Nap Time

Now that I am Azzy’s Mimi, I can appreciate some of the advice my mother gave me when my boys were born - they are only little once and the days are long but the years are short. When you’re a parent in the thick of sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and having little shadows constantly at your side, it’s easy to wish the time away. So now when I have the opportunity to make some special memories with Azzy, I take them like I did here on our cruise last year.

Last July we cruised to Bermuda and it was Azzy’s first cruise! I loved taking my boys on their first cruise, and then my parents, Jim and the girls - I love to see them experience something new and fun. However, when you’re only 15 months old there is only so much new and fun you can take!

Azzy desperately needed a nap on her first Fun Day at Sea, and to be honest, I was exhausted from getting everything packed and ready to go (remember traveling with special needs = more packing, more hours on the phone confirming accommodations = more stress) so I graciously offered to stay with Azzy so she could take her nap. Azzy did not want a nap, but I laid down and could have instantly fallen asleep, but she would wiggle and try to get up, but I would cuddle her close and say, “Azz’s so tired. . . “ and eventually she believed me! I didn’t have to see her closed eyes, but I could feel her little body relax and her breathing even out, and I knew she was off to dreamland.

I willed myself to stay awake for just a few minutes more to enjoy the snuggles, and drink in her sweet scent before I fell asleep too. Those were some of my favorite memories from the trip. I know this season in her life will go by too fast, and she won’t be taking naps anymore and won’t want to snuggle, so I soak it in while I can.

By our second day at sea, Papa needed a nap too, and he got some Azzy snuggle time! I’ll be honest . . . I’m enjoying this phase when my kids can go off on their own, we can give Alexis a break, and I have a great excuse for a nap!

Scrapbooking Tips

This layout will go in our vacation album, but instead of giving it a vacation or cruise feel, I just wanted to make it petty. I had just gotten Echo Park’s My Little Girl Collection and I fell in love with the floral pattern and the color scheme! I knew I would like it when I pre-ordered it, but the online pictures did not do it Justice! They were so vibrant and pretty and I absolutely love everything’s about this collection.

I used an Allison Davis sketch, picked my papers and embellishments and went to work. The hardest part was narrowing down my photos! I had taken more than one nap, and Jim had taken many pictures. So I found the best one of each of us and went to work.

I followed the sketch pretty closely, but when it came to the stitching, I decided that I wanted to do a daisy chain stitch simply because I wanted to try it! I had seen Allison Davis demo it, and Paige Evans uses it on so many of her layouts, and although I’ve used it on page kits, I’ve never chosen to use it on my own. It’s a fun stitch to do and I thought it would fit the pretty feel I was going for.

After attending Debbie Sander’s demo of Nuvo Drops and Stickles at We Create I have been trying to use my ample stash. These are amazing products that add some extra finishing details on any layout. I‘ve had Stickles almost as long as I’ve been scrapbooking but have been intimidated to use them. These products you typically use as a final touch and I get hesitant to use them on a layout in which I’ve invested a lot of time. But after watching an Allison Davis’ You Tube video and Debbie demo them in person, I’ve been a lot bolder. I used Nuvo Drops in Cloud 9 to add a pearl like center to the middle of the flowers, and I used Stickles to add glitter to the butterfly wings - which is hard to see in these photos. I even went as far as to add Stickles to the top of my white letter stickers.

So all together, this layout brings together fun memories, beautiful paper, fun stitching and pretty accents - just because!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock - American Crafts

Pattern Paper & flower/butterfly stickers - Echo Park

Letter Stickers - Doodlebug Designs

Cloud 9 Nuvo Drops - Tonic Studios

Diamond Stickles - Ranger Ink