Continuing a week of looking back, I thought I'd share my favorite scrapbook pages from this year:
January 17, 2011:
I love this page because of the tissue paper background, the soft gradation of color, and the silly photos!
February 19, 2011:
I love this page because of the painted journaling. And the design is really different for me.
February 22, 2011:
I love this page because it mixes simple with paint in some nice ways. And I love that I used that leftover scrap of pink with a cut out in it for the bottom of the page and it just works.
March 25, 2011:
I love this page because I love those flowers I made! They're one of the lessons from my "It's Sew Easy" class, which is probably the hardest class I've ever taught. But I loved all of the projects that came out of that experience!
June 22, 2011:
I love this page because it came together effortlessly. And I took some risks that paid off: the teal stripe, and the big circle around the photo).
July 24, 2011:
I love this page because I threw paint all over that pretty paper piecing and it just made it better! Plus I managed to make two terrible grainy photos look kind of cool!
July 27, 2011:
I love this page because it was my first 8.5x11, a rare patterned paper background page, and it incorporates one of my favorite embellishments: a hand painted tag!
August 7, 2011:
I love this page because when I figured out that glitter technique I jumped up and down! Love how it looks!
August 8, 2011:
I love this page because when I figured out that chevron piecing technique I jumped up and down! Plus I love the inclusion of a piece of crochet. I want to do more of that in the future!
September 7, 2011:
I love this page because of those quirky little painted and typed tags. Love.
September 12, 2011:
I love this page because of the colors and the bold black herringbones.
October 12, 2011:
I love this page because I love the design. I love tags. Have I mentioned that I love tags? And I finally figured out a way to get some of the big ones onto a layout!
October 31, 2011:
I love this page because it is doodleriffic! I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I love the result!
November 15, 2011:
I love this page because it is so simple and graphic. Plus I love that stamp set!
November 16, 2011:
I love this page because it is graphic and clean. Not a single paint splat in sight!
December 6, 2011:
I love this page because I was experimenting with a new technique with watercolor crayons and the results are so cool! Plus I love that tape I made!
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Some things that I notice all these layouts have in common:
- They all have a white, kraft/brown, or yellow background. And most are built on white cardstock.
- Every layout, but one, uses paint.
- Generally speaking I tend to like the photo in the center of the cardstock -- maybe slightly off to the left or the right, but pretty centered. There are some exceptions, but not a lot.
- I'm proud to say that all of the layouts have journaling.
- While there is some typed journaling, I tend to be a handwriting journaler.
- Many of the layouts have a stripe of some kind up against one or two edges.
- I clearly like a bold title!
- I used mostly smaller photos, and a lot of Hipstamatic photos! Also a white border appears around many of the photos.
- All of these layouts fit into the "graphic artsy" category -- they're definitely artsy, but they all have a strong graphic quality.
- Most of the layouts employ a certain amount of white space. As dense as some of the painted areas are, there is a clear place for the eye to rest.
- I'm not a big embellishment user. Looking at all of these layouts, most of the embellishments were hand made, not bought.
Lots of food for thought here. Since I left all of my scrapbook design teams this year I find myself more and more able to scrap the way that I want to. And the way that I want to is pretty much cardstock, paint, stencils, stamps, and a pen. With maybe a few tags or a bit of patterned paper. And since I love all of these pages, I feel encouraged to continue in this direction of doing what feels good, keeping it graphic but artsy, and making my own little embellishments!
P.S. I like tags. ;)
P.P.S. The winner of May's class, The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide, is...
Congratulations Hilda! Let me know your e-mail address and I'll send it on to May!
