Write. Click. Scrapbook.

April Week 4 Challenge: Big + Little, The Lots of Words Edition

Happy Friday! Amy here, with one more Big + Little layout.

Today’s pairing is not so much “big” as “a lot”: it’s a solution for those times when you have a lot of journaling. A big journaling space requires you to limit your use of other layout elements (photos and embellishments). So, try using a little photo on a layout that has lots of journaling:

For this layout, I was restricted to a small photo because the camera I had with me on the day in question wasn’t working properly, so the only pictures I had to work with were pretty awful. Grainy and blown out and more than a little bit soft. (I did, in fact, retire said camera after this day.) But I still wanted to scrapbook the memory. So I printed the photo in black and white, on textured cardstock so the grain could camouflage some of the flaws. And then I wrote quite a bit—even about the photos I wish I had been able to take.

When I do a pairing like this—big journaling space, small photo—I like to work the photo right into the middle of the text somehow. It helps the photo to feel more prominent and the combination to feel more cohesive. In this layout, I put the text into columns and then used a text box with the dimensions of my photo to create just the right spot for the pic.

How do you incorporate lots of journaling onto your layouts?

Happy scrapping!

April Week 4 Challenge: Big + Little Text (plus some thoughts on the 1980s)

Hello! Welcome back to WCS and another day of big + little pairings.

One of my favorite things to do on a layout is use a quote as my title. I would guess about 10% of my layouts use this approach. To me, a "quote" is anything that was written or said by someone else (usually famous in some capacity, although I have used a friend or family member's words as quotes, too) that is so striking in its use of language paired with idea that I get a little bit swoony. (Remember...I'm a word girl at heart.) I have a big collection of quotes and I'm always adding to it.

So last week, when my friend I've known since junior high shared a picture of me from one of our sleepovers in 1984 or 85, I had two thoughts: even though I look like a goofball, I must scrapbook this picture right now and I know exactly what quote to use! 

But I also kept in mind my recent goal of re-using good techniques. I looked at a few of my recent layouts with quotes and spotted something I hadn't really intentionally noticed myself doing: using a quote as a title, in big letters, paired with my own words as a sort of sub-title in smaller letters. Here's what I mean:

The quote, from Coco Chanel, is the title, of course. And my words—I loved those bead necklaces—is the smaller subtitle. I like the way the repetition of the font (it's called Alegance, if you're curious) helps draw the eye from the title, through the story, and then out of the page. Even though the subtitle is the little thing in the pairing, it helps give the layout a finished look.

I don't have a ton of photos of myself as a teenager in the 1980s (one of the great tragedies in my life!), but I have made a few layouts with the ones I do have. This is always a hard process for me because almost nothing in the aesthetics of 20-teens scrapbooking really matches the aesthetics of the 1980s. I find that I tend to use a lot of cardstock or almost-solid patterned paper for these layouts, because more obvious patterns feel like they just don't match somehow. (If any manufacturer ever made decade-inspired products, I'd probably buy some!) But I almost always use the font Perpetua for my journaling. It feels timely to me—a chunkier sort of serif.

So, I'm curious: Have you ever scrapbooked any photos that scream "I was taken in the 80s"? What supplies and approaches have you used?

Happy scrapping!

April Week 4 Challenge: Big + Little

Guys. You should see my pile of layouts I need to put away. I think there are more than 300, literally. Actually, probably more, because it’s been more than three years since I’ve put layouts into albums. (Needless to say, it’s not my favorite task.)

So over the past few weeks, I’ve been sorting layouts to get them ready for albums. And honestly, it’s been pretty awesome. There are layouts I totally forgot I made, and stories I’ve loved revisiting. And, as I’ve been sorting, I’ve been making lists. What works? What doesn’t? What techniques or approaches should I use more often? This is helping me make new layouts much more quickly because I have a sort of bank to pull ideas from.

One of the things I’ve noticed that I like (but don’t do very often) is the pairing of something big and something little. I like the contrast and the way that the big + little pairing almost makes the little thing that draws your eye first.

So this week, the WCS challenge is a pretty easy one: mix something big with something little. I’ll share several examples over the week, and I hope you’ll play along by linking here or joining the challenge on Instagram.

On this layout, my big thing is the 6x10 photo and my little thing is the 2x3 picture. I intentionally printed one big, one small, but I had no idea what story I’d write until I had the pictures in my hands, and they made me think about the boys in my life; the journaling grew from there.

Stay tuned for more big + little layouts. Happy scrapbooking!

April week 3 challenge: lettering showtime

Hello! Here's a page I've made that plays around with lettering:

I paired a cursive with a sans serif font, two different colors, and also did some overlapping here.

Thanks for stopping by this week! I hope it gave you some ideas for playing around with your letters.

April week 3 inspiration: Lettering

It's Jennifer Larson again, sharing some ideas I found at Pinterest to inspire you to scrapbook lettering:

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

I hope this gives you ideas for stretching the use of lettering in your pages! I'll be back Friday with my take on putting this on a page. 

April week 3 challenge: Lettering

Hello! It's Jennifer Larson with a quick challenge for you: Make a project that uses lettering as a dramatic or design focus. I'll be back later this week with some inspiration and a project! I hope you play along.

April week 2 challenge: Friday Showtime

Hi all, Lisa here today! When Dee told us her topic for this week, I just had to make a page! I will have a sweet tooth forever! 

 

I decided to go with a photo of the spoon full of Nutella that is heaven :) The journaling does say that a spoon full of Nutella every day makes a girl happy, but it might go a few days between! I used my watercolors to make a simple background for this page. I love how happy this page looks! 

Have a great weekend!

Sweet Doesn't Have to Come from the Oven

Sweet isn't just oven baked goodness when summer comes. It is also popsicles, slurpees, and fruit. And to me, no fruit is summer quite like watermelon. I have a zillion pictures of the kids eating watermelon. The juice dripping down their chins. Their big eyes as they bite from pieces wider than their heads. I love it all.

 

For this layout, I switched out the colors on the slide reel for the colors of watermelon. With the black and white photo, the colors in the layout direct your attention to watermelon in the photo. Ah, we are suggestible creatures. :)

 

As you are creating sweet layouts this week, remember that sweet things don't have to come from the oven!

April Week 2 Challenge: Life is Sweet!

Hi! It's Dee and I'm here with a new challenge for this week: document the sweet stuff!

As said before I'm a real foodie! I love to eat, cook, write and talk about food! The thing I love most is the sweet stuff, so I've got loads of pictures of me just munching on pastries, macarons, et cetera. And, because I know I love to document these pictures, I thought it would be fun to challenge you and do the same! 

Here's the layout I created for this theme:

And another one:

And, last but not least, an older layout. I made it back in 2012 but the theme is fitting so I thought I'd share it with you all.

These layouts do not contain big stories, important things I like to remember. And even though I like to make pages that are very journaling heavy and that document the bigger things in life, I do like to keep it short&sweet (pun intended) every now and then!

I hope you feel inspired to document the sweet stuff in life and that you will share your pages on social media with the hashtags #wcsaprilchallenge and #wcsdocumentsweetstuff

Much love, Dee

Welcome, April

It's April and we are celebrating all things funny this month. Our gallery this month is No Foolin' and it is sure to make you giggle. If you would like to see the layouts and read the journaling, please hop on over to our gallery! Enjoy!