celebrate friendship with ella friends

If this is your first time stopping by, don't be shy, check out the ELLA ebook I am giving away . . . comment on this past post by Sunday at 7pm PST for your chance to win!

Today, my ELLA friends and I are hosting a blog hop all about friendship. What is a blog hop you say? It's a chance to check out other gals creative blogs and have fun picking up a few ideas revolving around friendship. Come on, it will be fun! (Links are at the end of this post.)

Who are your "go to" girls? Everyone needs them. They lift us up when we are down and celebrate with us when times are good. Two years ago my favorite scrapbook store, Green Tangerines, held a "Designer's Challenge" on friendship. First up, we had to create a snapshot of seven important friends we'd had throughout our lifetime. I picked friends from high school to present day. The above pictures were all recent pictures (2 years ago recent) that I asked my friends to email me.

Most of the product was from Making Memories and of course a little American Crafts ribbon. I know I saw this "patchwork" idea in a magazine . . . no idea which one. Today I don't love the messy paint that I did in the background, but it does show a trend of the time!

I pulled this quote out of one of my many quote books . . . and I still love it today! Isn't this what friendship is all about?

After we made the title page for our friendship album, we had to highlight each gal in our life and answer some random questions about that particular friendship. I made one layout for each friend . . . but this layout was my favorite. I was completely in love with this line from October Afternoon. I did this layout right after this picture was taken 2 years ago at my 10-year college reunion in Minnesota. One month after this picture was taken of my friend Sarah and I, she and her husband were hit by a drunk driver. She had major injuries including a fractured skull--she almost died.  It made me remember to be thankful for the times I have with my friends . . . life is short. Send one of your friends an encouragement card today! : )

I love looking back in my albums and seeing what I was into at the time. This layout was done shortly after I had gotten into handstitching on my pages. I still do it today and love it! Though I don't do it on every page . . . a bit too time consuming with three kids running around.

Rumor has it that some of these girls are doing giveaways on their blogs as well . . . you'll have to hop around to find which ones! Good luck!

Diana Chen

 Donna Jannuzzi

Francine Clouden

Jenni Hufford

Jennifer Larson

Keshet Starr

Lee Currie

Mary Jo Johnston

May Flaum

Monika Wright

Valerie Mangan

I'll end with one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3.
What friend are you thankful for today?