Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Get It Scrapped: Trendy Rainbows Color Treatments on Scrapbook Pages

Have you noticed that rainbows are quite trendy right now?  Just peek at Pinterest and you'll find rainbow cakes, rainbow themed parties, and even rainbow hair and nails.  The rainbow trend is easily adapted to scrapbook pages and closet space: 

I used 6x6 paper packs from American Crafts' latest lines from Maggie Holmes, Amy Tan and Dear Lizzy and stitched them to the page (a few weeks before my sewing machine broke - I am seriously missing it).  P.S. Just told my daughter to get her closet back into shape!

Get It Scrapped Post: Trendy Rainbow Color Treatments on Scrapbook Pages

#MasterfulScrapbookDesign & #Scraplifting Corrie Jones / Process & Finished Layout (updated)

That was the in progress layout & Here is the completed layout:

I'm on the Masterful Scrapbook Design chat now with Debbie Hodge & Corrie Jones & I scraplifted her Go! Go! Go! Go! Layout (you can see it here by clicking through to Corejones' blog).

Madonna wanna be title & journaling to come. 

Journaling Reads:  "It is so awesome to me that my girl loves Madonna just like I did.  She says her favorite song is Madonna's Like A Prayer - me too sister - Love, Your 80s Mommy 3/18/13."

The Story:  My daughter came to love Madonna all on her own and I was actually thrilled - I love Madonna too; and while her songs were a bit racy back in the 80s they seem a bit tamer now - but probably still too racy for my 9 year old - but she loves them and I just can't say no - and she looks adorable as a Madonna wannabe - this was her Halloween costume - that she created herself - hot rollered hair courtesy of yours truly. Awesome.

So I got to ask Corrie where to put the title - I had already started the journaling in the lower left and on the Masterful Scrapbook Design live chat she suggested that the title go right in the middle over the middle photo and overlapping a little onto the two other photos.  And presto!  Done!  Thanks Corrie - your pages in Masterful Scrapbook Design are amazing!

P.S. Of course I used my American Crafts Thickers from Two Peas!

 

Connected Christmas: Still A Fan of Neon in Scrapbooking

Neon has been showing up in the worlds of fashion and scrapbooking.  And while I was there as a teenager for the first go round of neon in the 80s, I am loving the come back of neon even though I am now in my 40s and technically much too old for neon.  I don't wear it - although a few of my weekend t-shirts and shoes have touches of it.  I do scrapbook with it. And I still just love it.

I did this page for Get It Scrapped's Article: Scrapbooking Inspired by Fashion.:

And just yesterday, I did another neon page:

The paper is from Basic Grey and its not actually neon but its pretty darned close.  Plus I used a very bright lime green colored pencil on black paper for the journaling and I even got out my 10 year old Jelly Rolls Pen and it still worked for the fake stitching (my machine is on the fritz).  The Heidi Swapp sequin heart isn't actually neon but it is really bright.  The letter stickers are from American Crafts Thickers and Making Memories.

P.S. There is a Paperclipping Roundtable Podcast titled "Not A Fan of Neon" - its episode #120.

Get It Scrapped Post: Update Vintage Looks With Modern Combos On Your Scrapbook Page

I made this layout for the Get It Scrapped blog article "Update Vintage Looks with Modern Combos On Your Scrapbook Page";

“My son is sometimes hard on himself and I wanted to make him something encouraging. I wanted to take a colorful take on a silhouette and tweaked the photo of my son to look like a hyper-colored silhouette.  I also looked for printable vintage arrows on Pinterest and found “14 Vintage and Pretty Arrows.” This page now is in a frame along with 5 other scrapbook pages over his lego desk.  We had a difficult day yesterday so I was happy to see this on the Get It Scrapped blog today; sometimes these pages are as much to boost my family up as they are to boost me up too. 

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Want to see more takes on vintage to modern motifs in scrapbooking from Anna Aspnes, Barb Brookbank, Amanda Jones, Christy Strickler, Deborah Wagner, Leah Farquharson, Sue Althouse, Krista Sahlin, Marie-Pierre Capistran, Amy Kingsford, and Debbie Hodge?  Check out the Get it Scrapped Post.

Get It Scrapped Post: Find Scrapbook Page Ideas Using the Elements of Retro Branding (+ Connect Four and Why I Brought My Kids to a College Geek Fest Party)

I didn't think I could accomplish the Get It Scrapped Design Team Assignment of Using Retro Branding without going digital but I did it!   The 3 elements of retro branding are 1. limited and tonal color schemes; 2. simple shapes (like circles); and 3. retro typography.

I found a patterned paper with a retro looking font by Studio Calico and arranged it in the shape of a circle which reminded me of the Wheel of Fortune in the center of a bunch of very dark photos so it stood out and I added a Basic Grey chipboard dart board and the number 4 since we were at a Connect 4 Tournament.

And the story?  We went to Geek Fest in Durango, Colorado and I brought my kids to a college bar and we were the oldest and the youngest people in the place - it may not have been the best Mommy move but we weren't there to party - we were there for the Connect Four Tournament!

You'll have to read my scribbly handwriting to get the full effect!

Want to see more scrapbooking layouts inspired by retro branding - all of which imho are way better than mine! - Check out the Get It Scrapped Post!

Want to get in touch with your inner geek, support this blog and play Connect Four again?  Check out these affiliate links:

Quick Review of My Classes at Big Picture Classes

Sometimes its good to take a look back at where you've been:  I've taken a lot of Scrapbooking Classes at Big Picture Classes, I thought it would be fun to review an dot down a few thoughts on each of them:

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Workshops:

Name	Instructor	Starts	Ends
Library of Memories Community		09/01/2011	08/31/2013
Project Life Community	Becky Higgins	11/24/2010	11/24/2011
*** both of these workshops were low priced $15 and are a nice place to come and touch base with everyone on the message boards.
Self-Paced
Name	Instructor	Starts	Ends
10 Summer Photos To Take Right NOW!	Lisa Damrosch	07/01/2008	07/01/2014
Cocoa, Daisies, and Stacy	Stacy Julian	11/01/2008	11/01/2014
Come Away With Me	Kimberly Lund	04/25/2011	04/25/2013
Embrace Imperfection	Karen Grunberg	03/15/2011	03/15/2014
Finish Line Scrapbooking	Stacy Julian	11/01/2011	11/01/2014
Fit-to-Be-Scrapped Holiday Letters	Lain Ehmann	11/01/2008	11/01/2014
Glimpses	Stacy Julian	01/01/2007	01/01/2014
Introduction to Digital Memory Keeping	Lisa Cohen	07/01/2008	07/01/2014
My New Year	Sunny Schlenger	03/01/2009	03/01/2014
Scrapbooking with a Digital Template	Steph from the Daily Digi	04/25/2011	04/25/2013
Start Here, with Stacy	Stacy Julian	07/01/2009	07/01/2013
*** some of these are free!  I recommend anything taught by Stacy Julian!
Completed
Name	Instructor	Starts	Ends
A Library of Memories (2008)	Stacy Julian	02/28/2008	09/01/2008
A Library of Memories (2009)	Stacy Julian	02/12/2009	06/30/2009
A Library of Memories (2010)	Stacy Julian	02/03/2010	05/31/2010
A Life Well Crafted: Audio	Kolette Hall	01/01/2009	12/31/2009
Big Idea Festival		09/04/2012	09/21/2012
Big Idea Festival (2011)		08/14/2011	08/27/2011
Big Idea Festival! (2010)		08/12/2010	08/24/2010
Big Wig Bash	Stacy Julian	08/18/2008	09/30/2008
Creative Crop		05/05/2012	05/07/2012
Creative Crop (2011)		05/07/2011	05/07/2011
Design Challenges	Elizabeth Dillow	04/25/2012	05/24/2012
Design Your Life (2008)	Cathy Zielske	10/02/2008	01/21/2009
Finding Photo Freedom 2011 (Alumni)	Stacy Julian	06/01/2011	08/17/2011
Get a LOAD of This!	Lain Ehmann	01/01/2008	02/11/2008
Have More FUN	Stacy Julian	07/03/2008	11/30/2008
Move More, Eat Well 2012	Cathy Zielske	12/31/2011	12/31/2012
One Little Word 2012	Ali Edwards	12/31/2011	12/31/2012
Reading Room	April Peebles	01/01/2009	12/31/2009
Roundup Your Memories	Katie Nelson	01/04/2012	01/18/2012
Summer Fun!	Stacy Julian	08/05/2009	09/03/2009
Twelve.	Stacy Julian	12/31/2011	12/31/2012
Week In The Life	Ali Edwards	04/18/2012	05/18/2012

*** I highly recommend LOM which is now called "Photo Freedom" with Stacy Julian and I loved Twelve.  The Big Idea Festivals and Creative Crops are Free!  My other favorites were Elizabeth Dillow's Design Challenges and Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life!

Links to Online Scrapbooking Classes and Tutorials

My Top Ten favorite Online Scrapbooking Classes and Tutorials are:

1. Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped: This is a free scrapbooking idea blog that is highly organized so you can find exactly what you you want to learn.  I'm lucky enough to be on the creative team there right now!

2. Debbie Hodge's Masterful Scrapbook Design:  Amazing ebooks, video tutorials, podcasts and interactions with the teachers on scrapbooking topics that both digital and paper scrapbookers will love.   Plus lots of your favorite scrapbookers are teachers there: Celeste Smith, Lisa Dickinson, Paula Gilarde, Emily Pitts, Noell Hyman, Pattie Knox, Debbie Hodge, Tami Taylor, Amy Kingsford, Kim Watson, Leah Farquharson, Corrie Jones, Anna Aspnes, Amanda Jones, Dina Wakely, Lynnette Panacho, Summer Fullerton, Tiffany Tillman, Jana Morton, Audrey Neal, Kelly Purkey, Erin Bassett, Peppermint Granberg, Doris Sander, Michelle Clement, Wilna Furstenberg, Aly Dosdall, Vivian Masket, ... and there are actually dozens more! 

3. Stacy Julian's Big Picture Classes:  The original online scrapbook schoolhouse with so many of my favorite people from the old Simple Scrapbooks including Stacy Julian, Cathy Zielske, Ali Edwards, Angie Lucas, Wendy Smedley, ... and actually there are dozens more here too!

4. Noell Hyman's Paperclipping Roundtable Podcast: I love this podcast!  I listen while I'm on the stepper, while I'm driving, and/or when I'm scrapbooking; when I'm scrapbooking it gives me the feeling of being at a crop without having to leave the house or share my scrap table space!  Plus all of your favorite scrapbookers are talking about scrapbooking there - and its free!  ... and there are dozens and dozens of guests so chances are your favorite scrapbookers are there.

5. Noell Hyman's Paperclipping Tutorials Membership:  This is a paid for membership that runs 6 months at a time so it is a perfect way to jump start or re-start your scrapbooking mojo; the videos are professionally produced by Noell's "cameraman" who doubles as her husband.   I love the videos because I can watch them on my iphone and Noell has a different and unique perspective so you can learn new ways to look at the same old things.

6. The Digi Show Podcast:  This was a spin off of the Paperclipping Roundtable and while I'm not a digi-scrapbooker, I listen and look forward to it every week anyway.  They often talk about general scrapbooking concepts and ideas; and when they talk very techie digi, I just listen and hope that someday it will sink in and I'll "get" how to or want to digi scrap.

7. Two Peas in a Bucket Classes and Events:  This is a store but they offer so much in the way of free scrapbooking eductation that it should be on your radar.  You can watch videos and take old and new classes, many of which are free.  This year they have daily scrapbooking how-to videos that I am just loving - especially:  The Adventures of Glitter Girl and Seeing Double (with Lisa Dickinson in particular).

8. Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog:  This is more of a challenge blog than an online scrapbooking class site but they have so much in the way of learning links and every month they encourage readers to create their own scrapbook kit with stuff from their scrapbook stash.  It is a fun place to find new ideas and participate.

9. You Tube:  You can find lots of scrapbooking tutorials for free on You Tube; word to the wise:  You get what you pay for, but there are some amazing videos there too - especially those done by Shimelle Laine who also offers free and paid-for high quality and jam packed with content scrapbooking classes at her blog.

10. My Craft Channel  offers free "shows" from scrapbookers like Heidi Swapp, Stacy Julian, Teresa Collins, and Amy Coon.  They videos are about 10 minutes each and they are delightful.

Those are just some of my favorites, there are probably hundreds of places to get online scrapbooking classes - yessiree, we have an active and vibrant subculture and we're proud!  Here are 10 more links to sites that I recommend but don't currently use:

1. Jessica Sprague:  Online classes and products for digital scrapbookers

2. Renee Pearson: Another source for online classes for digital scrapbooking and photography.  And Renee is delightful in her "in person" classes, I took one in 2007 and loved it.

3. Lain Ehmann:  True Scrap & Layout A Day "Load Challenge":  If you've never tried scrapbooking everyday for one month, do it!  It will speed up the way you scrap!

4.  Donna Downey:  She started at Simple Scrapbooks and has gone very artsy - lots of fun painting and art journal type classes here - I think they are on line and in North Carolina.

5. Creative Passion Classes:  Online classes to fuel your passion for creativity.

6. Lynda.com:  Learn how to use software programs and things on the internet and photography tips and a lot of tech information.

7. Ustream: You can find a wealth of free scrapbooking videos on ustream - the downside is that it gives you commercials before each video - but if you find some favorite teachers and follow them, it is a great resource.

8. Ranger U:  All sorts of scrapbook technique videos.

9. Creating Keepsakes:  There is a ton of information about scrapbooking here, but I find it a little difficult to nagivate - but it is worth the effort, the content is good - the web aspect of it could use a little streamlining.

10. Ali Edwards: December Daily, A Week In the Life, One Little World, and many more scrapbooking concepts and ideas with a mix of free and paid for classes.

Have fun scrapbooking using inspiration from online scrapbooking classes and tutorials!

 

 

 

Big Picture Classes: Library of Memories Community & Stacy Julian Appreciation Week (March 2008)

The Story {the journaling} :  "So its been about 8 years since I discovered Stacy Julian - I've always been a scrapbooker but Stacy and Simple Scrapbooks really introduced me to awesome modern scrapbooking.   I've been "modern"  scrapbooking since about 1998 but it wasn't particularly cool or fun until I "virtually" met this lady and all of her fun friends.  They've inspired me and help me document my happy life."  (and probably actually make it happier).  "Love my online peeps:  Online Friends - Online Books - Online Learning."

What prompted this?  A combination of a couple things - one being that I found this scrapbook page I made 5 years ago:  Blast from the Past:  "Stacy Julian Appreciation Week - March 2008" made during the grand old days of Simple Scrapbooks:

Side Note On Photographing Scrapbook Layouts:  My scrapbook layout picture taking skills still aren't perfect, but taking that same original photo of the layout and tweaking it in Google's free Picasa photo program:  1. I cropped it to a square; 2. I hit the "I feel Lucky" button; 3. I adjusted the sharpness with the slider tool; and 4. I created a border. And voila - that same layout looks a lot more internet ready right?

Another reason for all this gushing?  I've learned some things over the years thanks to my online friends, online books and online scrapbooking classes and communities.  Today I've been thinking about that and about how I have real feelings for my virtual scrapbooking friends - some of whom I've never and will never meet - others whom I have met in real life - and scrapbooking friends I've met online who become real life friends.  I've been thinking about how Patti Knox's interview over at Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped / Masterful Scrapbook Design so touched my heart and that I knew her and Debbie's essence just from listening to them talk to each other about scrapbooking for one hour.  (Click Here for Debbie Hodge's Masterful Scrapbook Design interview with Pattie Knox from November 2012 all about Telling Family Stories and Scrapbooking Old Photos). 

This online scrapbooking thing isn't just about recording your family memories, its also about finding your people.  I know I've found mine.  Its also about appreciating life and thinking about the bigger picture, what you want to focus on and remember and what you want to leave behind.

I've been a fan of Stacy Julian and her Big Picture Concept since her book came out in 2005 and I read it cover to cover on an airplane ride up to see my Grandma Grace.  I took Library of Memories (now called Photo Freedom) in 2007 and took the alumni course every year since.   This year I think my class enrollment turned into a pumpkin and former students had to sign up again so this was the first year I haven't been in Library of Memories / Photo Freedom - it feels weird.  I miss it.  The class is completely awesome in so many ways, but it is so amazing to go on that scrapbooking journey with so many other amazing women - and get to hear and see Stacy Julian videos every week for 10 weeks.  Yep, I miss that.

I am a member of "A Library of Memories Community" which I think was a one time payment of $15.00 for "Forever Access" to get a weekly email every Thursday.  I admit that often times I just get the email and I put it into my "Library of Memories" folder on gmail, but I think if I used it more often my scrapbooking would be even more awesome.

So just for fun, I thought I'd take a look at the Big Picture and Photo Freedom Books today and listen to Stacy's video message in the BPC Class. I took a look at the last Weekly Challenge and it was this:

Creating
It's time to create something with some square-punch pictures! Make a page or a card or a fun note to put under someone's pillow. Square-punch pictures are ready to go and EASY to use. Please note how happy this creative exercise makes you!

So I didn't follow the directions exactly but I did use a couple of square sized photos.

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If you are in A Library of Memories Community there are 4 chats in 2013:

Your chats with Stacy Julian are scheduled for:
Friday, January 25th 2013 at 5:00pm PT
Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 10:30am PT
Saturday, August 3rd 2013 at 8:00am PT
Thursday, November 7th 2013 at 2:00pm PT

Get It Scrapped: Using Geometric Shapes on Scrapbooking Pages

I saw this trick with circle cut outs on Pinterest:

I made this for the Get It Scrapped's Post Geometric Shapes for Scrapbook Page Design.  The basic framework of the page came from the "no fail page" from the White Space book we used in Debbie Hodge's critque class.

Get It Scrapped Post: Writing Letters on Scrapbooking Pages

My jounaling on the days of the week tabs are in the form of a letter.

Journaling: "Dear Allison:  Here you are on the 1st Day of Third Grade!  You are confident and you know that this year will require extra effort and work; and there's the FCAT.  I know that you will be ready.  Remember I'm here for you for homework help!  Love Mom!"

For more ideas for using letters on scrapbooking pages go over to Get It Scrapped!

Get It Scrapped Post: Ideas for 6 Photo Scrapbook Pages

I made this six photo scrapbook page using a 3x3 grid.  I made the orange starbursts with a Jenni Bowlin stamp and I used my nesting pinked circles and regular circles for the inside layers.

Want more ideas for 6 photo scrapbook pages from Ashley Horton, Adryane Driscoll, Vicki Walters, Marie-Pierre Capistran, Stefanie Semple, Brenda Becknell, Audrey Tan, and Debbie Hodge?  Go Check out Get It Scrapped's Post "Ideas for Composing the 6 Photo Scrapbook Page."

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Want six ways to support this blog and find some groovy scrapbooking supplies?  Check out these affiliate links:

Get It Scrapped Post: Give Older Photos and Stories New Life

I scanned in this photo of my Great-Grandmother, which I am guessing was taking in the 1920s or 1930s.  I made sure to scan in the back of the photo and I included it in my layout.  The back of the photo has lots of information including my Great-Grandma's signature but also in pencil: "NB 7910"; I expect that NB stands for New Bedford and that 7910 was my grandmother's account number with that photo developer since many of her photos from that time period have that number.  The original photo was much smaller but I printed it in 4x6 form and trimmed the excess because the ratio was not exactly the same.

I have been making several layouts with older photos and some of my layouts are whimsical and fun, but I think it is important to make some of the layouts "classic" so I chose some K&Company heritage papers and stickers.  The tones are muted and the graphics evoke a "time gone by" feeling.  Since the photo was black and white with the hint of blush on the cheeks added, the muted papers worked well to complement the photo.  I can get by using trendy papers with Maude's photos from the 1960s but this portrait needed a more classic treatment.

I didn't do any research about the time of this photo for this particular layout since I envision this layout as a section header for Maude in my scrapbook album.  Other pages within her section might get more attention to her her time and place in history.  On this page, I just wrote the basics:

"Maude Allen Cunningham:  Daughter of Gideon Hammond Allen and Ella Augusta Hastings Allen.  Maude was born in Richfield, Kansas on November 7, 1886 while her parents lived there for only a few years.  Gideon and Ella returned to their native Massachusetts and Maude grew up in New Bedford.  She married Albert Preston Cunningham and had Preston and Grandpa Allen Hastings Cunningham.  My great-gandma Maude was alive when I was born and she bot to see my baby photo in 1970."

Supplies:  Creative Memories stickers, K&Company papers and stickers.

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For more ideas on scrapbooking older photos from scrapbookers including Jana Morton, Pattie Knox, Amanda Jones, Christie Strickler, Betsy Sammarco, Chris Asbury, Sue Althouse, Amy Kingsford, Doris Sander, Stefanie Semple, and Ashley Horton, go check out Get It Scrapped's Post Give Old Photos And Stories New Life.

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To support this blog, go check out these affiliate links or use these links to get to Amazon to do some holiday shopping (this blog gets a tiny portion - like .04% of the purchase), Thanks!:

 

Get It Scrapped Post: Clocks Motif & Time to Get Back to Scrapbooking! & The Century Scrapbook Project: 1929

I decided to use clocks on this page because I wanted to add some type of embellishment on either side of the photos but wanted to stay in the same sepia color family so that the page was only white, black, and some shade of sepia.    The clocks also worked for this page, not only for their color, but for the passage of time and that the place pictured, Attleboro, Massachusetts was famous for making clocks, jewelry, silver, and eye glasses around the turn of the century.  I added the silver brads to tie into the fact that my grandmother's grandfather was a silversmith. 

 This page is going into a book I'm calling The Century Scrapbook Project in which I am making one page for year year of the twentieth century. 

 I had to check the census several times for this page because we couldn't figure out who the baby was in this picture, it is most likely a cousin of my grandmother, whom I think is pictured with the hat.  My grandmother's mother was from a family of seven children who all lived, so no doubt there were lots of cousins.

 I used the 1930 Census for the information but scanned in the back of the photo which clearly read "Feb. 1929" so I decided to use these photos for my 1929 page.

Journaling & Family History:

"14 Forest Street, Attleboro, Massachusetts; built in 1920.

Names / Ages:

Charles Leo Flavin Age 42

Ellen Louise Joyce Flavin Age 43

Grace Zita Flavin (Cunningham) Age 12

Ruth L. Flavin (Donnelly) Age 9

John T. Flavin Age 6

*maybe Grace with a baby cousin."

I did call my Aunt to ask about a brother my grandma Grace used to tell me about and she confirmed that Ellen Flavin had a baby boy named Mark before she had my grandmother and she apparently never really got over his death.  Ellen Flavin died in the late 1960s and my grandma Grace and Grandpa Allen bought a sailboat with the inheritance and named it "The Ellen".  However, Ellen was called Nellie - and is sometimes reported twice as Ellen and Nellie in family history archives - but she is in fact just one person.

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Want more ideas for using clocks in scrapbooking from scrapbookers including Amy Kingsford, Doris Sander, Jana Morton, Deborah Wagner, Brenda Becknell, Amanda Jones, Audrey Tan, Terry Billman and Debbie Hodge?  Go Check Out Get It Scrapped's Post "Ideas for Clock Motif on Scrapbook Pages."

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P.S. I took a little break from scrapbooking, as I do from time to time, but as of right now:  I'm back to scrapbooking so stay tuned for more Get it Scrapped related posts and updates to The Century Scrapbook Project!

P.S. These affiliate links are related to my Century Scrapbook Project and these ones are specific to Attleboro, Massachusetts, but if you'd like to research your hometown history and support this blog, please click through to one of the following links and do your own search - you can find old yearbooks, picture books, business directories, and even church recipe books! 

 

Looking for Ways to Scrapbook Thanksgiving?

Here's a simple idea for scrapbooking Thanksgiving:  Choose one thing that you always have to have on your table.  For me, it is Tabasco Sauce - yes even with Thanksgiving Day Turkey and Stuffing.

There are lots more ideas for Scrapbooking The Dinner Table over at Get It Scrapped.

Get It Scrapped Post: 5 Photo Layouts (School Shopping)

I had some poor quality photos that seemed unrelated to school shopping - my husband brought my daughter school shopping this year (something I normally do) - and they came home with balloons.  I decided to make a photo collage of the photos and explain the context in the journaling and title.

Journaling:  "School Shopping 2012:  A Reason To Celebrate:  Normally I'm in charge of school shopping & this year Charlie did it!"

Supplies:  American Crafts letters, cardstock, random patterned paper scraps for the banner and machine stitching.

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For more ideas for scrapbooking with 5 photos, check out Get It Scrapped!