Happy Fall and The Best--Pinspired!

A few weeks ago I attended an AWESOME scrapbook retreat with some of my favorite scrappy friends!  I had such a great time scrapping, teaching classes, laughing, and NOT sleeping!  :)  I got quite a few projects done and I want to share some with you today!

These two layouts are based on the crop going on RIGHT NOW at My Scraps & More.  We are having a Pinspirational Crop, where all the challenges have come from Pins!  Check out all the details HERE.

My first challenge was based on this image:

I love groups of frames on walls, and how awesome is the CHALKBOARD file cabinet???  So cool!

When I saw this piece of paper from the Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party collection, those frames just screamed "CUT ME OUT", so I did!  :)  I back each open frame with some of the patterned papers from this collection, and then one of the frames held my photo.  

I wanted to add some contrast to the page, so I used some Chalkboard elements from AC and Studio Calico.  Just a bit of stitching inside a few of the frames, and a few popped up elements and that's that!

My next page I created with one of my favorite fall collections: Basic Grey Persimmon!  I had some photos of the kids playing in the leaves, so I wanted to do something with leaves on my page.

Searching the "Science & Nature" category on Pinterest, I saw this image and it gave me an idea!

I loved the layered edges that were all different and I thought about my DECORATIVE SCISSORS!  So I dusted them off and went to town cutting out leaves with different edges.  Then I added some orange machine stitching randomly in the middle.

I stitched some large circles to help ground my photos and create a flowing design.  Some sequins and splatters add a bit of fun....

After I did this page, I had some photos of my little guy in the leaves, too, so I stuck with the same collection and even tied in a few of the same elements.  I designed these two pages separately, but together they work as a double page spread!   

To help the pages work better together, I also stitched a large circle and added the splatters and sequins, too!

Many times when I scrap I just from collection to collection, but maybe I should stick with one collection and do a few layouts at a time?  I scrapped much faster this way!

I plan on blogging a lot more this month than I have been because I have SO much to share!  (And by publicly stating this, now I have to!  :)   )

Stay scrappy my friends!