Hello, Old Friend

On the upside of a three day holiday weekend when it's rained more than not and I've basically been in bed sick, I have caught up on reality TV, watched the Wedding Planner and several musicals. Not alot of excitement. I did manage to teach our last Sunday School class until next Fall and to go to a movie with my husband yesterday, but that's about as exciting as it's gotten. Feeling a bit better everyday, but this yuk has really knocked me out.

Would have loved to have used this time to do any number of things that needed to be done around here, but just haven't felt up to it. Besides, if I hadn't been sick I'd been at the Lake for most of the weekend. I did take the opportunity on Saturday to spend some time with an old friend-scrapbooking! Yes, before I fell in love with the wonderful world of mixed media I had a little thing for scrapbooking.

Shoulda known back then what was ahead since one of my favorite designers has always been Jenni Bowlin. Drawn to her use of vintage elements, I couldn't get enough of her signature style so I began subscribing to her "kit" club. Each month subscribers receive a collection of patterned paper and embellishments chosen by the designer herself. Slowly Jenni began to design her own products tailored to her esthetic-a delightful mix of vintage and modern. Now, most of the products in her kits are JBS exclusive products. In addition to her montly papercrafting kit, she also features a project kit each month as well as limited addition mixed media kits. See what I mean? I love her style!




Anyway, I took the opportunity in between naps to work on some things I had received in recent months from Jenni. I'm ashamed to say, I have quite a stockpile. At one time, I had challenged myself to create at least three layouts from each kit filling an entire album, but have since gotten derailed.





This one was a project kit I assembled for my Mom last weekend, but I didn't get a chance to share it yet. I like the way Jenni used the rubons to accent the photos. These are from her product line and go on "like butter"! I'm always amazed just how much she seems to get out of the kits she designs. Always lots leftover to use on future projects.





I first discovered Jenni and Heidi Swapp because they both had boys and there seemed to be so few layouts in the magazines with boy stuff. I like the way they both are not afraid to use traditionally feminine colors and elements for boys. Afterall, real men wear pink don't ya know!





I also credit Jenni with helping me to overcome my fear of journaling. Inspired by her, I have used song lyrics, poetry (even my own) and just a few words to tell why I want to remember a brief moment captured in a photo. In the layout above I chose this time to use a quote card I ordered from Rebecca Sower's etsy shop. You can find a link to her shop HERE. She and Jenni both use vintage elements in their work and I often get their names mixed up when I talk about them!



Even tho' I would've rather not been sick this holiday weekend and didn't feel up to doing much, I'm glad I seized the opportunity to revisit my old friend scrapbooking. We'll stay in touch thanks to Jenni.