Playing with Patterns

Every scrapper has their own style, their own characteristic way of placing their photos together, and their distinctive embellishments they use. My “trademark” supplies are pattern papers. I used to be so afraid of pattern, and my layouts would be stark landscapes with a few photos and an embellishment or 2 placed on top of a single color of cardstock. My layouts were very clean and simple, but they just weren’t me. I’m a messy kinda gal, not matchy-matchy, not clean and simple-more like funky, playful and artsy. Experimenting with patterns really helped me to express myself and I am much happier with my layouts now.

Mixing plaids, stripes and polka dots all on one layout can be a very daunting task for some, so take it slow and let the “professionals” do the dirty work for you! Grab a pack of paper from one manufacturer, choose 2 or 3 patterns from the kit, combine in small quantities on your page and you have just created a masterpiece of patterns. By choosing papers from one kit, you can be reassured that they coordinate in just the right way- your project can be fun and playful with out being a hot mess!

Southern Girls Challenge has a design team call going on right now, looking for scrappers to submit a project showcasing their favorite embellishments, so I submitted my “Bunny Breakfast” layout (below) showing how I’ve combined patterns to create may background. It might seem busy to you, but I like the crazy fun background it creates! Try it out for yourself, grab those polka dots and plaids and give it a whirl! =) T

It’s All About Me (or you)!

I consider myself a scrapbooking fanatic, creating about 150 layouts each year of our family’s birthdays, accomplishments and everyday moments. I’ve made countless mini albums chronicling amazing vacations or just adorable sayings of my kiddos. But there is one thing missing from all of my scrapbooks-ME!! I am always behind the camera, and seem to come up missing from our trip to Disney, Christmas morning and even my own birthday party- I am NOT KIDDING about this one, I do not have a single picture of myself from last year’s bday, it’s sad really!

If your albums are suffering from the same affliction, why not try what I’ve been working on, a Book of Me (or BOM as I like to call mine)? My BOM is an ongoing project, acting as sort of an artistic journal where I can scrapbook about my thoughts, goals and reminisce about my childhood. I don’t have any particular format; I just add layouts as I am inspired, with the ultimate goal being to leave behind a piece of me, a bit of my story that hasn’t been told in our family scrapbooks.

Below I’ve posted 2 layouts from my BOM- the layout I did this week for my Scrap Play assignment; I pulled out a staff photo from a summer job at a Cub Scout Camp- the kids got a kick out of this one! Another layout I did was just a quick list of my favorite songs at the time- a great time-capsule kind of page!

It feels great to express myself this way, and I encourage you to give it a try! Here’s a few ideas to get you started… =)T
•Why I scrapbook
The meaning of my name
•Daily life/itinerary
•My dresses at HS dances
•I am (all the different titles I have ie: mother, daughter, sister, wife etc)

Design Team Calls

It’s something I do on regular basis; submit my layouts for Design Team consideration. This week I’m submitting to Nuts About Sketches, a blog that posts a weekly sketch for you to try. I have served on this design team before, and am hoping to be able to give it another shot. But whether I’m accepted or not, I love submitting my layouts for the sheer fact that it encourages me to create more and challenges me to try new techniques! I check out Scrapbook Calls weekly for page calls, and then create, create, create! Why not take your scrapbooking to the next level and submit to online blogs, magazines and design teams too! I encourage you to give it a try, and if nothing else it will get you creating even more layouts for those scrapbooks! Here’s the sketch I had to use for the NAS submission, and below that is the layout I submitted. =) T