Scrapbooking Process Video: 6 x 6 Paper for 12 x 12 Layouts

After organizing all our family's digital photos in one place, you can imagine that I found some real treasures.  The below layout is now one of my new favorites.  My hubby was trying out a new lens back when Josh was three years old, and these are a couple of the photos that came from that little mini photo session.

For this layout, I used three 6 x 6" sheets from an old Sassafrass pad. This pad had so many bold and crazy prints, but I was determined to challenge myself!  I chose a striped pattern and pieced them together on black cardstock, leaving a "hole" for two photos and embellished around them.

The video this week shares some of my tips on how to use 6x6 papers for your full page layouts:




Bonus projects:

With this same paper pad, I finished a card using a Tim Holtz Sizzix die for the card edge and some flower stickers from my stash.  A great card for one of my cool, hippy-type friends:

Finally, a "junk" layout -- using wilder patterns and a variety of miscellaneous diecuts and handmade embellishments from my stash that I wanted to use up.  I suppose you could call this one "eclectic":

I am sharing my creations this week at:

http://thememorynest.blogspot.com/2013/06/whimsical-wednesday-6-share-layouts-and.html

How can you challenge yourself today with 6x6 paper?

Photo Focus: Try it in Black and White

Close up photos (or portraits) are great for scrapping. However, have you tried using a photo in black and white? I have started doing some of my portrait shots in black and white, and it really give a new look to a scrapbook page. Here is an example.

This is Matt, my "tweenager". He will sometimes let me snap a photo -- so I take advantage of it. Here is the photo in color:

While this is a great close-up, I edited it to black and white:


There is much more focus on his face, instead of the background. The sunlight also gives great highlights, without doing any other adjustment.

This black and white technique was done using Windows Photo Gallery. First, make a copy of your photo. With the copy, simply choose "Fix", then "Adjust Color." Slide the Saturation tool all the way to the left, then save. That's it. There are other programs where you can fine tune black and white photos, but if you are a beginner, this is the simplest and quickest way to go.