Category: Children

Stretching resources – a 12 photo scrapbook layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking5 Comments

Hi there

Thank you to all for all the support that I have received over the last few days since we received our sad news.  I am unable to add much more at this stage except to say that we have some incredibly good deals going at the moment.  These are up on my website at this point in time, so if you would like anything please feel free to contact me.  I don’t know how long these deals will keep so you will need to get in quick.   I would like to think that there will  be some positive resolution to our current difficulties and that we will still be able to access the wonderful Creative Memories Products in the future.  I have also been very heartened with all the support from the other consultants and the way we are all helping each other to get products to all our customers.

Following on my post the other day here is a layout that I did last year on my daughter’s photo album.  This page has 12 photos in it and I have trimmed off all the excess that I didn’t need and the end result is quite pleasing.  Plus I was able to use a lot of photos, which saved on pages and resources, and I got through a lot of photos in one hit!  There is no embellishments on this page, except for me writing down the names of all the people that attended my daughter’s Christening so many years ago.  This highlights the fact that we do not need to add all the embellishments to create an effective page.  Memory keeping is about writing down our memories so our children and grandchildren can look back and understand what was going on.  The embellishments are the decorative element and really should be secondary to what the photos are about.  Less is more!  And when times get tough we just have to get back to the basics to help our supplies stretch further.

12 Photo page layout

So keep on scrapping your stash

Patricia

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Saving resources – The Many Faces of James’ Double Page Layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking3 Comments

Hello there

Because of what is happening with Creative Memories Australia and New Zealand I thought it was timely to look at how we can make our limited resources stretch a bit further.  The great thing with the CM albums is that you don’t need a lot of papers and embellishments to make a great page.  Personally I like to try to get as many photos on my pages as possible mainly to save on products, but it also helps reduce the weight and size of my albums.  Some of the albums with lots of pages can get really heavy!  Also using lots of photos can help to get an album completed more quickly as well.  So there are lots of benefits to be had in being more creative with photos.

With this double page layout I have used 11 photos as well as a journalling paper.  I had an eclectic mix of photos of James and they did not really fit in with any particular theme so decided to put them all together using my page planner (which unfortunately is no longer available) to help with sizing and placing.  To keep with the overall theme of the album I have just placed a strip of cloud cardstock and white twinkle chain strip to tie the layout in with the rest of the album.

The Many Faces of James' Double Page Layout The Many Faces of James' Layout The Many Faces of James' Layout

 

Another way to say on products is to use the page protectors on every second page so as to make them go further (thank you Grace Green for that piece of advice).  The photos are still going to have some protection from the plastic sleeves.

Products used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Cardstock – White

Creative Memories Rugged Story Mats

Creative Memories Border Maker – Twinkle Chain Cartridge

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer

Creative Memories Tape Runner

Creative Memories Precision Point Glue Pen

Creative Memories Black Journalling Pen

So keep calm and keep scrapping

Patricia

 

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Happy Mother’s Day

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Babies, Cardmaking, Children, Creative Memories, Digital Art, Greetings2 Comments

Today is Mother’s Day and it is a chance to reflect on how important mothers are in our world today.  They provide unconditional love and support to their children and are the glue that holds families together.

I have created this card for all the mothers in the world.  I have used the 2013 Anniversary Digital Kit and used the colour coordination feature to change the colours from blue/green to my favourite pink.  I hope you enjoy my offering.

Happy Mother's Day

 

Happy Mother’s Day

Patricia

Rugged family time

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Babies, Children, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking6 Comments

Welcome

Regardless of what is happening with Creative Memories I still have my son’s album to complete.  This double page layout is special as it shows my husband and I spending some special time with James.  James cried a lot as a baby and often my husband, Matthew was the only one who could settle him which helped me a lot, and gave me some time out.  On the whole though he was a good baby and was so cute!

Double page layout Father and son layout Growing up - Rugged layout

 

Products used:

Creative Memories Rugged Photo mats

Creative Memories Decorative papers (sorry I have forgotten the name of it)

Creative Memories Cardstock – Metallic green

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – circles

Creative Memories  ABC Monograms Swirly – Black

Creative Memories Rugged Title Stickers

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer – straight and deckle edge blades

Creative Memories Tape runner

Creative Memories Epoxy stickers – Enchanted

Happy scrapping

Patricia

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Baby boy two photo layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking3 Comments

Welcome again

Much as I enjoy taking lots of photos I still have to do something with them and now it is time to get back to my scrapbooking.  James’ album will not get done on its own!

As I have said in previous posts, James is growing up in front of me again and here is a two photo layout using the Rugged Baby Boy Addition,s as well as a decorative pack  that I received when I went to a Creative Memories training day last year (I am sorry I cannot remember the name of the decorative pack, but it is no longer available).  The colours go so well together.

I have used a lovely striped pattern as the base of my page.  I then placed a smaller cream patterned paper on the page and then put a trimmed sheet of grey paper from the Rugged Range over it.  The two photos were placed side by side (I was just going through my page sketches from Chris Lothian and found a similar sketch from her!) and I have added a couple of embellishments on the photos.  With this decorative pack came a gorgeous green metallic cardstock and I have tried to make it last several pages as it tones in so well with this album.  I cut a strip of this green cardstock across the page and then placed a small strip of floral paper to add some decoration to the strip and break the wide  strip.  To tie in with other pages in the album I have used cloud cardstock to place under the cream paper for a tag.  I finished this off with a title sticker from the Rugged Baby Addition Pack.  I then finished off with a couple of black epoxy stickers from the P.S. I Love You range.

I am sorry that I am unable to give any precise measurements for my layouts but I tend to use whatever I have in my stash.  I never throw out my scraps because I never know when I might need just that sized piece for a project.  Small strips of paper make great ribbons for other layouts, and different shapes make good embellishments as well for both scrapbook layouts and cards.

CM Two photo layout

Materials used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Cardstock – Green metallic

Creative Memories Rugged Baby Boy Addition Pack

Creative Memories P.S. I Love You Epoxy Stickers

Creative Memories Decorative Pack – sorry I can’t remember which one it was but it is no longer available.

Creative Memories Rotary Trimmer

Creative Memories Scissors

I hope I am showing that scrapbooking is not that difficult and the important part about scrapbooking is actually putting the photos into albums and writing down all our memories for future generations to understand where we have come from.

Happy scrapping

Patricia

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More fun Rugged Baby layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Photography, Scrapbooking3 Comments

Welcome back.

As I promised here is the other half of the fun layout I did the other day.  All I have done is invert what I had done in the previous page.

 

 

 

 

 

Single page fun Rugged layout

 

And here is the double page layout together.

Double page layout

 

When I scrapbook, my layouts are very dependent on what photos I have.  I work on sets of photos at a time and then decide on how many photos I place on each page.  Sometimes I only have 1 photo on a page and other times I might be able to fit about 4 or 5 photos.  I don’t always have the same layout on each page of a double layout, but I will try and have at least one element that links the two pages together.  I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and the facebook pages such as Christine’s Creative Capers, but my layouts always seem to end up being my own creations, which I guess is a good thing as it means that I am working on my own creativity and individuality.  I have personally found going to a class where they do one specific layout tends to hinder my own creative style.   But everyone is different and it is a matter of finding out your own personal style.

Another aspect I have tried to do with this album is to have elements linking throughout and keep the range of  colours to a minimum.  For this album I have mainly used the Rugged Baby Additions as well as cloud and yellow cardstock and tried to use different elements to link the whole album together.  I have used another addition from Creative Memories (which I will show in another post) as the colours in that addition also worked in really well with the Rugged range.  I also have used my Border Maker to have another design feature to link the album together.

I hope this helps explain how I design my layouts

Happy Scrapping

Patricia

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Fun Rugged Scrapbook layout

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Scrapbooking7 Comments

Welcome back.

With all that has been happening in the world recently (including another devastating earthquake in China) I have been reminded off how important it is to document and keep meaningful keepsakes of all our family and friends.  I will always remember after the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011  I watched a TV news item about how one of the partners of a woman killed in the earthquake got a lot of solace and comfort from looking through the memory books or scrapbooks that she had created.  Books that had been made with love.

As I have been saying in previous posts I have been completing my son’s scrapbook album.  In this fun page layout I have used the Creative Memories Bright Decorative Cardstock and to make it go further I have cut it in half and used it on another page which I will show at a later date.  As you can see I have continued to use the Border Maker Twinkle Chain and picket fence cartridges and to finish decorating the page I have used some Rugged embellishments.  I have used the Custom Cutting System oval cutters to trim the photos and that has helped to keep the focus on a very cute James.  What has been lovely is that I have been watching James grow up all over again.  That has been quite unexpected, but very enjoyable and pleasurable.  I hope that he will look at this book the same way as the gentleman in Christchurch did.

CM layout

 

Materials used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Cardstock – Yellow

Creative Memories Decorative Cardstock – Green Apple

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – circles

Creative Memories Border Maker System – Twinkle Chain and Picket Fence cartridges.

Creative Memories Rugged Paper Tags

Creative Memories Rugged Paper Ribbon

Creative Memories Rugged Title Stickers

Happy Scrapping

Patricia

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Border Maker Magic

On By patriciamanhireIn Art, Babies, Children, Crafts, Creative Memories, Scrapbooking7 Comments

Hi there

As I promised a couple of days ago I said I would post some more of my son’s album that I have been completing but out of respect for the people in Boston I decided to leave it yesterday.  All my thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy.  Even though I live in New Zealand these events still have quite an impact on us.

I am really loving using the Border Maker system and the cartridges.  In this page I have used the picket fence and twinkle chain border and as you can see I do not throw anything away.  I have used the thin strip of card left over from using the twinkle chain cartridge to glue a thin strip of card down the edge of the picket fence.  The yellow has worked beautifully with the outfit that James is wearing as well as the play gym he is playing with. The blank pages I use are a great background without using a lot of cardstock or paper which can be cost effective and allow the packs to last a lot longer.  I have used the sentiments from the Rugged range as well as I can’t seem to have blank spaces somehow!?!  I am working on this all the time and I will get better.

CM layout using Border Maker cartridges

 

Materials used:

Creative Memories Cardstock – Yellow

Creative Memories Cardstock – Cloud

Creative Memories Border Maker – Twinkle Chain and Picket Fence cartridges

Rugged Title stickers

Rugged Baby Boy Additions – sticker

ABC Monograms Swirly – Black

Happy Scrapping and keep safe

Patricia

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