Scrapping Joy

I've found my scrapping joy again.  I guess part of it is feeling better & the other part is having an organized new room to create in.  Last week I managed to make 6 layouts which is more than I've made in each of the 3 prior months when it was all I could do to keep up with my design team assignments...

I thought I would share a few of them today.  Heritage pages is one of my favorite topics to scrap now.  My boys are grown so they don't let me take as many photos of them anymore - though I do manage to lay some of the mom guilt on them to get my fair share lol.  Digging out the some photos from my childhood or old family allows to me to remember those everyday moments that are so easily forgotten or find out some stories that I've never heard by talking to older family members.  I guess even photos from my boys childhoods could be considered going back in time since they are both in their 20's now.  Scrapping their photos again (since those books were damaged several years ago) always brings a smile to my face & warms my heart.

So todays post is going back to the boys childhoods....

I found some of those special photos (though poor quality due to water damage) that really showcased Andrew & Brandon's personalities during a simple trip to the park.  They were so different.  Andrew was cautious and Brandon was a daredevil (making my heart skip a beat many times & I lost count how many times we ended up in the ER with bumps & broken bones).  This inspired the title "Opposites" because that is what they are.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill); Paper (My Mind's Eye & October Afternoon); Brads (Doodlebug); Letters (Making Memories Slice); Pen (Zig); Adhesive (Kokuyo & Xyron)

Brandon's 3rd grade class put on a little Christmas program.  One of the songs was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  So that made the perfect title for the layout "Little Stars" since it spoke of the song & kids at the same time. 

Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill); Paper & Tag (Teresa Collins); Letters (K & Company); Chipboard Stars (Heidi Swapp); Buttons (Misc Stash); Pen (Zig); Thread (DMC); Adhesive (Kokuyo & Beacon)

I can't believe I did 2 colage style pages.  I love the look of them but usually struggle with them getting the sizes of photos right.  Noell at Paperclipping here.has a couple great video tutorials about it that helped me a lot.  The key is to let Photoshop do a lot of the work for you in sizing the pictures.  Practice makes anything easier right?  Along with a great teacher.  That was the best investment I made in my scrapping knowledge - even better than books.  I'll never give up my membership at Paperclipping..

These are both 12x12 layouts.  Vigi asked me recently what size I normally did as she was having trouble with smaller sizes.  I guess normally I still do 12x12 the most.  It depends on the number of photos I have & amount of journaling for a layout which size I will pick.  Since I put all the sizes in the 12x12 album by just inserting the different size page protectors that doesn't play into my decision at all.  I like the fact that the different sizes add interest to my albums (more like a mini in that way).  I love the look of 8x8 and it really stretches your supplies; but if you are using more than 1 uncropped 4x6 photo it gets a little difficult to design without looking crowded.  I guess what got me comfortable with doing smaller size layouts was when I started doing a page swap over in the Paperclipping Forum where I was forced to make 6x6 size pages.  The first one was so hard for me I ended up doing a color photocopy at Kinkos of a 12x12 page for each of the ladies (I still feel guilty about that - since they sent me beautiful originals) but I only had large scale supplies).  Now after 7 rounds I've gotten the hang of it & even do pages with 3 or more photos with lots of journaling - the key is to use Photoshop & make small cut sheets.

Ok so tomorrow I'll post some layouts about my childhood.... 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a creative day.