Hello all my Ella loves out there in blog land! I sort the layout submissions here at Ella Publishing Co., and once a month I guest blog to share my favorites from the month.

Without further ado, this month's Loves are: Andrea MacDonald, with her layout "Magic Garden"; Katie Squires, with her mini-album; Jennifer Alfonso, with her layout "Sweet Summer"; Reyanna Klein, with her layout "Joy and Me"; and Mindy Miller, with her layout "iwonder".

*First: I loved how Andrea added so many textures and layers to her layout! I love the feeling of a picnic table with the cloth and the cute little smiles of the fruits. Oh, and that frayed paper edge in red is just perfect. If you want to see more of Andrea (and I know you will) check her out at andreasmetta.blogspot.com.

 

*Second: I found Katie's mini truly inspiring!! The handmade burlap cover is genius...and as she said in her submission, "I had made a little pile of strawberry themed scrap supplies for when we would go strawberry picking this summer. We went this past Monday only to discover that the season was closed.  We picked raspberries instead. I still made the mini book that I had been planning, filled with strawberry embellishments. I like it, kind of cheeky." Cheeky indeed...and when life gives you, um, berries, make a mini. You can see more of Katie at katarooskitchen.blogspot.com.



 

*Third: I thought that Jennifer's page was so innovative using the pennants in her flower! Finding a new way to use a very popular item takes some serious outside the box thinking. I also really love that color combo, so summery! You can find more inspiration from Jennifer at jenniferalfonso.blogspot.com/.

*Fourth: I was instantly smitten with Reyanna's layout! I love the colors and I am anticipating big time stealing her envelope technique; you never know when you're going to need to hide a love note on a page! She states, "To spruce up the envelope a bit, I opened it up and added patterned paper under the flap. I punched small circles and then used a hole punch to punch them again, so they'd fit perfectly over the clasp circles. I made sure that the words 'child' and 'memory' were visible when I punched the circles. Then I just added buttons (with Glue Dots) and some journal strips!" Wonderful, really. I love new ways to use old ordinary things! You can find Reyanna at sunshineandwonder.blogspot.com.

*Fifth: You could say it was love at first sight with Mindy's page! Look at that scotch tape! Who knew an office staple could pack such a punch? I seriously *heart* the circles as a background with her main photo in the corner; it makes me want to know the story behind the hat! You can see more amazing layouts from Mindy at mysecretheart.typepad.com.

 

And Now for a Few Words About August
I decided I'd like to issue a fun and exciting challenge for our August Liz's Loves! To help you understand the reasons behind the challenge, I want you to escape with me into one of the most popular love stories of our day. So, indulge me if you will for a minute. (Twilight fans, you're going to love this! Non-Twilight fans, stay with me because there will still be an incentive for you at the end!)

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was part of him, and I didn't know how potent that part might be, that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."

"You are my life. You're the only thing it would hurt me to lose."

"Isn't it supposed to be like this? The glory of first love, and all that. It’s incredible, isn't it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the pictures, and experiencing it?"

"For almost ninety years I've walked among my kind, and yours...all the time thinking I was complete in myself, not realizing what I was seeking. And not finding anything, because you weren't alive yet."

I've read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and was enthralled by it, like millions of other readers worldwide. I loved her ability to put in to words how her characters were feeling. I loved how smitten Bella was with Edward, even though she knew she shouldn't be, and I could feel Edward's pain in knowing she was untouchable! However, even as enthralled as I was after I read the books, I put them on the back burner of my mind. (I still haven't even seen the third movie yet!)

But, while I was at the library a couple of days ago, I picked up a Stephenie Meyer novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, and I was enthralled all over again. It tells the backstory of a very minor character from the second book in the series, Eclipse. This then inspired me to finally read Meyer's partially finished fifth book in the series, Midnight Sun, which was leaked online and so it's never been officially released. It tells the story of the original Twilight book, but from Edward's perspective instead of Bella's. (I struggled with wanting to read this one because I wouldn't be able to finish and that drives me bonkers!)

Fortunately though, as I was reading, inspiration struck me... Do I ever scrapbook from someone else's perspective? Stephenie Meyer has now been able to recreate the same story through three different characters' perspectives. And she turned it into even more than a he said/she said exercise. It captivated me each time—truly amazing!

Okay, now that you've indulged me, I'm sure you're wondering how this plays into Liz's Loves. Well, here's the scoop: for this upcoming month of Liz's Loves, I want to see pages that are told from a different perspective other than your own. Or you could even go a little Stephenie Meyer on me and show a couple different perspectives on one page. Most of all, I want you all to have fun and try something new to spice up your scrapbooking life!

Of those submissions, I will pick my three favorites, as well as my two other loves for the month. All five loves will be featured on next month's blog post and will receive a discount for some Ella gear. Just email your submissions to submissions@ellapublishing.com, with "Perspective" in the subject line so I'll identify it right away. Deadline: August 16.

I hope this post and my amazing loves have left you inspired! I can't wait to be inspired by all of your challenge pages. You know you just might be my next crush of the month (along with my favorite Twilight hottie)!

XOXO
~Liz


 

Guest blogger Audrey Neal writes:

I've been a book lover for as long as I can remember; in fact, I'm lucky enough to say that some of my earliest memories involve books. And while I consider myself a gadget girl in many ways, switching to an e-reader has been one technological advance I'm not willing to take. Not only would I miss the familiar heft of a book in my hands, but I'd miss out on the amazing cover art that accompanies some of my favorite books.

Those same book covers have served as inspiration for my scrapbook pages time and again. Whenever I'm feeling uninspired, I browse my bookshelves and come away with so many great ideas. Let's take a peek at a couple of my favorite books and I'll show you what I mean.



Design style: This cover features a playful look with hand-drawn illustrations. You could easily achieve the same look with doodles -- either digital, stamped, or hand-drawn.

Technique: The cover artist created a neat effect by using negative space on the hillside to create the outline of a man. Punches give you the same look on your layouts, and clipping masks help you achieve the look with digital layouts.



Photo treatment: Get the same vibrant look for your photos with photo actions, or play around with overlays and textures to mimic the blurred background on the main image.

Typography: This funky font would look great handcut from cardstock or printed onto a subtly patterned paper. Create a block of color to back your title.

The opportunities for inspiration are endless. In fact, I've found that some of my most meaningful layouts have been strongly inspired by the books I'm currently reading and their covers. Here's one of my favorites:



I had just finished The Help and was moved so strongly by this story; I couldn't stop thinking about it, even as I moved on to other books. There was so much about the book that resonated so strongly with me, and in part I knew it was because of the relationship I had formed as a small girl with three older black women who worked at the restaurant my grandparents owned when I was younger. It wasn't long before I knew the story I wanted to tell, but I was having trouble coming up with the layout and style. That's when I turned to the book cover for help.



Color scheme: I pulled patterned papers from some of my favorite designers in the same purples and yellows of the book's cover. (Being able to recolor just about anything makes this really easy with digital scrapbooking!)

Visual element: The birds and birdcages helped me to think more symbolically about the story I was telling; while I never really discusss the idea of being caged by society's ideas about class and race, those ideas are hinted at with the images I chose.

After participating in a circle journal based on books and reading with a number of scrappers this past year, I wanted to continue and expand this idea of getting scrapbooking inspiration from the books I was reading. That's when The Open Book Challenges were born. Every other Monday, seven talented scrappers and I take turns offering up our latest reads for your scrapbooking inspiration. We offer a short review and then include a variety of challenges, both inspired by both the content and the design of the book. To play along, all you have to do is create a layout (digi, hybrid, or traditional), card, or other paper project of your choice (any style, any format) and post a link to it in the comments. That's it -- though we do welcome comments and discussion about the book as well.

Click here to see the current challenges we have posted, as well as short bios of our challenge team.

We've got a new challenge going live on Monday, July 12 -- we hope you'll stop by, check it out, and play along!

Hi Everyone! I am so happy to be back today as Ella’s guest blogger. I have a few
new sketches to share with you as well as a fun tip to help you get the most from your
sketches.

Today I wanted to share with you how you can stretch your sketches in ways that you
may not have previously thought about. The idea was originally inspired by a set
of die-cut sticker photo frames made by K & Company. When I first received this product
I’ll admit, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it. The frames are very cute, but they are all
for small cropped photos. As I started taking the frames out of the package I noticed three
photo-strip style stickers and I lined them all up together on my work table. They reminded
me of a 5x7 photograph and it immediately struck me that that is how I should use them,
not as three separate items but as a single element. With that idea in mind I searched through my sketch notebook for a sketch featuring a single 5x7 photo. Here is the sketch I chose:


And an 8.5x11 version of the sketch:



Here is the layout I created using the photo-strip frames in place of the 5x7 photo:



This time around I actually worked backwards. I made the “stretched” layout first and
then decided to make a layout using the sketch in its original form. Here is the layout I
made using a 5x7 photograph:



Other ideas for stretching your sketches in this way are to replace one or more of the
photographs in a sketch with tags, patterned paper, or memorabilia (truly, the list could
go on and on). Maybe you have a product that has you stumped and you’re not sure how
to use it? Sketches are meant to aid the creative process. Use a sketch as a starting off
point and then perhaps look at that product in a different light. I want to challenge you to
think outside the box and beyond photographs to see how you can get creative with your
sketches and your scrapbooking stash. And, if you make a layout using this idea or any
of the sketches I’ve shared with you today I’d love to see your creation.

Finally, here are some bonus sketches to help kick-start your creative process:






Get more of Donna's sketches from her Ella eBook, Stretch Your Sketches

Today, we invited Lucy Edson of lucyscraftylife.blogspot.com to be our guest blogger, and she responded with this fun video about altering and creating your own patterned paper. Lucy designs for Webster's Pages, Crate Paper, Shimmerz Paints, and The Color Room. And, she's also a frequent contributor to Somerset Memories and Sew Somerset magazines. Take it away, Lucy!

Altering Patterned Paper - Doily Paper from lucy edson on Vimeo.

Welcome to Ella's four week Photography Series. Thanks to the expertise of Noel and Moon we have been instructed over the last three weeks on light, focus, perspective, and this week it is all about action!

From Noel:
Action is sometimes a tricky thing to catch when you are looking at it one frame at a time. Try these tricks to catch some action in your daily life.




Panning is a really effective way of showing motion. You focus on your subject and follow their action with your camera. This keeps your subject in focus, but blurs the background. Think looking out of the passenger window of a moving car. Things are whizzing by while the car window remains in focus. It takes a little practice, but be patient and shoot LOTS of pictures. Then thank your lucky stars that you have a digital camera!

Find a subject that is moving in a consistent motion. They don't have to be going a million miles an hour, just moving in a predictable way. Set your camera to Shutter Priority (usually the "S" on your camera's dial).You'll want your shutter speed to be on the slower side around 1/20 to 1/25. (the bike picture was a 1/25 of a sec at f9, and the scooter image was at 1/20 of a sec at f25.) I was holding my camera, but you may have better luck with a monopod. But since I am monopod-less, I'll tell you how I did it. Focus on your subject, then follow them with your camera, keeping them in the frame as they move. Click your shutter at some point while you're following them in camera, making sure to continue to follow them after you press the shutter. It'll take some practice, but the end result is something like these.  I'm sure there are zillions of applications for panning, but I've only tried it with my girls riding bikes and scooters. It's a good place to start since it's a generally consistent motion to follow. Panning also works wonders with track runners, moving cars and trains, etc.



Taking a shot while someone is in motion can take a fast trigger finger. Catching your subject just at the precise moment their action is taking place can take some practice. In the beginning, if your camera has a burst mode, this is a great time to use it. The burst mode will often take several pictures in a row. This is especially handy with point and shoot cameras as they are known for their delayed shutters. With the picture of my daughter jump roping, I took a number of pictures to get her as she was in the air and the jump rope hit the puddle. It worked to both show her movement, and her goal of splashing as much water as possible.


The movement of fabric, clothing and hair can all show motion as well. In this picture my daughters dress was fluttering as she jumped from square to square.


Mid-air is almost always shows off action in a fun way. Since gravity keeps us grounded, catching those brief moments of flight adds superhero type action to our pictures. Try snapping pictures of a child in mid-air while jumping or running. This picture is of my daughter's thrill of beating her sister to home plate in a game of backyard baseball. You can almost feel her thrill of victory.

From Moon:
As Noel discussed how to take action shots, I'm going to talk a little about action, as in Photoshop actions. You can use actions in most versions of Photoshop, and there are even some for PS Elements. With actions, you can create certain moods or looks to your photographs from one touch of a button. My favorite free actions are created by The Pioneer Woman and you can find her actions here. She does a wonderful job of showing you each of her actions at work.
 
Another great resource is this website. Pifphoto.com is a great resource for photographers where readers share actions and templates and anything photo related with each other.
 
Thanks for spending the last four weeks with Noel and me. We thoroughly enjoyed it!

Did you know you can save 20% when you purchase BOTH of Ella's top-selling photography eBooks? Use the coupon code SUMMERPICS before July 5, 2010.

Picture Perfect 

40 Top Tips for Better Photographs

Also, be sure and check out the other three posts in our Friday photo lesson series.
Light
Focus
Perspective

Welcome to a start of a four week Ella Photography Series. For the last few Fridays (and one more to go!), Noel and Moon have been sharing their photography tips, tricks and challenges to help you take better photographs. Each week they will be focusing on a different topic. This week's topic is Perspective.

Noel shares...
Changing perspective is one of the easiest ways to add interest to a photo. I read once that if you take a photo from the same spot everyone else does, you'll get a photo that looks like every other photo you've seen. For instance, flowers are often low to the ground. if you hold your camera, look down and shoot... you'll end up with an average looking shot. However, if you get on the ground and shoot up toward the flower, you'll get a very different shot with lots of added interest.



After losing this shoe's pair in an unfortunate snow spin out in the Rockey Mountains, I wanted to document the one that didn't get away. I place the shoe on a stool and shot it on an angle. One tip for shooting on an angle, keep an eye on how that leaves your subject. You want the angle to feel purposeful, but not so angled that your subject looks like it is falling out of the frame.



Get low. Just like shooting a flower from a different angle, you can shoot people from a different angle. This is especially true of children. Being adults, we're often taller than children, so we naturally see them from above. Getting low, and looking at them, or in this case at her legs, gives a perspective you couldn't catch from simply standing and taking a picture.



Zoom in. Get pictures of just a piece of the puzzle, as well as the big picture. Zooming in to get a detail shot is a great way of adding a new perspective. I took several pictures of my daughter with her new missing tooth, but really loved this zoomed in shot of my little toothless wonder.



Beside the different angles you can shoot to get perspective... there is also the mental perspective. Taking pictures as a way to convey someone's life perspective. A few weeks ago I asked my daughter to put away the vacuum cleaner. When I came upstairs, this was what I saw. The vacuum, still plugged into the outlet in the living room, but put away in the closet down the hall. From a kid's perspective, she put away the vacuum, just like I said. From a mom's perspective... well, we can all guess. It was a funny way of remembering the big difference in perspective that 30 years and a couple of kids can make.


Moon shares...
I think Noel has pretty much covered the topic of perspective beautifully. Just wanted to add that you can also use perspective to focus on what you want to focus on. For example, in this photo, I wanted to capture the smallness of my nephew's head in relation to my brother's big hands:



The same goes for his tiny feet:



And speaking of feet, that's what I wanted to capture in the next photo-well, feet and legs of my kids. In keeping the focus on just their legs, it makes a greater impact than if I had their whole bodies in the shot:



I hope Noel and my examples get your creative juices flowing to try out different perspectives.

Ella loves photography. Our two photography eBooks have been super popular. They retail for $5.99 each but if you buy both you can save 20% using this coupon code, SUMMERPICS. So do it!

Picture Perfect 

40 Top Tips for Better Photographs

We'd like to welcome a guest blogger today who we at Ella have admired for a long time, the talented Layle Koncar, veteran of both Scenic Route and BasicGrey scrapbooking companies. Take it away, Layle!

I was recently browsing through a piece of junk mail pamphlet sent to me by one of our local furniture stores and I ran across an article that translated perfectly to scrapbooking.

In true 'Dear Abby' style, a reader asked the question

"Is it O.K. to mix stripes, plaids, florals and other patterns in a single room"?

Switch that last word from 'room' to 'layout' and voila!  I found that the answer to the question not only works in home decor, but it works perfectly for scrapbooking, too!

Mixing patterns can be daunting.  And if you're like me, it can be super daunting when it comes to scrapbooking.  I have no problem mixing stripes and florals and plaids, etc when decorating, but when it comes to scrapbooking, I freeze!

But when I started thinking about mixing patterns with home decor and translating that to scrapbooking, a light bulb went off in my head.

The response to the reader's question was simple - mixing patterns is a great way to add energy and vitality to a room.

The article went on to suggest 3 main points to consider when mixing patterns

1. There are no rules to how many patterns to mix; however, too many patterns can be overwhelming. Odd numbers are generally more interesting to the eye, so 3 patterns is a good start.
2. If things start to look too busy, use a solid color to strike a balance between patterns.
3. Stripes tend to be the most adaptable to different decors and the easiest to harmonize with other patterns.

I looked around my house and found I had applied these 3 principles in my own decor when I had a couch designed a few years ago for our living room.  Talk about a daunting task picking fabric for a couch and pillows, with hundreds of patterns to choose from!  According to the article, I knew what I was doing without even knowing it!

1. Odd number of patterns - the tone on tone stripe, a paisley and a bolder stripe
2. Solid color - the cream '4' pillow
3. Stripes!

So I sat down, pulled some product together and used those same 3 'home decor' design principles to create a layout, and this is what I came up with.

1. Odd number of patterns - the polka dot, the honeycomb and the stripe
2. Solid color - the white background
3. Stripes!

Supplies: stripe patterned paper (BasicGrey Offbeat) + patterned paper, alpha stickers, label stickers, rub-ons, Fabrips (Studio Calico Documentary)

What do you know?  It works!

SO glad I didn't toss this pamphlet before reading it.  And so glad my husband didn't get to it before I did and throw it in the recycle bin before I grabbed it, which is a typical occurrence in our household :)

I started looking back through some of my more recent layouts and projects and found that every once in a while (must be a fluke!) I've applied these principles without realizing it.

Giveaway and Discount:

I'd like to share a project, or I should say Class Kit, that shows these design principles in action, with one lucky Ella blog reader. I'll be teaching 3 workshops in Southern California on July 9th and 10th (click here to view the workshops on my blog) and check out the images below.

1. The Three T's


2. Now You Know


3. Thank You For Being a Friend

Just leave a comment on this post by end of day Thursday June 10th letting me know if you're a 'mixing pattern expert' and these principles are a 'no duh' for you or you struggle like me when it comes to mixing patterns and these are an 'aha', I'm interested to hear back!  On Friday morning I'll draw one random lucky winner to receive one of the 3 class kits (a $60 value)!  If you're the lucky winner and local to Southern California, you can even come join in the fun and attend a class vs. having the kit mailed to you! 

There are a few spots available in the classes and I'd love to have some Ella readers join me. Sign up to attend 1, 2 or 3 of the workshops, mention that you read about it on Ella and receive $10 off. Don't live in Southern California, no worries! There's a shipping option available!

Good luck! and stop by my blog and say hi sometime.

And hey, next time take a second look at that junk mail, you never know what scrapbooking advice it might hold!

(p.s. for more fun with patterns, make sure you check out our Mix & Match article and Lisa Dickinson's helpful eBook, Design Workshop: Become a design genius in 10 easy steps.)

Welcome to week two of a four week Ella Photography Series. For the next four Fridays, Noel and Moon will be sharing their photography tips, tricks and challenges to help you take better photographs. Each week they will be focusing on a different topic. This week's topic is FOCUS.

Noel shares her secrets for getting focused:


Focus is one of those fabulous photography tools that takes your pictures to a new level. Much like zooming in or cropping out, focus can draw the eye in. If you have an DSLR camera, one of the easiest settings to work with focus is the Aperture Priority setting. (This is the little "A" on a Nikon or Av on a Canon.) Set the aperture to the widest setting (lowest number) your lens will allow, your camera will automatically set the shutter speed for your picture. The aperture for this picture was set to f 2.8. This kept the flowers in focus, but my daughter's hands blurred.



Focus can also be used to tell a story. In this picture my older daughter is in focus, while my younger daughter across from her is out of focus. I had been thinking about how much my younger daughter sometimes feels like she lives in the shadow of her older sister. With using focus selectively, I tried to put this story in photo form.



Change the focal point to change the mood of a picture. These pictures were taken at the same time. The first picture has a very different feeling than the second picture, although the pose is the same. The second is simply focused on her feet in daddy's shoes while holding a flag. Try focusing on one aspect of a subject to bring tell a different story.

Now it's Moon's turn to share:

It seems like cameras now a days are really smart. They can automatically set your exposure. They can automatically pop your flash when there isn't enough light. They can seek out faces in a frame. And they can auto focus. All great and wonderful things except when the camera thinks that it's smarter than you...



No no no! I don't WANT you to focus on his face. I want the ball. THE BALL, you dumb camera.

Ah, that's better...



Focus is just one of those things you never think about except when it doesn't work properly. Hopefully, these tips will allow you to find your focus and outsmart your camera.

:)

If your photos are blurry, these may be the reasons behind the blur:


Unsharp Mask: this is a filter in PS that is used to enhance your photos. It's easy to get a little carried away with this tool but a rule of thumb for me is, if you run this filter once and the image is still fuzzy then there's really no way you're going to get a sharp image out of it.
Well, we hope these tips help in getting good focus in the future.
~Noel and Moon

Picture Perfect 

40 Top Tips for Better Photographs

Ella loves photography. Our two photography eBooks have been super popular. They retail for $5.99 each but if you buy both you can save 20 percent using this coupon code, SUMMERPICS. So do it!

Welcome to a start of a four week Ella Photography Series. For the next four Fridays, Noel and Moon will be sharing their photography tips, tricks and challenges to help you take better photographs. Each week they will be focusing on a different topic. This week's topic is light.
 
Hi Noel here, I'm a natural light sort of girl. I love its smoothing effect on skin tones. I love how it plays off a portraits with its lights and shadows. I love, love, love that it's free and readily available. You can get some fabulous natural light right in your own home.

Usually a large window or sliding glass door will give you great filtered light. If you've got a north-facing window, that's even better. You can use the window for excellent portrait light anytime of day except the times when it is receiving direct light. During those times you'll tend to get a lot of harsh lines and shadows in your pictures. Great for some things, but not generally great for portraits. The other added benefit to north-facing window light, are the catch-lights it provides. Catch-lights are those little shining spots of white in the eyes on a portrait. They give the eyes an added sparkle and pop.

To get great window-lit shots I do the following

1. Place your subject facing the window, I usually have my subjects 3 to 5 feet from the window depending on the amount and quality of light.
2. Turn off your flash
3. Stand facing your subject and shoot away

All of these pictures were taken from the light of the same window in my living room. By zooming in on my subjects, the picture is free of my general living room clutter. Check your house for go-to sources of light. Try a sliding glass door, a set of windows, or even a bathroom with a frosted window. 


 

As Noel has shared ways to capture wonderful photos inside, Moon is sharing some tips on taking photographs outside.
 
I, like Noel, am a fan of natural light but it can get a little tricky when you're shooting outdoors. No matter what the weather is like outside, here are a few tips to try the next time you head outdoors.

Low sun: Try taking your photos when the sun is low, either early morning or late afternoon/early evening.



This photo was taken in the summer around 8:00 pm. I had my daughter face away from the light and set exposure for her face and not the light that is behind her.
 
Find shade: If you are taking pictures on a bright or sunny day, find a nice shady spot.



One of my favorite places to shoot is in an alley. If you can get over the spooky factor of alleys, that is. It's always shady between two tall buildings.
 
Aim high: Get lower than your subjects and aim your camera up.



Of course the beautiful fall foliage doesn't hurt either. I had my models get under this huge tree but the shade was spotty and their faces would have had some funky shadows if I had taken them at eye level. So I sat on the ground and shot up at them.
 
Work with what you have: Sometimes it rains. And there's no way to reschedule the shoot...



There are some really cool things you can do to your digital photographs now a days and we will be talking more about Photoshop and actions in the weeks to come so stay tuned!

I love making albums and recently discovered that there is actually a method to my album-making madness:

I build my album two pages at a time.

That's it. And this ridiculously simple method works. Like magic.



First, it helps to break your album project down to small, manageable tasks. I feel a sense of accomplishment with every two pages that I finish and   that motivates me to keep going. And from a design standpoint, working with two pages - treating the left and right pages as a collective - helps to ensure that they are cohesive and will flow well together.

This approach works whether you are building a new album from scratch or trying to corral your layouts into an album (one that looks aesthetically pleasing and has a semblance of order). No small task if your layouts are   anything like mine - a lovely collection of mish mosh eclecticness.

I think most  of us are in this mish mos boat together? We don't scrapbook chronologically, we don't use the  same kits over and over again, and  to make things extra mish-moshy, we also like to experiment with different styles and try new artistic techniques. Hence, we end up with a collection of great pages that don't necessarily match.

And I rather like it that way. I like being able to treat a new layout as an individual art project. I don't want to worry about how it will coordinate with the last layout I  made and how it will  look in a book. If I get caught up in those  details, it would take all the fun out of scrapbooking (you know, the creative freedom part) and I'd probably never get any pages done.

What  I wasn't so wild about was taking the daunting task of organizing this eclectic-ness. So I put it off and put it off and then put it off some more. Then one day, I was staring at the photo collage on my wall:


I like the way the layouts look next to photos. Why not use the layout + photo format to make the album?







click to see entire album

For more album ideas, please visit my blog.

Download this layered template for free from my paislee press shop and give this approach a try. Happy album building!



download template

Giveaway

I'm sponsoring a giveaway for a $10 gift coupon to my paislee press shop! To enter for your chance to win, simply post a comment below before Friday, May 28th at 11:59pm  (PST) to enter. You can get an extra chance to win if you tweet/facebook/blog this. Be sure to come back and post links to your tweet/facebook/or blog as a new comment entry for EACH thing you do. ONE winner will be drawn at random and announced shortly after the contest closes.