Butterflies and Scallops

I had been wondering whether I could incorporate some patterened paper in to my layouts.  I had this awesome butterfly paper that I really wanted to use for our butterfly show pictures, but since it was round and scalloped, I wasn't sure I could make it work with the mosaic paper.  It took a little finessing but I was finally able to get everything worked in.  I know the layout is kind of busy, but it kind of fit the mood of the day for me - chasing three kids around a giant room full of butterflies going in every direction!

Pumpkins!

Back in 2007, I took these close-up photographs of a couple of buckets of tiny pumpkins that were for sale at a Pumpkin Farm we went to.  I still don't know why I took those photographs, but now that I am a mosaic scrapbooker, I certainly was glad to find them there in my stacks of "needs to be scrapped" photos!  Tami Potter's book says that the first mosaic she ever made was with pictures of her kids at a pumpkin farm - and I have to agree that those kind of pics really lend themselves to this format. 

Ugh, that cord!  I promise to do a better job of taking pictures of my layouts in the future.

Eggspert!

When my nephew, Kayden, was three years old, he colored every one of his Easter eggs the same shade of robin's egg blue.  It was the first time he was big enough to blow out his own eggs and to do everything "all by himself" so we just let him have at it.  Absolutely priceless!!!

Thank you Samuel Clemens!

Mark Twain has always been one of my heroes, mostly because I share his wanderlust and many of his philosophical views.  But did you know he was a scrapbooker???  According to the PBS website:

"Mark Twain was a lifelong creator and keeper of scrapbooks. He took them with him everywhere and filled them with souvenirs, pictures, and articles about his books and performances. But in time, he grew tired of the lost glue, rock-hard paste, and the swearing that resulted from the standard scrapbook process. So, he came up with the idea of printing thin strips of glue on the pages to make updates neat and easy to do. In 1872, he patented his “self-pasting” scrapbook, and by 1901, at least 57 different types of his albums were available. It would be his only invention that ever made money."

Check it out!  http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/scrapbook/index.html

Chihuly Mosaic

I knew as soon as I discovered mosaics that these pictures from the Dave Chihuly exhibit at the Indianapolis Children's Museum would an ideal concept for a mosaic.  The small mosaic pieces are from photos that I took while lying down (see upper right pic on left page) looking up through the bottom of the exhibit.  After I did this mosaic, my friend Erika kindly pointed out that the pic on the lower right of the left-hand page was UPSIDE DOWN!  DOHLT!  I have since turned it around, but saved this picture to show how I can sometimes get so caught up in the concept and all the little pieces, that I lose sight of the BIG PICTURE.  Thanks Erika!