Celebrating My Love

I know Valentine's Day is past, but it is never too late to create a layout about the most important person in your life, right? I was so busy making Valentine cards for my family members, and special friends going through difficult times right now, that I did not have time to scrap a layout for my sweetheart. This is something I have done annually the past couple of years. The nice thing about being "late" is that I could incorporate a bit of the Valentine my husband gave me on the 14th. The card I was given had scripture from Song of Solomon, chapter 3, verse 4: "...I found the one my heart loves." My husband's card was very moving - I love Dayspring cards. It did not go without notice that both of us thanked one another for being Godly spouses. I love how God moves in our lives.
It just so happened that the discovery challenge at www.faithsisters.com this week also encourages us to create a layout about the special someone in our life. Not surprisingly, it was also the Feb. 14 challenge at the Scrapbook Playground - a part of their montly long February crop event.
Thursday night a valentine poem came into my head. I wrote it on a post it note, in arms reach, and tucked it into my jeans pocket. Friday morning I put a load of wash in before work. Friday afternoon I wanted to start on the layout, and I realized I could not find the poem. I ran to the dryer, found the post it in my jeans pocket, and nothing was legible. Oh well... I started over.

Although some of the lines seem silly - the words ring true. The chocolate line was totally inspired by the chocolate hearts on the "Love Me Tender" quick page (digital) by Penny Lewis at www.kjoistudios.com. I SO LOVE dark chocolate! But the mention of chipboard...this is about my scrapbooking and the time it involves. I know that my passion to create, the creative team deadlines I have, bite into special alone time with my husband, and I need to work on that. Thus, the chipboard line really applies to all my supplies - but I love chipboard LOTS! (LOL) Here is my poem, second time around:
I love you more than chocolate 'cuz your love won't melt away.
I love your more than chipboard 'cuz you aim to please me everyday.
I love you more than a fuzzy sweater 'cuz you always keep me warm.
I love you more than anything 'cuz our love has weathered storms.
I love you - just 'cuz you are my love.

The rest of the digital elements for this page are credited to:
Dragons Lair - notebook paper and stop watch, and Oval Bookplate – Cactus Mango Designs downloaded from www.kjoistudios.com
Trevor's Treasures kit – red chipboard heart
Scroll Stamps - seishido biz.com

As you can tell from my short supply list - I did not add a whole lot to Penny's fabulous quick page filled with layered flowers around a frame and cool scrolls and ric rack. To add in the notebook paper, chipboard heart and bookplate I used layers to my advantage in Photoshop. I reduced the opacity of the newly introduced element, and carefully used the eraser tool to remove the portions that I wanted "tucked under". Once done I returned the opacity to 100%. This is a great trick for adding additional elements to a quick page to personalize it. If you are inclined not to download quick pages because you "want to have complete creative control" (this is how I was) - try this approach. I have learned that I can work with quick pages and still introduce my own personal style (which has to have a circle somewhere!).

Quick pages can often be downloaded as freebies by a designer wanting to introduce you to a new kit they have put together. Don't be afraid - give them a try!