My Scraps & More Sketch Challenge

Well Paolina loved her first day of preschool...and so did I! I was soooo productive. I got some cleaning done, phone calls made (anyone with small children can appreciate that one...why won't they ever let us talk on the phone??), and I got some scrappy time in! I even started an altered project which I haven't had much time for in the last year. The best part of the whole day was how excited Paolina was to see me when I picked her up and how happy I was to have both of them home after getting a much-needed break. I really have a lot of respect for the moms who homeschool. I could never, ever do it. I'm just too much of an introvert to never get any peaceful, quiet "me" time. I'm much more patient with them when I have had a chance to recharge, and I will readily admit that I just need a break from my kids to be a good mom.

Enough about that...on to some scrappy stuff I want to share. My Scraps & More Sketches is another sketch challenge blog I enjoy. I love that they post new sketches every week and give you the entire month to link them up. This month I was only able to use one of their sketches, but I definitely see being able to use more of their sketches in future months. I used Sketch #42 and came up with this...

Besides the adorable photos of Santiago when he was only 14 months old, my favorite part of this layout is that I was able to combine some brand new Crate Paper The Pier (the background & green patterned paper) with some scraps of Basic Grey Marrakech, which is a seriously old line. Add some masking & paint splatter and this page looks totally current! It's super fun to get the latest, greatest scrappy stuff but I truly believe that it really is possible to use up your hoarded stash while keeping your pages looking up-to-date.