journalling. I believe most pages need journalling to really qualify as 'scrapbooking'. Or else, to me at least, it's just a fancy photo album. Not every page needs it but I think it adds something to the page. Just my two cents.

By the way...the cake was DELICIOUS!

Layout #2: Presents

This double-layout features Sam unwrapping and then playing with his gifts.

One the first page, I cut four different pattern papers and distressed the edges of each square. I then created a grid with my pictures.

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I stitched around the edge of the cardstock using the Sew Easy system. I repeated the twine by wrapping it around brads in the centre of the page.





On page #2 of this layout, I used pictures of Sam playing with his gifts.

I used another one of my trusty border punches on this page! I also created my own journalling box on this layout by using a chipboard element and a scrap piece of paper from the kit.

Year 3 comes to an end! Time to start a new album for year #4. I'm excited to start scrapbooking another year in Sam's life. He's such a amazing little man and the best looking kid I've ever seen (not that I'm biased at all!) that it's so much fun to create these layouts.

Happy scrappin'!