LOVE

I didn't realize how much you could love another person until I became a mother. You feel like your heart is walking around outside your body when you look into the eyes of your own child. When I was pregnant with Zach, I was worried about being able to love a second baby as much as I loved Caleb. I learned that a mother's love multiplied when you have more than one child. When Alexis and Alyssia, my stepdaughters, came into my life, I was surprised at how much I could love children that were not biologically mine. I fell in love with them when I fell in love with their dad, and we became a blended family. My heart grew even bigger with two more children to love.

Then came sweet little Asmerelda. When Alexis had Azzy, I fell so much in love with this little girl I thought my heart would burst! I finally understood why my parents acted the way they did around my boys. To have a grandchild - even a step-grandchild - is such an amazing experience. She has me wrapped around her little finger and I love being part of her life. She has added so much joy and laughter to our family.

Scrapbooking Tips

I had an Allison Davis sketch that I had been wanting to use for a long time, but no photos seemed to match as well as these photos of Azzy. I loved Allison's design so much I followed her sketch exactly.

This layout was so much fun to create! I die cut a large heart and filled in the cut outs with paper from a 6x6" photo pad. I like using a 6x6 pad for piece work like this because the prints are scaled down and fit the smaller spaces of the heart. I had the same paper collection in 12x12 and used the larger papers for the plaid background under the solid pink cardstock and pink polka-dot paper on the left side and the letters that spell out LOVE. These papers fill a larger space on the layout so the larger prints work better.

I resized my photos to 3x4" and 2x2" using Becky Higgins' Project Life app. That way I could fit ten photos just on the left side alone! Since discovering the Project Life app, I love mixing and matching the size of my photos. It adds more visual interest than always using 4x6" or 6x4" photos.

I absolutely loved replacing the "O" in love with a photo of Azzy. I also really liked the look of the stitched borders on the letters "L" "V" and "E". I can't take credit for those ideas though - I was just following the sketch.

Having a granddaughter not only brings me so much joy, but also so brings many photographs to scrapbook!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock - Bazzill

Patter Paper and Chipboard Stickers - Echo Park

Cut File - Designed by Rhonna Farrer - Silhouette Design Studio Design ID 244444

Epoxy Hearts - Doodlebug Designs

Embroidery Floss - DMC