How Much Is Too Much - Challenge #143

Here is my take on this challenge from How Much Is Too Much?
The challenge is to create a layout using:
1 photo
7 blue things (can be anything, as long as it is blue)
4 circles
5 pieces of chipboard or grungeboard


I have wanted to make a layout on my sons' births for a little while now. So I took the opportunity to make this layout on the birth of my first son, Aiden. I'll be doing another on my second son soon. I wanted to incorporate all the requirements of the challenge and yet keep it simple-ish.


The blue things are: (1) Dotted Blue Basic Bazzill Cardstock (2) Light Blue & Dark Blue thread (3) Teddy bear button (4) Face button (5) Brad at bottom of journaling (6) Blue ink pad and (7) Blue satin ribbon. So here it is.

For the circles, I machine stitched circles on the page. I know I have more than four circles. Once I got started with the idea of stitching circles, I could not stop and scattered them all over the page - dark blue, light blue and white threads/circles.

For the mat of the photo I used the medium blue dotted Basic Bazzill Cardstock. For the bottom edge of the mat, I used the Fiskars border scallop punch and then the Martha Stewart Multi Pattern Ribbon Threader Edge Paper Punch and looped light blue satin blue ribbon and adhered a white button with blue thread. 

I used chipboard for the word 'happiness'. The original colour was brown that did not quite suit as I initially wanted the alphabets in blue so I used Distress Crackle Paint, Faded Jeans. When it dried I thought the colour did not coordinate with the rest of the layout, so I coloured over it with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber, Espresso - hence the cracked look. I then used a white gel pen to do faux stitches on the chipboard alphabets.

Supplies:
Base card stock - off white
Medium Blue Dotted Basic Bazzill Cardstock
Light blue satin blue ribbon
Autumn Leaves Clear Stamps - Journaling Stamps by Katie Pertiet
K & Company - Remake Earth Browns Chipboard Alphabet Box
Font - Rough Typewriter
ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink Pad - French Blue
Novelty Baby Buttons
Distress Crackle Paint, Faded Jeans
Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber, Espresso
Fiskars Border Scallop Punch
Martha Stewart Multi Pattern Ribbon Threader Edge Paper Punch
Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen White Smooth Medium