Love You - The Studio

There's a new challenge up at The Studio Challenges and it's BIG: use a photo larger than 4x6 on a layout. Considering I generally use 3x3 photos, this one was a huge change of pace and so much fun!

This gigantic photo started as an iPhone/instagram photo. Not sure what the quality would be like, I blew it up to an 11x14 and had it printed at Sam's Club. I loved how it turned out!

Funny story.... I was in line to pay for my purchases at Sam's and pulled out the photo to have a good look. I noticed something on her face and realized that she had a big drop of drool on her chin (yes, we were teething). I had never noticed the drool before because the photo had always been too small to see it. I love how blowing up the photo added that detail to my layout's story. :)

I trimmed the photo down to 11x12, then adhered it to a 12x12 piece of cardstock. I covered the remaining inch with tags and die-cuts from Maggie Holmes' Open Book collection.

I am head over heels IN LOVE with this collection. Seriously. If I could decorate my whole house in papers from this line, I would. I bought almost everything and have the rest on the wishlist for my next shopping excursion. I love every single piece.

Another funny story.... When I finished the layout, I showed it to Jaxon (my five year old). He said, "Oh, she's so cute," and preceded to plant a kiss right on her face in the photo! So now there's a lip mark below her eye. I'm not sure how archival that will be in the long run. Might need to replace the photo eventually ;). I'm glad he loves her so much, though!

If you'd like to play along with the big photo challenge at The Studio, you can find the challenge post here. The design team has done an amazing job with this challenge, so even if you don't play, you'll love checking out their layouts.