Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Sunday Photo + Words

Sketchbook Saturday

 

Welcome back! That groundhog shadow must have been very long as winter is mean and fierce in much of the US this week. We hope you are all keeping warm and finding time to scrapbook with all the kids underfoot for snow days. ;)

To help keep your juices flowing, we found an old Emilie Ahern layout, Orange Addict, in our July 2009 gallery. With room for as many as seven photos it seemed like the perfect layout from which to sketch. 

We know how eye catching that orange is, so we are going to remove it for a minute so you can see the bones of the layout. It looks likes we have three square'ish photos (two large, one small), a tall rectangle, a small one, and maybe two long slim tall rectangles.

 

Using this sketch, Marnie put together a layout that tried to leave winter behind. But one which left all the elements of the sketch in place.

 

For a second option, she did a mirror image to accommodate a photo looking the other way! Then to allow some journaling space, she shrunk it all down, just a bit, and relocated the title to the other side. And voilà! 

Hope these three layouts and the sketch help you get inspired to get a page or two done! Happy scrapping!

scrapbook | hybrid love

 

Hi, it's Cristina here, and today I want to share with you my love for hybrid scrapbooking. You see, I ventured into scrapbooking from the digital side and, while I still do all-digital pages, now I also love incorporating digital designs in my paper pages.

Digital designs are so easy to use. They can be as simple as adding an overlay on top of your photos, or they can be used to jumpstart the page's design, like in the example I will show today. What I really like about it is that I can plan my page on the computer before committing to paper. 

The start: on the computer

For this page, I used a set of digital brushes by Ali Edwards called Who What Where Why Boxes. I was inspired by this set of brushes to make a page about me, so I selected four boxes that would help me tell the story. I laid them out on my canvas in Photoshop, and picked four photos to go along with them. I also changed the color of the boxes. I laid everything out in a nice grid design.

This could very well be a digital page as is, and could be completed by adding some simple journaling. Instead, I decided to turn it into a hybrid page -- this means that I printed out the digital elements and my photos, and combined them with some papers and embellishments from my stash. 

Print

I print everything at home - it's so much easier for me to be able to go from computer to paper in one click and a few seconds. I recently got a new printer and I like the quality of the prints. For this page, I wanted to add some texture, so I decided to print the digital brushes on vellum paper. I printed the photos on photo paper.

Match with other supplies

Next, I picked a neutral background paper from my stash (by Basic Grey). I also used some letter stickers (Simple Stories) to add a few words under each box. I used brads to attach the vellum boxes to my page.

I stitched down the letter stickers with my sewing machine. At first, when I laid out my page on the computer, I was planning to make an 8.5"x11" page. But then, after placing the photos and boxes on the background, I liked the white space on the side, and decided to keep it and add a stamped title.

And there you have it! 

I love the texture that these boxes add to my page with the see-through effect.

And now.. I'd love to hear from you! Do you incorporate digital designs in your pages? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Write: What I loathe

Hello! It's Jennifer Larson with a brief confession: I hate Valentine's Day. Perhaps as a result of that, I hate February. Everything in February is love love love. Mine you, I love my husband, but I love to scrap more this month than what I love, so February tends to make me a little mulish and I want to scrap anything but love.

On that note, I invite you to be a little mulish yourself and make a list of what you loathe in this month that celebrates love and adulation. Truth be told, I'm a fairly agreeable person, but every now and then somethings gets me. I find it satisfying to get it out there on a page and complain about it. Here's my list:

1. Deer in my garden
2. Temps in the teens below zero
3. Kittens who want to be fed at 4 A.M.
4. Not enough time to run after work
5. Spiders
6. Shopping for jeans
7. Sherlock taking years to release new episodes
8. Anything Kardashian, except the Twitter site Kim Kierkegaardashian

When I scrap this page, I think I'll put it on a page with a photo of myself making a sour face. I like that idea.

I hope this gives you ideas to wallow in loathing in this month of love! LOL

Sunday Photo + Words

Sketchbook Saturday

 

Welcome to our first February Sketchbook Saturday. This month our sketches will hail from our July 2009 gallery, For the Love of Color. This week our sketch is based upon the layout created by Katrina Simeck, A Good Book.

 

Isn't is a great layout? Its side by side symmetrical photos are so lovely and balanced. And they make for a lovely sketch.

 

 

Using this sketch, Marnie put together a wintery layout that left the sketch mostly in place.

 

 

Then she turned the sketch 90 degrees and found some vertical photos to make a second layout.

It's crazy how ninety degrees can make such a difference!! We really hope that you will try the sketch in whole or in part! 

Hope you have a fun weekend! Thank you for stopping!

Scrapbook. Watercolor background layouts

Thank you so much for your comments on my post yesterday! It is so much fun to hear from you!

I am back today to show those extra layouts I made while inspired to watercolor!

For this layout, I made those V shaped hearts in green shades to match my photos. They basically make out a little photo mat. It can be that easy!

 

Here is just a closer look. Our former team member Christine Newman shared a great layout using watercolors to make her background here. I made mine just on freehand, but she shows an exellent example on how to use a stencil.

 

 

For my second layout I painted thin circles and also added a few colored in circles. When I was finished it looked like it need a little more, so I stamped a small star randomly ontop of the circles. Before I added my photo I journaled on my typewriter. A little banner and that rub-on (awesome) were the finsihing touches!

 

 

I hope that this has inspired you to make something fun with your watercolors! I am spending the weekend with my nieces and nephew and am planning a watercolor session!

 

Lisa

 

Scrapbook. Watercolor patterned paper

Yay! Let´s make our own patterned papers! For my layout in the February gallery at WCS, I did just that and I thought I´d just show you real quick.

Whenever I have a scrap piece of paper left after a project I use it to scribble stuff down on or doodle with my watercolors. This acctually came from just a doodle while I was bored one day! I used a very fine tip brush and my black watercolor and first made the xoxo pattern just randomly on the paper. I like how uneven and imperfect it looks, which is perfect since I am not a painter by any means! 

I then made the very simple heart patterned, which is basically a thick V. 

The squares were a little bit more tricky, but I had the same philosophy here; make it perfectly imperfect! 

 

I then used my 1 inch circle punch to punch out the circles I then used for my layout. Easy peasy! Oh and wouldn´t this be a great way to use your kids artwork on a page?! I think yes!

 

Last year I shared another easy way to use your watercolors to make scrapbooking supplies, go check that out too!

After I made this and wrote this post, I did two more pages using watercolors to make the background. I will be back tomorrow with those!

 

Lisa

 

click | formally informal

Happy February and happy family! I am excited for the theme this month and wan't wait to be inspired by my teammates and their wonderful ideas.

To kick things off, I thought I thought I might nudge you to schedule a photoshoot with your parents. I know I know. It's scary to ask them, and they may say no, but maybe they will say yes??? :)

A few years ago, my parents came for a visit. They don't come often (maybe every other year?) so I asked if we might take some shots with the kids in a more formal setting (meaning with a white sheet on the wall). They agreed and we got some. Then I asked if I could get a couple with just them. They say sure. The first one was posed and lovely.

But then my dad, who is a bit of a prankster, couldn't help himself, and the next couple were magic.

I love these. I really do. I have so few shots of them being themselves. And fewer of the two of them without distracting backgrounds, or piled high with other people. And while I do love those photos, too, I am so glad to have these pictures. Grandpa in a blue golf shirt. Grandma in a button down and sweater. Nothing fancy, but perfectly as they live in my mind's eye. 

As we capture the love of our families this month, I hope you might take a moment to get a picture of your parents, too!

Happy snapping!

Welcome, February!

Hello, Love! and February! We are so excited to see you and to have one month of winter behind us. The Christmas trees are down, and in their place are felt heart banners and dishes of cinnamon hearts. This is the month of love and our celebrations begin today! We couldn't be more excited to share it with you!

Our theme this month is Family. 

Because February is love and love is family. Our posts this month will swirl around our topic of family and we hope you will find some inspiration for scrapbooking your families while we scrapbook ours.

 

But before we get to our daily posts, we begin with a splash and a brand new gallery, Love is in the Air. And we hope that it is for you. In the air that is. From family, from friends, from furry creatures, and all that surrounds you. Here is a quick look at the layouts! Head on over to the gallery to see larger versions and to read the journaling!

The First | Marnie Flores

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Glitz, American Crafts) + label, flag (Michelle Underwood) + flair (liv.e designs) + fonts (Sweet Pea, Blueberry Oatmeal)

A Note from Marnie
I love Valentine's Day and pink and all things girly. So I am happy to have a girl in Nigel's pictures so that I can cover his layouts with pink stuff!

February Fun Fact
This weekend our gymnastics hosts a meet for 3200 gymnasts from four different countries and many many states. It is all run by volunteers. I am learning to be the volunteer coordinator. Oh, no! What am I getting myself into?

 

 

This Is Us | Celeste Smith

12 x 12 | materials kit (Fated by Karla Dudley, Clear Essentials 3) + font (KD Notebook by Karla Dudley)

A Note from Celeste
This layout was inspired by the photo. My husband and I rarely get a shot together. This summer vacation we were able to spend more time alone, because the boys are getting older. It really made me realize how special our relationship is.

February Fun Fact
This February will be the first year that the boys don’t get a week off for February vacation. This puts a crimp in their skiing plans and my alone time!

 

 

I’d Choose You | Cristina C. Scrap

12 x 12 | materials patterned papers (Echo Park, Studio Calico) + embellishments (Studio Calico) + stamps (Studio Calico) + ink (Studio Calico) + adhesive (Glue Glider Pro)

A Note from Cristina
Given this month’s “love” theme, I looked for quotes on Pinterest. The first one that came up really caught my attention, so I decided to feature it in a big way. I stamped it on a neutral patterned paper using three different ink colors and a favorite alpha stamp. It ended up taking up almost the entire sheet of paper! I rarely make 2-page layouts, but I thought this was the best way to go for this layout, and when I found the colorful paper in my stash I knew it was perfect to match my quote.

February Fun Fact
I was inspired by this quote, and ended up adding the book it is from to my to-read list!

 

 

Love is Always a Great Adventure | Amy Sorensen

12 x 12 | materials large alpha and embellishment stickers (American Crafts) + small serif alpha stickers (Lily Bee) + alphabet tiles stickers (Webster's Pages) + "Adventure" sticker (Heidi Swapp) + watercolor pencils (Rexel Derwent) + photo corner punch (Martha Stewart) + font (Futura)

A Note from Amy
I didn't realize, until I typed up my supply list, just how sticker-based this layout is. That's OK...it goes along with my current scrapbooking motto, which is "more time on story, less time on embellishing."

February Fun Fact
This month marks my 23rd anniversary.

 

 

Happiness is Homemade | Diane Payne

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + pattern paper (American Crafts, Pebbles) + flair (A Flair For Buttons) + brads (Crate Paper) + stickers (Crate Paper, Pebbles) + mist (Heidi Swapp) + die cuts (Pebbles)

A Note from Diane
I love digging through old photos and finding one that fits the theme of what I want to scrapbook. Even if I don't have any idea of the who, what, why, where, and when of the photo I still like to scrap it. The clothing, cars, and decor can tell a story all on their own. But the one thing it makes me realize is the types of things I should be documenting for future generations because they are the very things I would want to know if I could ask someone about those vintage photos I know nothing about.

February Fun Fact
I recently purged my craft room and feel so much more inspired with fewer choices. It is true…less is more.

 

 

Friday Flowers | Lisa Borbely

 

A Note from Lisa
I don´t have any products used for this page since I made the patterned papers myself! I´ll share the how to in a post later this month!

 

 

Cocoa Date | Jennifer Larson

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Studio Calico) + chipboard (Studio Calico) + sequins (Studio Calico) + stickers (Twine and Ink, KI Memories) + labels (Studio Calico) + Project Life cards (Studio Calico) + pen (Copic) + wood veneer (Studio Calico)

A Note from Jennifer
My two boys tend to spend a lot of time together, with and without me, so I wanted to make a layout about the special “dates” I go on with my son individually. It’s a small moment at the coffee shop before his doctor’s appointment, but small moments are special.

February Fun Fact
My son’s birthday is this month!

 

 

My People | Aliza Deutsch

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill Basics Paper) + patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye) + chipboard (Sodalicious) + rub-ons (Amy Tangerine) + thickers (Amy Tangerine, American Crafts) + wood veneer (Shimelle) + stickers (Amy Tangerine) + other (Chic Tags) + digital (Ali Edwards) + fonts (Hello, Amy Tangerine)

A Note from Aliza
This layout took me a while to figure out; I was looking for a way to say something meaningful and authentic, something a little deeper than “I love you,” but nothing too serious. When I found this photo, it finally all came together.

February Fun Fact
My sister surprised me when she showed up to my son’s Bar Mitzvah. She traveled from Israel with a newborn baby, and stayed in America for 1 day!!