Dear Younger Me- Basic Grey

'The Life of the Pary' by Basic Grey is such a fun and nostalgic line of papers. I saw the paper titled 'Ice cream Headache' and thought it was gorgeous! I'm a sucker for wood grain and this pretty page has pink wood grain. That screamed 'challenge' to me. So I looked through my entire stash of photos to find one that could match up. I looked through photos of my nieces... nope. Looked through photos of my sisters....nope. (I did learn that the women in my family hate pink and are never photographed in it). LOL. I finally managed to run across a picture of me on my senior trip to Panama City Beach, Florida. I was so fit back then, but I had such low self-esteem issues. Immediately, I wished I could go back and give myself a pep talk. So that's exactly what I decided to do. I know that I can't go back in time, but hopefully (if I have a daughter in the future) she will be able to read my words and take some comfort in them.

The journaling says

"Cherish the time you have with friends and don't worry about those who don't like you. Those are the ones who are missing out. Be kind to yourself. You self-esteem should be based on your achievements, not on who is the skinniest. There are worse things in life than being a little chubby. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up. Things will happen when they are meant to and not a moment sooner. Each step you take today will determine where your future path will lead. Make sure you are happy with the way you're going. Don't situate your life around others. Learn to be comfortable being 'you' before you try to fit into 'we'. The people who are meant to love you will walk into your life and stay there. Don't be afraid if some walk out. Realize that not everything is your fault. Some people will never admit when they're wrong. Be strong in your convictions, but don't be afraid to admit when you're wrong."

As most of you probably know, I really try my best not to cover my pages with fluff. So, instead of reaching for the pre-made flowers, I grabbed the exacto knife and went to work. I cut out three of the ice cream flowers on a left over piece of paper. A button on top and a little baker's twine finished them off nicely. I'm still waiting on my pop dots to come in. I was only able to use 2 tiny ones on the green flower. I went around each of the flowers with Ranger's distress ink in Spiced Marmalade. And, of course I had to use those chipboard letters! LOL.

I had originally wanted the ribbon on the bottom of the picture and the scalloped edge on top, but in a happy accident I glued the page upside down. I'm actually happier with it this way. The scalloped border is now more visible with the cream cardstock underneath. I've tried securing ribbon down with glossy accents and stick glue, but that just never seems to work. So, I broke out the hot glue gun. Glad I did because it made the process a lot faster. I went around the edges with the same distress ink and also stitched red thread around.

Hope you all enjoyed this. I had a lot of fun with the bright colors (although the pink was a challenge). I loved this paper line and I look forward to my next project with it.  Oh, and TGIF!