Meghann andrew.com

The Jot Magazine mood board has been posted for March, and its blue, teal, green and yellow color scheme will inspire you to create!

This month, I was so instantly inspired by the colors, I knew exactly what photo I wanted to document- a quayside photo from a beautiful French town that we visited in 2011, La Rochelle.

Supplies: Paper- Studio Calico (background), Shimelle for American Crafts (yellow, teal herringbone & 'Go Somewhere Lovely' cut), Elle's Studio (blue floral), Chickaniddy Crafts (teal heart); Embellishment- American Crafts (cork Thickers, Shimelle ticket die-cut, mini clothespins), Crate Paper (banner border), Elle's Studio (cork), October Afternoon (chipboard journaling card), Studio Calico (ribbon, enamel dots, 'enjoy every minute' stamp)

To create this layout, I used a lot of old product, and items that were sitting in my 'anything' bowl on my desk. That's the bowl that houses leftover pieces of ribbon, small pieces of die-cuts and embellishments that I don't feel like organizing in their correct place. Please remind me to get rid of that black hole for embellishments!

The background patterned paper, from the February 2013 Studio Calico Front Row kit, was actually saved for the yellow diagonal stripe B-side, but when I saw the nautical images on this side of the paper, I knew it would be perfect for this photo. I added additional papers from the Shimelle collection 6x6 paper pad, along with a Shimelle die-cut tag and topped it all with a lot of older embellishments- DIY Shop Thickers by American Crafts, Elle's Studio cork, and October Afternoon mini alphas and chipboard.

The mood board was so inspiring that my layout came together in about 30 minutes. Completed during nap time. Ultra score. Be sure to check out what the other Jot Girls created with the board and link up your own creation on the mood board page before the end of the month.

I shared this story a few weeks ago on my Instagram profile, so if you follow me there, you'll probably have a bit of déjà vu reading this post.

Lizzy and I were in my office, where I have multiple photos hanging up from our time in the NICU. She's at the stage where she loves to point out loved ones in photos and we were looking at multiple pictures hanging up and naming Daddy, Papaw, Nana, etc. When she came to this photo, she couldn't name the baby in the picture.

Dated April 15th, 2013. 37 weeks adjusted gestational age. Almost 3 months old actual.

The blanket that she was laying on in the photo just so happened to be in my office where she was playing, so I grabbed it and showed it to her, pointing out that it was the same blanket as the baby in the photo was laying on. Then I explained that the baby was her, when she was very little and needed to get bigger and stronger in the hospital. She hugged the blanket and pointed to the photo, saying, 'Lizzy,' (or 'Liddy', as she calls herself). It was definitely one of those wow moments for me as a mother. I had to take a photo of the two of us after that to remember the moment.

As a documenter, these are the stories that I want to get down on paper so that, years from now, I can turn to this page in my album and say, "Yes, that was an amazing moment." So, I decided to create a very clean layout which focused on this story.

Supplies: Scraptastic Club 'It Takes Two' kit & add-on, Scraptastic Club 'Counting Stars' stamp set, 'Counting Stars' digital files, 'It Takes Two' stamp set, 'It Takes Two' labels, 'It Takes Two' digital files, vellum, sewing machine, Stampin' Up! ink, Shimelle date stamp, black mist spray, 'Rough Typewriter' font

To keep the patterned paper behind my photos from attracting too much attention, I covered it with a sheet of shimmery vellum, which gives the layout a very pretty appearance. I absolutely love the heart digital cut file from the 'It Takes Two' digital files and used it to separate my two photos- sort of a 'then' and 'now' juxtaposition of images- and glued small pieces of patterned paper to the holes at the back of the cut. To make that stand out a bit more and give more weight to my photos backed the heart with a black cardstock, slightly larger than the original cut file.

The 'Counting Stars' alpha stamps have to be one of my favorite things from this month's offerings. Designed by the talented Kaitlin Sheaffer, they are the perfect font for this subject, and I love that you can put colored blocks on top of the letters, or color them in yourself with watercolor or pens. So fun.

I've also been typing out my journaling a lot in the last few weeks- not because I have a problem with my writing, but simply because I can fit more words in a small space with a typewriter font as opposed to my handwriting.

To finish off the page, I added a black label (check out Kaitlin's free label downloads!) and stamped 'my heart is so full,'- a perfect phrase for this story- with the 'It Takes Two' stamp set.

I am so happy to have this moment on paper. What stories do you need to document today?