Trying to scrap about yourself...

... is quite a challenge for somebody like me, who hates to be photographed. Cropchocolate.com has decided to overhaul their "Design Team" and instead of maintaining a stable of 80+ "volunteers", they'll be using the next 6 months worth of projects to whittle us down to only TEN! On the bright side, this really challenges us to think outside the box (to distinguish our talents from others) but on the downside, it's actually pretty stressful! Due to shipping delays for my last shipment, I couldn't even finalize my patterned paper selection until last weekend... and just completed my project this afternoon.

This month's challenge was to scrap {All About Me}. I'd never used Little Yellow Bicycle papers before, but I liked the color palette and decided to showcase this collection. I didn't follow any sketches (which probably caused a good deal of my stress) so trying to fit 13 photos onto two pages was... "interesting". I've always been partial to the vertical two-page 12x12 layout, since it is quite "different". It's too bad my handwriting isn't prettier, but I guess when I am gone from this world, my kids will have a writing sample... :)

The journaling reads: "Our lives and personalities are shaped (for better or worse) by our experiences and some luck. Even so, part of my life is now a blur, as if life truly began after I met my husband. My children, however, know very little of my “life before kids” – I’m just “Mommy”. Perhaps later in life they will understand why I am the way I am – and appreciate why I didn’t let them get away with everything. Only time will tell…"

Here's the full materials list:

Crop Chocolate materials used:
1. Patterned papers – Little Yellow Bicycle (LYB) “Fresh Print Clothesline” collection pack (2 sets)
2. Chipboard embellishments – LYB “Fresh Print Clothesline” chipboard stickers
3. Stick pins - LYB “Fresh Print Clothesline” flower stick pins
4. Flower stickers – LYB “Fresh Print Clothesline” dimensional stickers
5. Alphabet stickers – Making Memories Shimmer Alpha stickers (blue & holiday)
6. Sequins – MM gem collection (white)
7. Toppers on sequins – MM Paper Reverie Gems & Brads (Metallique)
8. Brads – MM mini circle brads (pewter)
9. Diecut tags – MM Slice Tag Maker design card

Other materials used (non-CC):
1. Black pen (Sakura 0.005 micron pen)
2. Corner rounder (Marvy-Uchida)
3. Templates –
a. Big scalloped edge (on left) – traced KI Memories sheer sheet
b. Heart, small circle and small square – MM punches (for Tag Maker)
c. Large circle – “Pages by Design” template system (by Deluxe Designs)
4. Small scalloped edge (top and bottom) – Fiskars
5. White cardstock (with computer-printed journaling)– the Paper company