"One Good Picture" of the Birthday Boy

As of today I am the mother of a 14-year-old. A two years away from driving-year-old. A now taller than me-year-old.

Anyone know how to slow this whole life/kid's growing too fast/rollercoaster down? Anyone!?

I'm sure today is going to be full of pictures and in typical Drew-style, he'll be a little difficult and whole lot of ham. I've given up on trying to get the perfect picture of him and just embrace the goofy faces, the eye rolls, and ignore the groans.

In the end those goofy faced pictures actually end up being perfect. (Just don't tell him!) They are 100% Drew and his personality and capturing that is a win in my book!

One of my all-time favorite elements to use are arrow strips. I'm sure there is a more technical term for them, but they look like arrows, they are arranged in strips, so I call them arrow strips. If you learn anything about me, it's that I love to just make words up from time to time.

I used some smaller arrow strips paired with stars for embellishments and then used individually cut, large arrow pieces for the main decorative element on the layout.

Whenever I am using a repetitive shape on a layout, I like to add a few stitched shapes into the mix. I simply trace around the shape with a pencil, pierce the holes, and then stitch away. Doing this is a fun way to add some texture and interest to a pattern of shapes on your layout.

Now, I'm off to get some birthday stuff done for the 14-year-old birthday boy!