Spring *Mini Book Monday*

Welcome to another late edition of *Mini Book Monday* This week's mini is a little bit different than my usual style, which is probably why I struggled with it so much! I wanted to attempt to tackle a shaped mini and saw this gorgeous sheer butterfly album at Archiver's the other day.

So the idea behind this mini was to record a bit about me at 25, but I wanted to go a bit more in depth than just these are my favorite shows and this is my favorite color. This year, for me, has been one of the most difficult of my life. Without delving into too much detail, I wanted to create this mini to remember this year and to record some of my hopes for the future. After all, Spring is a time for new beginnings, isn't it?

I didn't include all of the pages, as I'm still finishing it up but I wanted to share a few favorites. The album itself is done by Maya Road. I loved the shape of the butterfly. It's a pretty butterfly, and I'm a bit picky about the shape of those :) The chipboard embellishments, Thickers, crochet flowers, and ribbon are all from the Dear Lizzy line by American Crafts.

So thanks for stopping by and seeing the final *mini for Mini Book May! Be sure to leave a comment for the chance to win a fun Mini Rak! Oh, and check back next Monday for the winner of the RAK and a bit more Mini goodness.

xxbesos

j.leija

Blog Post #100!!

In honor of pet week, as I've know decided this week has become, and in honor of my 100 blog post, I thought we'd take a walk together down memory lane. :) Shall we?

After I made those mini's I went back to look at some of the pages I've done of Maddie in the past. I've been scrapbooking her since the beginning, so it's super interesting to see how my style and general skills have evolved and changed. Also to see her "grow" up and get older. I didn't take many photos of her when she was younger. I think I might have been too young to have a camera yet, it was so long ago!

Oh those first pages...Can you tell that I started out with Creative Memories? That was way back in 1997 (if I did that math right) the same year I got Maddie.

What were the signatures of my style then? Apparently shaped photos, decorative scissors and hand lettering. The latter has a lasting place in my repertoire.

I stepped away from scrapping for awhile but got back to it in 2002, at least according to the dates on these layouts. Note to self: start dating the backs of layouts.

It seems that Maddie has been on this scrappy journey with me, for years and years now. Here's a page I did 6 years ago, almost to the day. Found out via 2Ps that this was created on or around May 24, 2004.

Back in the day I scrapped a lot on my bed, since I didn't have any space. Maddie sleeps on my bed. Vis a vis, she slept in the midst of my scrappy zone.

A few weeks later (6.29.2004), I came up with this layout. Love the color of that red! Also sad to note, I guess I had the intention of writing something to hide under the photo that is tagged "lift" but there's nothing there!! Such a bummer.

I remember I was feeling guilty about my stash at this point, which is why I chose these papers and stickers. I actually really like it though. Oh, and this is also around the time when I started getting into my now staple, 8x8 size.

Sad to say, the last layout I did of Maddie was in 2005, before the mini I created earlier this week. I got super fancy with the font work on this one. Not sure if you can really tell, but I shadowed Maddie in the background behind the journaling. Might have to try that again!

Thanks for coming with me on this jaunt down scrappy memory lane. It's been interesting to say the last. Anyone brave enough to share some of their earlier work as well? I'd love to see it! Happy scrapping :)

xxbesos

j.leija

Hazel Tag *Mini*

Hazel Mini

Here's the second of my pet mini's, the one of Hazel my oversized lap dog! I got the idea to do a tag book from alexandra s.m. and the tutorial on her blog. I love how cute and tiny her version is. This guy is approximately 3x3 in.

Thanks for stopping by!

xxbesos

j.leija