Scrapbooking Process: Using up Stash!

This past week, I have been going through all our digital photos, making sure they were organized properly and saved all in one place.  The process included going through various CDs, my hubby's computer files, my computer and our external hard drive.  It was quite the job, but I have now compiled what I figure to be all the important family photos in one spot on our external hard drive, by year and by month, with all duplicates and renegade photos accounted for.  The phone photos were the hardest -- before owning an iPhone, the dates were not recorded on the photo files, so I had to match those photos to others where clothing and haircuts were similar!

Now that this job is finished, I feel as though important photos will no longer be missed that need to be scrapped.  Not that I will scrap all of them -- but I knew there were some random shots that told fun and interesting stories that needed to be in our albums.

Here is one of those stories:  My husband took our oldest son, when he was 5, for a very short, shaved, barber shop haircut that nearly gave me a heart attack at the time.  Looking back now, he was stinkin' cute!  

Here is my thinking process for this layout.  First, I decided to really dig in my stash and use only "old" stuff.  There is way too much paper in my paper box, so I need to get into it and start using it up.  I pulled some Paper Loft papers from different collections that meshed nicely together, plus a little bit of this and that from all over my scrap area:

Next, I chose a sketch.  Most of the time, I will start with Pagemaps.  This sketch from October 2012 looked promising and I thought it could develop into a two photo layout:

As you'll see from the finished layout, things didn't go quite as planned! First, I ditched the second photo. Since one photo was portrait and the other landscape, I couldn't find a way to bring good continuity to the layout using both.  Second, I turned the layout so that the long border grounded my focal photo better.  A switch of Paper Loft paper from greens to blues were brought in as well as a chipboard set from Basic Grey that I bought awhile ago at Big Lots and never used.  Since frames are making a big comeback, the rust colored frame from that set worked extremely well with my chosen papers.  

Finally, I brought in just a couple new items (I couldn't resist) to rev up the final layout:  a wood veneer and title letters from the Basic Grey "PB & J" collection.  Journaling will be added on a tag and tucked behind the photo later.  

Notice the Urban "tag" that I used on my layout? Rummage your home for things like this for your own ephemera.

Hope this gives you some inspiration as you scrap this week! What's your page layout process??

Scrapbook Process: Remembering Memorial Day

It's with heartfelt thanks and appreciation that this post is dedicated to all those who have died fighting for our country's freedom, and for those who are continuing the fight on our own soil and abroad.

Today's layout is a patriotic one that I finished last week.  The photo was from an Independence Day celebration in our neighborhood, but nonetheless, an All-American layout it is.

The paper is a sheet from the My Minds Eye "American Made" collection from a couple years ago.  I added diecuts from the line, as well as various bits and pieces that I had, including some flair and a Creative Memories diecut (the firework).  Washi tape and some bling were added to make it even more festive.

The important addition to the layout was this sticker:

We may be American Made, but it is the freedom that is fought for that makes this country truly great.  

Thank you, Men and Women of our Armed Forces - you are loved and appreciated for your sacrifices.

Frugal Scrapping: Supplies from the Sewing Department - Video

A couple weeks ago, I shared some finds in the Sewing Department of my local Walmart that make for great embellishments for scrapbooking. (You can read the full post HERE.)  This week I did a video, so if you'd like to see the items I purchased, you can watch it here: