What's Scrappening?

So, this is a pretty long picture post with several of my most recent scrapbook pages.


I have been trying to use my punches a lot more lately and I made these flowers using a few different flower punches and a combination of solid and patterned paper. I think it was a great, simple embellishment when paired with a glitter brad...and it coordinated with the owl paper.

Along with legions of other crafters, I seem to have fallen in love with owls. That is one of the reasons I had to have this owl-themed paper. It is hard to see, but the background is covered in a swiss-dot motif. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss my orange mattes with the Swiss Dot embossing folder to coordinate the pattern. My homemade flower embellishments complemented the floral design on the paper beautifully and added some much-needed dimension.

I ran into the problem several times during my daughter's first year that many of her milestones occurred when I was nowhere near our good camera. Thus, phone photos had to do! Instead of shying away from the use of these photos, I attempted to showcase their "rustic" quality by complementing them with a "rustic" or more vintage layout. I think the effect, as in this page of my daughter's first smile worked quite well.

I LOVE these photos of my little girl's fingers and toes and was so happy to be able to add them to a layout. Two things I seem to be doing more and more: sponging ink around the edges of my scrapbook layouts and adding embellishments to patterned paper.

Although many times patterned paper speaks for itself, I thought these flowers could use a little bling. I added some self-adhesive blue jewel centers and the effect was subtle & sparkly :)

Another thing I am also doing more and more (because I love to use as many photos as possible from events) is creating my own photo collages, accenting corners and intersections with brads or other decorative elements. It has become a great way for me to utilize specific elements of a photo, even when the photo as a whole photo was not very exciting. This technique isn't "new", but it is a new way for me to cram as much information into my memory books as I can...while still being visually pleasing to the eye. :)

There is something awesome about an 8x10 photo on a scrapbook page! I love the simplicity of this page I created for my son's Kindergarten photo. There is not doubt what I am commemorating. I plan to use this technique throughout his school days album to mark each school year with his school photo.

I LOVE color on a scrapbook page, and our state fair photos never disappoint on that front. Although my pages tend toward the "busy" end of the spectrum for these type of events, A good layout or fun elements can keep the pages grounded. Since most of our photos these days are saved in electronic formats, I don't hesitate to add embellishments directly on photos as I did in the above layout. Also, I created photo stills from a merry-go-round video to add a border on my pages. A fun way to remember the events of the day!

And finally, what scrappin' is all about: family!