Paperclipping: The Video Podcast | Design Your Story

If you listened to this week’s Roundtable episode, then you know Stacy Julian’s Finding Photo Freedom class is now available for purchase and she is giving away TWO seats to the Roundtable audience!

Important Instructions

Some of you scan instead of read, and you miss important information. I know this, because many of you respond to my emails to ask me a question that I answered within the email you responded to! :)

I also know this because I scan instead of read sometimes, too.

Please beware that if you don’t follow these instructions, you’re less likely to win a seat!

• This is NOT a random giveaway. Stacy and I decided together that we wanted quality thoughts. Your answers should be brief, but interesting! We will choose the answers that most interest us.
• Answer the question by leaving a comment on this post (not the episode post).
• Leave your answer by Saturday night, midnight, May 14th.

The Question

Why do you want freedom from the chaos and overwhelm of all the photos we take these days? What will it do for you? How will you flourish with your new-found freedom?

My water jar for painting. This jar is probably my best painting yet.

I fall more and more in love with my Copics every time I use them.

The remnants of some glimmer mist activity.

Congrats to Peg, who we’ve chosen to highlight from the February challenge!

What Peg Had to Say

I had been stewing on this layout for months since I found that cute set of him playing on the patio with his favorite bear. I am taking a BPC class called Embrace Imperfection and I realized I was putting it off for perfectionism reasons so I got it done this weekend. I used a sketch I just loved and went for it. I still need to pick up the print for the last photo block there on the right but didn’t want to let that get in the way of getting it posted.

I actually bought this paper with Caden in mind quite a long time ago and out of a clearance bin no less. It just seemed very ‘him’. The polka dots are the reverse of that paper so those two papers drove the rest of the color decisions. I did have it on white originally and really couldn’t bear the huge expanses of white so I tracked down the green background sheets and then I liked it a lot better.

The sketch had flourishes where I put the buttons. I had a flourish chipboard piece I tried but couldn’t get it to work and these Basic Gray buttons matched the colors, so they did the trick and by then I had circles galore so that just added to that effect. I was thrilled to find the journaling circle that had the great saying on it and pulled it into the circle palooza.

What the Judges Had to Say

While Peg used a sketch for her entry (which is A-okay — we just like you to mention it!), she made her own design choices as well. The biggest thing that stood out to us is her use of repetition, which was the challenge topic she chose. Peg repeated circles:

• the main large circle in the background
• the buttons
• the dot patterns (even the stars have dots!)
• the journal block
• the bubble punched along the blue paper

Repetition is a great way to make the page feel complete and unified.

Peg’s darker green background balances the busy patterns and makes the important items pop and her choice to use yellow as a matte puts the emphasis on Caden because the yellow matte emphasizes Caden’s yellow shirt. Overall the color scheme is energetic with the yellow, turquoise and white — great for a little boy.

Peg turned a more feminine sketch with flourishes into a very boyish page!

Find Peg

Peg is “Peg in Co” at the Crop Circle. You can visit her at her page in our community.

Join the Challenge

If you get inspiration from all the stuff that goes up on Paperclipping, how about putting it to use and joining our monthly challenge? The March challenge is up and there’s plenty of time to join!

Many thanks to our Challenge Coordinators and Judges: Lesley, Suz, and Kristyn!

I really enjoyed looking at all of the submission for January. It’s hard to choose someone to highlight! Here is the layout that the judges chose for this month! Congratulations, Jamie!

My favorite part is always to read what the scrapbooker said about her process…

What Jamie Leija had to say about her layout:

My Design Thoughts:

• I took my initial cues for this page from the products themselves. Dear Lizzy’s lines are always so inspirational and this line in particular really spoke to me. It was released and I purchased it at just the perfect time, right when I was starting a new job, my first “real” job. Everything in this line is about “living your dreams” and getting this job and doing what I’m doing, is truly a dream of mine.
• I really loved the journaling stack and used one of almost all of the designs on this page. The ticket stubs inspired the notched edges.
• So the products dictated the design, but the page was inspired by an Ingrid Michaelson song. I love her music. She makes it so easy to visualize her words. I’ve actually made a few other pages inspired by her music, but that’s for another story. This line that was journaled around the inner block goes, “I’m a big girl now, see my big girls shoes…”
• I added some texture and an anchoring line with the lovely crochet ribbon. Without it, it just felt like the photo was floating out in space.

What the judges had to say:

This funky-chic layout jumped out at us because of the black shoes against the pale floor and light background paper — it adds drama to the focal point, which is great for the story she was telling.

And we love the focus on her story — her “big girl shoes” representing her entry into her first “real” job. There is a lot of journaling on this layout! She could have used patterned paper around the photo but instead covered the area with journaling spots. It not only adds interest but also gave so many places to record the details about her job. We like how she carefully printed the facts but so casually wrote the light-hearted song lyrics and then doodled underneath them. It makes a frame and defines the space.

Jamie used repetition in her design: the corners of the page mimic the inverted round corners of the tickets, and the pen outline around the edges mimics the outline around the inside part of the layout.

We like that the pink title contrasts with the rest of the page. Pink was a feminine choice for the feminine spin on her story. The lace anchored the photo/journaling area, while also giving the title a place to rest.

Where to Find Jamie

You can visit Jamie on her page at the Paperclipping community, the Crop Circle. You can also find her at her blog.

Participate in the Next Challenge!

You still have ten more days to join the February challenge!

Thanks go Jamie and the rest of you who shared your layouts by participating in the challenge!

**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. We will announce the winner on the next episode. The winner will also be contacted by someone at BPC. Thanks for playing!**

If you listened to Roundtable Episode 57 then you heard about the giveaway! If you haven’t heard yet, go listen!

Leave a comment here for the giveaway. We’ll announce the winner on next week’s episode!

UPDATE: If you have a response to the actual episode content, please leave it at the blog post for the show. Comments on this post are only for the giveaway. Thanks!

We couldn’t leave the booth — there was too much creativity going on here, especially by Laura Denison!

Are you getting inspired? I definitely have some ideas rolling around my head. Here are some of the items Laura used in her projects –

Tim Holtz Configurations Boxes

• Framed Box 1
• Framed Box 2
• Framed Box 3
• Framed Box 4

Tim Holtz Accessories

• Curio Knobs
• Baubles
• Metal Feet
• Metal Clocks
• Metal Hitch Fasteners (Knobs)
• Facets
• Grunge Board
• Locket Keys
• Hinge Clips

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