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In Review

July is finishing, the Olympics beginning, and school is just around the corner. With so much going on, this month's theme, Five is Fun! is perfect as we take our limited items and create some simpler works of art to help us complete some summer pages and document those memories before they fade away into a summer sunset.

Let's put on our fanciest flip flops, and our most comfy summer whites, and stroll through our gallery one last time. Together. The way we like it best, no?

 

Before we begin our prompt lists, let's do a bit of trend spotting. There are many multiple photos layouts this month; 12 in fact. 5 use grids. 6 use linear stacks. If you copied each of these 12 layouts, you would be scrapbooking 57 photos. Imagine how freeing it would seem to have 57 photos properly preserved?

For a mid-summer gallery, the colors are also light and bright. Lots of pastels and muted brights here. Right on trend according to Project Runway this week!

Let's get to our lists! First up, journaling prompts.

1. have you a dream? (Francine)
2. thoughts on the gender of your children (Deb)
3. the personality of your pet (Lisa)
4. a way that your child is changing (Emily)
5. a Fourth of July tradition (Celeste)
6. documenting something you have been waiting for (Diane)
7. look deeper at a field trip detail (Vivian)
8. a current creative stage of you or your child (Kathy)
9. document how a tradition began (Paula)
10. a treat and why you love it (Teka)
11. different aspects of your child (Valerie)
12. capture a moment of zaniness (Emily)
13. look at your child. what do you see? (Sarah)
14. party details. bare bones. (Donna)
15. journal the start of a conversation. the photos will be the end. (Erin)
16. record a gratitude to your child (Marnie)
17. document a special relationship (Christa)
18. a summer delight (Amy)
19. something that makes life good (Monika)
20. a list of a few goods and bads from a day of vacation (Marie)
21. record some details from a touristy day (Kelly)
22. your thoughts as you look back at an old photo (Alexandra)

 

And your photography prompts:

1. stand by a window for a selfie (Francine)
2. take a portrait shot of each of your kids with the same background on the same day (Deb)
3. take a series of photos to help better tell the story (Lisa)
4. be higher than your subject (Emily)
5. have your subjects lay down and stand over them (Celeste)
6. use a fun filter (Diane)
7. take two: one up close, one far away (Vivian)
8. use a white background for a detail shot (Kathy)
9. get a series that help tell the story (Paula)
10. foodie photos. yum! (Teka)
11. block a chunk of time, patiently sit and capture expression changes (Valerie)
12. before you clean, click! (Emily)
13. take an everyday shot of someone you love (Sarah)
14. the birthday candle, before and after (Donna)
15. look back through your photos and match them up for a page (Erin)
16. same subject, front and back (Marnie)
17. look for a moment that you can capture the essence of relationship in a photo (Christa)
18. summer food eating action shot (Amy)
19. set your scene with near, far, up, down, left and right (Marie)
20. tourist day: remember the people pictures, too (Kelly)
21. remember to add in the background for an additional bit of preservation (Alexandra)

 

And lastly, 22 things to try when you scrapbook this month:

1. use an unlikely thread for a banner (Francine)
2. rounded corners on your photos, squared corners on the mattes (Deb)
3. use the negatives of a punch (Lisa)
4. create a photo strip by reusing the same photo 3 or more times (Emily)
5. keep your layout in the upper half of the page, with lots of breathing room below (Celeste)
6. try a black photo matte to help your colorful photo pop (Diane)
7. emulate a graphic on your photo with paper (Vivian)
8. enlarge a photo with unusual proportions (Kathy)
9. have a perfectly centered and symmetrical layout (Paula)
10. use patterned tape on top of patterned paper. i dare you! (Teka)
11. jump the gender gap with products (Valerie)
12. tip your photo away from the lines of your layout (Emily)
13. use a reference point in your photo in the background decor (Sarah)
14. keep an uniform margin in a block of photos (Donna)
15. let an embellishment aid in your storytelling (Erin)
16. use a ribbon in lieu of a patterned paper (Marnie)
17. journal round your photo (Christa)
18. use a graphic element three times (Amy)
19. place your title over a strip of washi tape (Monika)
20. place your photo grid on the lower left hand corner and then use your journaling and embellishments to create a visual triangle (Marie)
21. journal on our photos (Kelly)
22. use those old decorative scissors! (Alexandra)

 That's it! 66 ideas to keep your juices flowing and pages coming!

 

As a thank you for the time you have spent with us this month, our lovely Monika created this printable for you and our Five is Fun! theme.

You may download it here.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a terrific weekend!

scrapbook!

Happy Saturday! Summer is moving along happily with hot dry days in most of the United States. How is your weather? Scorching? rainy? both? No matter your weather outside, I hope your hearts and lives are fair and sunny!

This past week has been a quiet one around here after logging nearly 6000 miles on our car since school got out! With so much time away from home, my scrapbooking time has been very limited. But with such an incredible July gallery, it was easy to put a few layouts together in record time! Please, won't you join me in some quick and inspired layouts?

 

SKETCH

Donna put together a sketch based upon Marie's darling layout.

A nine-photo grid is perfect for those summer events that can't be captured with just one picture. We had a handful of teammates who took the challenge to use the sketch. Look at their great work!

Celeste moved the grid to the center and added polaroid frames which created a strong sense of stability to her layout.

Deb's layout kept the grid to the right, and she added little bits of layers under and over the edges, all in delightful summer hues.

Amy switched out the photos for journaling bits. What a clever way to help you move the story along with different aspects of the story taking center stage as the story unfolds.

I left my version off center as well. I loved the chance to make use of a few of the many sequential photos I seem to take at the water slide. (I didn't think all 32 needed to go on, so I narrowed them down some, but honestly, I could have used all nine photos with just one slide down. Oh, I love my high speed button!)

If you would like to play along with the sketch, please download it here. And then leave us a comment and a link so that we can see your work of art!

 

ROYGBIV

This month, I fell in love with the colors in Diane's layout.

Maybe I was lured in by the hammock, but I really loved the bright vibrant splashes of color. I felt the wood grain added a textural quality that not only grounded the layout, but also added to the organic quality.

Wanting to let the colors shine, I went with a white background. (Oh, that, and I love me my white backgrounds! teehee!)

For this next one, I found a banner that had all the colors (and more!) in one element. Adding a little woodgrain to the title, and some dark teal blue for the journaling, and the same happy sunshine translates in a whole new way.

Oh, how I love color. I  hope this color palette will inspire you, too!

 

TRENDING

This month Alexandra used some chipboard clouds on her layout. Shaped clouds have flown under the trending radar for a few years, but are holding steady as a viable trend. In varying shapes and textures, they add a lighthearted element to your layout.  

 

There you have it! Three reasons to scrapbook today! Really, I mean it! You will be glad you did, and I can't wait to see your layouts! Soon, please? :)

recycling your designs

Last month I kicked off my series on easy summer scrapbooking by sharing a sketch with you (find it here).  This month I am back with another one of my favorite ways to get pages done quickly - by recycling your designs.  Essentially, scraplifting yourself.  I know it's nothing new, but, it works!  Ask anyone who scrapbooks a lot and often and they will tell you that this is the secret to getting pages done fast. 

For my example today I have two layouts to share with you.  The first one I made a couple of months ago

It documents the feelings of joy we felt at Samuel's arrival into this world.  He's grown so much since then!!  Just yesterday he rolled over for the first time.  And he started scooching too.

{As an aside, my two older boys were early crawlers and early walkers.  My days are numbered folks.  Pretty soon this one will be on the move!}

I wanted to scrapbook these photos of my middle son giving Sam hugs and kisses.  There were two photos and I thought they would both look best cropped to squares.  I immediately thought of the layout above and decided to just reuse that design.  Here is the finished layout

Nathan was very welcoming to Sam when we brought him home.  He loves to give him hugs and kisses.  We've had to teach him to be gentle though, since he does get a little too excited about it sometimes!  It is so precious and sweet to see how much he loves his baby brother.

But, I'm supposed to be talking about scrapbooking... sorry!  I want to say that sometimes I reuse a design by breaking it down into its most basic elements (photo, journaling, title).  Almost like reverse engineering a sketch.  Other times I use the design almost exactly, so I'll look at how I used the pattern paper and how I embellished a layout.  This layout came together pretty quickly for me because I chose to do a more direct scraplift.  

You might be able to tell that I have baby on the brain this summer, can you blame me?  I mean, isn't he a cutie?  But really, I want to hear from you!  What are you scrapbooking this summer?

scrapbook!

Happy Saturday! I hope your June is off to a great start! I just returned home from a very fast summer getaway which included one day at the beach!! Ah! I love the beach. The roar, the colors, the smell. Sigh... Nothing better...

I have returned home a kinder, gentler soul. Revived, rested, and ready to dive into the 400 new photos that I took! And to help me out, I need look no further than our June gallery! With three new challenges for us to share, we will put together three new pages in no time!

 

Monthly Sketch

Donna is back as our sketch creator and has put together a sketch based upon Deb's layout.

You may download it here.

 

Four photos here I come... Here is my layout. I rearranged the photos a little, and moved the journaling down, but otherwise, stayed pretty true.

I am excited to share three more sketch layouts with you, too, as a few teammates put together layouts as well!

Celeste is the master of layers and this layout is no exception. But the most amazing part of this is the smudges and masking. Digital genius!

 

I love Donna's colors and patterns and how she added a large grid flag behind the pattern paper strips. Did you notice her little airplane flair? So cute!

 

Lisa smartly recreated the sketch into an 11 x 8.5 by switching out the right side photo with a journaling box. She stayed true to the proportions on the photos. I love the white box and even grid lines on the photos. As darling as her accent!!

 

Design Element: Flair

This month, flair seemed to be the embellishment du jour. Nine different layouts were sporting the trend: Christa, Paula, Deb, Diane, Vivian, Keshet, Kathy, Emily, and Katrina. Perhaps we, too, should try?

Here is my flair!

  Won't you try some, too?

 

Color

As I saw the layouts the first time, I fell in love with Teka's color scheme. I loved the faded hues. Such a soothing combination!

Feel free to add in a splash of raspberry!! Teka did it so well!

 

 

So that's it! Our three challenges. Here they are again! Hope you will play along!

scrapbook!

The Everydaily II gallery knocked my socks off with so many incredible pages. I couldn't wait to get in there and start scrapbooking all the ideas.

 

1. MAY SKETCH

This month's sketch comes from Emily Spahn's layout. With its layers and full sized photo, you could use your favorite papers and a favorite uncropped 4x6 and be done in no time.

You may download the layered template here.

 

Here is my layout. I stayed very true to the template. Even in color scheme. Why improve upon perfection, right?

 

 

2. FULL SIZE PHOTO

This month there were several layouts that used uncropped 4x6 photos. I counted 13. How many do you spot? Are you inspired to just grab an already printed photo and start working? I did just that.

 

3. PRINTABLE

What would a month be without a printable to help you scrapbook your daily life? That's right, you can trim these down for journaling cards, use them for mini book covers,or...

  

...use them as notecards as Monika did. Add a bit of washi tape and call it cute.

You may download it here.

 

Here are your three challenges recapped:

Thanks for stopping! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

A Weekend in NYC Mini

I am a huge fan of Studio Calico. Their eponymous line and exclusive collaborations means kits that are exquisitely unique! I had never worked with kits until a year or so ago-- but now I buy them every once in a while and keep them in plastic folders for times when I want to scrap quickly, or scrap on the go-- without dragging out every supply I own!

The Daydream Believer kit is a gem, and it perfectly suited my minibook topic-- a spring weekend in NYC!

Now, this was a working weekend, and so I didn't bring my camera with me. The weather was so beautiful, though, that I couldn't help but take out my phone and capture the city by Instagram. I almost always print my photos at home, and in this case I just used regular 4X6 photo paper, printing edge to edge.

For the design I used the 4x6 postcards that many businesses use to advertise as my inspiration. (For ease of photographing the book, I shot it before adding my binder rings as binding.) I used the exclusive Norwich alpha in the naked chipboard state, as I loved how it blended in with the scenery. I'm also a tad obsessed with mini alphas-- so I used the Dear Lizzy set to the max! (Click any of these photos to make them larger.)

Dinner at Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich's "Eataly" market. Oh. So. Good.

The little yellow envelope contains extra bits of ephemera...

I spent most of my time in Harlem, where my friend lives, and I was amazed by the beautiful architecture and wide boulevards. It's a vibrant neighbourhood, and I understand why my friends love living there.

This sunset over Harlem was a view I will never forget!

Thanks, Studio Calico, for the perfect kit to document my trip!

scrapbook!

Welcome to Scrapbook! Saturday. Are you glad to be back to the land of scrapbooking? Thank you, again for spending your week with me!

 

This week, we are loaded with goodies. A sketch by Donna, a design challenge, and a printable! Scrapbook Saturdays are the best!

 

February Sketch

Donna has created a sketch for us based upon her layout in the gallery. Here it is.

And for those who prefer, we have again created a layered digital template for you to download and enjoy! You may download it here.

 

Design Challenge

Did you notice how many layouts this month contained lists? Whether randomly scattered, listed in a column, placed inside a design element, or created with visual cues, there are many ways to write out a list of items. This month, especially, lists seem appropriate and helpful.

 

Printable

A couple of music things for your pages. Enjoy!

You may download it here.

 

Here are my challenge layouts:

1. February Sketch

I changed it up a little, squaring off the tipped photos, and switching up their sizes a bit. I tried to leave the photos askew but I just couldn't!

2. Design Challenge

Lists. Such an efficient way to journal.

3. Printable

Here is my layout using one of the elements from the printable.

Thanks for stopping by!! Before you go, I wanted to let you know about some fun things going on at reneepearson.com.

First, this weekend they are running a contest to win a seat in Molly Newman's new class. Here's the skinny.

Want to win one of three seats in iShot That, the iPhone photo class by Molly & Jim Newman? Then you want to participate in our iShot That Twitter Contest. All you have to do is:

1. Go to their contest page and answer the question, “What’s your #1 iPhone photo subject?”
2. Follow @reneenews and tweet about the contest.

The contest ends this Sunday. They’ll announce the winners on Monday, February 20^th.

 

Next, there are two new classes open for registration.

• iShot That by Molly and Jim Newman  -  Start date February 20 
• It’s Elemental by Tiffany Tillman  -  Start date March 12

 

Please take a minute to stop by and visit Renee's site to see the class descriptions and details!   

 

We hope you enjoy the sketch and printable; please remember they are for personal use only! That's it! Three more challenges to help get your ideas moving and those pages finished!

Have a great week! I'll be back next week!

Showing Off: Place Cards & Tags

 This week, I thought we could chat about all the ways we put our mad scrapbooking skills to use that have little to do with formal scrapbooking! The skills we now possess don't only help us create fun pages, but also so much more! Sure, they don't make the bed or do windows, but they do come in handy for other things...

Today we are going to focus on place cards and tags.

 

The Backstory

Long ago I fell more than just a little bit in love with fonts. I love the mood they create. I love how they make my pages so pretty and error free. I love how I can space them to my liking. I love how I can change their color.

I have long used fonts on my pages. Before photoshop, I did everything in WordPerfect. (I, to this day, have WordPerfect on my computer and think it a near-perfect program. Word has nothing on it... Just sayin'...) I tell you this as everything we are going to do today can be done in a word processing program, photoshop is not required. My 13 year old son uses Google Docs for nearly everything he does at school these days, and he could probably do most of it with that. (I'm too old to learn a new product at this point. Apologies.)

 

Placecards

I have always loved a well set table. I grew up in Canada where my mom's jumping off point for manners was the fact that The Queen could possibly come for dinner one day and would we know how to behave. ("Would you put you elbow on The Queen's table?" "Would you put your feet up on The Queen's coffee table?" I had such reverence for the whole notion that I would fall into immediate and complete compliance. I have since tried it on my kids, to much less avail...)

So with a table set properly enough for a queen to appear, one must have place cards. Admittedly, the nice ones only get printed for holidays. Here are ours from the past two Thanksgivings.

(and, yes, I realize there is no salad fork. It wasn't my table...)

 

(Sorry, I did the turkey this year, so the pictures are a bit spotty.)

Two years ago, the names were printed and the owls matched the centerpieces. It was very fancy. (heehee!) This past year, I printed generic placecards and the girls hand wrote all the names. (And yes, I kept them. I love I'm-learning-to-print handwriting.)

I could have purchased some, but why? I am a scrapbooker. I have the skills to make my own. You do, too!

First, divide your document into four to eight cards. From there just add a little digital element (You know mine will most likely come from Crystal. My product crushes run deep and long.) and a bit of text, or the names, or whatever you would like. Here is how mine looked all on one sheet.

This one is just into halves, so I didn't add any trim lines. That way if my trimmer isn't straight (really? how is that possible? grr...) it doesn't leave lines behind.

Here are the 2010s all on one paper. In hindsight, eight per page might have made them a tiny bit too small, but I suffer from Frugality disease.

For paper, I used bulk white cardstock from the Office Supply section. I suppose I should have used linen paper though, in case the queen had arrived. Next year...

 

Handmade placecards. A small touch, but one I wouldn't have done before I scrapbooked. And such a sweet addition to a holiday table.

 

 TAGS

We like to share treats from our house. The girls love to be the delivery people and present the items with great flourish. And while the treat is important, the most beloved part for me is making the tags.

Again, just a little bit of digi product, a few fonts, some white cardstock, and a trimmer and you are good to go. Sometimes I get a bit crazy and bring in a punch or two. Just because I have them. Because I am a scrapbooker and I have cool tools!!

Here are a few sheets of the ready-to-be-printed tags that we have made this past year.

Teacher Appreciation

Year End Teacher Gift

Holiday Tags

And, lastly, Valentine's Treats.

And here are how they look attached:

Aren't you glad you are a scrapbooker so that you possess such fun and helpful skills??

Oooh, don't forget to print one more than you need so you will have it for your scrapbook pages or project life!

 

Please come back tomorrow so we can explore more cool ways to use our skills!

 

But before I go, what would a day of love be without a little present? My cousin gave her husband a year of dates for Christmas! Such a snazzy idea! And perfect for Valentine's day, don't you think?

I put together three pages of printable pages that you can cut out and put together to create a year of dates for your sweetheart. I wanted to make something that could be gathered back together for a minialbum, which means you need to remember to take pictures on your dates!! (Isn't scrapbooking fun??)

download page 1
download page 2
download page 3

I hope you like it!

until tomorrow,

In Review

What a great month we have had! Join me as we take our final stroll through the January gallery and then put it all together for one last layout!

Francine: I love this layout for its groupings. Francine is a master of the collection. I love, too, how the photos seem perfectly placed. Like a well set table.

Karen:  I love how her layouts make me feel. She made use of my happy colors which tells me immediately that the title is not a mournful one, but cheerful. This layout reminds me to take pictures of things (and not just people and food) that make me happy. I have notes that have touched my heart that truly belong in my scrapbook. You, too?

Aly: The first time I saw this layout, I immediately wanted to rewind time to a time a few years' back when we were loaded in the car off to somewhere. Nigel, my oldest, never went in the car, unless we had a big destination. He had the luxury of staying inside. My littlest? She has been hauled about since she was small. At three weeks we started out to tennis in the cold midwestern winter, and we have not stopped since. Aly's layout made me realize I haven't take pictures of some of the more mundane activities. Add it to the checklist!

Celeste: I remember a winter as a child where the snow went halfway up our back door. We had to shove and shove to get the screen door open. But of course, there are no pictures. Celeste's layout is a reminder to me to keep my camera handy and take photos of those weather-related memories.

Marnie: Do you know that I purposefully took my camera along one day on our adventures knowing that I had this layout due? Do you that I am so glad that I did? I love to be a good student, and scrapbooking assignments help me to stretch just like school ones used to.

Erin: I love Erin's honesty. Sharing with us that her photos were taken for the Week in the Life album that never was. And how she didn't let them go to waste. Have you photos leftover from a particular purpose that might fit on a page of a different kind? Let Erin's example be your permission to get them on a layout!

Christa: Military wives are such an amazing lot to me. I am always impressed by how they roll with the punches, even when the changes are huge. And moving around the globe seems pretty huge to me. Wow.

Alexandra: Alexandra can take the simplest things and make them look beautiful. Have you taken a minute to finish up your December daily album? It's nearly February. Perhaps this weekend you could get it out and finish it up before the memories run cold?

Lisa: I love the linear beauty of Lisa's layout. And the little grouping of three at the bottom? Awesome! You know that our eye loves threes and fives best right?

Lisa: If you were to sit down and create a layout about today, what would a recounting of your schedule tell you? The changes in my own schedule over the past few years have been significant and annual. Join me in a pact to promise to record this before the memory of the madness fades?

Amy: For the past few years, Costco has offered free calendars with their holiday cards. I recognized this one, and think this is a magnificent use of one! Amy is so clever.

Marnie: I used to be so good at taking headshot pictures of my kids. Now we all seem too busy. So I was happy to find this one amidst my white balance practice photos. Plain headshots like these are permission to journal whatever I want. I love that.

Vivian: Do you ever read people's journaling and realize just how amazing they are? I loved reading Vivian's journaling. And I love how she introduced her daughter to this opportunity to serve our world. And you know what? It taught me that Vivian is a thoughtful person who is aware of others. And now I love her even more, not just for her great pages. Scrapbooking. It is so much more than paper and glue.

Ann: This photo will be a family treasure forever. When I used to teach at CKCs we would take polls on how many photos people took over a Disney vacation. 5000 was not unheard of. How does one begin to scrapbook that many? One at a time. Choose a favorite, just like Ann did. And what a favorite this one is.

Paula: This is your reminder. Get your family together and take a picture of all of you and then create a layout about today. I love how Paula's journaling becomes the vertical column. Clean and easy and purposeful. Perfect.

Celeste: One of my favorite features of Celeste's layout is the thick'ish black borders around the photos. It really helps ground them. And then I seem to notice each of them, rather than just a group of photos. Celeste's pages have such a definitive style, too. Don't you agree?

Celeste: Did you notice how Celeste makes use of a visual triangle on this page? But there is a bit more magic than just the triangle. The photo cluster on the left is the same width as the journaling space on the right. This makes it look like a missing puzzle piece, thereby adding an additional sense of cohesion. It is subtle design elements like these that can transform your pages.

Kelly: Kelly is becoming a hybrid master! With her date doing double duty as the title, the scene is already set for the photos and story. 12.26 conjures a sense of calm and laze for many of us. Choosing to have so much subtext in a title helps to strengthen the message of a page.

Marie: Speaking of dates, how does one not love the date 1.1.11? and to have a baby born on that date? Well, that is pretty special. As a design tip, study Marie's choice of placement for her photos. When you are creating mosaics, make sure you don't have lopped off limbs leading into other limbs, and other such follies. Keep moving things around until they look right. You will know it when you see it.

Donna: I love the celebration of the everyday in Donna's layout. When I saw this, I wanted to run around my whole house and snap photos of all the clutter piles. And then I realized I didn't have hard space enough to record them all!! Teasing. Though I am not teasing about how much you will look back on photos like these and love how transported you will feel into times' past. Please remember to add these pictures to your list!

Celeste: Do you have a lazy day at your house? Or perhaps you have a day that has a regular routine? Have you captured it? Your photos don't need to be display worthy, remember you just want them to remind you of these days that are passing us by. If you do go on a photo field trip, perhaps keep your camera the same angle (up or sideways) for all the pictures as a means of linear bliss.

Keshet: I remember when Nigel was little and I wanted a photo to tell the whole story. And I couldn't figure out how. Well, silly, just add a blackboard! This is such a clever idea. If you check our Pinterest board you will see other examples of blackboards being put to good use, too.

Emily: Favorite part of this layout? The armchairs. Don't they just tell us a little bit about the story? Do you try to reach for embellishments that are purposeful? Don't you find when you do that you love them on your page? Me, too.

Marnie: This silly layout could have not been done and my children's lives would have been perfectly represented. But this page represents my love of learning and my efforts to continue to learn and grow and become every day better at something. And that is a page worth having.

 

The theme this month, Today, offered much inspiration for journaling, and photography, and our gallery was ripe with inspirational design. I took the challenge to document my right now with a new kid photo, stretched the journaling theme of everyday messes to include a messy photo, and added in one of the pieces of the printables page. Putting it all together, I came up with this. My new favorite layout.

I hope you felt inspired to make a new favorite as well!

scrapbook!

Welcome to Scrapbook! Saturday. What a wonderful week we have just had with Amy. I have laughed, cried, shuddered with fear, and breathed sighs of relief. All in one week. I love how scrapbooking is not just about the pages, but the sisterhood and bonds we develop as we read each others' pages. Thank you, Amy, for opening dialogues for me with myself, my son, and my friends. Thank you, too, for helping me feel normal as I enter this new territory. I love watching and learning from other mothers that I respect.

 

This week, we are loaded with goodies. A sketch by Donna, a design challenge, and a printable! Scrapbook Saturdays are the best!

 

January Sketch

Donna has created a sketch for us based upon her layout in the gallery. Here is it.

And for those who prefer, we have again created a layered digital template for you to download and enjoy! You may download here.

Design Challenge

Did you notice how many layouts this month contained linear photo elements? Aly, Celeste, Erin, and Lisa have layouts that rock the vertical stacks of photos! Celeste, Marie, and I all have horizontal photo rows. Linear stacks are a clean and tidy way of incorporating several photos without causing visual clutter. We hope that you will try it for yourself.

 

Printable

We, as a team, had so much fun creating layouts around the today theme that we really want you to do one, too. To help you out, we have created a page of journaling tidbits and embellies for you. We hope you enjoy them!

You may download it here.

 

Here are my challenge layouts:

1. January Sketch

I changed it up a little, squaring off the overlapping elements and making the title all on the top. It was a terrific starting point, which is how I usually use a sketch.

2. Design Challenge

Linear sings to my soul. Ah! The sound of harmony!

3. "Today" Printable

Here is my layout using one of the elements from the printable.

Thanks for stopping by!! Please don't forget to stop by and visit Ali and Renee, our dear sponsors! And maybe leave Crystal a thank you, too, for providing the elements used to make the printable! We hope you enjoy the sketch and printable; please remember they are for personal use only!

 

That's it! Three more challenges to help get your ideas moving and those pages finished!

Have a great week! I'll be back next week!