pet pages from the SB cottage

In addition to doing some art journaling and moving bits of paper (okay, lots of paper) around on the table, I did actually finish some scrapbook pages while I was at the Scrapbook Cottage last weekend; probably about 10 pages / layouts, all together. (wow, has it really been two weeks ago already?? where does the time go, anyway?? )

This page features one of my favorite photos of Bisbee... she had just been to the doggy beauty parlor, and was looking particularly cute, I thought. I love the little pink bow in her hair! (okay, I never thought I would ever write a sentence like that, but really, she does look cute with a bow.) She is such a happy dog, and particularly "girly" looking (she even runs like a girl- haha!!) so I wanted to showcase that. I fought with this page for AT LEAST an HOUR, trying to use a certain color scheme I had in mind, but I just couldn't get it to work. Once I gave up on that and started picking other papers, the page came together in about 15 minutes. Funny how that works, isn't it?!? (aggravating, too!!) The starting point for this layout came from Shimelle Laine's blog, and one of her newest series, "scrapbook starting points."

here is the "starting point" from Shimelle's blog for the page above featuring Bisbee... mine turned out quite different, right?? That's the beauty of the starting point concept. Different papers, different colors, add your own number of photos, etc. to "personalize" it just for you- absolutely brilliant!

This one is a portrait of Krista, also made using one of the layout starters from Shimelle Laine's "starting points" series. This is one of the first "portraits" I took of Krista, and had wanted to use pink / girly colors with it, too, but they just didn't work with the colors in the photo, so I switched to Sassafras Lass papers, which I think bring out the golden tones in her fur. A couple manila shipping tags, add in some of my vintage buttons and rickrack, and it was done. more or less-- I always fiddle with things on my pages for a while, moving things 1/4 inch here or there. (here is the suggested starting point from Shimelle's blog, which you can find here: Shimelle Laine) Basically, four 5 1/2 inch squares with a narow strip across the middle, then you take it from there.

This one is a portrait I took of Bisbee (on the left) and Prescott (on the right)... looking at him now, it's hard to believe he was ever that small! I love this picture, too-- they both cocked their heads just so, and I managed to get it on film... yay! The printed paper I used was leftover when I cut up the paper for another page (using the pattern on the reverse, I think), and it was just laying there-- it ended up being perfect for this picture! The paper is printed with a pattern that makes it look like layers of fabric and sewing, and when I got home, I added some of my own "real" sewing to it, along with a few more vintage buttons and stickers that match the patterned paper.

thanks for looking-- I'll be back soon with more scrapbook pages!! (and check out Shimelle's blog, if you have time- I promise, you'll find something inspirational there for your scrapbook pages!)