The Winter Blues are officially Over!

I can't believe it. Scraptivity's Scrap Away Your Winter Blues challenge ended last weekend, and I managed to complete all 12 layouts. I have to admit, it took a bit of a scrapping marathon last weekend, but I did it. The challenge for the first layout below, Week 12, was to use doodling. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think I have ever used doodling on a layout before, so this was truly a first for me.

I used a template from Paper Pizazz as a guide for the swirls, and I really like the result. This is one of my favourite photos of Vanessa.

Journaling says: Vanessa, It’s not just your love of all things girly that makes you such a beautiful person. Things like pretty dresses and colourful jewellery, wearing your long hair curly with lovely clips; yes, these things make you beautiful. But it is your compassion and caring, your kindness and selflessness that make you truly beautiful. 4 years old, May 2007
The challenge for Week 6 was colouring, and although I left this one to the end, I loved doing it. I coloured the background paper using watercolour pencils and Twinkling H2O watercolour paints. It was a lot of work, but I like the way it turned out. Journaling on the tag talks about how our dd loves flowers so much, including dandelions, and she gets upset if anyone tells her it’s a weed!
To see this KI Memories paper before I coloured it, scroll down here
I left the sewing challenge for Week 8 for last, and posted this page moments before the deadline. Evan really wanted piñata for his 6th birthday party. I stitched the line where the lanterns are hanging at the top of this layout. I love these K & Co. lanterns!

Journaling says: Evan, for your 6th birthday, all you wanted was a party with a piñata! I searched everywhere for a Star Wars one, but finally settled on Batman for you. You were thrilled! Happy Birthday, dude!
Week 11's challenge involved choosing an design from Scraptivity's digital elements, and I chose the bingo card for this page about how much the kids love playing games with their Grandma and Papa. I was working on this page at Scrapalicious crop when the kind lady sitting next to me won some American Crafts foam shapes in a draw. I was commenting on how adorable they were and we noticed how nicely they would fit on my page. She generously gave them to me! Scrappers are wonderful people!

Whew! While I'm suffering from scrapbooking exhaustion, I'm thrilled at the layouts I completed during this challenge, and am actually feeling a bit of withdrawal now that it's over. Thanks, Scraptivity and Canadian Scrapbooker for some wonderful scrappy inspiration over the past 12 weeks.

Coming up soon - stay tuned for a peek at the next set of exciting products I will be designing with in my latest Scrapalicious DT kit!