Are you ready to scrapbook your Halloween before we dive into Thanksgiving and Christmas? In case you need a few ideas I thought I’d share sixty-five of my own for you to choose from!
Archive for the ‘Scrapbook Designs’ Category
Sixty-Five Ideas for Scrapbooking Halloween
Saturday, November 5th, 2011
The Weight of Your Journaling – Paperclipping 179
Friday, October 14th, 2011
I know you’ve experienced this…
You have a great page going. Then you add the journaling. And now you don’t like the page.
You probably assume your handwriting is the problem, right?
Sure, the handwriting may be part of it. But there is another cause that is just as common. In fact, if you fix this other problem, then your handwriting probably won’t affect your page, even if it is, ummm…
Okay, I’ll just say it…even if your handwriting is ugly.
Not everybody can make their handwriting gorgeous. But everybody can learn to fix that other most common problem that takes a page from fabulous to not-fabulous, and mask the handwriting, too.
I’ve just released a new video tutorial that explains the real problem with journaling. You’ll learn the different ways that you can make your journaling fit with your page, and even make the design better!
I hope you enjoy it!
The video is only for members. If you’re a member, you can go watch it now.
If you’re not a member yet, click here to learn about a membership.
The Advice that Probably Didn’t Help
Thursday, August 11th, 2011I have some beef with something we keep saying on the Roundtable.
Have you heard us say on the show that your family doesn’t expect a Monet or a Picasso?
That your kids just want to see their pictures and read their stories?
That they’ll have no idea whether the paper is on trend this season or released in 2005, or that you didn’t make a visual triangle?
Is the advice true? Yes.
But did it help you feel better about pages you make but don’t like?
Probably not.
And why is that?
It’s because we’re not just sharing our pages with our children. We’re also online sharing our pages with other scrapbookers. So let’s be real — the pressure is still on.
And it’s also because a huge part of our motivation is the joy of making beautiful stuff.
Because we value aesthetics and skill.
When did it become wrong to want to gain or improve skills?
It didn’t.
So how do you gain and improve your scrapbook design skills?
You cycle through these steps over and over again:
- Learn design principles.
- Analyze the bad stuff.
- Analyze the great stuff.
- Practice.
- Learn the principles.
And on and on…
Learn design principles from good explanations and lots of examples. That’s what I’m trying to give you with my videos.
And what about the analyzing? This means you look for the principles in action on great pages. Or you look for the missing principles that would have helped a page out.
Then you try it on a page.
And as you continue to learn more principles, you’ll get it more and more.
It’s a cycle.
You ready to roll?
Jump On!
You can jump onto that cycle of improvement today with a Paperclipping Membership.
Start with any of my video tutorials, get lots of explanations and examples from me, see how to analyze a page, and then continue the cycle with each episode.
Did you know there are almost 175 videos in the membership to learn from?
Scrapbook Layout from a Paperclipping Member: The College Send-off
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
What will it be like when you send your oldest or youngest off to college away from home? What was it like, if you’ve already done it?
Cindy Wick had designed the left side of this page with all these wonderful pictures which give a comprehensive view of the sending off of her daughter. Notice the variety of visuals –from the Motel 6 to the sub sandwiches to the shopping cart full of stuff to the goodbye’s — that will trigger very specific memories for Cindy and her daughter forever.
Once Cindy got all the photos and the fun design on her page, she realized she had a big story to tell with lots of mom-feelings to share, but not enough space. The page sat on her table while she tried to figure out what to do, and then…
A super hero of the day flew in in the form of Paperclipping Episode 173 – A Journaling Design technique!
(I realize the above statement is as un-humble as it gets! I hope you don’t mind a little bit of boasting!).
I am really proud because I read Cindy’s journaling and it’s so moving. What a shame it would have been had she decided to condense it to make it fit, or remove some photos instead!
And of course, the icing on the cake was that by using the tutorial’s idea she was able to have fun and share her own feelings of pride and celebration for her daughter through the visual design and all the wonderful little details.
Turns out you really can have it all!
Doesn’t her design show celebration and growth all at once?
So I wanted to share it with you.
Get Solutions for Your Scrapbooking Dilemmas!
Cindy said some pretty great things about her Paperclipping Memberhsip, too, and I hope it’s okay for me to be a proud mama of my videos and quote some of what she said:
While I’m at it, I should say that I am a member of paperclipping and I really have gotten so much out of my membership. I consider myself a decent page designer, but I still learn new things from Noell all the time! She has a way of introducing things in a new and fresh way ~ it always gets me thinking creatively.
That’s probably because her way of teaching design is to get you to think of design principles as flexible, instead of using more concrete methods…Her videos are SO different, creative, and well thought out, I’ll probably be a fan for life.
(Thanks so much, Cindy!).
Okay, gushing moment over.
If you haven’t read Cindy’s journaling yet, please do! It’s an awesome example of how to share your own wonderful human emotional stories!
To see a larger version, click here to see her blog post, then click on the layout itself.
Want to see what all the hubbub around the Paperclipping videos is about?
(Did I just say hubbub?).
Click here to find out and maybe you’ll get the solutions you need to your scrapbooking dilemmas! >> http://www.paperclipping.com/membership
Design Basics from the Garden
Monday, August 8th, 2011I want to get some succulents for inside and out the home and since my expertise with potted plants has always been to kill them, I thought I would try expanding my skills and see if I can learn to keep them alive!
So I was watching this video on YouTube and thought it was a fun little demonstration on the basics of design. I personally learned design by studying how it’s applied in many different fields, so I thought I’d share this with you for a different take!
Are you ready to dig much deeper into design than the mere basics? What if the in-depth training was specifically for scrapbokers?
Check out my design course – Design Your Story: From the Ground Up.
Your Photos Tell You Where They Want to Be
Friday, July 22nd, 2011So there was a little controversy and a bunch of misunderstanding regarding my point in last week’s article about templates. There was discussion in the comments, on Facebook, and on Twitter about it.
In the article I questioned whether it really is easier to use a template, and stated that I find it easier to just look at my photos to know how to crop them and where to put them.
Jennifer Wilson from The Simple Scrapper engaged me in a discussion about this on Twitter and she said my principles on how to decide on cropping and placement is the same thing as a template. She said it all comes down to semantics.
I love Jennifer. She rocks.
But I totally disagree.
The difference between templates/sketches and concepts/principles is enough that it’s worth it to me to write a response. Because that difference demonstrates the chasm between two types of minds.
- Some minds thrive in having a template, sketch, or sample layout to refer to while they’re scrapbooking.
- Some minds are stifled by it.
I thrive with conceptual ideas and principles that I can pull from my mind and apply to any photo or project. I don’t like to refer to something visual.
So, as someone who is stifled by step-by-steps, by templates, by sketches it’s beyond semantics. It’s an important distinction that could make the difference in keeping someone engaged in a hobby.
I figure there are some of you that are more like me, and that’s why you hang around Paperclipping in the first place — because we think alike and my unusual ways of doing and explaining scrapbooking clicks with you.
(Many thanks to those of you who think differently from me but still like to hang around anyway!).
There are few who teach scrapbooking in the ways that work for my mind and the minds of others like me. We’re a neglected crowd.
That’s why this is important enough for me to clarify with another post.
That’s why I don’t want my different method to be reduced to an explanation of semantics. There really is a difference.
What I Wasn’t Saying
So to clear up the misconceptions –
- I wasn’t saying it’s “bad” or “worse” to use someone else’s template instead of your own.
–though there are benefits to not “needing” to do so, and you can better adapt sketches and templates to your needs if you have design know-how. - I wasn’t saying to make your own templates.
–Using your own templates is the same process as using someone else’s and it’s that process of using a template that I find harder than people say it is. - I wasn’t saying to do things the harder way.
–My point was that there are principles that make it simpler. - And it’s not that I’m not used to Photoshop and templates, as one person assumed (lovely, though I’m sure that person is!).
–I feel the same way about sketches for traditional scrapbooking as I do about templates for digital.
Jennifer said a template is like a pattern for sewing clothes. She doesn’t realize I hated trying to work with clothing patterns and gave up trying to sew because of them.
I’m sure I’m not the only one, right?
I’m saying, your photos tell you what shape they want to be. They tell you where they want to be placed. Your story can tell you that, too, but that’s for another article.
Let Your Photos Tell You Where They Want to Go
This is the big key that makes it so simple. Here’s what your photos can tell you:
- Whether they want to be square or rectangular.
- Whether they want to the right or the left on the page, or centered.
- Whether they should be higher or lower on the page.
- Whether they want a matte or not.
- Whether they want to be cropped bigger or smaller.
You can refer back to my original article on this subject for some examples how to “read” your photos’ desires as I listed above. There are points in my article about choosing non-traditional photo sizes that will help, too.
I’ll come back soon with specific examples. Maybe next week, but no promises.
What About My Flexible Templates?
Aren’t they templates and sketches?
Nope.
If you’ve been looking at my Flexible Templates the way you look at sketches, and don’t see the difference, then I haven’t explained them well and you haven’t yet seen their openness and potential for flexibility.
If that’s you, you should click here to get the scoop.
With Flexible Templates you should have a concept in your head, not a template or sketch that you’re referring to. That’s the difference that may seem small but is really huge.
What’s My Point Already?
My point is that for many of us, there is a way that can often be easier than sketches and templates. For some of us, it will be easier more often than not.
If you ever feel less adequate because when you use a sketch or template it takes longer than it’s “supposed” to, it might be worth it to learn the concepts of “reading” the photos.
These concepts may seem harder to grasp initially because they are not concrete like sketches and templates. But once you get them, photo placement and cropping and page design becomes a cinch!
June Challenge Highlight: Ginny H. and Jana Olivera
Thursday, July 21st, 2011Congrats to both Ginny and Jana!
Okay — I know, I know — we highlighted two people last month. I won’t keep doing that. But this month I wanted to show how two dramatically different styles and stories can have strong foundations in design!
Ginny: Chalenge 1 – Die Cut Paper Base
What Ginny said:
The design of this page was inspired by a Lisa Day sketch. With the base of die cut paper and a dark brown cardstock background, I built the page from there. I added the teal paper strip behind the die cut paper to begin a vertical line that would later intersect the horizontal line where my title would rest. I cut the clouds from a piece of Bella Blvd. patterned paper.
I made my title in aqua and brown to draw color from the background. Then, I used some border stickers to build to the horizontal line on the page and to bring in some more color. Lastly, I added some final details-the button, punched glitter heart, and a quick handcut photo corner.
Designing the Story:
Ginny’s story is about the long-term stability of her relationship and how laughter is an important element of that relationship. Her design communicates fun and stability. A vertical line that intersects with a horizontal one communicates stability. The scalloped circle and clouds, the vibrant contrasting colors, and the items to she used to make the lines near her title add energy, playfulness, and movement!
Even though Ginny based her page on a sketch, she shows that she has a good feel for design with her choices. One of my favorite parts of this page is the way she balanced the heavy weight in the upper-left corner with the three little brads at the bottom right.
How do three tiny brads balance all that weight at the upper left? Paperclipping Members should know! You can learn about it in the Paperclipping Video Tutorial 167 – How to Use Embellishments to Balance a Layout.
Click here and join us to get that episode and 172 more right now!
Jana: Challenge 4 – Scrapbook About Yourself
What Jana said:
This is another submission this time about me, always when is about me the layout takes a whole different approach, messy no rules artsy approach . I don’t know why this is the way alway I feel more confortable talking about myself. I tried to use a lot of embellies that I had for ages.
The use of design principles in this page is not so obvious, but it’s definitely there and I can prove it! :)
If you know your story or what you’re trying to communicate, and if you know design as well, the use of design principles come intuitively and I would guess that’s how Jana may have worked with this page.
So here’s how design comes into play for this story and page:
- The layers of frames around the focal point photo suggests a sense of movement and shifting, which is awesome for her story of emotional progress and change.
- Triangular balance or weight from the upper right corner frame to the focal point to the bottom right dense corner.
- There is balance in color b/c of how she spread it evenly around the page.
- She grounded all that wildness and color with the use of black, which is also balanced around the page. Even her black stitching is in a visual triangle.
- She leads the eye around the page — the photo pops out from the white and leads you through her line of sight across to the journal strips. Your eye then wants to float up to the white frame with the butterfly, which points you back to the focal point photo, and then back down to the journaling and that right corner full of stuff.
- The black stitches act like barriers, keeping your eye from floating off the page.
So what do you think? Does this stuff fascinate you as much as it fascinates me?
This is why I love combining the art of visual storytelling through design with scrapbooking!
Learn to Tell Your Stories Through Design
One of my favorite things about last month’s challenge submissions is how I could see so much progression in design understanding with the entries. It wasn’t just these two, but you could see it in the other entries and many of their descriptions as well. Congrats to all who entered!
That is the point of my new course on design. We dig deep with seven lessons on building a foundation for your pages and stories.
Check it out here: Design Your Story: From the Ground Up.
Find Ginny and Jana
You can find Ginny’s page at the Paperclipping community, The Crop Circle.
You can also find Jana’s page there, and on her own blog, as well.
Join Us for the July Challenge!
Suz has four possible challenge topics for you to choose from. They are all based on things techniques and concepts I’ve shared here on Paperclipping over the recent weeks. You’ll love Suz’s examples, too!
Click here and join in: July Challenge.
Many thanks to our Challenge Coordinators and Judges: Lesley, Suz, and Kristyn!
A Journaling Design Technique – Paperclipping 173
Monday, July 18th, 2011Do you ever have stories that require lots of journaling, but your idea for a page doesn’t leave you enough room?
This happens to me all the time. I’m a journaler. And I love the artistic part of scrapbooking, too.
It suddenly occurred to me one day that we can mix the two more easily with one simple solution: Combine a 12×12 page with a 6×12 page, which is what you see above.
- The 12×12 is for the design idea swimming in my head
- The 6×12 is for the journaling.
I feel so free now! I no longer have to expand my layout to a full two-page 24×12 inch spreads whenever I have a few pictures, a fun idea, and too much to say!
It all started with this layout…
I wanted to compare my childhood swing sets with current ones. I had four photos and the story. Plus I wanted to give an explanation for each photo.
I really didn’t need two 12×12 pages, but a single just wasn’t going to cut it, even with the simple clean design.
Suddenly it became my easy fix, even for more artistic and free layouts…
Two-Way Design
I decided to design this first as a single page that could stand alone.
And then I designed the journaling portion to work with it. The balance of the design works either way! I get to share it as a single page or a double, depending on the situation. And, in fact, I’ve already shared it both ways for various reasons.
Supplies
All you need are 6×12 page protectors. I use American Crafts.
Journaled Tag Page
Here is a closeup of the front and back of my journaled page for the top layout:
In this week’s episode for the members I show how to make this journaled tag page, along with my tips for easier journal strips.
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You can watch this episode and 172 more videos right now when you sign up for your Paperclipping Membership! Click here to learn more!
Q&A: Do I Use Digital Templates?
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011After seeing my mostly digital summer album last week, long time Paperclipping Member, Jana, wanted to know if I used a digital template.
Why I Don’t Use Digital Templates
I’m definitely not opposed to templates. I’m sure I’ll eventually use one some day — I’ve seen some by Cathy Zielske that appealed to me. But counter to popular opinion — as I often tend to be — it seems faster and easier to me to devise my own pages than to search for templates and then try to match the numbers and sizes of photos to it.
I have a simple method that has to do with…
- identifying my individual stories within the larger story
- knowing which photos I want with each story
- knowing the basic design principle of dominance
It’s the simplest thing, especially with small page sizes. So here’s how I formed my pages for this 6×6 album just by looking at my photos (instead of using a template):
1) Decide which photos I want to use for each individual story.
- Story = topic for each page.
The story is the photo(s) + what you have to say.
Some stories get one side and some get the whole two-page spread. For example, these pages are two different stories.
The story on the left: Tuesdays were show production days. At the time we recorded the Roundtable, the Digi Show, and Paperclipping Live! all in one crazy hectic day.
The story on the right: The funny homemade pop-up card that Aiden made for Izzy and me for our wedding anniversary.
Most of my stories have 1-3 photos, but there are a couple of exceptions, which I’ll share below.
Okay, let’s move on to how you can easily decide on your own how to format your pages (’cause I’m all about independent scrapbooking, yo).
2) For single photo stories: decide on square vs. rectangular photos.
If it’s rectangular, you can keep its 4×6 ratio and size. The rest of the page will be paper.
Each of the pages on this two-page spread has its own single-photo story:
If you want it square, crop the photo to 6×6 and it’ll be the entire page.
When it’s time to add journaling, decide whether there is a solid spot on the photo itself for journaling. If so, add it there. If not, add it to the paper part of the page or on a journal block that you’ll place on the facing side of the two-page spread.
See how easy it is? You’re just deciding on the needs of your photos.
- Some photos crop well to squares. Others don’t.
- Some have solid areas for journaling. Others don’t.
That’s how to determine your page design. It’s so much easier than trying to make your photos work with a template!
(IMHO — of course!)
3) For 2-photo stories: decide on an up-and-down format or side-by side.
Side-by-side can mean on one single page for vertical pics, or two separate pages for square or horizontal ones.
Is there a dominant photo? Make it slightly larger than the other one if you want them both on the same page.
Or make one photo square and keep the other rectangular if you want them on two separate pages.
4) For 3 or 4 photo stories: decide on photo dominance and hierarchy.
Is there a dominant photo that should be the focal point? You can keep its 4×6 ratio and size, and then re-size two supporting photos to 2×3 to place underneath.
Journaling can go on the opposite page.
If you have 4 photos, you’ll want a dominant photo, a secondary photo, and 2 supporting photos.
Place the secondary photo with its original 4×6 ratio on the opposite page. Journaling can fit in a solid area on a photo or in the remaining paper area on the page of the secondary photo.
For lots of photos: make a grid.
You can fit nine 2×2 pics into a 6×6 grid. Add any remaining photos in 2×2 size to the opposite side.
To keep the spread from being overwhelming, you’ll want contrast and a breathing space. So your opposite page should be mostly white space. If I’d had 2 remaining photos instead of 3, I probably would have designed it the same except with 2 photos in a row instead of 3.
If you do that, don’t stretch your journaling across the whole page. Make your journaling the same width of the two photos, or fit it into a third box where the picture would have been.
You could also keep the center square on the left empty and add an embellishment to that space.
Add Lines
Once you’ve gotten all of your photos onto their spreads, you can go back and add lines the way I showed you how to do in Paperclipping episode 164.
Add Embellishing
When it’s time for embellishing, add your elements…
- alongside lines
- on top of lines
- in corners between lines and page edges
- as frames around a picture
- one-third the way in from an edge of the page
Look at my pages above for examples of each type of embellishment placement.
Tutorials on Concepts You Should Know for This Post
For help on all of the concepts and techniques in this post you can watch the following tutorials:
- The Dominance Principle and Photo Groupings – Paperclipping 155
- Task Batch Minibooking – Paperclipping 150
- Digital Word Art – Paperclipping 101
- Customize Your Overlays in Photoshop – 65
- How to Re-size photos and collage them into a grid in: Paperclipping 108 – How to Make a Frame with Rounded Corners in Photoshop Elements
- How to Add Lines in Photoshop Elements – Paperclipping 164
- Four Ways to Embellish a Collage Template – Paperclipping 148
- Scared to Embellish? – Paperclipping 67
- A Collage Formula Paperclipping 100
You must be a Paperclipping Member to watch these.
What?
You’re still not a member? Look at all those tutorials topics you’re missing — and those are just for one type of project! To get immediate access to 172 video tutorials, plus 2 more every month, join now!
Or just click here to learn more.
Like I said — I don’t see anything wrong with using templates. I just don’t think they’re easier than simply looking at your story needs and your photos. Give it a shot!
You have what it takes to tell the stories of your life. Hopefully with all the concepts we share at Paperclipping you’re finding yourself to be more and more self-reliant as a scrapbooker!
So You Think You Can Scrapbook
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011Do you watch So You Think You Can Dance? Go ahead and consider it one of your scrapbooking classes because it can help you enhance your scrapbooking design skills. Much of my own design understanding came from my past experience as a dancer.
Rather than tell you, let me show you what I’m talking about…
Lines and Contrast. Dance and Scrapbooking
This amazingly talented little dancer, Payton Johnson, was an assistant at a dance convention Trinity recently attended. For me the dance she performs in the video is about lines and contrast. In particular, it’s the contrast between different types of lines and the emotions they communicate.
Different types of lines tell different types of stories. Watch how Payton’s graceful flowing lines jerk into harsh angles with lots of tension and then dissolve into soft carefree light-hearted curves again.
What are those two types of lines communicating to you as she switches back-and-forth between them?
And how does that translate into design for scrapbooking?
Energy + Tension
Angled lines.
Generosity + Light-heartedness
Curving Lines.
A Combination of Angles + Curves for Energy + Light-heartedness
You can also mix the two to strike a balance of both for your story.
Whether in dance or scrapbooking, the lines we create have a vocabulary.
That’s why there’s a whole section on lines in Lesson 2 of my new design course, Design Your Story: From the Ground Up. In it I also show the visual meanings you can communicate using horizontal and vertical lines and a whole lot of other things, like patterns and space.
What are you saying through your designs?
Find out by taking the course: Design Your Story: From the Ground Up.
