Letting the embellishments take the stage

I have just been away on a mini break. On rainy days my husband would go out for long walks and I stayed in with some scrapbook kits and an audio book (currently 11/22/63 by Stephen King). The Quirky Kits are brilliant for holiday scrapping as you can just gather the papers and embellishments together with a few other bits and the job is done. For these two layouts I spread out the embellishments from all three of the current kits and splurged them all over the place. (I find that ever so hard normally, but Leo is so generous I really don't mind)

The layout may look wonky. That is because it is. I have discovered that if I straighten the photo using Picasa then it goes a little (more) out of focus. So in future I am going to work harder at making sure I put them on the wall with a spirit level in my hand.
Anyhoo, I used chunks of paper, cut up some die cuts and die cut some paper (following?). I stuck some of the Prima flowers together with glossy accents and added gems as well. Then I stuck them in an arch shape around the bottom of the photo.
Now
I have just noticed that there is a flower missing from the layout. There should be one next to "Happy Day". There was one there. I have tidied everything away and haven't found a spare flower. Where can it be? Possibly back in Cosy Cottage...  (although I kept everything in bags)

 Sigh.
As this is a white space layout I added a little something to the top right hand corner just to break the space up a bit more. That die cut was perfect in expressing how wonderful the gift of the hat is to me.

One of the extra things I took with me was a pack of Gelatos which I "had" to have but then don't use that often. But they were perfect for adding a little colour to the background of this next layout without overpowering the patterned paper I was using

There are only three papers on this layout - the backing to "love this", the fussy cut Bella Boulevard paper and the Pebbles Pine paper that I turned into the background. When I picked the Pebbles paper I proposed to place the pics on the Pine pattern. (I won't tell you how long it took to make that convoluted sentence!)
When I got the photos out and plonked them on, it just looked too heavy. So I decided that I would use the text side but swoosh on some Gelatos instead. I don't have many but they are a pretty perfect match to the photos and leaves.
Then it was a matter of gathering up a few more bits and bobs to fill it out. The glitter thickers I again added in a few more places so that the letters blend in more - the washi tape helps too I think. I used a die cut but because it had an American spelling I chopped "favorite" down to "fave". Did you notice?

its a busy layout but I hope that the colour and the little bits and bobs complement the photos and that wonderful view rather than swamping too much.