Everyday I'm Hustlin'

(Insert the song by Rick Ross and you get the picture.)  Seriously, though, I have been making page layouts during my nights and weekends so I can get each member of my family a nice scrapbook by Christmas.  I figure any gift I give them will most likely be used up and forgotten; this is something they can keep for a long time, give away, etc.  I have been having the most fun with Anabella's pages... she's just so darn cute.  Here's her third page for Anita & Matt's book:

I used a postage stamp die for the photo mat, how cute is that?!  I also thought I'd better tie in the red with something extra, hence the large 1" dots.  I swear, I had to control myself with this page, I wanted to clutter it until the cows came home.  Here's a close up:

I had lots of fun with this portion of the page; I had to figure out a way to convey a feeling of the whole day so that she could understand it later... I hope it worked.  I should have dropped some water and a bonfire in there, but like I said: clutter.  I can't STAND it in my life, so...
Anyway, I love love LOVE how I did the O's on "Cool", let me show you a close up of that:

I found the shades in my Critter cartridge; they went with a giraffe, and I had to scale them up LOTS.  I used my Xacto knife to cut out the middles, just in case you notice how wonky that looks.  How freakin' cute is my niece?!  I love her, dammit!  She is getting her teeth, yelling all day long, and gets mad when she can't find milk when she sucks on whatever skin she finds available to her mouth.  Pretty cute.  So, I also made a page for my parents book, two really, and I held back there also.  I have to wonder what my pages would look like if I cluttered them up, not holding back?  Maybe I'll try that tonight.  I have two pics of my brothers, one of them super young, and one recent to work on next.  So, here's my parent's pages:

The top pic is from when they first met, I imagine from how young and dopey they look (kidding), and the second is at their wedding...

Those are more recent... the bottom one was when I was a teenager, so they must have been in their middle or late 30's.  I have to wonder how two people could stand each other for so long???  How do they do it?  I get tired of my shoes at the end of the day!  I think they'll like their books, and I plan on keeping the rest of the pages secret from here out... shhhhh! :)

I look forward to Christmas, actually -- I may have lots of b.s. behind me, onto other things.  One can hope.

XO