My Always

I was absolutely delighted when I opened my DT package from Handmade by Suzanne this month. The Olivia collection from Basic Grey is absolutely gorgeous, and my pack was overflowing with it. I haven't bought any Basic Grey for myself in quite a while now, and I had forgotton how lovely they really are, and what I couldn't get over was that these double-sided papers were really usable. I mean, quite often for me I can clearly and quickly work out which side of a paper I'm going to use.... but these were hard!! I really needed two of every paper so I could use both sides!

This was the first layout I made, and you can see how I've tried to use as many of the papers as I could! And I really think the pink doily paper (which is actually from the Green at Heart collection) adds such a stunning detail and extra dimension. I know these are a bit more expensive than the average paper, but I cut mine up and have easily used it for at least 5 layouts so you really do get your money's worth.

The white border strips are called 'paper frills' and are by Doodlebug Designs. You can get these at the store in a couple of different colours, but I figured white coordinates with everything and plus you can always alter them so these are a good investment. You get heaps in the packet so you'll see these on a lot of my layouts in the future I can assure you! I added some of the half-pearls in green and blue to the centre for a lovely touch.

And then speaking of lovely things... this was my first time at playing with the Basic Grey bloomers. I never realised how fantastic they were in real life before! Those beautiful flowers already come layered and stitched and buttoned, so all the hard work is already done for you. I tell you, this layout come together so easily and yet it looks like a lot of work went into it.

I made my layout on a regular old manilla folder before I sewed it onto the 12x12 American Craft cardstock (in chocolate). I only sewed the back of it on so that it still opens up and then I put a pocket behind there to hold the Mother's Day card I received this year. I'll show you what I mean......

It's not really the prettiest thing you've ever seen behind there, but it's practical!

The photo is of Munchy giving me my Mother's Day present (see the macaroni necklace I'm wearing?!) and the journalling tells the story about how I was away all that day but that she rang me up in my lunch break and said (without prompting by her Daddy) "Mummy, I love you and I'm never going to stop." It sure bought a tear to my eye and I knew that moment would be scrapped.

Another memory captured forever and all wrapped up in pretty product :-)