Today - on the Paper Trail with Skylark

Welcome to this stop on the Paper Trail Blog Hop! You've likely arrived here from The Happy Scrapbooker, Diane's blog. If not, never fear. As always, our hop is circular so you can start anywhere! 

The colors of Skylark had me ooing and ahhing from the get go. The combination of Lagoon and Kraft was perfect!

I'm still working on Easter photos from a few years ago. (You can see others in last month's hop!) Fortunately for me,  my kids' Easter outfits from that year coordinate perfectly with this paper!

I created two coordinating pages. This one features my two kiddos.

The chipboard complements provided a perfect title and accents. I added just a bit of bling.

This second page features my two and one of their beautiful cousins. 

Again, I accented with chipboard complements and some bling.

 The "Picture Perfect" accent hung over the edge of the page a bit, so I just trimmed it down.

Skylark paper and complements were tons of fun to use! I think there will be more Skylark in my future.

Now, hop on over to Betsy's blog, Stamp Scrap Fever, to see what she has created. I'm sure you'll be inspired!

Sailing Away with Tommy on the Paper Trail

Welcome the the Paper Trail Blog Hop! This month we are sailing away with the Tommy paper packet. If you're coming aboard from Diane's blog, you are in the right spot. If this is your first stop, never fear, this hop is circular, so you can start your travels right here! These papers fit right in with the nautical trends in design and the colors - Cranberry, Honey and Outdoor Denim - are terrific!

We don't do much boating, but fortunately, I had some fishing photos which went well with the nautical theme. I created two coordinated one-page layouts that could easily sit side-by-side in my album.

Learning to Fish

I love nautical chart B&T paper! It made a perfect background for this layout.  Other bright colored B&T papers helped to lighten the layout as a whole.

The blocks of paper and the photos were very boxy so I chose to complement all of the boxy, cornered shapes with a half-circle for the title space. I used some old circular letter stickers from my stash along with the Cocktail Alphabet to create the title.
*Tip - Including one or two round elements can help to balance a layout that uses mostly straight lines and rectangles.

 I created this corner embellishment from strips of B&T paper, white baker's twine and Durables Round Studs. I folded the strips of paper over the twine and adhered them back to back. Then I trimmed the strips to the pennant shape and attached the Round Stud. I hung the pennant over the corner of my page and the rest is history!
*Tip - Use regular scotch tape to adhere the twine to the back of your layout. No one will see it and it is less expensive than scrapbook adhesive!


With Dad

This photo is from the same day as the two in the first page, but since I had already told the story of this fishing trip, I took the opportunity to write about fishing with my dad through the years. The text-print zip strip inspired a tribute to my dad. Since the journaling was a bit more personal, hid it between the mats (you can see the honey B&T peeking up).
*Tip - When you have "leftover" photos from an event, use them to tell a story about the person or the place instead!

Since my goal was coordinating single-page layouts, I used similar embellishments - Durables Round Studs and white baker's twine. For the title I dug out some other old letter stickers from my stash. I used creative capitalization because I didn't have any lower case "a's". It also helped to emphasize the word "dad" in my title.
*Tip - Use all caps - or all lowercase letters - for emphasis (as well as when you run out of the other!)


So glad you were able to sail this portion of the journey with me. I hope you'll stop back again soon. For now, bon voyage as you head off to Linda's blog where I'm sure you'll be inspired!

Paper Trail Blog Hop - Claire

Welcome to the Paper Trail Blog Hop. This month we are featuring the Claire paper packet. If you've arrived here from Lynne's  blog, welcome! If this is your first stop, grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage and enjoy the art work!

I must confess, the Clair paper was the one that first drew me in when I saw the Spring/Summer idea book.The colors and patterns reminded me immediately of my mom. I couldn't wait to create something. It also doesn't hurt that Outdoor Denim is my favorite color!

As I have been doing a lot lately, I created two single page layouts that can also function as a double page spread. I find this design very flexible especially when I am working with three photos. Three 4X6 photos seem too much to put on one 12X12 page, but tricky to design on a 12X24. I have much better luck working on a 12X12 canvas with one photo and another 12X12 canvas with two photos.


My first layout (or the left-hand page if you think in 12X24) features one photo. I wanted to draw attention to the photo and the Main Frame - Details pattern from Reflections made it easy. I embellished with Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon - another product that caught my attention early in this idea book - and a perfect complement for this paper!





I also created some of my own embellishments by stamping words and images from Sightseer and then cutting them out to imitate the look of die cuts or stickers. (I love the versatility of stamps!)








The second of my layouts using this Bottom Border - Base pattern from Reflections features only paper, ink and adhesive:

I used Hooray Bouquet to add a subtle flower pattern on the geometric Sunset paper. The title is the largest font on the Trinity alphabet. The border beneath the title is from In The Background. The arrow accentuating the title is from my current favorite set, Sightseer.  I also added a few text elements as embellishments using retired stamp sets.



Thanks for stopping by! Now, head on over to Betsy's blog to see what she has created using this fun paper! Check back here on Thursday to see a fun layout using Chantilly and the trendy sunburst design.