Hey hey! It’s Friday again. I hope this puts a smile on your face. 🙂

Did you miss the last Fun Friday? DON’T YOU HATE IT WHEN…

Now, go forth and add more embellishments! 😉

Alice.

This prompt will have you adding fun and creativity to your scrapbook pages!

I’m thrilled to be a featured designer this month in LOAD215.

(Did you miss the last one of my featured layouts? Check out my wild ride on FEARLESS.)

Page Prompt:

Day 24 of LOAD215

Pop-ups are a common attraction in kids’ books. Add a 3-D element to your page.

We had a few special pop up books that I loved as a child, but instead of trying to capture them I thought it would be fun to play with something popping off of my page! Everyone knows the fun photography trick of holding your fish closer to the camera to make it look bigger, but I decided to take it one step further by springing the fish right off the page! I simply printed a duplicate photo, cut out the fish and mounted it on springs!

Journaling reads: Although he seemed an unlikely fisherman, Joe really enjoyed fishing on our Canada Day weekend camping trip to Lesser Slave Lake. He sure was excited to reel in his fish and he was proud to show off his big catch! July 1, 2012

Creative tips!

On this layout to create the pop-up fish I duplicated the photo, cut out the fish and mounted the fish on springs (from Close to My Heart) over top of it on the original photo.

• I thought it was fun since it makes the fish jump out of the page.
• It’s a fun new update on the old art of paper-tolling.
• It reminds me how many fisherman hold the fish out in front of themselves so it will look larger in the photos!

Think outside the box. The stamp I used for the background is a chain-link fence stamp. When I used it here it looks like fish net.

Fun ideas:

Add Video to a Scrapbook Page

How to Emboss with Stamps (with Video)

Using Large Photos on Layouts

How do you apply it?

Unleash your creativity! What can you do to add interaction and originality to your page?

Play.

By playing with your tools, supplies and photos you will have more fun and create pages that not only tell a story but are fun too!

If you think this is the kind of fun and creativity that you’d like more of you can subscribe to my email list. Click HERE to subscribe.

Alice.

I scrapbook to share the stories of my life.

But I used to struggle to share real stories on my pages.

I wanted to create pages I truly loved but every time I grabbed my photos and started scrapbooking I struggled. I didn’t know what to say. I ended up with pages that said, “It was fun!” or “So cute!”.  Then I discovered how to make connections in journaling.

(You can check out it out in this blog post: Journaling Tip: Make Connections)

Making connections helped but I needed something that worked even better.

Then I found a scrapbooking process that really works for me. I’m happy to share this easy to use process in this post.

But first…

Make it Monday!

If you have arrived from Digital Scrapbooking HQ I’m sure you were inspired by the way Melissa scrapped once and printed twice, creating pages for two albums at once. (She’s so smart!) 😉

Back to setting up a scrapbooking process…

How do you start a scrapbooking project or layout? Do you have a process? Do you just wing it? If you are the kind of person that flies by the seat of your pants, how is that working for you?

• Are you frustrated?
• Do you want to scrapbook faster?
• Do you want to get things done, complete, finished?
• A scrapbooking process will help!

Let me tell you a little story:

This morning I started my morning routine. I turned on the shower and then remembered I’d left something upstairs. While I was upstairs I became somewhat distracted. By the time I returned all the hot water had already gone down the drain! Doh!

I slightly tortured myself by having a shower in tepid water. I say ‘slightly tortured’ because it was really only a bit cooler than normal for me.

As I got out of the shower and continued with making my hair pretty and putting on makeup I suddenly realized I hadn’t brushed my teeth! Eww!

My normal routine involves me brushing my teeth while I wait for the shower to warm up, yes, it really takes that long! By interrupting that part of my routine I totally missed the next step!

When I scrapbook I have a routine, or process that I use to create pages too. I’ll show you how a scrapbooking process will help you to create scrapbook pages you love too.

First:

Why do you scrapbook?

Have you ever really thought about it? I scrapbook to preserve our special memories and share them with my family. I don’t scrapbook to create pretty photo albums.

When I started using this new scrapbooking process I found it was much easier to create meaningful scrapbook layouts.

Why?

Here’s the problem with most approaches to scrapbooking…

Here’s the problem:

Most people approach scrapbooking by starting with the photos.

This can make telling your stories difficult. When you look at the photo the story to tell may not pop to your mind.

Try This Scrapbooking Process

The answer lies in step number 1.

When you start with your story, instead of starting with photos it is easier to create a layout with meaning.

Using a photo as a starting point you are putting the story second… or worse, leaving it until the end and then trying to fit it in somehow.

Make a quick plan. That doesn’t mean knowing exactly which embellishment will go where. You just need a quick way to attack and approach a layout.

Step 1. Story

Think of the story you want your page to tell.

Step 2. Photos

Gather photos that will represent the story.

Step 3. Paper

Choose paper that will suit your story.

Step 4. Design

Create a design for your layout.

Step 5. Embellishment

Add decorative flair with your embellishments.

Can you try this process? If not… walk through your own process. Figure out your own predictable way of approaching a scrapbook page.

Make it Monday

Your next step on the Make it Monday Blog Circle has Jen sharing how to use Digi Stamps & Shapes in her Free template this week.

I hope you’ll be inspired to share some stories and try this scrapbooking process.

Let your creativity shine!

Alice.

P.S. Wondering what I had to dash upstairs for? I have a super cool bluetooth speaker that I can use IN the shower! I’d taken it upstairs to recharge it!

It’s Friday! Let’s have some fun…

Scrapbooker Problem:

Don’t you hate it when you can’t decide which side of a patterned paper to use so you hoard it instead?

Did you miss last week’s Fun Friday post? Click HERE.

Have an awesome weekend!

Alice.