And here I am again...  with a layout using older photos, papers from an older collection (Basic Grey Recess line), and alphas that are even older (not in their original packaging and old enough I don't even remember who makes them...) So dig deep, you can never tell what is just laying about waiting to find their home. 

The photos feel a bit like I do, climbing up... even with the disadvantage of having cowboy boots on--only in my case it's not cowboy boots hindering my way up! 

The papers are mostly Basic Grey from their Recess line with a little Max added and I did use a favorite EK Zig Zag border punch, as well as an arrow punch from Fiskars. 

So it's been so long since I posted that it is hard to begin.  Everyday that I thought about posting it seemed like, I hadn't in so long what was one more day.  Ugh, I hate coming back to "explain" why I haven't posted in so long.  So I am not going to. 

Suffice to say, I haven't scrapped much or made cards, just been in survival mode.  I have not even been in my work room.  It's still a mess from my last round of creating.  So, for all of you out there who have strayed, haven't scrapbooked anything in a while, haven't made a card; there is hope.  You can get your mojo back.  It is hard to make that start---so I am starting very small.  By posting to my blog and putting up a page or two that I made in that last round of scrapping. 

Next step, go back in that room and put things away.  (I often find that just by putting things away and touching and looking through the papers and embellishments, it spurs me to make something.)  After that, I picked up a few cute bats and moons 3D stickers, so I plan on making a couple of  really ultra simple Halloween-ie cards.  Hopefully these activities will be enough to push me back to creating.  I know I will feel better when I get going, it's the getting going that is so hard. 

In the meantime, here is one of the pages I had been working on.  She truly has been a joy, a very bright, sparkling spot. 

The red and black in grand-baby Isabella's Christmas finery---just did not go with the majority of the traditional Christmas colors in most of the papers I had at hand.  But by picking through the papers and singling out the poinsettias in one particular paper I was trying to down play the old red and green, yet keep enough that it felt Christmas-y.  

The papers and chipboard alpha are all from Basic Grey (last year's Christmas line and  one of their older white chocolate chipboard alpha sets0, punched accents from EK Success punches and then added some bling with clear gemstones.