Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Making a vacation album: layouts

Today is the fourth day I am sharing my process for making a vacation album. Here's the schedule for the week:

Monday: Memorabilia and journaling

Tuesday: Organizing the album

Wednesday: Selection photos

Thursday: Layouts

Friday: Alternate albums

Today I share how I go from photos to finished layouts. First, I make my vacation albums 8.5x11, and I generally use the same design on every page:

When I printed photos for each layout, I printed 2-3 4x6 photos for the title page and journaling (keeping in mind I would have to physically trim them to make them fit) and I printed the full page collage on an 8.5x11 inch print with some white space for a border.

As for products, I tend to select just one line for the album, so I buy it, plus some extra papers and embellishments that I really like and store it with my ephemera. Then, when I am ready to make the album, I don't have to search for products. My vacation album from Disney in 2010 used October Afternoon's Boarding Pass:

My vacation album from South Dakota in 2011 used October Afternoon's Sasparilla:

My album from Maine in 2012 used Fancy Pants' Nautical:

And the album I will make for our 2013 trip to Glacier and Spokane will use Fancy Pants' Happy-go-Lucky.

You can see from my pages that I tend to house the whole page on alternating shades of cardstock and I use strips of patterned paper and clusters of embellishments. Using the same design and one line keeps the album cohesive and easy to make.

And that's my process for designing the layouts! Tomorrow I will share two ways I scrapbook vacation that break the pattern.

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Welcome, September!

New gallery day! You have patiently waited for a new gallery. And now it is here! Please enjoy The Vacationers! Remember, you can see the layouts in more detail and have the journaling if you click on over to the photo album!

Water by Aliza

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill Basics Paper) + journal cards (Ali Edwards Designs) + wood veneers (Studio Calico, Ali Edwards) + fonts (TravelingTypewriter)

A Note from Aliza
I am a pretty straight, on the grid scrapper. So setting all the elements on an angle is pretty wild and crazy for me. But I love the way it turned out.

 

 

The Vacationers by Lisa

8.5 x 11 | materials cardstock (Staples) + patterned paper (Pink Paislee) + card (Project Life kit Happy place) + stamp (Studio Calico) + washi (Panduro Hobby)

A Note from Lisa
This layout came together by itself. It follows such a simple design I could use it for every page. It makes me happy!

September Fun Fact
I started scrapbooking in 1999 when my daughter was born. Yesterday marked 17 years…

 

 

Loved This Adventure by Aliza

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill Basics) + patterned paper (Kesi Art, Kaiser Craft) + stickers (Fancy Pants Designs, Pretty Little Studio) + fonts (traveling typewriter)

A Note from Aliza
We did not travel much this summer, but this hike was quite glorious, and it was enough to make us feel like we were on vacation.

Journaling
Storm King Mountain. This was our second time hiking here, and first time with all 4 of us, completing a whole trail. There was climbing up and down rocks, amazing views, twisty trails in a tree covered forest, some exhaustion and crankiness, then an even better view from what we think was the top of the mountain, and then more climbing down rocks to get back down. Everyone (!) enjoyed the challenge. Sam brought his Go Pro and has been helping with some of the picture-taking responsibilities.

September Fun Fact
One son is leaving to study in Israel for the year, and one is beginning high school. How time flies.

 

I Didn't Love Paris by Amy

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Pink Paislee) + alphabet stickers (Heidi Swapp) + font (Elsie Swash Caps Black) + gold pen (Pilot Juice Gel)

A Note from Amy
After I wrote this journaling I thought "Could I sound any more whiny? Complaining about being in Paris?" but I stayed with it because it was my authentic response. On a design note, I love adding gold (or silver, or grey) lines to fussy cut flowers. It adds a little extra pop and helps it to feel like it's more mine.

September Fun Fact
It's September! Is there anything more exciting than the arrival of autumn?

The elements: earth

Hello! There is a wild and crazy science fiction film from the 90s called The Fifth Element. It starred Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Ian Holm, and Gary Oldman, among others, and was a futuristic tale about aliens who left a "fifth element" to save us all from an evil that would one day invade earth. The fifth element? Love. So this week we will be sharing layouts about all the elements, including that all-powerful fifth.

Today I wanted to share a few pages inspired by the earth:

In the spring, summer, and fall I take lots of pictures of my garden; in the winter, I put them together on a page to remember the color. I used a sketch and story starter from Simple Scrapper for this one. Here's another page inspired by the earth:

After our vacation last summer, I got to thinking about my dog and her travels on the earth. This photo of her surveying the world at the top of a mountain in Vermont was the perfect backdrop for a record of her travels last summer.

What kind of a page can you create inspired by the earth? Do you garden? Do you hike? What other ways can you scrapbook your love of the earth?

Thank you for visiting! Come back again this week for more pages about the other elements, including the fifth.

Welcome, December!

It is December! And we wanted to create layouts that celebrated things we love. We hope they inspire you to create a page or two, too! As a reminder the layouts are bigger and the journaling readable in the gallery. Enjoy!!

 

THE CHANUKAH SONG
ALIZA DEUTSCH

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Recollections) + patterned paper (BasicGrey, My Mind’s Eye) + stickers (Crate Paper) + fonts (Frente H1)

A Note from Aliza
I know a song is not really a product. But when I had to think about something that made me really happy on Chanukah, this song kept coming to me. So I just went with it.

December Fun Fact
There is a possibility that I will be by myself this coming weekend, and I am a little giddy at the thought of it. 

 

DECEMBER DAILY
TRACIE CLAIBORNE

 

6 x 8 | materials patterned paper (American Crafts, Heidi Swapp) + stickers (October Afternoon, Making Memories, Jillibean Soup, ) + die cuts (Pretty Little Studio) + wood veneer (Studio Calico) fonts (Galliard)

A Note from Tracie
This layout started my December Daily 2014. It uses my favorite holiday product of all time - vintage die cuts from Pretty Little Studio! I just ordered 15 more similar to this. These die cuts make me feel nostalgic for my childhood and days of Christmas past. My favorite illustrations are from the 1940's to 1970's and PLS uses graphics from that era for their products. They just make me so happy!! I am starting my 2015 December Daily today and it will be chock full of these little goodies.

December Fun Fact
Christmas is my favorite! As soon as Christmas is over, I start looking forward to the next Christmas.

 

 

WHAT MAKES CHRISTMAS?
LISA BORBELY

 

8.5 x 11 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Paislee Press) + post-it (Paislee Press) + numbers (Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp) + sticker (Simple Stories) + stamp (Kellie Stamps)

A Note from Lisa
This layout is one of the first ones that will go in my annual December album. This is the third year that is going to be documented in the album. I´ll start a new one next year.

December Fun Fact
In my family I was known to secretly open the presents before Christmas.

 

 

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS{ABERS}
JENNY LARSON

 

8.5 x 11 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + tags (Fancy Pants Designs, Pink Paislee) + gems (Stampin’ Up!) + letter stickers (Crate Paper, Fancy Pants Designs) + labels (Elle’s Studio) + die cuts (October Afternoon, Making Memories, Jillibean Soup) + stickers (October Afternoon) + font (Cambria)

A Note from Jenny
I scrapbooked our family’s favorite holiday decoration, recording one of our favorite holiday photos ever with this decoration, and used one of my favorite scrapbooking supplies—embellishments, particularly die cuts and stickers. I used no patterned paper on this page!

December Fun Fact
The tree skirt we use I made with my grandmother’s help.

 

TWINKLE LIGHTS
DEE ROSE

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Pinkfresh Studio Christmas Wishes Collection) and strip (Studio Calico) + Gold chipboard stars (Studio Calico) + letterstickers (Studio Calico) + white label (Pinkfresh Studio Christmas Wishes Collection) + label stickers in red & green (Studio Calico)

My thoughts about this layout
This layout came together pretty quickly. I knew I wanted to use the Christmas Wishes collection by Pinkfresh Studio wish has such a fun color palette… It’s not the traditional red and darkgreen.. It’s fresh and it’s fun! I paired it with some fun gold embellishments and letter stickers by Studio 
Calico. I love to do my journaling on vellum when I’m using patterned paper as a background to my layout. It doesn’t break the pattern yet it’s still visible.

December Fun Fact
I absolutely adore December! Lighting up candles in my home, spending evenings on the couch, watching movies and most of all Christmas time… We have a strong family tradition in which everyone prepares a course for Christmas dinner. No one knows what the others will be making, so it’s all a big surprise on Christmas day. It’s so much fun to see how much effort everyone puts into it. Love love love it! 

 

CHRISTMAS EVE PJS
MARNIE FLORES 

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper, elements (Heidi Swapp) + bow (Gennifer Bursett) + fonts (KG Primary Penmanship, Just Old Fashioned, MTF Cool Kid)

A Note from Marnie
This is one of my favorite holiday items: Christmas Eve pjs. Last year was our first year for non-traditional jammies and they were a hit. This year, though, we are segueing back to the more traditional. Shh! Don't tell!

December Fun Fact
This year, my tree is going to be all white and cream. Do you think the kids will miss the red decorations? :)

 

That's it! Small but mighty. We hope that you love the gallery and find it helpful and inspiring!!

The Color of Autumn: using neutrals to make colors pop

Hello! It's Jennifer Larson, sharing one of the best things about October: the colors of autumn. This week you will see the work of Dieuwertje, Katie, and Marnie as they share inspiration relating to fall colors. Today, I wanted to share the importance of neutrals in highlighting those gorgeous hues.

First, a page where the photos were so bright, I used mainly grey as the background color:

There are bits of red paper around the main photo and backing the embellishments, but overall the main fall colors are present only in the photos. The grey background allows the photos to pop.

Next is another page where the photos are filled with yellow and orange, so I used mint green and white with a wee bit of coral to back the page:

Finally, an older page I made, again where the photos contained lots of orange and red. This time I used black and white to make the photos pop:

Thank you for visiting! I hope you now will dig into your neutrals as well as your red, yellow, and orange when scrapbooking autumn. For the rest of the week, you will see Dieuwertje, Katie, and Marnie sharing their own projects relating to the colors of Autumn. See you tomorrow!

Scrapbook: Designing a vacation album

It's Jennifer Larson again with one final day to show you how to design a simple, classic vacation album quickly and easily.

Monday I shared how I would organize the "chapters" or layouts of the album. Tuesday I showed my photo secret--using templates to fit many photos on a page. Today I begin to assemble the album.

The first thing I do is select products. To make it easily, I use one scrapbooking collection for the whole album. I often pick the collection right after I return from vacation and keep it in the same Iris container I use for memorabilia. I don't pick themed paper per se--no Disney paper in this album--but I go for colors and patterns that remind me of our vacation. For the Disney album I picked October Afternoon's Boarding Pass.

Next I make the title page, which serves as a template for the whole album.

 

Here's the easiest part for me, which I've blogged about before: I use the same album design every year, and I use the same layout design on every page. Here's a basic sketch (You'll see there's a spot for three photos on the first page; you could also replace it with an embellishment cluster or more journaling.):

 

And here's the inside layout I've been working on this week:

 

I had originally planned separate pool and water pages, but I realized I didn't have enough photos for two spreads and instead combined them on the same spread. To do the journaling, I measure the space I have on the page, open a Word document, and create a text box (Insert-TextBox) that will fit. (Note: when I am working on the whole album, I usually put all the text boxes on the same document to save paper.)

On the layout, you'll see that I use a little patterned paper, a few embellishments, and a lot of photos and story. I may switch it up when I change layouts--put the title at the bottom and not the top, or put the title page on the right and the photo collage on the left--or I might rotate the patterned paper every few pages.. Still, it's the same design, which makes assembling this album quick, but with a classic design that highlights the story and photos.

I haven't yet affixed the journaling because I may ink the edges. (I actually planned the journaling first and printed it on my printer for one album I made, but that kind of attention to detail sort of sucked out a bit of my soul, so I prefer printing and affixing it on the page, even if it's tone-on-tone.) And I may pull out my sewing machine to stitch in between each photo on the collage. I am willing for some odd reason to torture myself in that way.

One final note for the back of the album:

 

On the inside cover of the back I glue a big envelope with a lot of strong adhesive, and I put the memorabilia that I want to keep in there. I satisfy my need to keep mementos without worrying about archival quality of the products or how to fit them in the design. 

Thank you for spending the week with me! I hope this gave you ideas for how to tackle a big project like a vacation album and spend less time creating something you'll treasure for years.

Welcome, June!

and happy birthday to us! We hope that you have enjoyed year six at write. click. scrapbook! We have had a fabulous year and we are looking forward to another great one.

Year Seven begins with a new gallery! One that looks back at our year and how it inspired us. Please enjoy our Inspired by Year 6 gallery. Don't forget that you can see the details and the journaling if you click on over to the photo album. Enjoy!

 

IN THE BAG
BY ALIZA DEUTSCH

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Cocoa Daisy) + labels (Fancy Pants Designs) + stickers (Webster’s Pages, Evalicious) + paper clip (Doodlebug Designs) + font (Burst My Bubble)

A Note from Aliza
This layout is inspired by a super recent layout of Marnie’s about laundry. I just fell in love with the simple, simple design. I kept fighting the urge to add more “stuff,” and just let it be. (I did add a strip of paper on the left side, because I messed up my margins. It’s just there to distract you from my error. Shhh, don’t tell.)

June Fun Fact
Could there be a road trip to Florida this summer? It’s still up in the air, so I am trying not to get too excited about it.

 

 

WHAT I LEARNED
BY CARI ORELLANA

 

2 page, 8.5 x 11 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Baxter - Seven Paper) + thickers (Studio Calico) + washi tape (A Beautiful Mess) + mist (Studio Calico) + fonts (Traveling Typewriter)

A Note from Cari
I made this layout inspired by this post by Aliza Deutsch. In this post she talks about how to include lessons in our scrapbook. I also scraplifted the double page layout she showed in her post.

Of course this is a photo of one my favorites models my cat Lukas and papers from Seven Paper Baxter Cat collection that I was anxiously awaiting.

June Fun Fact
I can't believe is June already! This year has fled!

 

 

13
BY TRACIE CLAIBORNE

 

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Capture by Basic Grey) + thickers (American Crafts) + die cuts (American Crafts) + fonts (Typenoksidi)

A Note from Tracie
I was so excited to see this month's theme because I love so many layouts on Write.Click.Scrapbook. It was fun to read the blog posts from this past year and pick a layout that inspired me but hard to choose just one! My inspiration came from a layout by Lisa Borbely in the October 2014 Gallery. I used a 6x6 paper pad to punch my designs from and it made putting this layout together easy and fun!

June Fun Fact
I love the freedom of summer. I'm looking forward to nights under the stars listening to music, hot days splashing in the sprinkler, juicy slices of watermelon (my favorite food), ice cream cones, fireworks, sparklers and grilled hot dogs!

 

 

WISHES
BY JENNIFER LARSON

 

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Stampin’ Up!) + patterned paper (Studio Calico) + die cuts (Studio Calico) + sequins (Studio Calico) + chipboard (Studio Calico) + Project Life cards (Studio Calico) + stickers (Studio Calico) + ink (Stampin’ Up!) + stamps (Studio Calico, Stampin’ Up!) + pen (Copic) + floss (DMC)

A Note from Jennifer
I was inspired by this page from Amy Sorensen last July called Capable of Glistening. I loved how she missed fonts and enlarged words, so I did something similar with stamps, handwriting, and stitching on this page about what I wish for my son.

June Fun Fact
I can’t stamp straight, and I misspelled a word on this page and covered it up. I’ve learned to embrace the oops!

 

 

GOOD JOB
BY LISA BORBÉLY

 

8.5 x 11 | materials patterned paper (Cocoa Daisy, Webster pages) + stickers (October Afternoon) + wood veneer (Studio Calico) + word sticker (Studio Calico) + stamp (Becky Higgins, Kelli stamps) 

A Note from Lisa
There were so many fun projects for me to choose from for this month´s theme! Here I chose Amy Coose's lovely layout. I love the diagonal design--it's so easy on the eyes isn't it?

Journaling
Minimum journaling on this one. Just a page to keep the memory of my daughter getting in to the high school of her choice. Good job, girl!

 

 

FROM WHERE I STAND
BY JENNIFER HIGNITE

 

12 x 12 | materials Digital Kit: Let-s-Go-Collection (Scotty Girl Designs), Digital Template: Year-of-Snapshots-Template (Scotty Girl Designs)

A Note from Jennifer
This layout was inspired by Cristina C. Scrap's layout "Year 1" in the Back To School II (September 2014) gallery. I just love how she took a collection of photos taken throughout a year and put them together to showcase the differences! I was inspired to create a similar page using photos I had taken last year of my feet, and shared on social media with the hashtag "From where I stand". It was so fun to see all the photos come together :)

June Fun Fact
We are moving into our first home this month and I am so inspired to paint and start decorating!! Pinterest is pretty much my new best friend :)

 

 

ZOMBIE HANDS
BY AMY SORENSEN

 

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (scraps from my blue drawer) + alphabet stickers (BasicGrey) + alphabet stamps (Studio Calico) + blue marker (Copic) + font (LeanOSans)

A Note from Amy
I've been using scraps a lot lately. I dug all of these out of my blue drawer. I was going for a sort of ombre look to go with Jake's Tshirt in the photo, but I also wanted diagonal lines which seem more "zombie" ish than straight ones.

I was inspired by one of Marnie's posts from back in March when our theme was favorites. She encouraged us to find a photo from a recent moment that made me smile. It made me think of this picture I had taken with my son Jake. (I totally had to bribe him with cake to take this picture. Luckily we were celebrating my birthday!) I had already blogged about it, but I decided it need to be scrapbooked too. Sometimes I wait too long and then I forget the original feeling I had about a picture, so I'm glad I took her advice and got this layout finished before I forgot what I wanted to say!

June Fun Fact
This is the first June in five years that I won't be running the Ragnar relay race. (Due to a pesky lingering hamstring issue.) I'm pretty sad to be missing what has become a summer tradition. Hopefully by next June I'll be recovered.

 

 

1974-ISH ME, CALAIS, MAINE
BY KATIE SCOTT

 

2 page, 12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Dear Lizzy, October Afternoon) + embellishments (BasicGrey, Crate Paper) + journaling spots (Anna Griffin) + mist (Maya Road)

A Note From Katie
I was inspired by Amy Kingsford's Hello Lovely layout in the June 2014 Gallery. I love using circles on layouts, especially in a grid formation.

June Fun Fact
I never thought I would, but after 27 years of living in Florida, I really miss my home state of Maine - especially in the summer when I long for authentic Maine lobster rolls.

 

 

OH THE HAIR
BY MARNIE FLORES

 

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Glitz, Cosmo Cricket, Crystal Wilkerson) + doily (Gennifer Bursett) + font (Frenchy)

A Note from Marnie
This is a remake of a sketch I made from Amy Kingsford's layout in the October gallery, Happy Scraps. I love the strips of paper and the overlapping photos. I loved it so much I made a sketch from it. For this gallery, I was all excited to have permission to use it again! ☺

June Fun Fact
My pool body is in hiding but my pool aura is ready ready ready to party!!

 

Thank you for stopping by! Especially on our birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a fabulous day!

Scrapbook. A few favorites

Hi, Lisa here today with a scrapbook post! I am sharing a few different layouts all with the theme favorites.

 While purging the house as we prepare to move, I came across old notebooks. I usually have one or two notebooks every year, where I list things, write down creative ideas etc. This notebook was one from 2009, when I turned 30. During that year I set out to list things in 30s; 30 things I want to remember etc. I flipped through the book and found a list with my (then) 30 favorite movies ever. It was fun to read it! I decided to continue the list with a few more current movies and make a layout out of it! 

 While thinking of favorite things I also made this layout about my favorite way to pass time; crafts in my hands and an audiobook in my ears! 

 

Last, but not least I made this layout. My family consists of 3 people including me and those other two are really my favorite people. We have so much fun together it makes my heart happy! We, read I, try to take decent photos of the three of us on a regular basis. Well, let´s just say there are a lot of outakes! I wanted to use some of them on a layout because I still love them and they reflect our perfectly imperfect life! 

 

There you have it, 3 favorite themes layouts! 

 

I hope you all have a great day!

Lisa

Gallery Walking

Did you enjoy seeing the love in the air this month? We thought that the gallery was endearing and tender. And hopefully inspirational for you as well.

Shall we find some specific things that we love in each layout? Let's do it!!!

 

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)

Sometimes its the subtle things. Marnie's placement of the flag in the top left balances the smaller height of the left side of the photo, while the embellishments in the lower right balance the height of the flag. Using the embellishments as counterbalances to the people in the photograph gives a solid center.

 

 

 

This Is Us | Celeste Smith

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

There are so many great elements in Celeste's design, but the magical one is the clear title. There are patterns and colors, and designs, and shapes, and then one quiet clear title. And its transparency, the thing that should make it most disappear, is the thing that brings it to center stage as it is so different than all the other elements. And because it is right on the photo, overlapping both of them, you know it is them of whom it speaks. Awesome.

 

 

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)

Sometimes a quote is just so good it needs a whole page. And this is one of those quotes. Let's look at all the things Cristina executed with perfection: right justifying the quote, stamping "I Choose You" in pink, using a linear stack of photos to offset the horizontal waves in the pattern, choosing three small photos rather than one large so as to not compete with the quote. So many things done well that together make for a fabulous spread.

 

 

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)

If you haven't gone to Amy's blog to read her journaling, you should. Actually, go right now. We will wait.

Isn't it awesome? But you know what else is awesome? That photo! If you don't have your big camera on you, most cameras have a timer on them now, and you can back up and get your whole self, and some background into the photo. Please do! Especially if you are on top of a mountain. Just sayin'...

 

 

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)

One of the tricky things about scrapbooking old photos is picking the right papers. Diane found valentine's tones that completely evoke the sense of the seventies without being kitschy. Then her seamless use of flair, pearls, rhinestone, and stitching give her layout a timeless feel. And did you notice the conversation heart? Man, she is so good at the little things. Just so good. 

 

 

Friday Flowers | Lisa Borbely

 

Not only did Lisa make all these patterned papers for her layout, but she also kept her color scheme monochromatic allowing her red flowers to take center stage. Just where red flowers belong! Lisa was also very smart in keeping her patterns small on her circles so that they didn't fight against the large chevron in her photo. Instead, they are on a similar scale to her handwritten quote, which makes for a lovely backdrop.

 

 

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)

These are the moments that we will want most to remember. Not only does Jennifer take time to be a great mother, but she also takes time to documents why is is so special. These are the photos that we might not have had in the past with cameras being bulky and seemingly rude. But now kids take pics all the time, everywhere, so our teens are much more likely to say yes to a photo such as this. Which means we are much more likely to scrapbook a page such as this. Such a win win!

 

 

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)

In Aliza's post, she said she was "looking for a way to say something meaningful and authentic, something a little deeper than “I love you,” but nothing too serious." And she ended up with "My People" and the sweetest (yest not one bit sappy) journaling. There is much to love about her take on a family photo and honoring our family with love and kind words. Meaningful, authentic, and not too serious. Just what she wanted. And now what we all want.

 

 

And it is with heavy heart that we bid a sad farewell to Diane and Francine. We will miss you both. So much. Your kind hearts and creative souls have blessed our site for years. And we absolutely would not have been the same without you.

Diane, you use color like none other. Your pages are as happy as your outlook on life. Your children are beautiful and you document them in ways that both honor and celebrate their teenage lives. Your world adventures are enchanting and we all wish we could accompany you. We will try to maintain our cheerful quotient without you, but it our rainbow will be more subdued with you gone, for certain.

Francine, you have been here since the beginning. Your pages are filled with sunshine, and memories. With sisterhood and motherhood. With a life real and lived and loved.  You are a master of the elements found, and your pages have little additions sprinkled on top that help tell your stories. We have seen Kieran grow from a tiny baby to his grand nearly 6 year old self. We thank you for demonstrating balanced motherhood sprinkled with grace and brilliance.

Thank you. We miss you already...

Scrapbook: Three elements

Hello! It's Jennifer Larson. I'm at a very busy time of year--one more month in the term to grade papers, my son's birthday, and the beast called winter. To relax, I love scrapbooking, but if I have to think too much, it slows me down. To stay creative, I remind myself to think only of three elements: photos, journaling, and title. Though I love embellishments, I center the embellishments around one of those three elements to avoid design paralysis.

If I start with those three elements, the rest seems to fall in place more easily. Here's three pages where I did that.

With this page, I started with the photos, printing them all the same, small size to get them on one page. They fit best in one block, so the most logical thing to do from there was to put the journaling above the block. I could have put the title below for balance, but I always try to save the tickets for baseball pages, so I put the tickets in an envelope below and budged the title against the journaling. I embellished to highlight the title and the journaling, two of my key elements with this page.

For this next page, I again started with the photos:

I had two 5x7 inch photos, so I opted for a two page spread, the photos centered along the spread to give them equal importance. I may be the only one in the world with this problem, but I seem to have a bucketload of Project Life cards, so I picked ones with similar natural hues and themes to surround the photos, including a journaling card in the mix. The most logical place for the title was in a line below the photos; I chose to embellish the title, then the other side of the page for balance.

Finally, this page flew out of my brain starting with the title (pardon the pun):

The title was the first thing from my head, so I gave it due space in the bottom quarter of the page. I centered the embellishments around the title. I had many Project Life card-sized photos of this event. My son helped me narrow them to his three favorites. Since they were Project Life-sized, I picked my most autumnal cards from the bucket 'o cards, making sure to include one journaling card.

Thank you for letting me share with you my design process! I hope if you get as busy as I have been, you can focus on these three elements and let the design flow easily from them.!