I Love You Because...

I've been wanting to make a layout about my husband for awhile now.  And when I saw that Ella had posted a sketch challenge I knew this was the perfect opportunity!

 

This sketch and layout by Donna Jannuzzi were the jumping off points for my layout.

For my two page layout I used the sketch and the adapted layout as mirror images.  The photos of my husband laughing were so classically him that I just had to use them as the focal point of my layout.

Steve is so happy in these pictures and I wanted the colors to reflect that.  Using the design of patterned paper strips in the inspiration layout I was able to layer on some fun colors and papers.  I didn't want the layout to feel too girly so I brought in some mossy green at the bottom.  It also helped ground the layout.

For my title block I dug around in my scrap box.  I came across this paper strip of greens and yellows.  It sorta reminded me of a paint swatch.  I decided to use it as the base.  At first I just centered the metal tag on the paper strip.  But it seemed too boring.  So I found some red paper and matted the tag on it.  Then I put it off center and popped it up with pop dots.  But things still seemed to be floating.  So I made a bracket tag and added the date.  Then I took a gold gel pen and drew some doodles below the paper block.  Just that little doodle line helped the whole title area feel more solid.  This area is also the first point of my embellishment triangle.

In design, embellishments look better if put in a visual triangle.  Near the bottom right corner I added an embellie cluster.  Using the scraps from the paper strip along the top of my layout I cut out some circles and flowers.  To help balance the metal tag I added a brown metal brad to the center of this flower.  Notice that I also doodled here as well.  Sort of defining the line of my triangle.

On the left page I added another layered cluster of items.  This is the third point of my triangle.  Again I cut out some circle and flower shapes from the paper scraps.  And in the center of one circle I place the large polka dotted red brad.

I added a bit more doodling and three brown metal brads.  Again repeating the lines and color from the other points of my visual triangle.  Let's look at the whole layout again...

The embellishment clusters form a visual triangle around the page.  In addition to that I added 3 doodle lines within each embellishment cluster.  I also placed the brown metal color at each point of the visual triangle.  By repeating color, line, and placing them in a visual triangle it creates a balanced layout.

For me, no layout is complete until it has journaling.  For this layout I wrote about some of the reasons I love my husband.  I've never been much for journaling tags.  But recently I've found myself drawn to them.  So I purchased a few sets.  This was my first opportunity to use one, and I love it!  Perfect color and sentiment!  

Scrapbooking Your Christmas Card

My very first blog post ever was this one where I posted about using your Christmas card as your design inspiration for a layout.  I've always really loved how this layout turned out and thought it was a perfect way to end my yearly album.

But this year I decided to create my own Christmas card digitally which you can read about here.

When it came time to scrap this year's card I realized that I didn't want to recreate it with paper.  I'd spent so long on it digitally that it just didn't make sense to start over.  So I chose to use an actual card as the main element in my layout.  Those of you that read this blog much know that I typically scrap double layouts.  But since this is for the last page in my album I could do a one pager.  Which worked perfectly.

I cut a mat for the card and just stuck it right on top, as I would a picture.

For this mat I used a border punch.  I wanted the straight edge left on so I was careful not to punch all the way to the corner.  For more info on how to use a border punch see here.  The red mat on the red background paper didn't have quite the pop I was looking for so I added a white layer underneath the red.

Things still seemed a little too monochromatic for me so I added a thick white ribbon.  This ribbon came off a package that was sent to me.  I loved it so I threw it in my color bin and it was just waiting for me when I pulled out my white tub for this project.  Love that!

I hate dealing with frayed edges of ribbon at the edge of my page so I usually wrap the ribbon around to the back and tape it down.  I use adhesive on the front as well to hold it in place, but the tape on the back seems to work best for me when I'm trying to keep it from snagging the edge of my page protector on the way into the album.

For a little extra something I added this cute gem Christmas tree.  It gave this simple layout just the right amount of sparkle.

So quick and simple!  Gotta love that! And I have a way to remember my Christmas card always.  Perfect!