Don't Tell Me What To Do!

Generally speaking, I really don't like to be told what to do. And really, does anyone like to be told what to do? lol Don't get me wrong, I'm all about abiding by "the rules" most of the time. I don't go around stealing candy from kids and pushing elderly people into oncoming traffic, but thinking outside the lines is good for the soul every now and then. Ok, so what's the point? When I do creative things like scrapbooking and making cards, I tend to stay away from paper that only has one image on one side/corner of the paper. This kind of paper becomes problematic right off the bat because 1.) I feel it confines my creativity, something that I never want to happen when I'm scrapbooking, making cards, and/or being all around crafty; and 2.) I'm still using a lot of the old Creative Memories 12x12 albums, the ones that require you to cut off about 1/2" off one of the sides - this means losing part of said hindrance. I guess I could just avoid these types of papers altogether and just go on with my life, which is what I've done up to this point, but I subscribe to kits and sometimes they come in those. Yeah, I know, totally overthinking it, but it's what makes me me. :-) Last October, I ordered a special add-on Halloween kit from Scraptastic Club, as well as some papers I picked up along the way. Last week, I decided to scrap some Halloween pics. . . from 2005! (It's so great that I don't scrap chronologically, or this might really stress me out. lol) In my stash, along with the Scraptastic Club kit, I found the cutest paper with an owl in the corner - I've tried to find out the name of the company that makes it, but just couldn't. I also found this paper from the October Afternoon Witch Hazel 8x8 pad:

Always being one to want to challenge myself creatively, I decided to stop avoiding these papers, and finally use them. Thanks to an episode of Glitter Girl that I was watching, which can be seen (here, I felt empowered to use at least the OA sheet. I have to say, I absolutely love the way it came out, it was so much better than I imagined.

Here's a closer look at how I actually layered with the sheet:

After this layout turned out so well, these types of papers became a lot less intimidating. So, I took out the aforementioned cute owl paper, and decided it was time to make it a part of the scrapbook, too. Admittedly, it was much more difficult to use, but I like the way it looks, too.

I used a glittery piece of the My Mind's Eye Hallows Dots, and thought it might be too much, but the rest of the layout seems to tone it down.

The title is also made using a rub-on from about the same time the pictures were taken, so I feel like I get a triple word score for that layout - I used paper that intimidated me, overly glittery paper, and something from my stash that is at least 6 years old. Go me! ETA: I have no idea why there are no paragraphs, and that one picture is so stinkin' huge. I've redone it THREE times, and it still won't work. SOrry!