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Sunday photo+words

scrapbook!

Happy Saturday! With another week done, we are just in time for scrapbook! Saturday. Today we have our usual sketch, a color palette, and a trend alert. Three things to help your pages come alive and come together.

 

SKETCH

This month's sketch comes from Erin's layout in our gallery. 

Here it is transformed into a sketch.

 

And here is the sketch turned into a layout! I love how easily this one came together. I stayed very true to the sketch. No reason to stray on that one!

If you would like a layered template, all ready for a quick layout, just click here!

 

ROGYBIV

This month for our color palette, I looked back to our gallery and was beguiled by Jennifer Larson's layout.

and knew it needed to be our October color palette. I love the yellows and greens in equal proportions and the little drops of raspberry and brown.

I was so excited by how it turned out!

 

TRENDING

This month our gallery has 8 layouts that have rainbow colors on them. From Sarah's which goes all around the rainbow, to Emily's which takes turns stepping down the rainbow, and 6 others which dabble in the full color spectrum.

I borrowed elements from many of the layouts and put together a new rainbow layout!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope that you can put the sketch, the color palette, and the rainbow color trend to use on a layout or three!

Memorializing the Fun

Halloween is one of those occasions that photos are nearly as important as the actual event! Perhaps it is that the costumes are often a once-in-a-lifetime wear. Perhaps it is the care and cost that goes into getting dressed for just one night. Perhaps it is the fact that it is a photo that can be compared year to year to see growth, and changes. And one photo will conjure up so many memories.

We want your photos to be successful this year, so here are a few tips from our team.

 

Take Your Photos Early

Jennifer lives in Minnesota where it gets dark early. Knowing that trick or treat photos aren't really possible, she does her photos early while there is still daylight. Though this requires a little extra planning, you will certainly be happier to have photos that are not underexposed or flashed bright white. 

And if you are concerned about your photos appearing too posed, ask your subjects to do something that their costume might do. The results may make you giggle! Look at Jennifer's boys...

... and Amy's kids.

Capture Your Pumpkin With and Without Sunlight

Capture your jack-o-lanterns in the sunlight, so you can see the detail of the carving. Then take one without your flash at night (set your camera down on the ground or on a tripod to hold it more still) to get the magic of the flickering lights. Katie takes hers after the trick or treating is all wrapped up. A nice end to the evening.

 

Repetition Repetition

When she got out years of photo to create her mini album, Monika noticed that she had photos of her husband applying her son's Dracula make-up and then photos of him applying her daughter's kitty cat make-up years and years later. She was struck by the passage of time. How quickly it goes and how comforting to see things stay the same.

In looking through her pumpkin carving photos, Marnie noticed that no matter how much her kids change, there are things about them that always seem the same. She giggled at the repetition and how glad she was to take a hundred million shots each year so that she has the in between faces, too. 

 

Take Advantage of Porch Lights

Don't forget to watch for interesting porches along the way. They can make for terrific backdrops

and provide wonderful lighting.

DOWNLOAD AND BACKUP

Marnie has twice lost Halloween photos due to computer malfunction, and once to a stolen camera. She suggests backing your Halloween photos up to a third party source that night and then printing a copy for good measure. And never travel with a camera with film in it. Oh, wait. None of us use film anymore. :) 

 

Spooky Edits 

And just for fun...

We know we have told you about PicMonkey before. Right now they have all sorts of Halloween edits. Look at the fun you can have!

 

Fun, gruesome, or downright disgusting, they have a little for everyone!

 

We hope you have enjoyed Halloween week! We would love to hear from you to learn what you loved best! Don't only 12 days left--don't wait too long to order your costumes and stock up on your candy!

and the giveaways go to ...

Congratulations Charlotte and Dawn! Please email you mailing address to us at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com. We look forward to hearing from you shortly!

Thank you, Pebbles, for a terrific giveaway. We appreciate your generosity!

give.away.day. featuring PEBBLES

We thought you might love some Tricks and Treats for our 

and what better Tricks and Treats than that from 

Pebbles' new Tricks and Treats line is full of spooky Halloween goodness. This collection combines Halloween and basic patterns with an added bit of glitter and whimsy.

 

Several of our write. click. scrapbook. design team members are also on the Pebbles' design team and have created some visual treats with this flavorful line.

Vivian

 

Kathy

 

EmilyS (a how-to for this layout may be found here)

 

EmilyS

 

 

Christa

 

Christa

 

Ready for the greatest treat of all? Pebbles has generously offered to give away two full sets of this line. Yes, that's right! There will be two lucky numbers drawn. How is that for a treat??

If you would like to be considered for this giveaway, please leave us a comment telling us us your favorite scrapbook treat or trick. We can't wait to learn more about you and from you!

Comments will remain open throughout the evening. Two lucky numbers will be selected at random and posted Friday morning. Please remember it is your responsibility to check back and claim your number via email before midnight Saturday.

And if you haven't done so already, please click on over to the Pebbles' Facebook page and like them! It'd be a great way of thanking them for the generosity!

It's Who We Are

We are scrapbookers. We may use our products to decorate our homes, create cards, or generally make stuff, but what we really do, and love, is scrapbook. Here are some Halloween layouts to inspire you to create your own. Cheesy theme paper not required. Orange and black not required. Photos not even required. Just you and a story to tell or a photo to preserve. Add in some paper and embellishments and an amazing layout is right around the corner!

 

COSTUMES

Celeste

 

Celeste

 

Diane

 

Valerie

 

EmilyS

 

PUMPKINS

LisaO

 

Diane

 

Deb

 

EmilyS

 

EmilyS

 

EmilyS

 

MINI ALBUMS

Remember how Katie made that amazing wall art with the October Afternoon Witch Hazel line? Well, she also put together a Halloween mini album that is awaiting its pictures. Look how amazing this is! Much like a December Daily, but for Halloween. It really is more fun to scrapbook the season beforehand when you are really in the mood. And not after when you have emotionally and mentally moved on! Perhaps Katie's album will inspire you to create your own!

 

And once you have an album for this year, why not make another for years' past like Monika did?

Wow! What a show! What a team! It just doesn't get better! Thirteen ways for you to document your spookiness! Seems like such a good number for the occasion!

Thank you for stopping by! Tomorrow is Thursday AND give.away.day. Yeah, baby. It's going to be a great one! See you then!

Try This at Home

A terrific side benefit of scrapbooking is all the craft supplies that you have on hand for making holidays more festive. It's so fun to just open a drawer and pull out what you need to make fun things. 

Lisa used some oogly eyes, masking tape, and toilet paper rolls to create the cutest mummies in the house. Because of the layered masking tape, they are really quite sturdy.

And if your children help you make them, they will love them for years to come. Don't you long for the homemade decorations from your own childhood homes?

With some help from her kindergartner, Marnie soaked some cheesecloth in watered down white glue to create these fun ghosts.

Once you have the wey cheesecloth, drape it over a small balloon (like your summer leftover water balloons) and let it dry. Maybe some oogly eyes would work on these, too!

 

Celeste used her digi skills and her amazing paper crafting abilities to put together some treat toppers.

If you create a foldover treat topper, you don't have to find fancy bags, but can instead go with regular ziploc baggies for the treats. Much cheaper.

 

Celeste she also made these adorable pencil toppers! What a great gift for classmates!

Can't you also imagine them atop a cupcake? With some lovely buttercream frosting? Or perhaps an orange velvet cupcake with cream cream frosting?

 

If you have some diamond glaze and basic jewelry pieces on hand, you can make some custom Halloween earrings. For the first pair, Marnie printed a text box with the words boo and eek

and for the second pair, she printed a clipart ghost. Once printed, she just trimmed the art to size with her paper trimmer (like the ones above) or punched it out with a circle punch (like the ones below). First adhere the art with regular adhesive and then add diamond glaze on top! Really that's all that's needed. (Be sure to wait for the glaze to cure. Patience is a virtue. And uncured glaze is fingerprintable.)

 

We hope that these give you some ideas for making your Halloween more fun! We hope you will share your holiday crafts with us, too!

Tomorrow we get back to our roots... We can't wait to see you back again!

Something Spooky This Way Comes

This week we are getting you ready for Halloween! All week we will be bringing you ideas for your home, your kids, and your scrapbooks! Let's get our spooky on...

 

Home Decor

Halloween lends itself to the most wonderful decorations. It's got to be the luscious colors of autumn combined with the dark shadows of Halloween. And nowadays, Halloween papers are filled with graphic scrolls, flourishes, and elements that make possible items that are grown up and kitsch free.

Diane put together a Halloween cone with a piece of patterned paper and some holiday frill. Add a timepiece, a pair of sparkly bats, some candy, and it just doesn't get better.

 

Using the same fringe, Diane coordinated her candle decor. This is a quick way to dress up your candles for the season, and it's easy to switch out once November comes.

Here is a closeup so you can see the glitter and the pennant.

Having fallen in love with the new October Afternoon Witch Hazel line, Katie used the stickers and some papers to put together this amazing wall art.

We knew you would want a close up. Isn't it adorable? (in a spooky way, of course!)

And speaking of wall art, Paula and Marnie made some too! Paula rocked the web by making every section a different pattern. First she used her Silhouette to cut out the spider web and then she added each of the patterns by hand. Truly a work of art.

 

For her, not nearly as elaborate, but still festive print, Marnie searched online for dictionary pages with Halloween on them. She found one, downloaded it, and used it as her background. Adding a digital flourish from Echo Park and the word "boo" she printed it on regular white cardstock. 

Here is a closeup.

Then for a bit of whimsy, using two parentheses, a digital black cat, and a new favorite font, Marnie made a 4x6 print that she put in the backside of a $1 frame from Ikea.

 

Perhaps Halloween decor is fun as we just don't take the holiday too seriously. How could you take a candy holiday seriously? All those candy corns and bitesized snacks... Mmm. Did I make you hungry?

Tomorrow we will be back with some projects you can do with your kids! See you then! And if you have any Halloween home decor you have made, we would love to see it in our Flickr gallery. We will be checking all week and featuring your week here Friday if you want to add some in!

Sunday Photo + Words

 

Click.

Earlier this week I listened to the latest episode of The digi show (a podcast that shares thoughts and inspiration on digital scrapbooking) and they talked a little about what to do when you are scrapbooking and don´t have photos to go with the story. It got me thinking about which circumstances this can happen and this is what I came up with:

1. If you are scrapbooking older memories for example from your childhood or a trip you took a long time ago.

2. When you just didn´t have the camera around to capture the moment.

3. If you have an assignment to scrapbook something specific, but don´t have a photo to go with it.

I realize that there are many more, but let´s just go with these for now!

In the podcast they talked about using Stock photos, which is basically photos that are licenced for everyone to use. There are online sites that have thousands of free photos, just Google search it. Ok, so Stock photos are not your photos, but can very much help out when you need something for your project. 

Celeste Smith tells me that she uses stock photos all the time in her digital scrapbooking. Here she has scrapped about her beloved TV shows. And when I saw this page, I remembered that I actually did this too in my Project Life album earlier this year!

I also have a layout that I made a few years ago where I journaled about infertility. But I didn´t have digital photos from when my daughter was a baby (and not as cute as this!) so I searched and used a stock photo. 

What do you think about that? I really have no problem with using others photos, but if you really do want to use your own photos you can easily build up your own portfolio of stock photos. What kinds of photos would you put in that folder? Well, go back and see what you have scrapbooked before. Perhaps you journal alot about your feelings, then pictures of nature often suits the page. Here is an example from my albums.

The title of this page is "If I was in charge..." and has nothing to do with that flower photo really. But I think it can be nice and natural to use nature photos on layouts about anything. 

And here is another page that is just about things to be happy about.

Another tip to build up and use stock photos of your own, is to take photos of everyday kind of things. It can be things around the house or photos of a great pattern etc.

A page where I listed things I was grateful for at the time and using a photo that I know I just snapped a cold winter morning. 

So to start with just snap random photos in nature and stuff around your house to just have in your archives.

Ok, that was one way to solve the no-photo "problem". The exact opposite might be to just go with it and make a page without a photo. We did a whole gallery where No photos were required in the summer of 2011. 

Before I made my page for this gallery I had always envisioned a no-photo layout to be more artsy/artjournal-ish, but boy was I wrong! I loved every layout in that gallery and got a lot of inspiration from them!

You can also take a photo later. For this layout, I really would have wanted to take a photo of the Waterlily in the lake as my journling talks about how magical that nightswim was, alas I didn´t bring my camera. So, I made sure I picked a flower and took a photo of that when I got home. This is also something you might be able to do when you don´t find the right photo from your childhood perhaps. Maybe you have a photo of something else from that time? 

How would you solve this "problem"? Please share!

Ps. I created a set of photos on Flickr that is filled with my own stock photos. Because sharing is caring!