Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Layout inspiration from advertisements!

Hello everyone! I'm back to share one of my favorite sources of scrapbook layout inspiration - print ads. When I'm stuck for ideas I generally turn to the stack of ads that I've ripped out of magazines and find something to use as a starting off point. Take this ad for instance - I liked the larger photo on the top and the smaller photos underneath:

 

The ad has columns of text underneath the smaller photos but I switched things up and filled those spaces for patterned paper. I also liked the positioning of the title and the accent down in the bottom right. You can see my interpretation here:

This whole layout took me a little over an hour from start to finish because I used the ad to jump start the creative process (and take me quite a bit along the way). If you haven't already, you should try it sometime. Flip through a few magazines and see what catches your eye. If you would like to see a few more examples I post a new ad challenge every Monday on my personal blog. Happy scrapping!

Sunday Photo + Words

In the Back Yard

When I hear the term “back yard,” I think of three different interpretations. Today I’m going to share with you some ideas for those three interpretations.

First, I think of what’s outside my back door. We are big fans of our back yard, especially in summertime. There’s a shaded swing set, a grill, a big table with an umbrella, a vegetable garden, and a curving brick patio perfect for chalk art or scooter riding. We enjoy our backyard in some way each day, whether the kids play outside, we entertain friends, or we harvest zucchini or tomatoes or zucchini, or more zucchini, or…(you get the idea):

 

 

Second, I think of other people’s back yards. Everyone has something a little different in their yard, so why not record memories of time spent over the summer in someone else’s yard? I captured the most unusual back yard experience we had this summer on this layout:

 

 

Third, I think of the figurative interpretation of “back yard.” What’s in your “back yard” that you hadn’t noticed or experienced until now? A big one for us this summer was discovering the lorikeets at the zoo. We’ve been to the zoo a zillion times, but had somehow never noticed the lorikeet pavilion. I’m glad we did find it because it was such a neat experience to feed them!  

So…as summer comes to a close, get out there and experience all that literal and figurative back yards have to offer. Take pictures, and then try creating layouts that capture that back yard experience.

 

and the giveaways go to . . .

Ladies, please email us at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com so that we might get you your gift certificates! Thank you!

Mist Storage

Hi there everyone!!  I don't know about you, but I'm constantly changing how I organize my space. Whenever my space evolves.... my storage has to as well.  Including an office?  Okay.... the stuff in that corner needs to find a new home.  Making room for the kids' art supplies?  Okay... that shelf has to go.

I'm trying to convince my hubby to go along with my scheme to make a shallow shelf for my mists out of an old bench... but right now I wanted to share with you all how I store my mist when my space is limited.

Right now I have a little spot in the corner of my room for my mists.  Basically they live in metal and wooden boxes.  Simple enough.  But without seeing the labels on the mists it drives me nuts not knowing what colors I have.  So, here's what I do.

The top of the cap of each mist bottle is labelled.  I went to the dollar store and picked up a package of those little round stickers... the ones some people use for garage sale pricing.  They fit the caps perfectly!  Using my Slick Writer I write the name of each color on there.  Now I can see which bottle's which.

But that doesn't help me with the color.  I tossed around two ideas.  Actually misting the stickers with the corresponding color or making a swatch ring.

I decided on making a swatch ring.  I really like to take the ring to my layout, fan it out so I can see all my colors at once and then pick from there.

This is my October Afternoon ring.

So, that's my mist system... well, until my hubby's on board with my other plan!  ;)  How do you store your mists?

marcy

give.away.day. featuring KRISTIN CRONIN-BARROW

More digital goodness! Kristin Cronin-Barrow of Sweet Shoppe Designs creates one of a kind kits that have a slight distressed look to them yet still maintain a graphic esthetic. She always includes loads of interesting elements and great word art in her designs.

 
Kristin recently released a fabulous kit in her shop, A Lakeside Retreat. Swim, soak or just get away from it all with a day at the lake. This new kit from Kristin will have you scrapping and relaxing before you know it! Soft and rich colors mingle beautifully to create a warm, inviting color palette of red, blue and green. The elements follow that up with everything from flowers, fishing poles and frames to strings, signs and seashells, as well as everything in between. Add in a full alpha and you'll have everything you need to scrap your favorite "Lakeside Retreat".

Her design team really rocked this kit out! Such great ideas! 
 

 
 
 
And now for the giveaway....

Kristin is giving away three $10 gift certificates to her store for three lucky readers! If you would like to be considered for today's giveaway, please go to Kristin's Facebook page and like her! Then leave a comment below. Comments will remain open until Friday morning. Three lucky winners will be drawn at random and posted on Saturday. Please remember it is your responsibility to check back and to claim your prize by midnight on Monday. Good luck everyone!

Last-Minute Mini

Happy August everyone! Kelly here, who should probably be re-named "Last Minute Kelly." It seems that this summer I have been whipping things up at the last minute. From birthday cards to dinner, from scrapbook layouts to emails, I have spent so much time having fun that the stuff that I have to get done has to wait.

Are you with me? If you are a last-minute gal like myself, have I got a project for you. Last week I hosted a baby shower for a friend, and I wanted to make something meaningful, but quick ('Cause I was out having fun with my kids, you know?). I'm not a big fan of baby shower games, but it's always fun to see who can guess about the arrival of the bundle of joy (time, weight, eye color, etc.), so I whipped up a mini album project that all the guests at the party could help put together for the new mom.

I started with a basic postcard-sized document in Microsoft Publisher, and typed up a list of questions for all the guests to answer:

 
The questions are:

Your name:

When do you think baby will arrive?

How big do you think baby will be?

Will baby look more like mom or dad?

What color do you think baby's eyes will be?

If you were a fairy godmother, what gift or ability would you give baby?

After printing these on cardstock, I stamped a cute giraffe on each, and trimmed them to postcard size. I used my favorite corner rounder on each, and then grabbed another of my favorite products, a printed-paper mat stack. These are just the right size to make a mini album. And there are so many options for themes. This time I used a baby jungle themed stack.

 
It didn't take me very long to assemble forty of these fill-in-the-blank baby guess pages, and I was on my way to the shower, hole punch and binder ring in hand (you'll see where this is going in a minute).

 
At the shower, I handed out the baby guess sheets to each person, and had them fill them out. At the end of the shower I gathered them up again and after I added a cover I made at home, they became this:

 
My friend Virginia was so excited to read what everyone wrote. It's always fun to see who guesses correctly about a baby's arrival. And for the record, she's actually the one who came closest to guessing: baby Alexander made an appearance the next afternoon! That means this was a very last-minute mini!

I'm off to finish some more last-minute projects before my kids go back to school next week. Have a great Wednesday!

Back to Back-to-School Pages

It's that time of year again! Moms in many places of the world are - or will soon be - taking various photos of their kiddos on the first day of school: wearing new clothes, sporting a new backpack, riding a new bus, sitting in a new classroom, meeting a new teacher, greeting new (and old) friends...

If you have school-aged kids, no doubt you'll be busy creating layouts to document this fresh start. So here are a few free printables and digital elements to adorn your pages!

 

PRINTABLES

  Library Journaling Cards via

 

After School Convo Cards via

 

Back to School element pack via

 

School Days printable via

(This is designed as 8x10 subway art but could be printed on a smaller scale.)

 

First Day of School signs for photos, Pre-K - 12th grade via

 

DIGITAL

Back to School mini kit via

 

Hand Colored Pencil via

 

Back to School word art via

 

Grade Tags via

 

Back 2 School chalkboard set via

 

If you use any of these freebies, please post your layout in our Flickr gallery and link to it here in the comments. Enjoy!

Scrapping Summer Photos: H2O layouts

Well here we are, wrapping up our summer fun.  I can hardly believe my kids are starting school in a week!  We've had a blast this summer, but I think all of us are ready for a bit more structure and schedule in our lives.

I'm sure we all have plenty of summer activity photos to scrapbook, so I thought I'd share with you some ideas for scrapbooking photos from water-centered activities (ie the beach, swimming pool, sprinkler fun, etc).  That seems to be a pretty popular summer activity that many of us will get to scrapbook, so here goes!

 

 Beach layouts

 

I created the mat for the photos on this page by cutting strips of patterned papers that match my daughter's swimsuit.  Then I punched waves out of one edge of each strip using my Fiskars wave punch.  I created the sun accent out of the same paper I used for my background, but I spritzed it with yellow glimmer mist.

 

Who says you have to use water or beach themed products on a beach layout?  For this layout I picked a product line that had nothing to do with water, but rather portrayed the laid back lazy summer feel of the day we spent at the beach.  This sun accent was made by cutting out some of the pennants from the banner in the patterned paper to make the rays, and using one of the coordinating chipboard accents as the center.

 

A few tips about this page: I used light blue brads to make bubbles ascending from the fish, and I included a good balance of close up shots and some shots from further out.

 

Water Fun layouts

Swimsuits tend to be colorful and bright, and can be a great source for color scheme inspiration.  I chose this Echo Park Hybrids line, Summer Days, and some elements by Crystal Wilkerson for this page because they went perfectly with the colors of the swimsuits in the photos.  These photos were taken at an indoor pool, which can be a challenge for getting good photos.  Try to angle yourself so that your back is to the windows (if there are any) and your subject(s) is facing them.

 

A great background for pool (or waterpark) photos is crisp clean white.  With all the blue of the water and the colorful swimsuits, the white really sets the photos off nicely.

 

These are photos of my girls (and their friend) jumping on the trampoline in our backyard with the sprinklers on underneath.  Again, I went with a non-water themed line from my stash rather than buying something new.  I also drew my color scheme from the girls' swimsuits. 

As I did with this page, feel free to keep things simple.  You may be more likely to get those summer photos scrapped if you don't take an hour on each page. =)  Happy summer scrapping!

Shine Your Own Light