Layout of the Week - Happy 4th of July

I thought I'd try something festive for this week's Layout of the Week. So in the spirit of the 4th of July, I created a layout with my photos from last 4th of July. I love using large photos in my layouts, so I printed my photo of the kids all decked out for the neighborhood parade as a 5 x 7. I cropped the photo to a 5 x 5 square for the page, since the extra was just my garage in the background. For such a sparkly holiday, I used as much "blingy" scrapbook product as I could.



I love all the diecut paper in the stores now, but couldn't find anything for my 4th of July layout. So I started with Reminisce's Sparkly Stars paper and then thought that it would look great on a bright red background. Next I chose a diecut paper with the bracket shape. I traced the bracket shape onto a thin piece of cardboard and then cut along the lines and created my own stencil for the bracket shape. I traced half of this shape onto the Reminisce paper & cut it out to create a custom diecut for my page. Then I flipped the stencil over and traced half again, so I'd have a piece for each side of my page with the stars facing up.

I mounted my photos on red textured & white shimmery papers from American Crafts. I inked the edges of most of my mats to add a little something extra. Next I cut my titles with the Quickutz die cut system using two sizes (classic & mini) of their Eliza font. I used iridescent metallic paper for the letters. For the final touches on this layout a used a mixture of red, clear & blue rhinestones in star and circle shapes, along with some metallic ribbons.

Here's a list of supplies used on this page:

Red Textured papers from Prizm & American Crafts
Reminisce Silver Stars paper
White shimmery paper from American Crafts
Iridescent Metallic White paper
Dew Drop Brilliance Platinum Planet ink
Ancient Page Redwood & Cobalt ink
Metallic Twill Ribbon in Red, White & Blue
Felt Flowers
Kaisercraft Red & Blue Rhinestones
Queen & Co. Red, White & Blue Star Jewels
Quickutz Eliza Font in Classic & Mini

If you're looking for inspiration check out Sunday Scrappin'!

Layout of the Week - All Boy / All Girl

For this week's Layout of the Week, I thought I'd share my samples for the kits I put together last Friday. After my crazy morning Friday, I managed to squeeze a couple layout samples into my day. I wanted the layouts to be very simple & quick. I finished these two double page spreads in just under an hour, including running upstairs to get my xyron adhesive create a sticker machine & chatting with Dave when he came home from work. So if you've got all your supplies ready & no family interruptions, you could complete these layouts quicker than I did. I'm planning to use sepia tone photos on these layouts. Using sepia or black & white photos is handy when you're putting together your layouts without knowing which photos you'll be putting on them. I'll probably use a large, possibly square photo on the left side of each layout. Then on the right side, I'm thinking that 4 smaller photos (possibly square also) would look nice arranged closely together.

For those of you in the Portland area, the kits are available at Whimzee's Scrapbook Studio in Beaverton. Check our blog for more information & directions to the store. While there, you can sign up to receive our bi-monthly email newsletter filled with new products, tips & events at the store. The kits are filled with $10 worth of products that you can use to create 2 double page spreads or 4 individual pages for ONLY $5! The printed papers are by My Mind's Eye. The kits include 4 double-sided printed My Mind's Eye papers, 4 coordinating die cuts, 4 pieces of cardstock, 4 ft of coordinating ribbon & 4 buttons.

For my sample layouts, I used the cardstock as my background and cut the printed paper into 1, 2 or 3 inch pieces. I used my QuicKutz die cutting system and its Diesel font & shadow for my title. Using the strips to create the same layout for each double page spread allowed me finish it quickly. I looked at the papers and quickly decided which pattern to cut into each size, I cut the largest pattern into the 3" strips and then cut both the 2" & 1" strips from the other patterned piece (I used one pattern for the 2" pieces and then the pattern from the reverse of that sheet for the 1" strips.)

Give the strip technique a try in your next layout for a quick & easy page.