Simple Pages and lots of Photos

About a year ago, I posted some scrapbook pages that I was making with a friend who was doing a single album for each of her grown children.  The pages are full of photos and there are just a few accents and embellishments - mostly titles.  That post can be found HERE.  This style of scrapbooking does not seem to be in fashion, most of the layouts you see in magazines have only one or two photos and lots of embellishments.

When I asked last year, a lot of you said you also liked to scrapbook with lots of photos on the pages.  I think of it as "paving the page" with the photos and letting them tell the story, with a bit of journaling to jog the memory!

I was looking for some photos that I took almost four years ago in New York City.  I was there with some friends for the weekend and all of the tulips were in bloom (I have more photos of the tulips to share another day - I got a bit off track in my idea about what I'd post today). 

I couldn't quite remember the date of our trip and, as I looked for those photos, I came across photos of some layouts I did for a "fast scrap" challenge.  The goal was to complete 10 pages in a day - in as few hours as possible.  These pages were done within a few months after I started my blog and I posted them only on the old cricut messageboard.   I wanted to add them to the blog - even though they are four years late!

When we were living in England, we took a trip over to the Netherlands to see the tulips.  My husband's parents came along on the trip.  I worked with the actual printed photos and did not scan and adjust them to exact sizes - I had to crop my way through the pile!

It took a little courage to post these - I am not sure that I would do everything just the same - but I thought you might like to see them.

I remember welding the "windmill" title and thinking about it as "windblown" but now I'll probably go back and make it more legible!

 The photo of our younger son smelling the red and yellow tulips in his green rain slicker is a favorite - I love the bright colors and the way he is leaning into the flowers.

The photos of the layouts are a little off center - I have learned a lot about taking photos of my work since these were done.  I could pull out the pages and take new photos but I think you can see the basic idea of simple and story/photo focused.

One of the most amusing things I remember from the trip was the gigantic wooden shoes at every tourist attraction.  We had a lot of fun taking "shoe pictures?" 

I don't think I ever went back and added the journaling - so I'll have to do that soon.  I did plan to get more scrapbooking done this year, unfortunately, I haven't been able to set aside the time.  I got involved with die cutting machines to help me do scrapbooks and I seem to do everything but work on the books!

Are any of you in the same boat?  Is anyone interested in taking on a "get it scrapped" challenge?  I know that I have a hard time deciding between traditional and digital.  I enjoy the digital process, but I also like to get paper in my hands!

I'll think about a way to set this up over the weekend - please leave a comment if you have any ideas for the structure or just to tell me that you'd like to get some of your older photos on pages and in albums!

I have to keep reminding myself - "finished is better than perfect!"

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Happy Fourth of July!

It is the first of July and it was chilly, cold and rainy here in New England today. We are starting to wonder if there will be a "real" summer this year! But the Fourth of July is nearly here, so I thought about a design I made quite a while ago (before there was a "Stand and Salute" cartridge).

Last October, after I made the Halloween lanterns which were featured in the Chirp newsletter on the Circut.com site, I was asked to design something similar for the Fourth of July. If you don't remember or didn't see these lanterns this LINK will take you to all of the Halloween entries - there is a ghostly fence border and then three entries about the Halloween design (you might want to start reading with the oldest post first).



This is the mesh I designed for that lantern. It was meant to be cut on the Expression and I used Plantin Schoolbook, Accent Essentials, Cuttin Up and Celebrations. Here is a LINK to the original post - I have moved the file to 4shared if you want to download the large version. You need the Expression and a 12 x 24 mat to cut the original design.



I decided to adapt this design to make shorter lanterns and to make it "baby bug compatible." I needed to change cartridges and adapt the sizing and placement to fit a baby bug mat.



I changed from Plantin Schoolbook to George for the long rectangles between the rows of elements and I eliminated the Accent Essentials starburst since it is less likely that a baby bug owner will have this cartridge.



The bars extend into the "uncuttable area" at the sides of the mat but you can simply make a few snips with some sharp scissors to complete the cuts.



Don't forget to save any useful bits leftover - these "4s" could be used on another project.



I used Creative Memories Precision Point adhesive on the back of the cuts and when it had dried to clear I adhered vellum along the cut.



I used Scor-Tape to hold the sides of the lantern cylinders together.



For one version of the lantern I adhered the vellum up to the last bar and left the top elements open with no lining.



For the other version, I adhered vellum all the way to the top of the design.



It really is a matter of personal preference (and may depend on how much vellum you have handy - I had a 10 x 12 sheet which I could cut in two pieces to complete both lanterns by making them slightly different in the amount of backing.



I actually think I prefer the look of the open top.



These cuts can also be used as a wide border on a scrapbook page or for a holiday display. The stars along the bottom of the red cut are optional and are on a separate page of the file. If you want to use them, cut the first page and just leave your mat in the machine and cut the star page.

If you don't have Cuttin Up, it is easy to change the letters to a font that you do have (but Cuttin Up is a great font and you should have it!). Here is a LINK to a post where I explained how to change the letters on the Halloween Design - if you have any problems, just let me know.

I used a battery operated small pillar candle to light the lanterns. If you use a real candle, be sure to put it in a glass container and then place that container in the lantern. You have to be really careful with these paper cuts and an open flame!

I will probably use these as table decorations on Saturday when we celebrate the 4th - I just wanted to post them today to give you time to make them if you would like to use them this weekend.

4th of July Baby Bug Lanterns

Boston Marathon signs

Tomorrow (April 20th) is the Boston Marathon. We spent today showing our guests around the area and, of course, we visited the Old North Bridge. The parking lot was full of cars and there were people speaking many different languages in the park. People come from all over the world to see this historical site.



There are a lot of reenactors who participate in the weekend activities - including this "Redcoat" (who had his picture taken many times today!).



I realized that I didn't show you a picture of the actual Old North Bridge in yesterday's post, so I took this photo today. Of course the bridge has been rebuilt a number of times over the years but it has been made to look like the original bridge.



We saw one "patriot farmer" with an antique pitchfork that was actually made from a cluster of tree roots.



Our guests posed in front of the monument I showed you yesterday. I wonder how many photos are taken at this spot - I know I am personally responsible for a few dozen!



Here is the incredible chocolate cake we had for dessert at our cook-out - we figured Liz needed "fuel" for the marathon run!



Our runner with her official bib number for the marathon. I think it looks like a lucky number - after all there are a seven and a three involved!



So, finally, here is the Cricut part of this post! When Liz registered yesterday, there were lots of these supporter signs given out. We needed to personalize ours so we can cheer her on tomorrow. The marathon route passes directly in front of the church some of our family members attend in Wellesley, so we will stay there to watch the runners go by. This is about the halfway point on the course.



I cut the words from Wall Pops vinyl and stuck them on the signs. I used the Cuttin Up cartridge for the eye-catching and lively font. Since the letters are vinyl, they will be fine even if we get rain (the latest predictions seem to indicate that it may only be overcast with the rain waiting until later in the day so our fingers are crossed).



Cuttin Up even has the #1 blue ribbon and the "You're The Best" cuts which were perfect for the signs. When I cut vinyl, I set the blade depth at 4 and the speed and pressure at medium which is ideal - the blade cuts the vinyl but not the backing paper so it is easy to take the letters off the paper and place them on your sign or wall.

We wish Liz good luck for her run and a safe and speedy finish!

Oh the Places You'll Go (title swap 1)

I joined a title swap in the Design Studio forum of the Cricut Message Board. Joan (a message board member) prepared a list of proposed titles and other members signed up to create design studio files for the titles. I chose three from her list - this is the first one.

Many people got involved and created titles - adding new ideas as they went along. I believe that nearly 200 were created! Another message board member, Tammy, created a blog to share these since many of the creators do not have their own blogs and the number of files was overwhelming for Joan to post on the Message Board. Here is a LINK to that blog if you want to check out the other titles that were created. They will be posted over the next few days.

I took the time to create all of these files as adjustable files so you can resize them for your page - just select the title and enter the height and width for your space on the page and then click on the mat to resize them. In some cases, you will be limited be the legibility of the words. In the file you will find two versions of the design already sized for the standard 12 x 12 and 8 x 8 pages.



Above you can see the two cuts in these sizes.

Oh the Places You'll Go (A)

Cross Country Team

Both of my sons ran Cross Country in High School. I was looking through the Going Places cart and noticed the running figure and it reminded me of watching their teams compete. I don't know if anyone reading this is a runner or has a child on a Cross Country team - it is a difficult sport to "watch" since the runners follow a prescribed route "across the countryside" and, in my experience, they only pass by the observers a few times during the course of the race. However, I do have a few photos of their meets to scrapbook and so I made this title. I hope some of you can use it.



The first page of the file has the design as I created it, adjusted proportionately (using the lower right corner handle) to a few sizes. On the following pages there are versions that are sized for a 12 x 12 border (shown above), an 8 x 8 border, a 5 x 7 card and an A2 card (shown below).



You can alter this type of design by entering the height and width that you want for your project in the Shape Properties box but be aware that the resulting design may appear distorted if it is greatly different from the original aspect ratio.



Above is a screen shot of the original design to compare with the test cut versions above. As you can see, the runners are shorter and wider in the 12 inch border and taller and thinner on the A2 card. The final page of the file has card sizing rectangles for the A2 and 5 x 7 cards, just for convenience.

Cross Country Team (A)