31!!!

I would have to say that, even in the most difficult times in my life, last year was one of my best birthdays. My biggest wish came true, the one thing I wished for every year, we were in my home state, New Hampshire. Although not under the best of circumstances, I was finally home. Able to raise my children in one of the best education systems in our country and back near friends and family. Living in Florida was a very unhappy 15 years. I felt trapped. Turning 31 was a year of fresh starts and freedom.

This is my 4th layout this week using my September Hip Kit. Seriously a fantastic investment!! 

I decided that I would give my hands a rest from all the recent hand cutting I was doing, and play with some mixed media. 

I got the inspiration behind this from Rachael Funnell over at The Scrapbook Store. I first added a layer of gel medium over my entire page to prep it. Then, I used my Ranger's texture paste with my Tim Holtz stencil for the pattern around the edges. After that I sprayed my page with my Dylusions spray inks and then sprayed some water with my mini mister. This created the dripping effect. This was my first time doing this and I can see where this can easily be so much fun.

I have quite a few stamps and I never use them. So this time I decided to play around. I am into arrows right now big time. I also could not wait to use this balloon from the Amy Tangerine cut outs. I am addicted to balloons lol. The saying was very symbolic to what we were going through last year, and what a journey it was.

Turning 31 was a big ordeal to me, I learned so much that year. We live, learn and grow from all experiences in life. We must take the good from the bad and have faith that God has a plan for all of us. I have never been so tested like I was that year. There were 2 roads I could have went down and instead of taking the easy way, I took that rocky, bumpy, twisty, turny road. I am so happy that I did because it made me the person I am today. 

xx <3 Tiffani