Tag Archives: layout

How to Create a Scrapbook Layout without a Photo

Posted on by
Reply

I was reminded of a story I had not thought about in a very long time, by a prompt from this month’s LOAD (Layout a Day) challenge from the online Scrap Happy group. That is not an uncommon thing to happen, but for this story I really didn’t have anything that I felt would work. In the time before digital photography and cell phone cameras, there are many stories that we may remember, but don’t have even a single photo. So what do you do? Let me look into my crystal ball and tell you.

Crystal ball potential!

Crystal ball potential!

You might use a search and find an image you could use, by just using a screen shot, and cropping it as needed. Yes, there may or may not be legal implications, but all I am doing is putting it on a scrapbook page. Now, I draw the line at finding a scrapbook kit and doing a screen shot, or any other digital art meant to be used as such. Digital designers depend on our business, and in my opinion that is just stealing out of their pockets.On the other hand, I feel differently about using an image that nobody is trying to sell. This story was about my dad making a “crystal” ball from a light fixture. I thought I would use a photo of that type of light and doctor it up. I did find the exact type of light I was looking for on one of the big home improvement store’s site.  I decided to google to find a small digital kit I could download, and found several. I chose to purchase one from Amy Joy Studios, an Etsy seller, which gives me full rights to print and use, or just use on my digi scrapbook page. The main image on this page was from the kit.

The story of a humble light fixture becoming a crystal ball.

The story of a humble light fixture becoming a crystal ball.

 

In the end, I only used the one image for my page. The real treasure to me is the memory and preserving the story. Adding some fun elements to page is a plus. Even if all I did was write the story down, it is a memory saved. Don’t let a non existent photo keep you from telling a story.

Cheers to YOUR Photo Adventures,

KS

Celebrate Winter – Card and Scrapbook Layout

Posted on by
3

Winter can seem like a LONG time when you live somewhere cold and snowy.

L in snow

Fun in the snow

Every year seems to take on a personality of its own, and you never know what it will be like. You may have a year with a lot of snow, or maybe not much. There are places in the USA that have had more than their share of snow this winter. Ours hasn’t been too bad, so far. We haven’t had a lot of snow, and it hasn’t been nearly as cold as it was last year, so far. No matter what it’s like, there will still be many days to figure out something to do, and if there’s enough snow, it is so fun to watch kids go sledding! I was reminded of this as I was going through some photos. Once again, I realized there was a story that needed to be told and saved!

When I first started scrapbooking, I wanted to get as many photos on a page as possible! I couldn’t image why anybody would use up a whole page and only put one single photo on it. I guess I felt like it was wasting all that precious scrapbook page real estate! Now days, I often have a story that only has one photo to go with it. Sometimes there is a lot to the story, and other times it is just one sentence or paragraph. In the end, it’s all about the photos stories!

I have really enjoyed the Close to My Heart Snowhaven papers and embellishments, and thought it would be fun to create a winter layout using that set.

When I decided to print out my photo, it just wasn’t coming out right! I finally gave up and decided to use the Snowhaven kit in the Studio J online digital scrapbooking website. All the papers and Complements pieces were right there online, and I was able to still use them all together. In the end, I was able to create my page, and ended up having my physical products to use for something else. I’m not sure what I’ll do with them!

Here is the page:

Snowhaven kit in Studio J used for winter scrapbook layout.

CTMH Snowhaven papers and embellishments are available in both physical or digital!

Why can I not catch the typos until I am already posting my layout here for the world to see? I really do know how to spell “friends.”

I hope you will take time to celebrate each season of your life, and those who are close to you! Capture even the little stories that will be fun to look back on and remember.

I promised a card in this post. The SnowHaven card kit was so fun to use to make some Christmas cards. All the materials were gathered and directions put together so I didn’t even have to plan them out!

There were left overs from the kit, and I thought they would be fun to use in part, for a card.

A few scraps can be pulled together for a quick card.

A few scraps can be pulled together for a quick card.

  • White card stock was the base of the card, and snowflakes from the SnowHaven card kit stamp set were stamped in Glacier.
  • A little strip of red and white design from one of the kit papers made a great accent.
  • Silver Shimmer Trim and the red heart were left over from the kit as well.
  • I stamped the “Have a day filled with…” and “Fun” from one of the stamp sets that accompanies the Cricut Art Philosophy bundle.
  • I used a shimmer mist on the card, and got too close.
  • Then I added some bling by attaching some little sparkles to the center of some of the snowflakes.

I think it still needs something, but I’m not sure what. Moving on…. What do you think you would do it at this point? Comments are welcome!

make it monday-pink logoIf you are following the Make It Monday blog circle, you arrived here from Jen’s site, where she is sharing a template for another one of her 52 week pocket pages.

Next, stop by and see how to Celebrate 2014! Create a layout with your top photos from last year. Alice shows you how!

 

Feel free to shop my Close to My Heart online store!

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures!

KS

 

Mojo Monday at My Kreative Pursuits

Posted on by
Reply

I was honored when Lisa Harris from MyKreativePursuits.com asked me to participate in her Mojo Monday, where she provides a variety of inspiration pieces as a jump start.

The piece I finally chose was a color inspiration featuring a pomegranate. The color combination is not something I would normally use, and felt it would be a good stretch.

pomegranate color inspiration

Pomegranate Color Inspiration

While just coming back from out of town, I had a lot to catch up on. Then something exciting happened – my daughter knocked my coffee cup over on my laptop. (I didn’t say it was good excitement!) I immediately grabbed it up and held it upside down. After spending a lot of time trying a variety of things to help dry out any moisture, I still have several keys that are doing odd things, or nothing. However, plugging in my old keyboard to find I could actually get ALL the letters and numbers, made feel a litter better. What does that have to do with my project? Well, I wasn’t feeling very creative or happy after all that, so I decided to go digital!

I decided to use Close To My Heart’s Studio J online software. I realized Jubilee was a kit that I could make work with this color inspiration. In the original papers, I only loved one piece of paper, from the kit, and it wasn’t going to work with this color scheme. Going digital, I could tweak colors and papers to do what I wanted! Since Jubilee has a country feel, I decided to look for some photos taken at my parent’s, which is in a rural area. I found five photos I hadn’t scrapped of myself and my girls riding horses, and I chose the Top Hat pattern for five photos. Next, I selected Kit Mix 3 to start. I don’t really spend much time on the Kit Mix choice, because I know I can do whatever I want to personalize the papers and colors.

Two of my photos were of me and were black and white, while the other three were of my three girls and had less than lovely, old photo coloring. The layout featured two photos on the right page and I thought about just leaving them there. However, that really messed with my timeline feeling, so I just clicked the little arrows at the top between the pages in Studio J to swap their places. Voila! My pages were instantly swapped, and in the end here’s what I ended up with!

Kristie Sloan horseback riding layout

Horseback riding with four generations.

I hope you will periodically try new color schemes, as you may be surprised with the results. I think the colors of these older photos look fine with this color scheme, and I had never really tried to scrap them all together. There is really more of this story that should be told, and since this is a digital layout, I may go back and add a journaling block at the bottom of the right page to tell a bit more.

If you haven’t tried digital scrapbooking, you may like to see Studio J in action on this video I made.

Be sure and visit Lisa for Mojo Monday!

Cheers to YOUR creativity,

KS

Picture My Life Scrapbooking Cards on a Mini Album Page

Posted on by
2

Mini albums can be just the thing when you want a quick photo album about a certain event, for a gift, or any number of reasons!

The last time I was at my mom’s she was saying something about an photo album I had made, and I didn’t remember what it was until I saw it. It was an 8×8 album and was filled with 6×6 digital layouts centered on each page. I had completely forgotten about them! They was such a variety of the whole family and I since I barely remembered them, I was afraid I had no idea where they were, so I could print more. However I did remember that I had created 4 layouts on a 12×12 sheet, and cut them apart. I still haven’t found them, and if I ever want more, I may have to scan hers!

Chantilly PMLAnyway, it reminded me how 6″ x 6″ layouts can be quick and easy, and make nice little albums. I decided to break out my new Chantilly Picture My Life pocket scrapbooking cards to make extra quick work of a little page of my granddaughter while she was having photos taken for her near ball team. I found one 4×6 card, and one 3×4 to use, and cut out a 6×6 piece of Hollyhock card stock for the background.

Chantilly Picture My Life mini album

6″x6″ piece of card stock, 4″x6″ card, 3″x4″ card

I used the decorative card as part of the background. The journaling card was cut into two pieces to tuck behind the photo. The top, which says, “The Best Thing About Today,” was tucked in at the top and the bottom of the card to use for a bit of journaling space.

Then I simply stamped Way Cute from the True to Life stamp set in Hollyhock ink; punched it out with a 1″ circle punch and applied it with a foam dimensional. Done!

PML-6x6-mini-album-page

6″ x 6″ mini album page using Chantilly Picture My Life set.

Pocket scrapbooking cards can be used in a variety of ways. I hope you’ll try using them on a traditional layout!

CTMH 2014 July SOTM

Circus Alphabet Stamp Set

 

 

Don’t forget, the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month is an alphabet stamp which you can receive for $5 with a $50 order! Watch the video below to see some of the fun things you can do with an alphabet stamp set!


Be sure to share your creations over in our Facebook group!

KS

Scrapbooking Sad Topics

Posted on by
5

Not every scrapbook page has to have an entire journaled story. Sometimes it seems rather therapeutic to write down sad stories, and sometimes you just can’t do it. How do you deal with it on a scrapbook page? That depends on how you feel about others reading your journaling. If it is a private scrapbook, you can do what you wish, it’s yours! If it is an album that is primarily for anyone to look at, you have to decide if you are comfortable letting others read your journaling or not. If you don’t want others to read it, you may like to hide your journaling by tucking it behind elements on your page, or tuck it into a little envelope.

The other option you have is to create a layout with very little or no journaling.

This page is of my sister, who died of liver cancer when she was just 14 months old. I don’t have many photos of her, and have never made a layout with any of the photos I have. I was not very old, and my parents pretty much shielded me as much as possible from their grief and sadness.

She was a pretty baby, and I love these photos. To never acknowledge her seems wrong. So here is a page as an example of turning a sad story into a page I don’t mind sharing.

Scrapping a Sad Story

Since the photos all had such different coloring, they were converted to black and white so that they were not so distracting.

What stories have you been holding off telling? Share your comments with us!

KS