Three Simple Design Techniques

Playing with paper and photos is one of my favorite things! Today I want to share a favorite recent layout I put together with photos from a visit to the Top of the Rock in NYC.

I'd like to point out three simple techniques I used to help this layout come together.

1. Paper Tearing. I went a little old school with the technique along the right side of the page on the edges of the layered paper strips. Paper tearing adds a nice extra touch of texture and looks great when layered with a stack of papers. The little white edge add an extra touch of contrast.

2. Grid Design. This is a classic way to layout a page. I love using grid designs on my pages because it gives me a place to focus where photos and embellishments are added to the page.

3. Journaling Between the Lines. Looking for lines in patterned paper that can be a guide for your journaling is a perfect place to incorporate your handwriting into the page design. The lines in the paper design help keep the writing neat and straight. This triangle design didn't provide a traditional straight line to write on, but it gave a great space for writing and kept my journaling straight and neat.

Next time you're stumped of how to start a layout, you could give one of the about techniques a try to get you started. I'm sure you'll have a finished layout in no time.

This is the last of the layouts I'm made for now that include photos from our recent girls trip to NYC. As you can see if you've been ready my blog this month, I took a lot of photos! It feels so good to have some favorites printed, combined with words and ready to go into an album.

Layout Supplies /// Let's Do This Kit /// This Way Add-on /// Love It Add-on

Playing Along with Paper Issues

Hello! Hope you've had a fantastic weekend. We enjoyed Hannah's last soccer game of the season, a bit of relaxation and some family time. Now I'm ready for a new week!

This week Scrapbook Circle is sponsoring the challenge over at Paper Issues and I thought it would be fun to play along with the Prints Charming Challenge. You can find out all of the challenge details over on their blog. A Scrapbook Circle kit is up for grabs, so I hope you'll join in the fun.

For my take on the challenge, I decided to mix seven different patterned papers to create this layout. Since some of the prints only show slightly, I think the overall balance of print and color works on this page. I used white cardstock and and this digital cut file to create the random circle cutouts. Adding white to the top of the paper helped to mellow out all of those patterns.

This page is all about a visit to Billy's Bakery when we were in NYC last month. If you look closely in the photo, you will see a vintage floral wallpaper in the background and that is where I took inspiration for the colors and flowers that were used to embellish the page.

It's been so much fun to go through our NYC trip and print out a bunch of favorite photos. One of my favorite things about a trip is getting to relive the highlights once I'm home and scrapbook about them.  

Now one more of our stories is recorded. I love documenting our family stories!

Layout Supplies /// Let's Do This Kit /// This Way Add-on /// Love It Add-on

Journaling Blocks for Storytelling

It's Saturday! I'm looking forward to checking off several Scrapbook Circle tasks from my to-do list today and then watching my daughter play in her last soccer game of the season. Should be a great day!

Today I want to share one of my favorite quick journaling tips with you. Sometimes getting words on a scrapbook page isn't the most fun part of putting the page together. I've found that when I incorporate a few journaling blocks into the page design, it makes journaling easy because I have a designated and limited place to write.

On this page, it is designed using the rule of thirds to create a nice balance on the page. The top third includes the title, the middle is the photo and a subtitle and the bottom third was reserved for the journaling. I used the journaling blocks from the Scrapbook Circle April Printable on this page, but there are lots of different journaling block options available from a variety of companies.

I love journaling blocks because it gives a defined place to write. When I'm using a limited space like this, I think through what my journaling will be and think about much space that will take. Sometimes I air write just above the space to get an idea of how many words will fit in the space. 

Occasionally, the spacing a little off and I'll have extra room which is great for adding a date or location. If I start writing and it looks like I'm going to run out of space, then I do my best to use less words to tell the story. Or if I really have more that I want to share, then I would find a way to work another journaling block into the page design.

Hope this tip for working journaling onto your page gives you some inspiration for an upcoming layout!

Learn It. Make It. Love It.

Isn't Crafty's tagline perfect for those of us who love crafting and learning new things: Learn It, Make It, Love It.  I'm excited because Craftsy is having a flash sale this weekend where they are offering up to 50% off many of their classes.

My Fast & Fun Scrapbooking Class and my Standout Titles and Creative Journaling Class are both included in the sale!

There are so many other classes that look inspiring. Here's a look at a few that look fantastic to me:

Travel Scrapbooking with Amy Tan

Scrapbook Design and Storytelling with Jen Gallacher

Sweet and Savory Food Gifts with Diana Morgan

Thank You Cards with Kimber McGray

Food Photography with Andrew Scrivani

Okay, there's my list of top class picks. I'm excited to choose a class and learn something.

Teaching at Craftsy was a highlight of last year. I love getting to share my memory keep passion with others!

Using a Big Photo to Tell a Story

Hey there! Hope your day is going great. Things are good here. I got the kids off to school this morning and decided to try out the 7 Minute Workout App I've had on my phone for months instead of going for a run. I loved it! I'm thinking I'll mix it in with jogging for a hopefully well rounded workout. After blogging, I'm heading out to meet my sister and two cousins at Joyride Tacos for lunch. Love that place. Their veggie tacos are my favorite.

Today I want to share a layout where I used one 8.5 X 11 photo as the background for the page. I think this is a fantastic way to preserve a favorite photo in a scrapbook.

A fine tip sharpie works perfectly for journaling directly onto the photo. This is an easy way to write on a big photo layout so that you aren't covering the photo up with journaling cards or other embellishments where you can write. The "on this day" I used right before the journaling is a rub-on and it went on perfectly smooth right onto the photo.

I intentionally kept the embellishments to a minimum so that the focus would stay on the photo. Making the photo black and white gave a nice contrast to the little pops of color provided by the embellishments.

So there you have it: a big photo layout with a few simple embellishment and another story documented.

Layout Supplies /// This Way Add-on /// Love It Add-on

Let's Do This!

I'm just loving the name of Scrapbook Circle's April Kit, Let's Do This. I've been doing a lot of spring cleaning and reorganizing around here the past couple of weeks and I feel like "Let's Do This" is going to be a perfect theme for the month. I'll have to post some pictures of some projects I've been working on around my house. It's mostly involved hanging things on our bare walls. It's so much fun adding some color and personality to our home.

Today I want to share one of my layouts using the Let's Do This April Kit. I had a creative burst last week and created five pages with the kit and I'll be sharing them all here soon.

It was so much fun to put this page together. The word paper in the background is one of my favorites and I wanted to have as much of it show without taking away from the photos and stories. Using some white cardstock in the center seemed like the perfect way to frame my photo and journaling while still letting a lot of the background paper show. Finishing off the page with a sprinkling of sequins added just the right playful touch I was looking for on the page.

This was one of my favorite photos from our recent trip to NYC and I'm happy to have it printed and on a page along with some journaling telling more about our trip.

All of the photos on my NYC trip were taken with my iPhone. I would have loved to have photos from my big camera, but it didn't seem worth it to carry that weight around the city with me. What do you think? Should a big camera go along on vacations or do the phone photos work for you?

Layout Supplies /// Let's Do This Kit /// NYC alphas from my stash (Pink Paislee Bella Rouge)