Here we are in the last days of summer.  There is a certain feel to the air, the coolness in the early mornings, leaves that are falling (extremely early here), and a different sort of light even in the brightness of the sun.  It makes me a little melancholy.  Summer is so short.  Now I am not a sun worshiper (those days have long since been gone), not a hiker or a biker, and I do love sweaters and warm, snuggly socks--so what's the problem? 

There's just something about being able to go outside and sit for awhile with no thought to donning a jacket, listen to the rustle of the leaves when a light breeze catches them, watch the fireflies in the evening when I take the dogs out.  And I know this is all coming to a dead stop in just a few short weeks.  Ah, seasons change.  There is something to be said for the crispness of a bright fall day and the crunch of the leaves underfoot, or the way the trees sparkle after a good snow, but there is nothing that can compare to the warmth and glow of summer days (and nights). 

This is our little Izzie (not this summer, but last--I don't scrap chronologically); nothing says summer like the good old red, white and blue--in this case red, white, black and blue as she had had an altercation with a dog and received this horrific looking bruise and bite.  She is indeed "sweet trouble."  Love this little girl. 

I posted this today since I was thinking about summer vanishing before my very eyes and because I was on a roll  using lots of Echo Park boy papers.  I had originally purchased the Little Boy collection because of the red, white and blue papers in it specifically for this little girl-4th of July layout! I tend to look at papers with my eye on color rather than theme and I have to say I've really gotten a lot of mileage out of this set and I have lots left yet!

I also used some buttons from Petaloo and the red twill pleated ribbon border is from Pink Paisley (wish they still did these, loved them). 

I also used my EK dotted scallops border punch and some star sparklers from Mark Richards (I think--don't have the packaging for them anymore so...)  The title is made up of old Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, black and white from two different sets of Thickers, and the blue letters are from an old Little Yellow Bicycle set (I did catch the slightly lowered letter B  and fixed it -- just wasn't going to re-photograph because of the darn thing!). 

Enjoy these last days of summer.  I want to hold on to them for as long as I can.