Forever Family Layout

There is a saying in the adoption community that kids, especially those who have bounced around in the foster care system and moved from home to home for years, just want a forever family. For the fortunate ones, their birth parent gets his or her act together and is reunited with the child, but for many, adoption by another family is the only way they will ever experience what it means to have a forever family. Our Brianna and Oliver (Angel) were in the latter category, and I am finally caught up enough to scrapbook the day they became part of our forever family. There were a lot of details I wanted to remember about the day but also keep private just for us, so I created a pocket on the right hand page to hold my journaling about this amazing day. Suffice it to say that the people in the photos were some of the ones who supported us on our three-year journey to adoption. 

Recipe:
Background Builders & Love Tags stamp sets
Wicker Lane papers (Photoplay)
Outdoor Denim, Sundance, Raspberry, Kraft & White Daisy cardstock
Outdoor Denim, Goldrush, Raspberry, Capri & Juniper ink
Clear embossing powder
Love This Wood Titles
Key Charms (Bead Landing)
Raspberry baker's twine
Lollydoodle Assortment Flair
DE Hearts chipboard
Miracle chipboard
Miracle stickers
Cool Summer Night enamel dots (Altnew)
Washi tape (from my stash, source unknown)
White heart brads (from my stash, source unknown)
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: banner, scalloped borders
Cricut Artiste cartridge: tag
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #39

Challenges: Cut It Up #304 Send Me Flowers - I used some pretty floral paper across the center of my layout; Festive Fridays #159 - I used silver (key) + brads (hearts) + embossing (on chipboard heart & the word family) + family sentiment

Inspiration Station #61 (used flower paper and similar colors of pink and yellow)

Family Layout

We managed to get a really nice family photo at our neighbor's wedding. My hubby and the boys were wearing Hawaiian shirts because the wedding had a luau theme, so I went with an island feel for the layout.

Recipe:
Extreme Happiness & Love Tags stamp sets
Moon Doggie Level 2 papers
Bamboo & Colonial White cardstock
Cranberry, Ruby, Indian Corn Blue, Bamboo, Desert Sand, Honey & Garden Green ink
Cranberry baker's twine
Garden Green safety pin, spiral clip & button nail heads
Pattern: I scraplifted this layout from Pinterest

Owl Always Love You Layout

I have subscriptions to two scrapbooking magazines, and I usually read them avidly when I first receive them, but then I put them aside and forget about them. I was feeling a little guilty about that, so I took out my January issue of Creating Keepsakes Magazine and browsed the pages, looking for inspiration. I found it in Jennifer McGuire's Tools & Techniques column: a darling paper owl created using various punches. I loved her title (owl always love you), so I decided to scraplift that, too. My owl is bigger than the one Jennifer made, so I couldn't use punches, but my circle and oval cutters worked fine. Jennifer also used googly eyes, which I didn't have, but I made do with some black brads. I didn't use any patterned paper on this layout. All the patterning is done using cardstock, stamps, and ink. I gotta admit, I'm loving this layout!



Recipe:
Tiny Typewriter Alphabet, Love Tags, Spot On Backgrounds & Felicity stamp sets
Cocoa, Dutch Blue, White Daisy, Bamboo, Desert Sand, Cranberry, Clover Meadow & Autumn Terracotta cardstock
Dutch Blue, Desert Sand, Cranberry, Clover Meadow & Autumn Terracotta ink
Black marker
Black brads
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Heart punches (Marvy Uchida & EK Success)

Pattern: Open Forum (Imagine)