Scrap time!

I finally took some time out to do a little scrapbooking. It has been awhile since I sat down to crop pictures & I was surprised to see how hard it was for me to make decisions on paper, embellishments and page designs! Our China trip was so special to us that I feel lots of pressure to make the layouts the best ever! And, that type of pressure has prevented me from even trying. But, these pictures aren't going to get into albums until I put them there so it's time to get busy!

Since it's been awhile It took several DAYS for me to find my mojo, gain my confidence and scrap. Unfortunately I'm not completely happy with all the pages I created. But, I'm back on the "horse" and raring to go, one page at a time.

The Great Wall... the area of The Wall we visited was VERY steep and I mean STRAIGHT UP!! Because of that Matt, Zachary and I took snap shots of ourselves at the base of the wall (on the wall but only climbing 20 stairs). However, my parents went to the famed "Hero Level" of The Wall. My Father had the best vantage point on "Hero Level" taking fantastic pictures from a view point we didn't make it to. All the landscape pictures, on this double page Layout, were taken by my Father.
This is one of the LO's that I would say is not my favorite. There's not a lot to it but, I got to play with my cricut to make the pandas. And, use a few stickers that I had been collecting over the years...and that makes me happy!

Cutie Patootie
I LOVE this layout! It uses an old Basic Grey pp pack from my stash. And, it is of us on the bus after our American Consulate appointment & adoption. We all are very happy to know the last of the appointments was over and soon we would be headed home. But, most of all that Zachary was finally officially (on USA side) our son! Zachary was very giddy too, as if he understood what was going on.Our Pot of Gold
This is another Layout that tickles me pink because I had fun making it. I've always enjoyed cutting my own images by hand and paper piecing. The cricut makes it much easier to paper piece but I still prefer to draw (easy) images on paper and cut them out by hand. Generally I do this with clouds, trees, flowers, shapes...etc. On this LO I hand drew/cut the clouds and rainbow. Also, I pulled out my doodling pens and did a bit of free hand doodles. Now, that was a fun class I remember a few years back. Oh, how I miss taking online classes. Maybe that is what I really need to get these 1,000+ China pictures scraped!Forever Family
This was a sweet moment! We were at The Summer Palace on the Dragon Boat. It was VERY windy on the water. And, Zachary did not want to sit still. He was a jumping bean from us to my parents (sitting opposite of us). EVERYONE on the boat was watching & I felt insecure thinking they thought our child was out of control and we were horrible parents...or, maybe they were just watching admiring our handsome son. Either way, the boat ride was something I will never forget even though I have no memory of where the boat took us. A Sweet Spring Breeze
Another Layout from our visit to the Summer Palace (one of my favorite tourist spots). These pictures highlight a covered walk way. Which was covered in hand painted images from the Summer Palace. It was absolutely amazing. No pictures were the same. Inside the walk way was very cool & breezy. It had been built so that the breeze coming off the water bellowed through the walk way. And, it appeared to be a hot spot for locals to sit, eat their lunch & enjoy the breeze. Again, on this LO I hand drew and cut the sun & clouds. I cut on the outside of my drawings to leave the outlines-something new I tried, and I like it!

In Daddy's Arms, LOVE
During one of our many bus rides, generally on our way back to our hotel, Zachary fell asleep in our arms (there were no car seat laws in China). Sweet little guy loved to be on the go. He rarely fell asleep out in public, there was too much to see! However, if the bus ride was longer than 30 minutes & Zachary could no longer keep his eyes open, he would conk out! This time in his Daddy's arms!
Smile
My Mother and I both celebrated our Birthdays while in China. My Mother's Birthday is one day before mine. And, the men arranged with our guide to bring in a Birthday cake to celebrate my Mother's birthday. We were all in shock and awe over the beautiful lotus flower candle in the middle of the fruit covered cake. On a side note, the cake looked beautiful but tasted not like expected. The chocolate tasted like soap, the frosting was like cool whip and the cake was similar to spongy angel food. The fruit was mostly exotic. The highlight of the cake was the candle! It opened up with fireworks and flames! Big Large Hot flames while singing "Happy Birthday" over and over and over until it just died an hour later. We were over the song by the time we left. It was quite funny and a great memory.
Gongfu Tea (2 pg LO)
Those closest to me will appreciate this layout because of my love of tea. I wish I had taken more time to tour tea plantations or tea houses. However, one of my request to our guide was to go to a tea shop. He arranged for us to do so. The lady who poured our tea seemed to be in a rush but I did my best to slow her down. I learned a lot and spent a lot in their shop! It was a fun experience. And, when we go back to China I have every intention of spending more time learning about Chinese Tea Traditions from it's origins!