I've had some creative time...

One of the things I love about my day job is that I have vacations every so often. Last week was one such vacation. We didn't take any major trips, didn't plan any big events. This time we simply stayed around town and enjoyed a more flexible schedule. For me, that meant a good deal of creative time. I think I have completed 14 pages this month.

Here are a couple of pages from the last week or two. I've found some summer photos from a last year. It is a nice change from the weather we are having here right now.

Although these photos aren't obviously from July 4th, I decided to take my cue for the color scheme and journaling from the holiday I know we were celebrating. (Our most patriotic tradition is watching fireworks, and I haven't yet tried photographing them.)

 I used mostly cardstock on this page. (Only the base page is patterned paper.) I did stamp a background on the red (Ruby) paper and some details on the kraft.

When I was almost done with the layout, there was an unplanned change. Can you see where I dropped my ink pad directly on the kraft cardstock? I ended up distressing more than I had intended, but I'm okay with it.

The journaling I did doesn't focus specifically on this day or on our July 4th traditions. I've already created that layout. Instead, I wrote a bit about my feelings for my country and my hopes for my kiddos in that regard. I don't think I've ever journaled about that before.

The next page was totally photo driven. One day last summer I decided to get artsy with the camera at dinner time. I have been sorting out some old supplies recently. All three of these papers came from my "old supply" stash. Two of them are older than my three-year-old!









Flexible time, fun summer photos and supplies I forgot I had. For me last week, this was the recipe for creativity!

What has been inspiring your creativity lately?