Hi guys, it's Autumn again. I really loved Marnie's quick and easy mini-album from last week. It was simple, but looked fantastic, and was a great way to get a lot of summer memories tied up in short order. I decided that should be the definition of summer scrapbooking: lots of pics/memories, classy design that doesn't need much embellishing, short time commitment. So I figured I'd make a couple easy layouts with some of my [millions of] summer pictures.
Sometimes I like taking time to play with embellishments on my scrapbook pages, but other times I just want a classic design that will show off a lot of pictures. When it comes to summer activities, I usually have tons of pictures. Swimming lessons, a day at the beach, time with family, celebrations, etc., -- sometimes it's just too hard to pick one or two pictures for a scrapbook page, so I needed a layout that would accomodate a lot.
Enter the trusty grid layout: nine pictures of the same size (roughly wallet sized for an 8.5x11 layout) for one side of the layout, and one big picture along with title and journaling on the other side. I've used this formula before, and I always like how it turns out. Here's a layout about my kids on vacation with their cousins:
I really like it. It's totally plain, almost completely un-embellished (except for a the fun arrow and gas pumps that I pulled off Cosmo Cricket digi-tags), and it didn't take much time at all. And I really like it. Did I mention that?
I liked this layout so much, I decided to make another the next day using the same formula. I still filled up the left hand page with pictures, but I varied the sizes this time.
Again, minimal embellishing, minimal work. Making digital pages makes it easy to compile a whole-page photo collage, but you can also use a bunch of 4x6 prints, rearrange them until you like the look, then trim them to fit. Add in some cardstock rectangles to fill up any space left over after you've arranged your pictures, add a title and journaling, and you're set.
Easy, quick, and classy looking pages that will let you scrap a grundle* of pictures in a snap. Sounds like summer scrapbooking to me.
* Anyone else every heard the word "grundle"? It means a whole bunch. I think my mother-in-law made it up, but she swears it's a real word. Weigh in and let me know what you think. And feel free to tell me how cute my baby girl is while you're at it. Thanks a grundle :)
ETA: I'm told "grundle" has quite a different meaning if you google it; a meaning which makes it a word I wouldn't normally say. But I'm sticking with my m-i-l's definition, though, as that's the only way I've every heard it used, so no offense intended to anyone!
