On a kraft background

I told you'd be back with some pretty paper and cute children!  I thought I'd take you on a wander through some pages I've made recently.

First up, two pages about Isaac's second birthday.  I printed 20 odd photos from the day itself and divided up into those that tell a particular story and those that are just pretty to look at.  I think I have between 6 and 8 pages to make and I wanted to tie them together without using all the same supplies so I've decided to use kraft cardstock as the background.

This is the only real portrait shot I have of Isaac on his birthday.  We went to our usual Thursday morning toddler group at Holy Trinity Church in Leicester and Isaac likes to stop between the church and the car to sit on a wall.  Just to sit.  Really, I have no idea, but he enjoys himself.  I snapped a few photos on my phone as he beckoned me over to sit next to him.  It's a really simple page but I thought it would be perfect as an opening page to his third year.

I used my Slice to cut different styles of star from patterned paper and moved them around til I was happy.  The papers are all from October Afternoon Cakewalk and I used the co-ordinating mini market stickers for the date.  I love love love these new thickers - Amy Tangerine Muse thickers in woodgrain - they're smooth and shiny with a lovely pattern.  Add some measuring tape washi and it's done.

I have another set of photos to use for a cupcake page so I used these to talk about Isaac's birthday tea.  I really wanted to cook something I knew he'd enjoy eating (we're going through some testing toddler mealtimes lately) so we had chicken nuggets, potato wedges and corn-on-the-cob.  With dippy sauce, of course!  We had cupcakes for pudding; Isaac loved blowing out the candles and then doling out the cakes to everyone.

This is mostly Lily Bee Double Dutch collection (gingham papers, spotty paper, bunting and round sticker) with a bit of Bella Blvd Finally Fall (clouds) and some thickers (well duh!).

 Every time I boil the kettle these days, Isaac dashes in to grab the hot chocolate and a spoon.  He's addicted!  I snapped this phone photo of our cups back in April as part of Week in the Life and printed it with this page in mind.  The papers are really old October Afternoon (Detours I think) with some Jillibean corrugated alphas, random washi tape and a kraft luggage tag (from WHSmith).

A bit more October Afternoon with altered Darling thickers (I ran out of e and t) and the mini market litters I bought last month.  The little tag on the top left is from Martha Stewart for Staples US.  They've recently released a line in Staples UK; the journals are lovely, with a really nice feel to the covers and thick paper on the inside.  We took this photo in May on an afternoon in Bradgate Park.  It's a bit out of focus and nobody's really looking at the camera, but I love it.  The title, I had a dream...., is inspired by a challenge on One Story Down.

These photos were taken on Isaac's birthday and it's Anna's first attempt at a corn cob.  She had no teeth at this point and it was remarkable how much damage she did with just her gums!  The face she's pulling in the bottom photo is just so precisely her - she pulls that sort of face at me all the time!  I used Echo Park Hello Summer with some Paperchase washi tape (they do some great basics like ginghams and spots and have released a 3 pack of tapes to co-ordinate with some of their seasonal lines over the last year).

I hope that was enough paper to please the crafters and enough cute children to satisfy my family.