My process.

My completed layout. Click image to enlarge.

So I've been thinking a lot lately about my process and thought I'd share it with you. I took notes (and a few photos) the other day when I was creating the layout you see above.

My process actually starts when I upload my photos. Sometimes before, if I'm shooting photos with a specific layout in mind. :) Anyway, after I uploaded these photos, I printed a contact sheet. As you can see, I recorded the date (back in June 2008), and a possible title that came to mind when I looked at these photos: She Loves You. I filed this page, in chronological order, in my son's album planning binder (just a regular 3-ring binder from the office supply store).

Contact sheet from my album planning binder. Layout title idea and photo date at the top. Journaling at the bottom.

And there it sat, until February 28. 2011. I actually was avoiding scrapping it, because although I had a title idea, I didn't have a clue what I was going to write for journaling, and for some reason, with this layout, just the title didn't seem like enough. Then in February, I saw Karen Grunberg's layout Loved and Adored and instantly knew the journaling was perfect. She wrote, "Most kids are loved and adored by their parents. But you, my son, have the added joy of being loved and adored by your big brother. It's a big privilege." I made a couple of changes to suit my layout, but kept most of her words: I replaced brother with sister (obviously, since William doesn't have a big brother), and changed the last line to "Lucky boy" (this last change actually coming when I was writing the journaling on the layout).

Finally inspired to scrap these photos, I flipped through my inspiration notebook until I found a layout to scraplift.


My inspiration.

I processed my photos in Photoshop Elements 7, resized, and uploaded them to Mpix for eventual order. Then I printed drafts of my photos as part of a week's worth of layouts.

Once I sat down to actually create the layout, I started by matting my photos on white cardstock. I noticed I have the same Heidi Swapp transparent clocks as the inspiration, so I pulled mine out of my stash to use. I found a border sticker I wanted to use. I pulled out my butterfly drawer, and I dove into my stash of patterned paper. I ended up with a polka dot from My Mind's Eye and a stripe from Basic Grey Periphery.

The start of my creative process: picking out supplies.

At this point I was interrupted to pick up the kids from school. When I got started up again, I realized I should time myself, and noticed it was 4:20pm. First I inked the edges of my background with Chalk Ink in Charcoal. Then I sprayed Maya Road Glimmer Mist in Bubblegum (pink) and Carribbean Blue on the background.

Customizing the background with ink and Glimmer Mist.

 Next I cut a 2-inch strip from the stripe pattern on my new trimmer (which I am loving, by the way!) and inked the edges.

I am loving the 12" guillotine trimmer from Tonic Studios.

I decided the strip needed some more interest so I put it through my favorite border punch, Apron Lace by Fiskars. I inked the lacy edge and adhered the strip to my background. Then I adhered the clock. (I just used my regular American Crafts This N That permanent adhesive on the bottom half of the clock, knowing it would be hidden behind the photos.) I adhered border sticker next, although it made me kind of sad to cover up so much of it because it really is so pretty. At this point I decided the layout needed another horizontal layer, so I dug into my ribbon stash. I already had an idea which butterfly I wanted to use (I've been wanting to use it for a while now), and I knew I wanted to add some more green to my page, so I picked out a green ribbon that was still sitting out on my desk after working on my December Daily album. I adhered the ribbon with regular adhesive as well. (I do like my Xyron X150, and use it often, but I knew the ribbon would be held well in place by the photos.) Next I adhered photos. I generally prefer my photos straight, rather than tilted, so I lined them up straighter than they were in the inspiration. The butterfly needed some work to better match my page, so I inked the edges, and went over the brown pattern with my black Slick Writer. Hello, perfectionism. LOL

For embellishments, I picked out some bling - some old Prima swirls whose packaging I am happy to finally see empty  lol - and cut it apart into sections that worked better for me. I stuck it down without too much trouble. Then I wrote my journaling directly on the background, with the changes I noted above. I observed with some interest that while I have no problem scraplifting a design, or even copying others' photos, for some reason using others' journaling bothers me. Of course, you'll notice I did it anyway. lol I tried 2 different sets of letter stickers for my title before settling on my first choice.

At 5:30 it was done. I stared at it for a while, feeling that it needed something else horizontal to the left of the butterfly and to the right of the highest photo, but not sure what. I flipped through a bunch of stickers and borders but didn't find anything. I second-guessed my decision to use pink letters for the word "you." The husband said it was just fine though so I left it, and as I couldn't figure out what else to do with it, decided it must really be done after all.

And that's it! Layout complete - a page a day for 5 days in a row (at the time - I'm up to 16 now). Only 40 more days to reach my goal! :)