Goal achieved.

Again, no insert needed. Just Design A pocket pages.

This week was an awesome week! Why? Because our baby turned 20! Sure it was hard to be so far away, but the power of technology (Skype and messaging on our iPads) really help to close the miles between us. I didn't worry about him celebrating too much with friends because it just so happened finals were going on at USF! My "baby" was studying like a good boy! :) I can't believe we don't have teenagers any more! Where has the time gone? 

I changed things up a bit this week in two ways.

One: With the exception of the title card and the "Today is Good" filler card, the journal and remaining filler card came from the digital version of the Midnight Project Life Edition. I keep forgetting I have it! 

Two: I did a lot of recoloring of the Midnight Edition pieces to match the color scheme of the Seafoam Edition. I really like the versatility of having the digital versions of the kits! I think you get more bang for you buck! The "Today is Good" (Seafoam Edition) was changed to a different color as well.

The sticker letters by Ryley's photo are from Thickers, but made for Studio Calico. I really, really like the size and feel of these letters. I need to see if they make this particular style in other colors. Does anybody know off hand if they do?

I couldn't resist including photos my new Epiphanie bag in my layout this week (you can read my review of this awesome camera bag here). 

So that is it! I leave for France on Monday and will try to get Week Nineteen up before I go! If not, follow me while I'm in Paris! I will be posting photos to Instagram & FaceBook!

Again, no insert this week! Just a traditional two-page layout using the Design A page protectors.

So this week my main source of embellishments came from, well, ME! I'll show you:

Remember that list I had going on of things to get done when my computer was in the shop? One of those items on the list was to clean out my closet. I'm happy to say that is one thing which got a check in the box. The few empty hangers that I found inspired me to create a fun word art filler card. Chris said after I was finished the closet looked like a store because everything was so neat and in its place.

I made the "Best Burgers in Riga" badge, too! Yummy, yummy burgers and fries. This is the only place in town where they give you free refills on your drinks!!! 

The fork, knife and spoon filler card is one that I made for the {love} my organized recipes digital kit. I thought it was perfect for this area of the page. Our downstairs neighbors had a Murder Mystery party on Saturday of this week and we had a blast! The character I played was a lawyer, Ada Turney. Chris played Lt. Ben Padlock. There were three "rounds" in the game where we had specific clues to make public and dialogue between characters exchanged in order to solve the "Murder at the Isle Royal Lodge." So fun. I would love to host one of these!

So there you have it–Week Seventeen. Let's back up to Week Fourteen for a moment. Reader Christi in MA asked if I would put the "Mother Nature" brush in my store because they had a similar winter in MA as we did in Latvia. I know it has only been a few days since I posted Week 14, but I had to go back and look at what she was talking about! I really have to do something about this short-term memory I've had lately! Anyways, I'll do one better and give the PNG away for free for a limited time (it will become part of a collection in the near future)! It may not be socially acceptable within the scrapbooking world to have that "p" word as part of layout. But you know what? Life isn't always sunshine and rainbows. We need to document the good with the bad–in a "real" way where we don't mince words and say what we mean or feel, and that is exactly how I was feeling when I snapped this photo:

So here you are Christi! I hope you and anyone else that downloads the png will make use of it! (Note: The word art is in black lettering. you can use a color overlay effect to change it to the color of your choice!)

Download SeptBlue_MotherNature.png

Thanks for reading! Weeks 18 and 19 will be posted this weekend. I usually do not blog on the weekends, for fear that people are too busy to be keeping up with the blogs they follow, but I am determined to be all caught up before my trip on Monday!

Putting together Week 16 was a nice change of pace! It was the first week in a long time that I didn't need to add an insert and just kept things to the two page spread using the Design A pocket pages.

I really, really like this area of the left hand side of the layout (photo below). The journal card is numbered so it coordinates with the numbered photos on the page. The larger gray number stickers are by Thickers and the small blue numbers on the journal card are by Jillibean Soup. The white "good eats" letters are by Studio Calico (I think).

While our Saturday walk, Chris and I ducked into this old music shop where they had TONS of vinyl albums. That photo of the Osmonds Greatest Hits brought back some memories that I wish would have stayed buried! 

We took a day trip up to Kolka, Lativa. It is the northern most tip of the country and it is where the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Riga meet. I am always amazed at how blue the water has looked on our past few trips to the coast. It's so uncharacteristic, but I love it! Those pics are straight out of the camera-no editing!

The 3x4 photo below flips up to reveal a journal card underneath.

Read to understand why that little glove on a stick makes me smile.

Isn't that sweet? I love the thoughtfulness of the gesture. Makes me feel good that there are people in this world that are respectful of other's property. It lightens my heart.

Have a great day everyone! Thank you for reading! Week 17 will be up tomorrow!