Embrace the snow!

Hi Everyone!

Sharon here today to share some winter pages that I just made this past month. ♥

If you live in North America anywhere near the north-east, you have probably been getting a snow, ice, and freezing rain -  filled winter like we have here in Pennsylvania.   Even the southern states were not spared this winter.  In trying to keep a positive attitude throughout all of this, I attempted to embrace the snow instead of disliking it.  I did it by doing two things that I love to do:  taking lots of photos and scrapping them!

Here are 3 pages that I created using snow filled photos:

To make these pages, I decided to use only things from my stash.  I had beautiful Anne Griffin papers:

and the Prima "Lyric" papers:

I love these collections and both are perfect for my snow photos.  

Next I found some old punches:

and even dusted off my Cricut Expression:

I used one of the cartridges that came with it:

to make the large snowflakes:

Then I added some stamping, inking, and white paint.

and some Stickles for added sparkle:

My Karen Foster star-bursts were calling out to be used:

and some beautiful ScrapFx chipboard pieces:

I ended with a little machine stitching and distressing to finish off the look:

I really had fun using some old stuff from my stash that I had not gotten out in a long time!  

That's it for today . . . my way of embracing this snowy season. ♥

Thanks so  much for stopping by!

 VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan

Ready for a NEW Sketch?

Hi all. Pam with you today sharing a new sketch and a few takes of it. I am totally BLOWN AWAY by the pages that the contributors created for the sketch. Each of their takes on sketch are so different and really inspire to me create new pages! First let me share with you the sketch!  It is pretty simple with three photos and a few extra embellishments to accent the page.

Lesley is up first with a breathtaking layout using the sketch. This has to be my all time favorite layout by Lesley. I just adore everything about it from the sweet film strips of her granddaughter to the accents of pink, blue and cream. This could not be any sweeter! You can see she stuck to the original sketch except added photos and paper to the middle strip. Amazing!

Gael's page is up next! Her page is one word: strikingly beautiful. There are many things to notice and love about this page such as the collage of embellishments on the top and the unique color scheme which matches the photo to a T! For her take on the sketch she kept the original design, but took away the top photos and added embellishments instead. I couldn't imagine this photo scrapped better!

Cindy is up next with her page! Again, this is probably my new favorite page by Cindy! I just love how she documented so many things in this page having to with their life. The photo coming off the side just looks great and I love the border of pink around the photo blocks. Her style is so clean it all comes together so well. You will notice she flipped the sketch to the right 90 degrees, added two more photos, and adjusted the embellishments to work for her page! :)

Sharon created our last page today. Again I am totally wowed! The colors, patterns and design work are designed so well I just can't stop staring at the details like the vintage photos, bright pops of colors, and the beautiful die cut title. I just love how she made it her own!! Looking at her page compared the sketch, you will notice she flipped this 180 degrees. She has her one big photo on the bottom accented by the other photos (she used three). The three photos on the top really bring your eyes downward to that great castle photo. Love this!

Whatcha think? Do you like these as much as me :D . If you use the sketch and want to share with the readers here, please send it to me at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com .

 

Happy Accidental Color Scheme

Hi everyone!  Tanya here today, sharing a layout I made.

I always have lots of random pics of my four-legged kids, so doing a layout for National Dog Day made sense to me.  I used Echo Park's Note To Self collection for the papers and stickers.  I really like all the tickets and patterns going on, but having all my photos line up in a grid makes it feel less cluttered to me.  And, I thought the colors of our shirts in several photos (orange and gray) and our dogs (brown, black, white) also matched this collection!  It was a happy accident that I was really excited about! :)  

For close-up shots or a list of supplies, be sure and click over to my blog!

Scrapping Bad Photos

It's a common problem: What do you do when you want to scrapbook an event, but the pictures are terrible?

Last fall, my son Trevor and I participated in a fitness event called SoFitCity, a friendly competition amongst the cities in our county to see who would win the title for having the most participants do one of the runs.  Trevor and I did the Family Fun Run.  Obviously, running and photography don't go together all that well.  We bumped into a friend right before the start and had her take a picture of us together wearing our race numbers.  During the race, I zoomed ahead of Trevor at one point to take a picture of him running.  Then I stopped running near the end so I could fall back and take a picture of him about to cross the finish line.  None of the pictures turned out great and I only had the three, but I really did want to document the event. My solution was to print them small, group them together, and keep the layout really, really simple.

It's not the greatest layout ever, but it's in the album and the memory is recorded, despite the mediocre photos.

What do you do when the only photos you have of an event are lousy?

Inspiration in the Winter and New Cutting Files!

Hey everyone. It's Pam with you sharing some of the types of pages I am working on this winter. Let me say that I am NOT working on winter themed page because it has been so cold here. Instead I have been doing more happy warm pages as you will see below. Sometimes scrapping in the winter is hard because I want to just lay underneath a warm blanket... hopefully these pages and the new cutting file with jumpstart your inspiration!

On my first page, I was inspired by a scrapbook layout by Kelly Goree named Super Star. She had made some cut paper sunbursts and I adapted that idea to my page! As you will see below, I used hearts at the end of my sunbursts for a page about my husband and I! This year was our 15th wedding anniversary!

On my second page, I took some cues from my first page! I extended the sunburst concept into above and below my photos to give a cool look to my page. This page does not remind me at all of winter, so that is a good thing! :)) This reminds me of summer of fall which are happy weather times for me!

On my third and final page, you will see I went with a whole different concept when I scrapped my photos. I chose some fun fall photos of my son playing soccer and went with the number theme like I often do. I just love to play on numbers for my pages and I have created a cutting file just for you to use if you like!

Here is the image preview to the template! I went from 1-15 so you would have whole bunch of numbers to work with. My page above only contains 1-10.

Here are the links to the two cutting files in the SVG and Studio formats!

Numbers SVG Cutting Files
Numbers Studio Cutting Files

Hope you are inspired during this cold winter to create some fun pages!

A Year of Memories

Cindy here!  Today I'm sharing a 2-page layout that represents a year of memories.  My son Trevor started Cub Scouts last year as a first grader.  We joined the small Pack that was getting started at his school, hoping to be able to help grow it into a larger, active group.  To make a long story short, that isn't what happened and we ended up leaving that Pack mid-year, spending the rest of his Tiger (first grade) year with a variety of other Packs who kindly and graciously let us join them for meetings, activities, field trips, and events.

For a long time, I struggled with how to scrap Trevor's Tiger Year.  I wasn't sure how to put a year's worth of memories onto a page when the pictures were from activities we did with so many different Packs. Then I realized that I needed to treat the photos as if they were from one event... that event being Trevor's Tiger Year.  Once I did, everything came together.

I kept the layout and journaling really simple.  Instead of trying to tell a story from my point of view, I thought about what Trevor would want to see in his scrapbook.  He didn't need to hear about the agonizing his parents did over whether to leave the original Pack, or the effort we put into making sure Trevor didn't miss out on any of the things a Cub Scout in an active Pack would do.  He would want to see pictures of the cool things he did, with an explanation of where each picture was taken.  So that's what I did.  Simple, colorful, and a great visual reminder of his Tiger Year.

Heart Layout + Free Cutting Files!

Hi there. It's Pam here sharing a heart layout and digital cutting files so you can use this template as well. When was the last time you did a layout with hearts on it? I use them quite often as they are one of my favorite shapes.

On my page below you will see a technique that I love to do on my pages. I like to make shapes pop off the page by putting a negative border around them. The Twirly Girly collection by Chickaniddy Crafts was absolutely perfect for this page. The patterns are so versatile and it was actually hard to choose which pattern would go in each heart. Below my layout you will be able to download the cutting files in JPEG, SVG, and STUDIO. Studio is for your Silhoutte. Hope you enjoy!!

Here are the cutting files for the outline of the hearts.

Hearts Outline SVG
Hearts Outline STUDIO
Last but not least here are the inside hearts.

Hearts Inside SVG
Hearts Inside STUDIO

Let us you know if you use this cutting file. We would love to see!

Pages With Heart

Hey all, Pam here sharing some pre-Valentine's Day heart page ideas! Hearts are one of my favorite thing to put on pages. I simply love to add them to lots of themed page as you will see below! Here are some ideas for either Valentine's Day or non-Valentine's Day! Check, back on Friday when I will be sharing a brand new cutting file along with a NEW heart page as well!

1. Use pop dots.
In my first example I used hearts with pop dots to make them stand out more. Last year in October was our 15th anniversary. I was able to put on my dress, yay!!

2. Scatter them amongst other shapes.
On my next example, you use them with other shapes to create a neat collage of layered paper!

3. Create an outline for your hearts to emphasize them!
Here are two examples of this!

4. Create one large heart and cut out pieces for the photos!

5. Sew on different colored heart onto you page.

6. Sew on hearts and fold them in to create a great memory page.
This is of my Great Dane that we lost a few years ago. I miss Daphne so much!

I hope you have a great day!! Remember to put hearts on those pages!

summer fun in the sun

Hi everyone, Tanya here today, to share a fun layout from last summer!  Considering we got snow yesterday, I'm really missing that summer sun and heat!! :)

I made this layout using Carta Bella's Rough & Tumble collection.  I cut tons of banners using various dies from Spellbinders, Sizzix/Stampin' UP!, The Stamps of Life and even punches!  I layered them all up across the bottom of my photo grid, with a pop of bright color underneath.  I also used my We R Memory Keepers Crop A Dile to punch holes and set some eyelets, then used floss to wrap through.  After rearranging things several times on this layout, I was really happy with the final result! :)

Hope everyone has a great, scrappy day!!