Do you ever get Crafter’s guilt for buying yet another pack of paper you are sure you are “going to use someday?” Well just toss that guilt away now. Because not only am I going to justify your next purchase, I am going to show you how to consume a whole pack of paper, whilst making not one layout, but 5 awesome double-page Scrapbook designs.
Now I promise you first and foremost, that if you read through to the end of this post, you will see HOW TO USE all of your purchase. And every layout is not only FUN and BRIGHT, they are EASY SCRAPBOOK LAYOUTS to make because I provide the instruction guides. So what have you got to lose? Just read on and C-A-S-E (copy and share) each layout if nothing else.
I am going to use the “SO MUCH HAPPY” Paper pack to illustrate. But before I get into the 5 reasons you can justify your next paper pack purchase I have to tell you a little secret. “SO MUCH HAPPY” WAS NOT my favourite paper when I first saw it in a catalogue.
Do you ever feel that way sometimes about a paper pack and then change your mind when you see it in the flesh?
So, if you feel that way at first glance, let me hold your hand and walk you through it. Because… OH, HOW THAT CHANGED FOR ME after using up THE WHOLE PACK. You know how you fall in love with something when its actually in your hands and presenting your own images and stories? Well I did.
Now let’s dive in and check out not just the 5 Reasons to get crafting, but also 5 BRIGHT FUN layout designs along the way.
1) Awesome Cut-Apart Sheets.
Close To My Heart’s latest style of paper packs have a Cut-Apart embellishment option, (YES – OPTION!) on the back of the 11th and 12th sheet of paper. You can hand-cut around all, or some, of these AWESOME embellishments to add to your page. But you also have the option of just having a BONUS paper design at your finger-tips. (YAY!)
Being a “bright colours” kind of scrapper, my favourite embellishment on this sheet is the huge Ampersand (“&”) Cut-Apart. Now if this looks all too daunting for you, just take a look at how it’s used in the 3rd layout in the Workshops Your Way® So Much Happy Scrapbooking Kit (G1170). I generally like to add my photos as I assemble layouts. And although I haven’t yet added my photos, I do have some in mind. Luckily I jotted that down in my “Scrapbook Page Planner” (I will tell you all about that valuable tool in a future post).
Side Note: A Tip for Modifying Layout Sketches
When assembling this layout I made two small modifications from the original Instruction Guide:
a) There was enough of the Lemon patterned paper to slightly up-size the large mat on the left-hand page. (Originally for a 5”x7” photo). So now I will be able to put two landscape 6”x4” photos in that spot, or a 6”x8” enlargement. (Take note of this NEW SIZE of 6.5”x 8.75” when you are cutting the LEMON patterned mat in the cutting guide, p4, piece 3E).
b) Instead of using the two patterned Mint sheets from the paper pack as the background as suggested in the Instruction Guide, I used two sheets of Mint Cardstock. You have these in the co-ordinating cardstock pack when you purchase it, so you can do this too. Then you will have the two patterned sheets to use in the background of my BONUS LAYOUT I share (below).
Bonus Layout 1: “The Best Part”
This BONUS LAYOUT uses some of the FUN Cut-Aparts for the two titles. The “So much” sub-title is part of one of the Cut-Aparts too, the leftover piece being used in my second BONUS layout (see Mini-ABC and Word Stickers Section).
There are so many options for using these Cut-Apart embellishments. Who will be able to resist the cute dog (also in the Complement stickers) when you have a page of animal photos to showcase? And I know, sometimes, just sometimes, it feels weird cutting into a full sheet of gorgeous patterned paper to cut out an embellishment you just have to use. But you’ll get over that when you see how far they stretch and how many pages you can decorate with them. I promise.
2) Mini-ABC and Word Stickers
Two Sheets of 6″x12″ stickers and die-cuts from the SO MUCH HAPPY paper suite
This paper suite comes with some Mini ABC and Mini Words included in the sticker complements. This was another “I am not sure?” moment for me, and then my light-bulb came on. The WYW Layout-3 (shown earlier in this post) shows you how to use the Mini ABC’s. They are So-MUCH-FUN and SO-EASY. Plus, there are plenty of vowels and those frequently needed letters like “R”, “S” and “T”.
Then there are the Mini Words. WYW Layout-1 (below) gives you just one way of using these to illustrate your story, or emotions felt when looking back at your photos. If you are someone that doesn’t do a lot of journaling (YES – I know you are out there!), you can even get away with using these to “tell” your story.
Bonus Layout 2: “Crazy ADVENTURE”
When it came to the Mini Words, I challenged myself to use up more of these stickers in my second BONUS layout (below). By incorporating these in my computer printed journaling it adds some interest and draws in the reader. To do this I created a rough draft and picked out some key words that looked like they would work to share my story. And then I built my story around these. If the thought of using the computer for journalling challenges you, then you can also include them with hand-written journaling which takes less planning.
(NOTE: I do plan to give a little tutorial on how to do computer journaling in a post in the future. And this is just a slightly more advanced version of that. Have you subscribed to my blog so that you don’t miss out on that tutorial? Click Here to subscribe now if you haven’t.)
3) Colour Options for your Layout
YES, for sure, SO MUCH HAPPY is bright and happy paper. You will either be immediately drawn to it or maybe reel back. You will either LOVE the florals and embrace them (and I have seen many lovely pages and cards using these), or like me, flip it over and see what’s on the back to use. But actually, hidden behind the obvious brightness of some of the papers are some subtle and soft patterns too. Mint, Peach and Linen are all featured colours. The WYW-Layout-2 not only uses some of these softer colours, it also showcases the border print pattern along the base (layout below). It not only suited the theme of my “Community Farm visit” photos, I was able to crop down to smaller sizes the many “silly face” photos we had taken that day.
Peach colour, for me, is one colour I wouldn’t naturally be drawn to. But cleverly the little Candy Apple Red dot pattern on it allows it to blend with brighter and richer colours. Who would have guessed that would work? (Not me, Wink Wink.)
Here is my personalised version of the second layout from the SO MUCH HAPPY Workshop Your Way Scrapbook Kit (G1170)
4) Puffy Stickers
I just had to include the puffy stickers as a reason to grab some SO MUCH HAPPY. These are just THE BOMB and go with any layout when you are using the paper, and probably many other paper packs too. SUPER generic. SUPER FUN! You can see them in all three WYW layouts and the remnants will not go astray in my embellishment stash.
5) The “SO MUCH HAPPY” WYW
I really love the mix of layouts, and photo options, (and of course, NOW, the COLOURS) in the Workshops Your Way® So Much Happy Scrapbooking Kit (G1170). I have always enjoyed creating my own designs with most of my paper purchases. Mostly just because I can. But I am now also a “WYW convert”. Our Close To My Heart Design Team are doing the most amazing job with these designs. And in just a couple of hours, you can go from an unopened kit to 3 completely assembled layouts. So why wouldn’t you utilise those skills and their kit? Whilst you can no longer purchase the paper, you can still download the WYW Instruction Guide here (with whatever paper takes your fancy) and checkout other WYW’s at my website, or by contacting me directly.
Ready to Create Your Layout?
Are you still holding my hand? Because I did promise to hold yours all the way to the end of the post. Or did you drop my hand to start writing down ideas of the photos you can use for these layouts, and these patterns, and these Cut-Aparts?
I told you I would show you how to use it all. And I have. There is very little left but scraps in my pack. Are you impressed and ready to bust out your Crafting tools? If you need help with Scrapbook Layout designs then… Click here to get those 2 FREE Layouts from my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY.
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