Well Read: A post about favorites

This month's challenge over at Scrapping Everyday Miracles is to create a layout about favorites and use office supplies. I love a good challenge, and I love office supplies so I jumped on this one. I started the page once everyone in my house was asleep, so I decided to work with some of my current favorites. Digging through my stash to get going, I found the Scholastic paper and Stickease from CTMH and I knew what favorites I would document - books!

Since I am an English teacher by day, many people ask about my favorite book, but it is a question I have a hard time answering. I struggle to name an all-time favorite. I wrote about that in the journaling below the photo and then listed six current favorites and described a bit about why I love them.

Although I don't often use themed items, the paper, zip strips and Stickease were perfect embellishments for this topic. It was fun to tie in the different elements.









I love this Thoreau quote from the Stickease sheet! One of my philosophies about reading is that life is too short for bad books (unless they have been assigned, of course!)

I thought the staples and paper clips were a good fit with the theme and style of this layout (in addition to being part of the challenge!)

I repeated the idea of a quote in this cluster near the title as well. There were so many quotes about reading that I had a hard time choosing just one (and an even harder time making it fit on the paper!)

Thanks for the challenge! I enjoyed deliberating over my favorites and creating this page!

What about you? Do you have a current favorite book? (I'm always looking for a new one!)

Paper Trail Blog Hop

It's August and that means a new Close to My Heart idea book and a bit of variety on the Paper Trail. If you've arrived here from Amy's blog you're on the right track. If this is your first stop, don't worry. This hop is circular!

Even though we still have a month of summer vacation left in our part of the country, the new Scholastic paper pack has me thinking about school. I created a couple of cards using this paper and patterns from the new Make it from your Heart book!

The library pocket paper seemed perfect for a bookmark!
















I like the combination bold patterns and more muted ones in this pack. A few embellishments round out simple cards.



The bold book pattern made this card a snap. The library pocket pattern was a fun place for a sentiment from the July stamp of the month.










The bold letter and number pattern contrasts with other patterns in this simple card.


I really enjoyed creating with the new Make it from Your Heart book! The patterns are easy to follow. The cutting guides are clear. There is artwork for each pattern - sometimes two different examples. I like seeing more than one way of using the patterns. I also really like that this book includes double page layouts, single page layouts and cards in one place!




Thanks for stopping by. Please continue on to Karen's blog to see what she has created this month. I hope you'll stop back soon!