New Layout & Cat Rescue Story

We LOVE our critters & are proud that all of them are rescued.  Each of our furry crew is totally a family member with a unique personality & gives us so much love.  I've been capturing the memories of how they came to be in our family on scrapbook pages.  

Do I have a photo from the day we got them?
Maybe not but does that stop me?
No Way

I think we get too hung up as scrapbookers thinking we don't have a photo for a story we want to tell or even worse that it's not a good photo.  I have to tell you that some of my favorite pages have horrible photos from the 80's (you know that distinct color that those photos have... I mean seriously heritage photos from the 60's or even the 40's look better than whatever the industry was doing when processing back in late 80's when my boys were babes).  I think we are in an age of a lot of really poor quality photos due to the use of the phone more often than the dslr or better point & shoot camera.  I encourage you to just do it - use those photos because it's the memory & story that's important.

So let me introduce you to Miles.  

We think he's a Norwegian Forrest or Main Coon mix of some sort but a very pretty cat.  

Gorgeous green eyes that always look good in photos 

(unlike our ragdoll Pom who looks great in person but rarely in photos).

He's our only kitty with a collar, tag & most importantly a bell

 (though they are all micro chipped)

because he lives to get out of the house if you're dilly dallying letting dogs in or out he's gone & I'm running out there like a loon screaming "M-I-L-E-S!!!!!!!" then corner & grab him 

(sometimes with police deputy dog Rosie)

He's always with me if I am in the scrap room creating.

Usually just hanging out in the window looking at all the birds & squirrels on the feeder...

but sometimes knocking things off the table as he stretches to lay down & they're in his way

He has a snaggle tooth that's always hanging out & makes me smile.

A big "talker" if you say "meow meow" he can't resist answering you back

with same rhythm and inflection... a real mimic.

So of course his nick name is "Miles of Smiles" because that's what he gives us

& where the title of the page comes from

Here's the layout I made mostly using Teresa Collins Family Stories

 that I purchased at my LSS  EMI Scrapbooking

This page was started at a crop so I was limited to products I had in a page kit bag.

That's always a struggle for me & the hot mess will come together at the end when I'm at home. 

Rarely do I finish a page at a crop.  

I'm a drag out a bunch of stuff & mix it up kind of creator so home is better for me.

So let me share some of my thought process when creating this page

 After I made the layers of paper under the photo 

I always focus on the titlework.

I like to mix fonts & make it interesting.

The black letters are a Tim Holtz die & scraps of inexpensive card stock

glued to a journaling card cut from the patterned paper. 

It didn't seem like enough so I added the Studio Calico wood letters & images 

that along with the embellishment clusters seemed to balance the title against the photo area 

& I love any reason to use wood embellishments lol

The cute banner was a die cut from the 12x12 collection sheet.

I punched the star from orange dots the negative space adds interest & then used the die cut on the blue pennant to draw the eye across.  Stapling the twine let it fall randomly.

I went heavy at the top right with a variety of paper scraps, diecuts  & dimensional embellishments.

I'm a big fan of sequins since they are subtle & very inexpensive way to add interest

& draw the eye around your page.  

I adore the enamel dots but they're really costly to add more than a few to each project 

so sequins gives similar effect without the $$$

I used the twine to anchor the photo & draw the eye.

Using it 3 places created a visual triangle to encourage you to look at photo first.

I'm all about the little details... 

I added a brad to the cardstock tag & a wood heart in center of the image.

Always look for ways to layer or add to a store bought embellishment.

Finally I love to finish with some dots of spray ink.  It's transparant & 

adds that "somethingsomething" that makes me say it's done & I like it

Even thought there is journaling on the front of the layout with enough room for basic story.

in the area under the arrow border strip I had so much more to tell about

how Miles came to be a "Gray" that the family in the future.

I started writing on a sheet of kraft cardstock.  Cut it down & adhered to the back

I usually date it when I actually journal (even if years later from the actual memory)

I had been shopping for food & litter at Pet Supermarket near our house.  I never shop on weekends at pet stores because I know the rescues are there so I was surprised that there were kitties in cages trying to get my attention in the middle of the week.  I should know better than to stop & visit with the rescue animals available.  Miles caught my eye because Andrew has always wanted a Norwegian Forest cat.  He had so much personality & I couldn't get him out of my mind.  At home I told everyone about him & the next evening we went to eat mexican across the street & talked everyone into going to see Miles.  He was named by the Mountain Park Library because that's where he was living for a couple days & they finally caught him in the CD jazz music section.... so he was dubbed  "Miles Davis".  We all fell in love with Miles & my aunt was visiting from Pittsburgh PA fell in love with the most stressed out sour female kitty - she wanted to get her & take her home on the plane in a couple days.  The rescue lady who worked as a cashier in the store said she would throw Dakota in for free (guess no one interested in her since her personality wasn't shining AT ALL - she had been in a bedroom with an elderly lady hanging out & but not being very well cared for due to the ladies physical ailments).  Of course we leave with both kitties.  Auntie didn't end up taking Dakota home with her on the plane it was a "later" thing that I knew she would never get her.  She even look like the same cat - she was so stressed that her face looked different.

It took Koda a while to settle in & doesn't really like the "guys" because she likes her space & they don't know boundaries.  But she's as sweetheart & in our family thanks to Auntie & Miles.

Supplies:  Paper, Sequins, Stickers, Wood Chip, Cardstock Diecut Sheet, Post Notes, Buttons, Brads, Border Strips (Teresa Collins Designs); Wood Embellishments, Sequins, Spray Ink (Studio Calico); Letter Die (Tim Holtz); Brads & Twine (Maya Road); Stamps (Heidi Swapp); Punch (Fiskars), Pen (American Crafts), Ink (Tsukineko Versafine black)

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