Sweet As Can Bee || Kathy McElfresh

I actually had this Easter egg hunt photo in mind when I created this month's challenge. I'm quite nostalgic about older photos of the grandkids these days -- Katie turns 21 this month, Allie turned 21 last October, Barrett is going away to college in a few months and soon Ava will be the only one still at home.

Even though the kiddos are wearing brighter colors I chose fairly subdued papers from Paige Evans Garden Shoppe, tearing the bottom paper to create a "shelf" for my critters. There are lots of critters in the woods all around us, albeit no bears or alligators or monkeys that I know of! I knew I'd be using the bright yellow title so I brushed Mustard Seed Distress Oxide through the awesome XL Sunburst stencil to create a background for the scene I would assemble.

This title piece from the March Fox Box is one of my all-time favorites. I love the color, the font and the sentiment! I filled out the title block with a flower pot fussycut from Paper Snips #21 which came in the March Fox Box Plus, and a tiny pink heart from the mini-perspextives set called Warm Hearts.

I framed the photo with trees cut from a Fernwood paper by Vicki Boutin, just so I could have this adorable bear peeking out from behind them! I included the punched squirrel for Ava (aka Baby Squirrel), ladybug for KatieBug and alligator for AllieGator, and the bee for Barrett (aka B). And I couldn't resist the pretty red toadstools to reflect B's red shirt. Building this "scene" was the most fun I've had scrapping lately! I had several left-over winter critters like this bear that aren't in the shop at the moment -- but stay tuned! The word strip is also from Paper Snips #21.

Just above the photo is a cluster containing a magenta butterfly Perspextive (which matches Katie's and Ava's shirts), another butterfly cut from Paper Snips #21 and a pretty white star from a Petite Perspextives set called Cool Stars. The closeup of the bee shows the amazing etched detail that has me swooning and wanting to order more! This one is from the March Fox Box but there are a couple different styles of bees in the shop -- the original bees and bees v2. I can't count the number of sets I've gone through!

How adorable is this little monkey getting ready to play in the trees? He's from a set that came out when the Wild Life collection premiered but the monkeys are in a set of their own in the shop now, complete with the requisite bananas! The raccoon is another winter critter released in an earlier set -- stay tuned for more adorable critters with neck scarves this coming winter! And that pink butterfly is another from the March Fox Box.

As you can see from his neck scarf, the fox is also from a previous winter set but he looks enough like the coyotes that roam our woods (and he's such a cute color!) that I just had to include him. The paper butterfly is another one cut from Paper Snips #21 -- and she matches the pretty pink Perspextive butterfly perfectly!

This page was such a hoot! I hope you'll join in the fun this month with this open-ended challenge to dig out that photo that exemplifies the freshness of Spring to you and scrap it with your favorite Bramble Fox goodies. Join us on our Facebook page and upload your entry to the challenge album to be eligible for a sweet prize to spend in the shop.