One Little Word Scrapbook Challenge

I think all of you know how much I love scrapbooking (just a teensy-weensy addicted, perhaps!) and I've shared with you how much I love all of these cool scrapbook challenge blogs online. They give you ideas for scrapbook pages and challenge you to do your own "take" on the ideas. Probably my favorite is the One Little Word challenge blog. The gals there give you a word and you have to create something using that word.

I had gotten behind and actually had three words that I hadn't done (I'm making an album of all the layouts from OLW, so I want to do all of them!). So, I have several to share with you!

The first is the current challenge. It's using the word "Pure" and I have to say that I currently LOVE this layout. When I first heard the word "pure," I was trying to think of what that word meant to me. I could have done something on purity and it's relationship to my faith. Or maybe something about my pure love for my girls. But...this is what I came up with instead and I think it's perfect for the word.

"A Pure love of the game" . . .

The page tells of Delaney's "pure" love for softball. I really like that it's sort of dimensional; I have the journaling paper and some of the stars actually coming off of the page. It looks cool in "real life," I promise!

The journaling on it says: "Delaney has a pure love for softball! Ask her what her favorite things are and it's always on the top of the list. And if you watch her play, you see her love for it in action! She will dive for balls at second basae, pitch her heart out, run like the wind, make a clutch hit when we need it, slide with enthusiasm, and cheer loudly from the dugout! You can't force or teach such passion!"

Then here are the pages I did for the two past words I missed. This one was for the word "Balance" and I could have certainly done something on how I need to have more balance in my life. It could have easily been a serious page, but then I saw this picture! The way the girls (McKenna, Delaney, Scout, and my niece Lori) were piling up on each other showed balance in a way, and then I thought of how it could work on the page.

"Achieving balance through silliness"...

The journaling on it says: "Oftentimes the best way to achieve balance in my crazy, hectic life is to have FUN, laugh out loud, and be silly! Only then can my perspective be straightened out!"

And then the third word I did was "Automatic." To me, this was a very challenging word--because it didn't immediately make me think of a certain phrase or a certain "theme" for a page. But then I got to thinking about when I felt something come over me automatically. You know those times? When something happens almost immediately...automatically... and you just feel something so real? That happens the moment you give birth to a child and you feel that automatic love...or when you travel somewhere special for the first time and just automatically feel at home there.

Well, this moment is what came to my mind. And an added bonus? It involves showing you all a picture of Gary and I a big almost 13 years ago!! (Boy we look young in it!)

"Automatic Attraction" . . .

I decided to make that page just a real random, free-wheeling kind of page. With doodles, randomly-placed hearts and designs, even staples to attach elements. I really like it because it's fun AND it takes me back to those moments when I first knew I loved Gary (and to those days when we were cute and carefree in his little red Miata!).

The journaling on it says: "was it love at first sight when I first met Gary? Nope (even though that would come quick!), but it was definitely attraction. The night we met, he was just so cute that I couldn't stop thinking about him. And then he kissed me, and I was done for!"

Now..I also just wanted to share with you that I also do a lot of really simple pages. Not all of them are elaborate like those I just showed. Because scrapbooking is, after all, about getting my memories down in pages and into albums. And I think that a lot of new scrapbookers ( or just those who want to try their hand at it....like a lot of you have commented to me!) don't know where to start or think that their pages have to be done a "certain" way. So, I just wanted to show you that I do a lot of pages like this too...

This is a two-page spread with pictures from Delaney's birthday party this past summer. It simply involves some pretty background paper, some alphabet cut-outs for her name, a journaling block, and a ton of photos! And lots of great memories!!

I'm off to bed! I hope you all have a fantastic night and an even better Thursday! (And, oh, all of your comments yesterday were too cool! Good to know that there were other Dyna Girl fans out there and that a lot of you still do the "Wonder Twin Powers Activate" thing in your own life today! And, yes Kelly, I remember Isis. I LOVED her and pretended to be her on a regular basis! AND...thanks for the reminder that the "Land of the Lost" creatures were Sleestaks. How could I have ever forgotten that?)