Back 2 School Scrapbooking

Scrapbook Heaven is at it again with another inspiring crop filled with fun challenges.  And it couldn't have come soon enough--September is nearly over, and I have barely scrapbooked at all this month...until now!

First, my challenge is to use a black background and white elements (embellies, papers, letters) to give it a chalkboard effect:

Our public library allows the kiddos to get their first library card when they turn five, and then they take a photo of the proud new owner with their card--how cute is that!

Patterned paper is from an old Love, Elsie line.  Flowers are made from a book page.

So this weekend, I took some time out of the hustle and bustle of fall sports with three boys and played along with some of the other challenges:

Carla's challenge # 4: Take Note--use note paper on your project

Now that I look at it, this photo is terrible--sorry.  Used the Sizzix border die (Dots and Scallops) to make a Lego looking border.  And just in case that was too subtle, I raided the boys' Legos and stuck those on the page, too!

Teresa's challenge #5: Art Class--get messy with paints, chalk, mists, ink, glitter

Took out the mists, paint, ink and some foam stamps from a CK KOTM.  The Fancy Pants journal card was my inspo for this one.  Sign of a good page: it takes more time to clean up the mess you made than it did to actually put the page together!

Lee's challenge #8: Math--use numbers on a LO

Inspired by the song Seasons of Love from Rent.  Plus this LO put me back in touch with my Word of the Year for 2010: possibilities.

Jules' challenge # 6 Music--use music lyrics or a song title on a page

From the first time I heard the song 1-2-3-4 by Plain White Tees I had a vision for the lyrics on a scrapbook page with large number stickers.  Check that off my list of LO's to do!

Little more love from the Sizzix Dots and Scallops border die

Bubbles

This page was for a sketch at Jillibean. I don't have any Jillibean Soup products (yet!), but I thought it would be a good one for a page of bubble blowing fun using SU!'s Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin' kit. This will be another one for my scrapclubbers this month.


That is a real-life bubble blowing stick, and I carefully cut some jumbo bubble wrap to create the look of bubbles on the page. For the title I used some stickers that did not exactly match my color scheme, and traced them. To make them pop a bit more, I traced over the existing DSP inside of the letters. I doodled around the border of the page and a bit near the photos to add a bit of interest. Now, to figure out how to put this page into an album without popping the bubbles. . .

Scrapbook Club Layout #3

Here is the third scrapbook club layout for the Sunny Day kit:

I used Dixie Pieces' September sketch challenge for this page. I turned the sketch on its side to accommodate my vertical 4x6 photo. The journaling strips are computer generated, the title is hand written and includes a chipboard heart that is not part of the kit. The page is accented with a hand-doodled frame.

Scrapbook Club Layouts

Here are two of the layouts for August's Scrapbook Club using the Sunny Day kit:

This DPS uses 2 4x6 photos, and then creates a collage using a combination of 2x2 and 2x4 photos in the center. You can be really flexible here depending on the number of photos you would like to use and the way you can crop them.

This page is a simple layout using 2 4x6 pictures and 1 smaller 2x3 (approx) one.

I have one more page to put together still, but it will be using this Dixie Pieces sketch which involves just one 4x6 photo:

Scrapbook Club Layouts

Here are the layouts for this month's Scrapbook Club using the 2 Sweet kit. The DPS contains 10 photos! The measurements are: 6 @ 2.5" (a big square punch), 1 @ 4" square, 1 @ 3.5"x6", and 2 @ 4"x6". The title is a mix of components from the kit (3, totallysweet, &), Sizzix letters (Boys), and handwriting (a bunny). And I used up as many of those flowers as I could, afterall it is a springy Easter page!

Remember this sketch? I finally put it to use on this page. No photos yet, but you can use four of the recommended size of 2.25" x 3.25" or create your own similar arrangement. I'm trying to choose between photos of my husband and I and pics of me with the boys (both are pretty rare since I'm aways behind the lens). But you can get enough of an idea to complete the layout below.

The third layout is the SPS found here.

One more layout

Here is the other layout for tomorrow's meeting using the 2 Sweet kit. The notebook paper in this kit was a good fit for a first day of school layout. I also like to add a log of my kids' favorites at the time, and there was a journaling block accent for that. The pictures all measure approx. 3x3 and 3x6.

Scrapbook Club Layouts

Wow! This one is a doozey.

So, I was forced to purchase this quite girlie kit (2 Sweet) due to Stampin' Up!'s last chance list (the kit I was planning on getting for the next two months' layouts was already sold out.) Well, let's just say this was a bit of a challenge. With purple, flowers, words like g2g, girlfriend, and did I mention the purple and flowers, it's not the best kit for pages with three boys.

Here's what I've come up with. This page has 3-4 x 6 photos and 4-3 x 4 photos.
I'm still tweaking this one a bit--it just needs something more. Hopefully I can contain myself from adding a giant purple flower!

This page features one large 10 1/2 x 5 1/2 photo. I like using such a large photo on a layout. Still have some journaling to do on this one, too.


I've got one more first day of school layout in the works (thank goodness our front door where I always take first-day pictures is purple!)

Scrapbook Club Layouts {part deux}

Here are the other two layouts for this month's club using the Hoppy Memories SSK.

These photos measure 6x4 and just under 4 1/2 x 4 (I actually didn't measure when I cut, I was just lobbing off a building in the background).

This layout is sized for a 4x6 photo. I know I will use a b&w one of the three boys, but wanted to get these up here for you, so didn't bother looking for and printing one. This page includes lots of layering--I just kept adding a little here and a bit there until it seemed complete. It was a little different to build a page without a photo.

Scrapbook Club Layout #1

This month's meeting has completely crept up on me. This seems to be a recurring theme for me lately, hmmmm. Here is the first of 2 (or maybe 3) layouts for Monday's meeting. We will be using the same kit used in April--for me it was Hoppy Memories. This page features a photo collage in the center with strips of DSP and adhesive strips down the sides.

My photo collage includes 11 photos, and for those of you who like the exact measurements: 1- 4x6, 2- 3x6, 2- 3.5x3.5, 5- 2.5x2.5 (I have a punch for this), 1- 4.5x4.

I'm off to CKC tomorrow, but will post the other layout(s) ASAP.

Day 18: Hello Little Turtle

Our driveway is apparently in line with the trek that the baby turtles make each spring from my across-the-street neighbor to the pond in another neighbor's yard behind us. Each spring we are lucky enough to see at least one baby turtle make its voyage to its home (this whole process is absolutely astounding to me). Last year while a friend was visiting I snapped these pics of one such voyage.

I followed the trend of creating a little scene on my page with the turtle, a hand-cut tree, punched cloud, and die cut sticker grass and sun. I forgot to leave a spot for journaling so I'll either squeeze some in a blank spot or have it slip behind a photo. All of these papers and stickers are from the Hoppy Memories Simply Scrappin' Kit. It's great for boy, school, and outdoorsy-themed pages.

Scrapbooking Streak

I'm not really sure what exactly has come over me this past week, but I am scrapbooking a blue streak. The photos are just flying out of their neat little photo envelopes and onto layouts, and I am not about to question any of it! So here's why my blogs have been so sparse lately:

First Day of Preschool:

I usually incorporate their "favorites" at the moment into this annual page, and didn't remember that until just before going to bed. Of course, when I awoke in the morning to put the finishing touches on the layout and adhere everything down (I often do this to get a fresh look at my work to make sure I'm happy with everything), I had completely forgotten that I was going to list the favorites where the title ended up being. Oh well, there's always another layout for that, or I could add hidden journaling under that focal block on the left hand page.

Halloween Playgroup Party:

This layout quickly came together after putting my two oldest on the bus and while my youngest watched a bit of tv. It is extremely rare that I can get any scrapbooking done, let alone an entire layout, when my children are up and about. He must've known how much his mama needed this creative time. This layout is based on one from April's CK. I just picked up a pack of yo-yo's at JoAnn's and was thrilled that one was a perect color fit to this layout:

I was able to use up some felt flowers I bought quite a while back, some ancient letter stickers, and a Happy Halloween button that's been sitting in my stash. I love using up older supplies!

Christmas Cards 2008:

I pulled this layout from a sketch I had drawn up. I will create this layout annually to document our Christmas cards. Our card goes in the upper left corner. 1 1/2" circles punched from the store bought cards are arranged grid style on the right hand side of the page, and a listing of who we received cards from that year goes in the lower left block. Everything is neatly sectioned with narrow strips of patterned paper (or in this case sticky border left over from the "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' Kit). I cut all of the photo cards down to 4 x 6 and these will slip into these 6-up page protectors right behind this layout in our Christmas album. Of course, my 1 1/2" circle punch bit the dust so the celery scallop in the middle looks a bit out of place. It will hold a circle with the year stamped on it. Dig out all those Christmas cards and create some layouts!

Tougas Farm:

I was inspired by this week's sketch challenge over at Splitcoast. This layout was a snap with the Summer Home SSK (retired). The colors in the kit were perfect for a trip to the apple orchard, and I love when I can use flowers on my boys' pages!

Remember This:

And the layout that started it all. I began this after my Scrapbook Club left on Monday night. This is the adorable kit that I will use for my next batch of SBC layouts: "Hoppy Memories". This layout shows how my middle son used to take off his socks. This sketch (my own) is perfect for shots that show a series (ie. riding a bike, going down a slide, etc). I am so in love with this cute kit!

So there you have it, how I spent my week. Thanks so much for reading this lengthy post. Hope you are inspired to go create some pages!

Scrapbook Club Layout #4

Here is the final layout for the "I Wish" SSK. This layout uses: 1 vertical 4x6, 1 horizontal 4x6, 3-3x3 photos, and 2-4x3 photos. This layout showcases 7 of our Christmas holiday traditions and uses the two sets of tiny square stickers to number both the photos and journaling. I'm not thrilled with the look of my title, but I am "embracing its imperfection."

Scrapbook Club Layout #3

For my Scrapbook Clubbers, here is the first of this month's 2 layouts for our meeting on the 16th. We will be using the "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' Kit again.

This layout uses 4-4x6 photos. Two with a horizontal orientation, and two oriented vertically. The borders were inspired by a layout by Ali Edwards. I will post the second layout asap.

February Scrapbook Club Layouts

Simply Scrappin' Kit: I Wish
The "I Wish" SSKit is perfect for Christmas memories. From Christmas morning to visits with Santa, holiday parties to traditions and preparations, the papers, colors, and embellishments will help you create holiday pages.

Layout # 1
This layout includes 7 photos, a place for journaling, and supporting word embellishments. The focal photo is 4x6 and matted. The other photos on the left page are 4" square. The top two photos on the right page are (from l-r) 5x4 and 3.375x5.5. On the bottom they are 3.75x3 and 3x3.


Layout #2:
This layout includes 6 photos: 4-2x3 and 2-4x6 in a simple, clean design.

January ScrapClub Layout #1

Here is one of the layouts we will be doing for the new Scrapbooking Club in January.

This layout uses a lot of white space to help balance the weight and busy-ness of the photos-- lots of photos (6 on this one, but you could fit more depending on how you crop them). There's a spot for journaling. It was tempting to add more embellishments because the kit comes with so many, but I contained myself. There will be tons of extras for mini-albums, cards, and more layouts. If you would like to easily create 48 pages in '09, please email me.