Tip of the Month

Name your favorite layout that you have created? What makes it your favorite? Did you use special photos or a new technique? Share your ideas and inspire others.

kathy m writes...
but I really like the card that I just made. I think I like it because it\'s bright and seems kind of sophisticated. Something that my normal scrapping doesn\'t. What about you? I\'m anxious to read your answers.

Cynthia from Indiana writes...
I really like the LO I did for DS#1 album about our trip to the berry patch. I took a pic of him from the back walking down one of the rows. I used berry/floral pp and green checkered pp together on a solid cream background. The only other embellishment is a vellum quote attached with red brads. The quote says: \"Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood, we find a delightful creature of a boy.\" I love the quote, picture and it was one of the first times I tried mixing pp on my own. It all works together well!

INJacqui from Brown County, Indiana writes...
That\'s a really hard question. I guess right now my favorite is the one I posted yesterday of my son with his 2 special stuffed animals. I just ran in and went through my books (I only have 4 right now), and all the ones I really love have great close up photos with a lot of journaling - the ones that really capture the essence of the subject at that moment. My husband\'s favorite is one I did of him shooting bows and arrows with our #2 son. There is no journaling, just the phrase \"Passing it on\". Jacqui

Neece writes...
My favorite LO is one of my fil in the military. I retouched an old snapshot of him standing beside a jeep. It was in bad shape and had a lot of wear and deep scratches. After I retouched it, I enlarged it and cropped it into an oval of just him standing, then printed it onto cardstock. I love the way the photo turned out so soft and old looking! And it looks like he was posing alone for the picture. When I journaled, I outlined the details of the photo like where and when, etc. Then I also included hidden journaling where I wrote directly to him. I wrote about my thoughts on missing him (he\'s deceased), and how he was now a grandpa. That LO is my all-time favorite because I love everything about it: the journaling, colors, design and the photo. Neece

Barb from PA writes...
I made a photo from a portrait of my grandson in fall. I put leaves on the page with squares then in the squares I also put fall stickers. --I also did a wedding photo page where I matted all the guys in the wedding party blue on one side and then all the girls pink on the other side. I put the bride & groom in the middle of the page.

Gloria from NE writes...
It\'s not really a LO. I just made a pregnancy journal lunchbox for a dear friend of mine. I used Karen Foster stickers and paper in lovely maroon, tan, and sage. Lots of ribbons, buttons, flowers, shaped clips, brads and eyelets. It was my first lunchbox and I love how it turned out. I think it is my current favorite because she and her husband have been trying for quite awhile and I knew how much joy she would get from receiving it.

kelli tyler writes...
drab to fab shaker box letters. cut out SNOW, run shadows face down through xyron so sticky is on FRONT of letter, adhere the smaller letter. THEN., shake on diamond dust or white glitter for an easy snowy effect. works great on all titles, using different, glitters, sand, beads, foil flakes and more....to really jazz up your letters.

kelli tyler from kelli tyler writes...
my favorite layout is a peek a boo page. this works great when you have LOTS Of photos....say for a vacation spread, christmas, amusement park, etc.... this is where you cut out a \"window\" in your scrap page. you will need to cut through 2 pages of cardstock for your \"window\", this can be a circle, oval, any shape. and any place on your page...just make sure to leave at least a 1/2 inch margin from the side/bottom of the paper. after \"window\" is cut, adhere the two pieces together so the \"windows\" line up. so what you are looking at is this: a left page, the \"window\" page in the middle, and the right page. when you flip the \"window\" page to the left and the right, you will see an area that needs to be decorated so your \"window\" has a scene. with coordinating cardstock, cut out the shape and size of your window (2), and adhere to the left and right page where your window will lay once the page is flipped. and decorate that space. then do your layout as usual with your pictures, journaling, enhancements etc.....this way, all 4 pages are tied in together with a constant theme. kelli tyler

mamichelle from Westford, MA writes...
My favorite is one of the first intermediate los that I did. I took a lot of time with it and used fibers and some really pretty pp\'s and a tag. It was, of course, my favorite theme to scrap - a beachy vacation page.

Chris in CT writes...
My favorite layout right now is one of my youngest daughter running on the beach in York, Maine. She is running away from the camera, her feet are off the ground - I could not have caught that picture that way if I tried, but I love it, her arms are out like she has wings and she is going to take off! I added words in different fonts, printed on transparencies, that pertain to flying/running and a crackle painted \"S\" stencil with ribbon held down by a Fastenator staple. The colors are bright and cheery and it really captures my daughter\'s enthusiasm for life!

Agnes writes...
Mine is a 2 pg LO of DS #2 that is a very simple LO w/o much embellishment--it\'s random shots of him smiling--from a cple mos old to teens. I did it when we were going through a rough time w/him--the LO was quite theraputic(sp?) for me, and sometimes when things are tough now, I can see that LO in my head, w/o actually looking at it, and for some reason it makes me feel better.

Phyllis from Phyllis in IL writes...
I made a layout of all of my sisters and my brothers at about the same age. I have 7 brothers and sisters. I use frames that looked like windows. Everyone in my family loved it.

Peggy in CA writes...
My current favorite is a card I just made for a friend at work. He has been sick a lot and I made him a card as a mood boost. He loves the outdoors so the card is a textured sage colored base. I used a soft beige ripped edge piece to split the green diagonally. I used ink on the edges for impact. Then..and this is the odd part..I painted walnut ink on a piece of thick paper bag. I then sat and tore the stained bag into little odd shaped pieces, about 1/4 inch. Using thick paste, I glued the pieces into a collage, overlapping a lot so it was really bumpy and totally covered. Once the collage dried, I stamped a really nice leaf stamp in brown ink onto the collage. I cut the bumpy leaf shape out. It came out amazing! Really looked rugged and real. I angled this between the two colored card front so that the end and tip were diagnal on the page. Inside I put a good health blessing ring tied with jute. The best part..he actually got teary eyed! Gotta love when your work impacts a male!

AZNancy from AZ writes...
My fave is of ds & his best frined in preschool (3\'s) form last year. It was picture day, & I got some fabulous natural photos of ds. They both just look so precious, innocent, & young (they were so giggly) & the journaling is poignant b/c ds best friend moved to St. Louis in July. )O: I love the closeups & even some fake sunflowers in the background, LOL

NanPeg from Omaha writes...
My favorite layout was for a photo session with my girls in a sunflower field. I used green, yellow and orange plaid paper, matted with contrasting solid cardstock. I enlarged to 5 x 7 the best photos of the two girls together, then hand-embroidered (backstitch, my favorite) a wavy mat with about 3/4 inch cardstock showing. The embroidery floss was variegated in shades of green and yellow, and just makes the layout special. I don\'t have time to embroider on every layout, but for the extra-special ones it\'s my go-to technique. I\'m so glad I found out it\'s okay to stitch on cardstock!

Paula in GA writes...
daughter the day of her college graduation. She graduated from the College of Charleston, and they have the neatest ceremony (hundred years old). The guys wear white jackets & dark pants & the girls wear long white dresses & carry a single red rose. I got a picture of her after the ceremony kind of dancing away from me. I enlarged it & titled it \"Finding your dreams\". She looked so lighthearted after a really hard last year of school & the layout turned out really cute. I used shades of blue & rose pink.

Donna Scraps from NC writes...
I made a 12x12 layout of my BIL returning from Iraq earlier this year. The extended family went to the staging area at Ft. Bragg/ Pope AFB to greet him at 2:00 a.m. He was part of the first offensive early in the war. I got a pic of he and his wife embracing for the first time. It was really sweet. I used the RP Consitution and flag papers, and the 7 gypsies family words paper.I also distressed some kraft colored card stock with Tim Holtz inks. I stamped on twill words like hero, honor, duty. And I included the bible verse \"I have fought the good fight, I have run the race\" It turned out really nice...so much so that I am scraplifting my own LO and doing a similar wall art with that picture for my SIL\'s Christmas present.

lana from ohio writes...
Hmmmm... there are a lot! I guess one of my favorites is from this summer where I did a little digital manipulation ...superimposing a sunset over a lighthouse in NC. Then there is the wanted poster I did for the \"Curve Road Gang\" - three dogs in our yard, complete with aliases and an antiqued poster. .... But I also love the layout of my husband walking along the ocean..... and then there is the first paper piecing I ever did before I knew what paper piecing was ..... my dd on a pogo stick.... I 21 finished books and about 5 or 6 in progress.

Johanna from Washington State writes...
My favorite layout if before my son started pre-school last year. He looks so happy and the photo turned out really happy and natural. But the funny reason why it is my favorite is: I used my stock pile. I tend to hoard items for scrapbooking for that \"someday\" layout. And I never seems to use items. So for this layout I used about 20 scrabble tiles from this stash. And it felt great. The layout turned out, there is still plenty for my next layouts and I feel that I saved this long enough. And hopefully this means that I will use these stockpiles for of my \"special\" items for \"every day special\" layouts.

scrapcarver from scrapcarver writes...
My favorite right now is a layout I did using the new Wild Wild West paper and stuff from the latest Club Scrap. I had a picture of our 8 year old son on his pony. It turned out really well.

Claudine from hawthorne, nj writes...
hmm well that\'s hard to say. it seems that every once in a while during a scrapping kick i work on a page that becomes my new favorite. but i have one layout from visiting my friend aimee last year in madison wisconsin where i used basic grey paper for the first time! that\'s one of my favorites. i tried some different techniques with printing on cardstock and even what i printed on it (we went to a corn maze and it was the directions from the website that were humorous). i also love this picture for the memory of that whole trip! so that\'s one of my many favorites!

Loydene from Kansas City writes...
I recently completed a two page layout styled as a French memo board -- the pictures and memorabilia related to preparations for a wedding anniversary -- so I tucked some lone pictures into the straps, the invitation and reply card, a printed napkin, etc. The journaling was more bullets styled as \"to do\" lists. It turned out well!

Louise from Northern Virginia writes...
My most recent layout is almost always my favorite, so my \"favorite\" is frequently changing! It just feels so good to get more photos in the album, whether the layout is fancy or simple. Scrapbooking helps me focus on the happy times and keep a positive outlook in spite of challenges. Every time I do another layout, I am reminded of the fun we had together, so whatever layout was just completed becomes my favorite--until I scrap again, and then THAT one becomes my favorite!

jackie from judies mom writes...
I like the last LO that I did, it featured my young 10 year old girl. On pink cardstock with an Oval cut out around the pic. I embossed a cute butterfly on it & colored it with pastel chalk. The reason I like it best is, I had her pic taken, to boost her self esteem & she looks like she is 20 something in it. It is really beautiful.

Pam from PA writes...
My fav LO is of my ds\' first day of kindergarten. It\'s very powerful and makes me smile and then cry and then smile again every time I look at it to this day. It captures exactly what I was feeling through my journaling. Bittersweet; proud; like the end of an era; etc. Very powerful.

Chris in IN from Indiana writes...
I just scrapped a disney page for my disney book. Its pics of my dd\'s first plane ride. To me, I wanted to keep it disney themed without using too much of the disney embellishments because it\'s really not disney at all. I had a subdude blue papers with mickey headso on them and arranged them in a 4 square pattern for the background. I love this layout because it focus\' in on the picutes of being on the plane at the same time with the blue being like a blue sky. The subdude patterned paper still keeping in my disney theme for my book. I embellished it with mickey head paper clips and that was about it. I love this layout the best because it is still disney at the same time focus\' in on our plane trip.