Joyland...let me profess my love and adoration.

the new April kit at Studio Calico went live last night...and is available for purchase HERE!! as i said in previous posts, i completely fell in love with this kit. maybe it had something to do with the layouts that happened with it...or the abundance of teal and yellow that seem to be finding their way onto my pages as well as my closet...who knows? i just happen to love this kit and every single thing in it. just a few things to say/explain about each...

the layout above of my Dad allowed me to finally jot down a story he told me several times over...usually whenever i felt down about something, or if something seemed 'tough'. he would kind of say, 'tough is being 18 years old, flown to Germany after 6 brief weeks in Army boot camp, stepping off the plane and being excited to see tons of people waving American flags to welcome your unit. then out of the corner of your eye, you see a small boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old waving a German flag...he catches your eye and you smile. the little fella then shouts, 'go home, Yankee!!'...and you realize that you're in a strange country, with only the guys you've known for the last 6 weeks as allies. THAT was tough.' love that story...and this photo of him in his barracks there in Germany. so proud of my Dad for his service.

i didn't think the kit would fit with a military layout, but i have a habit of chopping off the Sassafras borders as soon as i get them, lol...so it was laying alone on my desk and i noticed the red/white/blue. spritzed the background of my kraft base with Charcoal Mist (my most used mist for sure!), and using one of the triangle banner pieces from the Main Kit and some red jute...i made a little flag that was kind of fun. i used one of those awesome K&Co frames to house my journaling...they aren't necessarily meant just for photos!!

oh boy...a page about my birthday, lol. for some reason, i had a hard time with my birthday this year...i attributed it to exhaustion from my trip to Anaheim, but who knows lol? i had snapped pics of the fun gifts Allie had given me to perk me up, so i printed out this silly photo of myself that she took and kind of had fun putting this one together. lots of elements on here from the Skycoaster add-on...and i played around with hand-sewing around the edge of my cloud with the yellow twine.

this was another kind of fun layout that fell together...i split the tag that came in the Skycoaster add-on and added a tiny 'S' for the title. just a few random snapshots from my scrap room of my collections that make me smile. i fell in LOVE with those Prima flower centers from the Tilt-a-Whirl add-on and am hoarding the ones i have leftover. i also found myself using the little house outline stamp that comes in the Wacky Shack add-on more than i thought i would...and the word 'happy' on that large white frame? i used some of the American Crafts Zing embossing powder...more on that to come, as i am in LOVE with it for an awesome quality yellow stamped image.
this last one kind of 'happened' after a day that Allie and i hadn't quite seen eye to eye about something, lol...does that ever happen to anyone else? i find myself journaling about feelings, and using a kind of random photo to tag along with it. i guess that happens when journaling is a big part of why you scrapbook, right? anyway, i became smitten with the color and phrases in the American Crafts Thickers chipboard in the Wacky Shack add-on...and used this one for the title because it reminded me of Allie's own almost-11-year-old handwriting. (she also has been known to use hearts to dot her I's, so it was perfect) the vase from that sheet added to the 'home' theme and what do you know...there is another one of those Prima sequined thingies and the yellow stamped house! (not to mention my fave new flower punch, that April is waiting on for the shop!) i am loving use white cardstock as a base again lately...but i keep reaching for my Cream Maya Mist to tone it down just a touch. that Cream Mist is probably my second most often reached for color...and it's GREAT if you are new to misting and maybe a bit intimidated by all of the colors available out there!

so that's all i have for Joyland...but there is MUCH inspiration over in the gallery, as i think just about everyone loved this kit as much as me!

now to wait for May...ahhhhhhh.
;)