Tidbits of a Favourite Layout.

I fell in love with a picture I'd taken of my daughter and two of her friends while we were downtown for the local Santa Claus Parade. The pose the girls struck was sweet and fun, while the colours from the cement stones, pavement, the girls' clothing and overcast day gave an edginess to the photo....so very downtown.
Well, the photo just happened to work perfectly with some paper I'd bought for an anniversary layout that never happened. The greys, blacks and reds along with the patterns and distressing was just a beautiful match.
To avoid getting permission from the other girls' parents, I am only going to show elements of the layout, not the layout as a whole. Little tidbits that I love almost as much as the photo itself...the pieces that bring everything together....the sweet with the edgy.
First shot shows two hearts I made with my new Cricut cartridge, Ashlyn's Alphabet, emphasized with 3 embossed brads (the embossing has started to rub off, but the effect is nice...I think I'll try sealing it though to avoid further damage). Below the hearts is the top right corner of the photo, along with a freehand border done with marker and a paper piercer (used to scratch the inner line into the Coredinations cardstock).

This second shot shows a chipboard circle and fancy brad securing a transparency tag that was actually from a sweater I received for Christmas. Oh how I love to be able to re-purpose for my craft!

Lastly, there's this shot of the left side of the layout. This swirl was also made from my Ashlyn's Alphabet cartridge, accented by 3 more embossed brads that are "self-distressing."

Please note, the red above the swirl is actually my table cloth, not part of the layout though oddly, it does look like it belongs!

This is the first layout I've done in the new year, and after a scrappy hiatus over the holidays it felt so good to release some creative energy. Thanks for allowing me to share it with you!