Scrapbooking Supplies Used in this Layout:

• The patterned paper is the “Blizzard Blue” design from ReminisceÂ’s “Snow Globe” line.
• The title was made using Reminisce’s diecut alpha stickers, which are also from the the “Snow Globe” line.
• Blue & white polka dot ribbon
• The handwritten journaling was done with a gel pen. You can’t really tell from my scan, but the ink in that gel pen is glittery metallic. Love that!

Scrapbooking Tips That Go Along With This Layout:

Ladies, can I just say that I am all about the easy layouts? I mean, why work harder than you have to, right? This one is so easy that it is almost a no-brainer. You can put this layout together in less than twenty minutes ~ and probably much less, if you’re a fast scrapper.

Here’s a little tip that I learned from the fashion industry: use tonals. What, you might ask, is a tonal? Well, you’ve probably looked at paint chips at the hardware store, haven’t you? You know how a lot of paint chips will give you several different values of the same color ~ for example, a dark blue, a medium blue, and, a light blue? That’s the basic concept. It works really well for scrapbooking, too. See how my layout is mostly shades of blue from the same family? All that blue ties the elements together and makes the layout look cohesive. You can use this trick whether you’re painting, designing a layout, or getting dressed in the morning ~ it’s failsafe. And, if you have a hard time remembering what exactly tonals look like, you can always borrow some of those paint chips from the hardware store to refresh your memory.

In this layout, I used two 5 x 7 photos, one horizontal and one vertical. I adhered them to a piece of “Blizzard Blue” paper from Reminisce’s “Snow Globe” line. Then I added some polka dotted ribbon, and my title, which is also from the “Snow Globe” line. Just a little tiny bit of handwritten journaling completes the layout. Like I told you, pretty simple, but it’s still effective.

Another tip: Reminisce’s “Blizzard Blue” paper has got to be the most versatile patterned paper I’ve worked with in a long time. I just got my hands on some of it today. I bought 4 pieces and am discovering that even with that much I did not buy enough of it. (Update: I ordered more, and I still don’t have enough of it. Need even more!) I am loving this paper! It is so distressed and grungy, which is great for “boy” layouts. It’s the perfect color to use with any photo that has a bit of grayed-down blue sky in it. Of course, you could always use it for its intended purpose, too, which is winter holiday themed layouts. This paper would be perfect to use with photos that have a touch of snow, or wintery gray skies. The photos that I used in my layout were taken at the beach during the fall. I think this paper is perfect for beach photos.

In case you’re curious, I guess I should explain the silly handwritten journaling. Underneath “Leo Carillo”, it says “You know, THAT DUDE”. You’d never know from reading it, but the journaling is actually a tribute to my husband and how well he knows me. Once a bunch of our friends were sitting around saying “What do you want to do?” “I dunno, what do you want to do?” So finally someone says “Let’s go to the beach”. So someone else says, “Which beach?” and we all looked at each other. I wanted to go to Leo Carillo in Malibu, but at the time I couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of the beach. I just kept drawing a blank. So I said, “Let’s go to that dude beach!” And everyone looked at me as if I were crazy. And a bunch of people said “Huh?” So I looked at my husband helplessly and said, “You know, that dude. What’s his name again?” And my husband thought it over for a second, and said, “She wants to go to Leo Carillo”. It’s a mystery how he figured out what I was talking about, but there are a lot of times when it seems like he can read my mind.

Thanks for taking a look! 🙂