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Archive for February, 2007

Scrapbook Layout: There’s No Denying

Friday, February 9th, 2007



There’s No Denying.jpg

Originally uploaded by Noell.

I created this layout for the Beyond Appearances challenge.

The challenge was to complete the sentence, “There is no denying…”

Just the perfect starting point for this photo I’ve been wanting to lay to paper.

Journaling:
There is no denying we love each other.

Tami, Larry, Israel and me (behind the camera).
New Year’s Eve ‘06-’07

It’s just us. Feeling happy. A candid shot of the goofballs.
I love this shot I took by accident when my finger hit the button before I’d set the focus or the lighting. Totally genuine.

Products:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper (blue-green), Stampin’ Up (white)
Patterned paper: Cross My Heart (floral), 7 Gypsies (text), Basic Grey (green)
Transparency overlay: My Mind’s Eye
Stamps and Ink: Stampin’ Up

Scrapbook Layout: Yes! plus some Design Tips: Use of Light and Dark

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007



Yes!

Originally uploaded by Noell.

Journaling: This photos isn’t the best quality. Your preschool took it with an inexpensive camera. But they caught you in a moment I don’t want to lose. It is that moment when something goes your way and you pump your fists and exhale a breathy but pronounced “Yes!”

I love it when you do that. It can come as esily as me giving you permission (because you ask) to sleep in the car. (yes!)

In this case your exuberant “Yes!” exploded because Santa poppped in on your school. This is your reaction to seeing him. Yes!!

I actually picked the green patterned paper and the black and grey cardstock because they were already sitting on my desk, leftover from previous projects. It had been a week since scrapbooking a new page so it was like when my blood sugar plunges and I start grabbing whatever food is in sight.

The truth is, though, I had set the photo on my pile of mess and that green paper was on top. I liked the idea of the two together because the paper reminds me of cool teen boy shirts and Aiden’s “Yes!” seems like a “big boy” thing to do. Then I grabbed the black and grey that was already sitting there.

As I was moving around the papers and adding new colors I began to see a use for the design concepts of light and dark. Our eyes naturally gravitate toward the light. I nestled Aiden into a darkest spot on my “canvas” (the black matte) and focused light colored papers around him, as if pointing toward him. This works especially well with this particular photo because Aiden’s face is in the sun while there are shadows all around him.

I added just a tiny spot of that light cream color (the letter “a”) in the top left corner for balance (a visual triangle). I noticed at first when I tried to put a square of the cream colored paper up there that it was too much and it pulled the attention up that way sooner than I wanted. Using only that slight amount in the letter balances it without attracting attention.

Another issue I ran into was that my journaling ended up taking more space than I had planned. Originally I wrote all of it on ine piece of cream-colored paper. When I laid the journaling on the page it was too much and actually detracted from the photo, bring your gaze down toward the bottom. By splitting the journaling into three sections and replacing the last section with a darker color (light blue) I was able to create the effect of the cream-colored paper leading the eye to Aiden instead ot to itself.

Remember, though, the cream-colored tab on top was necessary for keeping Aiden the center of focus. Even with the change in paper for the journaling, without the tab on top, the journaling block would have stolen the show.

The bold red “YES!” keeps our eyes in place on Aiden as well.

Products:
This layout is for Ali Edward’s newsletter challenge about products: “This week I want you to take a look at those “extras” that are truly delighting you right now and making you want to create. Make a list and then CREATE a layout that details your favorites.”

Okay, so I didn’t detail my favorites, but I focused on using them. My favorite delight-inducing extras right now are paint, patterned paper, and products that enhance my journaling.

I love paint because it adds a personal touch that my own hand created. It makes it totally mine.

I love mixing patterns and this layout has 5 different patterned papers, plus two patterned ribbons. (The red is patterned).

I love-love-love journaling and I have been collecting patterned paper that is easy for me to journal on. I love that cream-colored graph paper I used with the dotted circles on it. I love the jouraling spot above Aiden’s head. That was fun! For whatever reason, flower embellishments rarely feel like me, so I like that I can use these other products as embellishments instead.

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned papers: Basic Grey, Creative Memories, Scenic Route Co. and source unknown for the red (maybe Slab?)
Journaling spot and chipboard letter: Heidi Swapp for Advantus
Stamped Alphas and Ink: Stampin’ Up
Rub-on’s and wordstrip: 7 Gypsies
Alpha sticker: Creative Memories
Ribbon: Urban Window for We R Memory Keepers
Paint: Grumbacher

I Sent My HOF Entry Off And I’m Scrapbooking Again!

Tuesday, February 6th, 2007



Scrapbooking Again!

Originally uploaded by Noell.

I had to interrupt my flow for an entire week while I prepared my HOF entry. I finally finished yesterday morning and sent that baby off! (Note to self: for future major projects, do not wait until the end to photograph every single layout at once!)

As soon as I came home from the UPS store and fed my son some lunch I fulfilled my need to scrapbook. The photo above is a sneak peek. I need to make a few finishing touches and then tape everything down.

Trying to achieve balance in a layout is like a puzzle and it makes it so much fun for me. Every time you add or change an element you need to consider how that change affects the overall balance.

On this page I focused a lot on principles of light and dark. Can’t wait to post the completed page so we can talk about it.

That Coffee Sign From The Previous Entry?

Saturday, February 3rd, 2007

Inquiring minds want to know. Where was that sign from? What surprised me is that since most everyone who commented is from outside of the U.S., no one knew for sure. There’s got to be at least one lurker here who has seen that sign since reading my post. No?

A couple of you made noble guesses and you were right! The sign is from Starbucks!

As a reward for guessing correctly I will highlight our winners and their websites.

The first to guess was the lovely Nathalie, who I linked to before when she started painting face cards. What I love about Nat’s site is that she posts new layouts almost everyday. She must be a scrapbooking machine.

The other to guess was Ron, who is a professional artist. Ron had some fascinating things to say in his comment about text (and told me even more when I emailed him about it ). I think I’ll use his information for an entirely new post. Very interesting and useful stuff.

You can see some of Ron’s work in a his gallery where he has posted 21 one drawings, which he has since painted on giant murals for his public library. I’ve been lucky enough to get some sneak peeks of most of the paintings. They are absolutely amazing, so I can’t wait until he’s allowed to make them all public.

The last thing I have to say about the comments from the previous post is that I’ve been tagged by Cherry. The problem it’s the same meme I was tagged with before! (Cherry is newer to my blog). What to do, what to do? Do I just link to my original six weird things about myself? Do I share six more embarrassing things? Maybe I should just share six general things about myself this time?

Let me get back to you on this…

Photography Challenge: This Sign Makes Me Happy

Thursday, February 1st, 2007

Do you recognize this sign? Leave a comment if you do. (Or leave a comment if you don’t … comments are good; the more the better).

I’ll be editing, cropping, and printing up photos of all my layouts for the HOF contest today. Then it’s all about typing up the information and assembling into one nice entry. Once I send that off I hope to get on a more regular schedule of daily photography, and posting two to three layouts a week on the blog. At least that’s my goal!

Note to photographers: How would you improve the composition of this photo? Thanks for looking!