Working with themed products on a scrapbook page

Hello! We are DAYS away from getting replacement carpet, which means this weekend I will be able to access my crafting supplies again. Phew!

Since most everything was packed away, I've been limited to what's on hand, which is mostly scraps. Still, I hooked the Iris containers that hold my camping and travel supplies before they were packed. Here's one page with limited supplies that I made about a mountain biking trip my son made with his aunt:

I started with the background paper, which is so gorgeous I didn't want to cover it. (I know what the collection is! But I had to pack up the Iris containers when I was done, so there is no hope for figuring it out until I put everything back this weekend.) Instead, I pulled a 6x6 paper made and put some circles to mat the three photos (I cut the google maps photo into another circle!).

Everything else on this page came from the travel or camping Iris containers, except for the title, which was tucked away in my wood veneer collection and was perfect for the page.

I liked being limited by what I could use. It spurred my ideas. Not that I'm sad to get my good supplies back, but there is something to be said for only being able to use what you can reach.

Who would have thought...Looking back at the beginning of the year

Now that Distance Learning is in full swing in Minnesota, I am busy all day long, setting up my classes, assessing student work, emailing (lots of that!), and Google meeting. As a result, I'm not scrapbooking as much. I'll share what I make as I finish.

In the meantime, I thought I'd go back to two pages I made for Simple Scrapper in January to start the year:

This page is actually really important right now. I looked back on the last year and some struggles we went through and reframed them as positives. I'm finding myself doing that a lot nowadays, of course, taking small sips of gratitude as the day progresses.

Craft-wise, I love the stitching template. It comes from a misting mask from Studio Calico, but you could achieve the same effect with a ruler and a paper piercer.

I used some flowers that I tore off a greeting card to use. I like the effect.

Next is a page about an event that broke my heart last year, the sudden death of my dog Lola:

For me, pages about loss are also pages about memory. I want to remember them, so I like recording the great things we experienced. In this case, my dog Lola in December stopped moving and eating, so we took her to the vet, where we discovered she was suffering from blood inner chest cavity, more than likely from a heart tumor. There was no end available that did not include terrible suffering, so we said her goodbyes. As she passed, I reminded her of all the terrific adventures she'd been on as a part of our family. The journaling here basically recounts what I said. That is what I want to carry in my heart.

Craft-wise, I ended my journaling with perhaps my favorite memory, one that the right hand photo shows. I think ending with the best memory is a good way to commemorate tough things.

Same scrapbook design, different looks

I scrapped a couple pages recently that I love but made me laugh. Here are the pages.

First, I scrapbooked my SIL coming out to craft and visit last January. It took me a long time to put the page together, but I started with the circular family history page, then picked a teal piece of cardstock then a strip of patterned paper to separate it. After that, it was easy to figure out how to tuck and layer the photos and embellish.

The scalloped chipboard I picked because they were lying around near me, and I though the color contrasted enough to look good. In the same drawer were the only remaining Prima flowers I had, and lo! They worked. I finished the page with leftover label stickers, buttons, and sequins.

(Design note: the embellishment cluster in the middle of the page exists because I accidentally dropped a photo with adhesive on it on top of the photo and had to cover the smudge. There are no accidents, just unplanned opportunities for additional creativity.)

Next is a page about an outing with a friend of mine:

(On a side note: I'm enjoying scrapbooking outings a lot right now. Scrapbooking allows me to travel!)

I had these photos, then picked the yellow paper to match the house and the woodgrain to match the brick. After I laid it out, I realized I'd basically made the same page! How is it different?

1. I only had three photos so laid it out sideways instead of vertically.
2. I used embellishments to frame the photos instead of setting them up in a visual triangle.
3. I added a Journaling tag instead of journaling across the page.
4. I used a less dramatic title.
5. I used more colors!

Still, the general layout of the pages is the same. Even though I didn't consciously strive to use the same design, the photos and papers led me there, but other decisions happened that made these pages unique.

Thank you for stopping by! Please use these pages as jumping off points for completing your scrapbooking layouts.

Two-page layouts for Simple Scrapper

The last time I posted, I shared some single pages, smaller ones. Today I'm sharing something that's maybe a little trickier but perhaps more satisfying for me, two-page layouts.

On the design team for Simple Scrapper, we seldom get two-page designs. Still, it's one of the members' most favorite inspirations, so I try to use two-page designs as much as I can.

This first was a glorious, two-page sketch. I didn't have to do much--I subbed the journaling blocks for photos and added an embellishment/journaling cluster. It was a lot of fun digging through my word stash for the left side.

Next is a manufactured two-page layout, recording the story of our epic winter last year, which may have been the start of memes overtaking photos on my phone.

I say manufactured because I put together two single-paged sketches to create this spread. To do this successfully, you need two contrasting sketches, then pick something to unite the pages: Color, embellishments, paper (see my curves and snowflakes).

Instead of contrasting two sketches, you can also do what I did with a layout I recently posted: take one sketch and stretch it over two pages.

Here the left side was the sketch; I sort of mirrored/tapered it on the right side. Again, similar colors and products.

Thank you for stopping by! Hopefully this gave you ideas for scrapbooking two-page layouts.

Some more small stories on 8.5x11 paper

Hello! I spent some time recently finishing some 8.5x11 layouts, one about each boy telling a small story in his life. Here are some other smaller format, smaller story-layouts I made recently.

First is a page I did for Simple Scrapper in March, using a couple photos and some big PP banners to share a story about my son's last year in Dinner Theater at church. This was super each to come together once I picked the bright colors. The speech bubble sticker had been handing out in my workspace for a while, so I put it on the page just because it seemed to fit. There's a benefit to not always putting stuff away!

This page commemorates our transition to a new car. I'd taken a photo of my last car before we traded it in, and then a photo of my new car. Again, the FAMILY die cut and journaling card were lying around, so design-wise I started with those and picked homey colors and products to fit.

Another small story, this one my son's final piano recital. It follows basically the same simple design as the previous page. Big strips of PP form a nice base for the page, then strips of journaling stitched down and embellishments that lead the eye across the page.

The story behind this page made me laugh so I had to print the photo behind it and share the story. I don't know how to take pictures on Androids, but my son does, and so we did. This was a perfect page to use these huge die cuts.

One of my favorite photos of my cat. She is an occasional lap snuggle with me and only me. The color scheme led my design for the page.

Finally, a page about my husband. I had this Me Right Now journaling card I loved, but I'd just made a similar page about me, so I didn't know how to use it until I found this unused photo of my husband from Father's Day. I was at my January Scrap retreat at the time, so I called him and asked for his answers and wrote them own (it was also fun to see how many of these I predicted correctly!). A basic strip design with my husband's favorite color, British racing green.

Thank you for visiting again! I hope this gives you ideas of stories to tell of designs to try.

Scrapbooking across two pages

Hello! I've been putting together some two-page layouts with lots of photos. I thought I'd share some of them.

First, here's a page about my father-in-law's funeral two-years ago:

Here I did what I typically do when I have a lot of photos: I print them in standard sizes, in this case, 3x4. It made the most sense to line them up across the page, so I did. That left two spots for the journaling. For embellishments, I took inspiration from the flowers next to the flag and I used my Stampin' Up! punches with scraps to make the flowers.

Next is a page about a camping trip last year:

When I scrapbook a trip where I took some good vista shots, I print one big with the idea I'll use that on one page, then fill the other with smaller shots. I did that here, but you can see the photos don't fill the space in an even grid. I struggled with that for a while and thought about reprinting the photos as squares to make an even grid, but the orientation of the photos just didn't work. Taking a shot of the whole family manes I have to print it horizontally! Instead, I added a line of embellishments in between. I'm happy with the result. Most of the camping supplies come from my Camping Iris container, and most were Simple Stories, though the lovely coral paper was Pebbles.

Finally, here's a page I did for March Simple Scrapper:

This is one of my favorite sketches from Simple Scrapper: a triangular grid of Project Life cards. However, I'd printed my photos as wallets, smaller than PL! So I trimmed the PL cards to match the wallets. The background paper is one I love from Lawn Fawn. I have bought so much of it. It makes me happy.

Thank you for visiting! I hope this gave you ideas about incorporating multiple photos on two-page layouts.

Making progress on pages I was stuck on: Scrapbooking blocks

I am still finishing up sharing pages I started then didn't finish in my scrap retreat in January. These two I was stuck on. I made them, then wrote the journaling, then made no progress,. I'm not sure why I didn't with this first one. It was pretty well complete without journaling. Here's what I ended up with:

To be honest, the only thing, aside from the journaling, that I hadn't finished was the date. Lo, my son had kept the box of the Switch and the receipt--we trained him well!--so when I asked him to find it, we were set. I used an Ali Edwards Story kit for this, plus scraps. I've been using my scrap bin quite a bit for patterned paper.

This page was a bigger conundrum. I'd put together the photo block plus the four clocks of colored paper under it. After I added the journaling, I looked around for something to finish it, and lo, serendipity: We are remodeling the downstairs after a flood, so most of my scrap stuff is upstairs right now. I saw a strip of green paper that looked like lawn, and that gave me an idea. I used them as strips of "lawn" to frame the title, then dug into my decorative brads, which were again right next to me because of the remodeling. After some stitching, I was done. And I love this page much more than when I started.

Thank you for stopping by! I made a few more pages--most brand new!--in my stay-at-home state. I'll share them soon in the next week.