April Simple Scrapper Layouts!

I am behind on posting these layouts, but the April Premium membership materials are available at SimpleScrapper.com and I truly enjoyed working with them! You can ask 5 different members at Simple Scrapper, what makes the membership worthwhile and you can get 5 different answers! I think the number 1 value is just the help Jennifer Wilson (owner) gives you to use supplies, make time for scrapbooking, and overall simplify everything from photos to finished albums/projects!

But what really made me sign up originally as a member last year were the sketch templates! I didn't know much about what they were, but simply put, they are sketches provided as a regular jpeg file that you can simply open and use to get your layout started AND they come as layered templates that you can open in Photoshop/Photoshop Elements, and use them in their complete digital format to create a digital, hybrid, or regular layout! As a regular paper scrapper, I didn't know how much I would love that they came as layered templates too until I opened one one day, and dragged in my photos to get a feel for how a layout would look before I printed my photos to size and then worked with physical products after that. I LOVE getting to see how my photos might work or even what color papers might work first.

Anyway, so this first layout I used a new sketch template to create this travel layout, for a trip we took to Disney World at the end of February!

I made the travel words paper myself, by printing it out onto 8.5x14 (legal size in the US) and then cutting it to 12inches across!

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For this next layout, I began with this month's story starters that are about faith and spirituality. The story starters are a great part of the membership as well, often I end up documenting something that I wouldn't normally if I didn't challenge myself to use them each month! Since I am a Christian and a Mom, so I got a chance to document my daily intentions with Natalie - namely, trying to start everyday by reading the Bible and praying! She says the cutest little prayer now too, simply, "thank you Jesus, amen!" haha!

I also used an older sketch template and again, it just makes it so easy to piece together a layout by starting with the sketch templates! And guess what, the membership provides 5 new sketch templates every month! That's 60 a year... that's a lot of inspiration and layouts to make!!

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

Then & Now

Well here is quite a different layout for me, one that is a comparison of how I used to take pictures vs. today, which turned into how I got my camera back then vs. now!
I used a Story Starter from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership and loved how my story developed from there (no pun intended)!

I began with a sketch template also from Simple Scrapper, but then I really wanted to use that geometric silver metallic paper from this month's Cirque kit by Studio Calico and ended up cutting out the center and the border triangles that I backed with smaller papers from the same kit. I definitely needed to add my journaling to the front somewhere so even though it made it pretty busy, I added black journaling strips with white pen.

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

You Are My Fave

ABOUT THE PHOTO(S):
I'm back with some layouts to share over the next few days! I hope to keep up a little better this year, and update at least once a week with what I've worked on. Anyway, I had this cute photo of Natalie in her winter gear that I couldn't resist adding to her scrapbook!

LAYOUT DESIGN/MY PROCESS:
I didn't really have a story for this photo, so I used a Story Starter from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership to add my journaling. (I finished on the back to write about how much I appreciate how my husband "invites" us to hang out with him whenever he has things to do, no matter how "boring" it is.) I also used an older sketch template from Simple Scrapper as well - I flipped it on its side to work with my vertical photo!

PRODUCTS USED:
I used Studio Calico's Park Ave kit, as well as the Waldorf Add-on kit, that is quite possibly my favorite add-on kit... in recent memory? I'm scared to say of all time, but anyway, that polar bear stamp was too adorable not to use, and I really loved how Catherine Davis used the digital stamp version to make her background on this layout!

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

Sharing Our Story

ABOUT THE PHOTO:
My daughter and her 3 boy friends, no not boyfriends, she's only 16 months old!! Even though I used a photo from this same day for my 30 Days of Thankful album, I used it to write about my friend Rachel and how we came to be friends and then introducing me to her friends which are now my friends etc. I finally got this story down on paper after using a Story Starter from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership! The story starters are really helping me go much deeper with my stories and not just scrapbooking by event (not that there's anything wrong with that either, I am liking a mix of both)!

LAYOUT DESIGN:
So of course I also used a Sketch Template from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership, this time an older one (the membership provides you access to ALL of the previous sketch templates and story starters - a tremendous value I might add!).

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED:
So once I picked the sketch template, I just had to use the papers from this month's Park Ave kit by Studio Calico... oh how I wish it wasn't December and I've been so busy with December Daily, I don't know that I'll get much more done in terms of layouts, because I LOOOVE all the papers in this kit!! Ahh!!

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

Discover

I'm taking a break from December Daily to bring you a 12x12 layout for the Simple Scrapper Creative Team!

ABOUT THE PHOTO(S):
I had a bunch of photos from Natalie's first trip to the museum back in September, but didn't get a chance to scrap them till now.

LAYOUT DESIGN:
I used a Sketch Template from Simple Scrapper's Premium membership and ended up combining a couple of them and rearranging one to come up with this layout! So if you saw either of the original sketch templates, you may not even recognize that this layout came from either one! I also used a story starter to help tell a deeper story other than, today we went to the museum. I finished my journaling on the back to talk about how I suddenly realized how much easier Natalie had gotten once she could walk and go where she wanted to go, and how I felt very hopeful and excited seeing her walking all around the museum and I just had to follow along with the stroller.

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED:
I used this month's Park Ave kit from Studio Calico, along with some stuff from my stash (pink cork stars that I just ordered, wood veneer letters, and printable labels from another month by Hello Forever). For the large circle, I printed it in a large format rectangle and instead cut the circle from the paper with my Silhouette and laid it over the photo - it made it much easier than trying to line up a cut on the picture itself.

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

Shine

ABOUT THE PHOTOS:
This photo was taken last year on December 1st for December Daily! Why am I just now scrapping this photo? I began this layout "story first" by using a Story Starter from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership. I had a story that I started to write, and ended up with a much deeper story that I printed and slipped into the glassine bag pocket. It's been interesting how using these prompts has really made my pages seem more meaningful, when I honestly didn't think much would change!

LAYOUT DESIGN:
Onto the layout design, I again used an older Sketch Template from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership! I really stuck closely to the sketch template, even though it was for an 8.5x11, I easily stretched it to work with 12x12. At first I was thinking I didn't "change" it enough from the template, but then I realized that's why I love the templates - when someone goes back to look at my pages years from now, they will not be thinking, "Oh, this is like an exact replica of such and such Sketch Template from Simple Scrapper" haha! (I'd be impressed if they did!) Anyway, I love how the membership includes these templates, that come to you as a layered PSD template as well as just sketch image, so I can drop my photo(s) in and see how the end result might look and move things around even if I don't work fully digital!

MY PROCESS/PRODUCTS USED:
I used this month's Christmas themed add-on kit, Pine Hill, from Studio Calico, as well as a few items from my stash. The 3x4 card was from a printable set by Geralyn Sy for In A Creative Bubble from last year and the vellum label is from Crate Paper a couple year's ago. The glassine pocket came with this month's kit and Chris just came downstairs and looked at it and goes "that's cool you used an eggroll bag" hahaha.

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.