Let Him Eat Cake!

Ever since I started scrapbooking last year, I've felt like I'm a step behind. In fact it took me several months to even figure out where to start. Should I go back and scrap from the beginning? This seemed a monumental task! Should I start with a trip album? Good idea but it wouldn't justify the purchase of all those patterned papers and miscellaneous embellishments I bought. So, in the long run, I just started scrapping whatever inspired me. And for the last year, this method has worked. I do, however, have days when I feel like I should be capturing all of the Christmas and birthday celebrations but, frankly, the thought of doing 20 Christmas layouts or 10+ birthday layouts bores me. So when I saw a layout in the Creative Keepsakes Gallery of all the wonderful cakes one scrapper baked in a year, I was inspired to capture the first 12 birthday cakes I made for Mark in one layout. Here it is:

The journaling reads: It all started when I bought the bear and made icing balloons to match the cake plates. The next year, I thought that I could do better so I made Pooh. Each year the cakes have gotten more elaborate: Pongo (3)...a firetruck (4)...R2D2 (5)...Gameboy (6)...Harry Potter (7)...baseball cap (8)...trumpet (9)...skateboard (10)...pirateship (11)...track (12). I wonder what I will make for you next year! Will I have any ideas left?

I had the original layout in my head for a while but when I saw Stephanie Howell's challenge (http://methodplayground.blogspot.com/) to use a bow on a layout, I was inspired to turn the first page into a present. Thanks for the inspiration Stephanie!

Here's a close-up of page one:

And page two:

Now I'll have to get busy on a layout showcasing all of the birthday cakes I made for Melissa!

Ingredients: Bazzill Cardstock; unidentified patterned paper from my stash; Michael's ribbon; Target Dollar Spot chipboard letters; American Crafts Sarah Script alphabet stickers.