Spring Means... Prom, of course!! :) - Opposites Attract, Walk In My Garden

How do you incorporate Spring into your layouts?  Do you use colors that seem more 'springy'?  Do you add flowers? Birds? Bees?  And do you find yourself drawn to any particular occasion to scrapbook about as Spring approaches? 

For me, Spring for the past four years has meant something pretty important to my kiddos...  PROM!!  And I'm always excited when I realize that I have some pictures with bright, colorful dresses to scrapbook!!  YAY!!  Of course, I realize that this year prom will mean something else to me too...  It's the only year I had to buy a dress for The-Girl-Child, and it's the last year we'll be involved in Prom activities...  I mean, I'm sure there will be other proms when a friend's son or daughter is going, but it's the last prom for either of my kiddos...

Now, The-Boy-Child was never that much of a fan of prom...  He attended a few years ago (I have the pictures to prove it!), but he spent prom night of his senior year doing something he enjoyed a whole lot more -- running (I have the pictures to prove that too!)!!  That was a fun driving night for me -- home for prom pictures with The-Girl-Child followed by a quick drive south of Pittsburgh for a big ole track invite with The-Boy-Child...  But I digress...

The-Girl-Child, on the other hand, has definitely enjoyed a prom or three...  And it's a great chance for me to see her really, really dressed up (she claims to really like uggs and sweat pants)...  For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting The-Girl-Child, let me tell you a little about her...  She's kind and generous and eager to help a friend in need...  She's dedicated and loyal...  She's determined and confident...  Sometimes I sit and wonder how she could possibly be my child -- I certainly cannot claim to be the one who taught her all of those things!!

When The-Girl-Child was a high-school freshman, and at the beginning of the season of semi-formal and formal dances, she told me that she had a plan to NOT buy a single dress for any event until her senior prom...  What???  What girl-child doesn't want a new gown or dress for a special occasion???  Even I, her unfashionable mother who really isn't too keen on shopping, like to treat myself to a dressy-dress every once in a while!!  I quickly realized, as each dance drew near, that MY girl-child was probably the only one who made this commitment...  However, the other girls were quick to offer their dresses from previous years!!  Their moms were ecstatic to see these dresses out of the closets and getting a little more use!!  The-Girl-Child had a selection of dresses for each dance that was actually BETTER than any clothing store could offer...  And she was almost guaranteed to not have the same dress on as anyone else!!  :)

But for this year's prom, she was to have a brand new dress...  And a beautiful new dress it is!!  And knowing that I would want to include a few pictures of the prom events in her graduation album, I created this layout for the occasion...

The pictures she takes with her friends are always important to her -- Several of her closest friends are the same friends she's had since kindergarten or earlier!!

I cut the 'Friends are a special hug from God' title from the Opposites Attract and Jasmine Cricut Cartridges.  The 'PROM 2011' was also cut with Opposites Attract.  The yellow flowers were cut at 1" using the Walk In My Garden Cricut Cartridge.  The yellow photo mats were embossed using the Cuttlebug 'Textile' embossing folder (one of my favorites).  The purple and teal flowers were punched with my Friendship Maker and Meadow Maker punches from Creative Memories.  I like to use pre-measured cardstock pieces as picture-place-holders when I'm creating a layout that I don't already have the pictures for...  This allows me to quickly crop my photos within my photo editing software and ensure I have the perfect size print for the page I'm working on.

I hope you have enjoyed my Spring-inspired layout today...  I am entering this layout for the 'Spring is in the air' challenge over at "Lasting Memories" Layout Challenges...  I hope you'll pop on over there and see what everyone else created too...  Your comments are also appreciated and enjoyed, so please leave me your thoughts (and your blog address if you have one -- I love visiting those who visit me!!)...

Until next time,