Hello Crafty friends!  I am so lucky to have been able to play with Simple Stories'  Carpe Diem scrapbooking collection! If you are a "planner girl" you will already be loving the planner version of this collection - speaking for us scrapbookers, I am super thrilled that the scrapbooking version of the collection was revealed at this past CHA!

I created two pages documenting small aspects from a couple of day trips our family made.  Sometimes when you are not looking, you can find stories within the stories.  I have sort of scrapbooked both of these events, but not these smaller details from either of these days.
 

My first page is called "Seize the day", I chose to use two photos with a central focal area and framed one of the photos with a pretty little chipboard frame.  This page documents a day trip that my husband, our youngest son and I went on to a (then) local town and took a winery tour while we were there.  My son enjoyed learning about the process and the science-y parts of the tour; he even asked loads of great questions.  He is really a good boy when we do these grown up things with him.
 

Later when my husband and I were participating in the tasting portion of the tour, I glanced over to see our son running up and down a large ramp just enjoying the moment, the sunshine and the extra speed that he could pick up by running downhill.  
 

Sometimes little opportunities are presented to seize happy moments and memories. Like running down a sunny ramp with wind in your hair and happy parents at the bottom!
 

Don't you love all of the bits and pieces in this collection?  I think I could have layered these sweet elements forever!
 

I used loads of patterned papers, and even fussy cut some clouds from one of them!
 

I added some machine stitching and freehand "doodling" to accent the patterns on this page.  Oh and the colours, oh the colours!  So perfect for happy pages!
 

My second layout documents a photo taken of me.  This is unusual since I am most often the one holding the camera.  I know I am not alone in this!  The phrase that I added onto my photo prior to printing it is from one of the patterned papers in this collection. I really loved it, it spoke to me.  However, I wanted to use the other side of the paper so this is how I incorporated the quote onto my page.  I also blurred out everything but myself in the photo prior to adding the text, so that it would "pop" a little more.
 

My husband and three boys were exploring some caves at a Provincial Park, while I sat in the sun and reflected on life as I waited.  I have a habit of zoning out / daydreaming.  So I was unaware that my husband had taken a few photos of me, or else I may have altered my poor posture ;)!
 

I love this bold black and white diagonal striped paper and NEEDED to use it for my background.  I added a bit of texture paste here and there that I coloured with a yellow Gelato and some gold Color Shine.  I also cut some triangles from the polka dot / floral paper to adorn two of the corners of my page.  I am in serious heart with the bold patterns this collection offers!
 

You can see I am still working hard to remember to add journaling to my pages, and this collection has perfect little die cuts for that very purpose!
 

As I am wont to do, I added a few embellishments clusters to this page, as well!

Thank you for visiting today!