Did you get some sweet handmade gifts from your children or grandchildren? Don’t do anything with them yet because the next episode of Paperclipping will show you an example with some tips for saving and displaying all those wonderful pieces.

Watch for the release of this week’s episode tonight or tomorrow night.

Below are seven different challenges for National Scrapbook Day. You do not have to do all of them. I wanted to offer a variety of options so you can choose the ones that best suit you. The more you do, the better your chances of winning. You may repeat the same challenge.

You do not have to be present at the live event to participate in the challenges. I will give out some prizes during the live event to those who are present in the chat. I will award other prizes on the blog on Sunday based on the challenges below.

For each layout or project you upload to flickr, which you must base on one of the following challenges, you will be entered in a drawing for prizes. You have until the end of Saturday to upload your layouts. In the description, please tell us which challenge you used. I will choose randomly from these layouts for the final drawings.

Please do not enter layouts you completed before reading this entry. It’s okay to finish a layout or project you already started as long as you implement one of these challenges.

Challenges:

1. Create a layout or other project using a principle from any one of the Paperclipping Video Tutorials (links are at the right). Upload your layout to flickr. In the description, please share which video you used and how.

2. Recycle an item from your life by incorporating it into the design of your layout. Upload your layout to flickr and tell us what the item is in your description.

3. Begin a mini-book. Choose the photos and a theme. Gather papers, then embellishments, that reflect the theme. Put it all in a pile and photograph it. Upload your photo to flickr and in the description tell us how the products reflect the theme of the mini-book you will be putting together.

4. Words aren’t the only way to tell a story. Make a layout that uses something visual to help tell your story on a layout. Upload your layout to flickr and share with us what visual element you used on your page to communicate an idea or emotion.

5. Use your wonderful scraps. Make a layout that uses at least 3 different scraps of patterned paper. Upload the layout to flickr.

6. Design a layout in this order:
a. Choose the photos.
b. Write journaling on some scrap paper or make notes of the emotion or tone.
c. If you have more than one photo, choose a focal point photo (unless it’s a collage where all photos are equal).
d. Decide approximate photo placement. (Don’t freak out here…you’re free to change your mind at any time).
e. Based on where you think you’ll place your photo, choose paper size and pick your background paper.
f. Choose other papers with colors and/or patterns that remind you of the tone of your layout’s story.
g. Design your layout with the photos, papers, journaling, title. Tape everything down.
h. Add your embellishments last.

7. Design a layout where you cluster at least three embellishments around a title, a photo, or a line.

I will come back tomorrow with a link to the new Paperclipping Flickr Group. You can see the schedule for the three different live events here.

To celebrate our amazing hobby, we’ll have challenges and prizes on National Scrapbook Day during three different sessions of Paperclipping Live, Saturday, May 3rd.

Please join us at any of these times:

8:30 -10:30am

1:00-3:00pm

7:00-8:30pm

If you’re unsure of the time zone difference, look for your city on this website and then compare it to my city, which is Phoenix.

Remember to register for Skype (it’s free) if you’d like to call into the show to ask a question or share something cool.

I hope you’ll prepare to spend the day scrapbooking with others of the Paperclipping audience and me. During the week before our celebration, I will announce some of the challenges so you can get a head start.

I am preparing a Paperclipping Flickr Page so you will be able to upload your layouts and projects and participate in the challenges. I can’t wait to party with you!

There are two favorite things I like to do for my Easter layouts when I have lots of photos and lots of color in those photos.

Use White For The Background Color

White is my favorite background color for Easter layouts. I like that it keeps the layouts clean despite the larger amount of photos. The white allows the traditional holiday colors in the photos to pop, while preventing pastels from overwhelming me.

Easter photos often have so much color already in them, you don’t have to add more than a few touches of accent colors.

Print Smaller-Sized Photos For A Collage

Because we celebrate with my in-laws the day before Easter, our holiday spans two days. I like that I can use a lot of photos on one layout by printing smaller sizes.

In time I want to have a separate Easter album that I can pull out for display every spring. I don’t like boxing myself in with self-inflicted rules (you definitely don’t have to use white backgrounds for fabulous Easter layouts). But even if I stick with white backgrounds for only half of our Easters, our album will have a cohesive and unified look. Especially if most of the pages also use a lot of smaller photo prints.

To see my 2006 Easter layout, click here.
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Easter 07
12×12 Layout

Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill) * Patterned paper, decorative stickers, (Creative Imaginations) * Letter stickers (Creative Imaginations, Creative Memories) * Brad (Making Memories) Ribbon (own stash).