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Idea of the Month

Simple Scrapbook Idea- Florida Vacation Layouts

When I went to the June 2001 Close To My Heart convention, I was all fired up by a talk by Stacy Julian based on her new book, Simple Scrapbooks- 25 Fun & Meaningful Memory Books You Can Make in a Weekend (Creating Keepsakes Books, ©2000).   Stacy, a former Close To My Heart consultant, is a wonderful speaker and is currently a well-known instructor within the scrapbooking industry.  In September I went on a stamping retreat and decided to tackle the project of scrapping the pictures from our 1999 vacation to Florida (yep, 2-year old pictures, LOL!  I'll bet you have some like that, too!).   I followed the guidelines in Stacy's book, and I am proud to say that I completed this 6x6" scrapbook in one weekend!  Actually, I had it done by Saturday night (ok, so it was a LONG day, but I did take time out to eat, LOL!). 

I was so thrilled with how this album turned out that I just had to share it with you!  So, here's how I laid it all out, following Stacy's general guidelines.  I hope you like it!

Step 1: Create a Title Page

Step 2:  Create a Table of Contents

Ok, so I called mine "An Index of Memories" instead of "Table of Contents," but you get the idea.  I divided our vacation up into sections and made up fun "titles" for each one.  "Makin' Waves" includes all of the beach pictures, "Walkin' the Plank" is about our side-trip to Main Street Pier in Daytona, etc.  I chose a small stamp and ink color to "code" each section; you'll see this stamp used throughout that section of the book as you read on.  Notice how I've essentially repeated the title page layout for the left-hand layout.  The right-hand layout repeats the torn-paper "sand" and uses the same colors and cloud background.

Step 3:  Create Subtitle or "Divider" Pages

Here's where Stacy's idea of using a pre-set theme really starts to pay off in time savings.  For each section of the album, I created a Subtitle or Divider page using the same format.  The only difference is the use of the coded, stamped image I talked about in Step 2 above.  "Makin' Waves" is coded with a blue ship, so that's what I have nestled in the sand.  For the "Walkin' the Plank" Subtitle page I used a red beach ball, and so on.  It didn't take long to create the 6 Subtitle pages I needed and insert them into the book.  At this point, you can create the "filler" pages whenever you'd like: you don't have to complete it all at once.  The book's framework is complete and you can add to it as often as you'd like.

Step 4:  Create the Filler Pages

The filler pages are really the fun part.  I used this filler page format in every section, right next to the Subtitle page for that section.  (So in this case, the "Makin' Waves" subtitle page was on the left, with this page on the right).  I followed the same formula every time:  Close To My Heart® Outdoor Denim cardstock background, photo mounted onto white, a bit of sand in the lower right, plus the coded, stamped image for that section.  Because of the dark background, I did my journaling on a piece of white cardstock and just mounted it in the upper right.  

These are the next 2 pages in the book, and I used this same format in other sections as well:  Close To My Heart® Desert Sand background/texture paper background with photos mounted on Close To My Heart® Outdoor Denim and more Close To My Heart® Desert Sand.  Notice how I continue to use the coded, stamped image (blue ship) throughout this section to tie things together.  I absolutely love the picture of Michael in the sand.

Other pages were much simpler.  For some I just rounded the corners and mounted them directly onto white pages...

...or layered them on white and then mounted them onto darker background/texture paper...or layered them onto cardstock and mounted them on a white page.  Nothing fancy, but the same colors "flow through" the album, pulling everything together.

It was also fun to use contrasting patterns of background/texture paper and to add captions. 

The other filler pages followed these same principles.  As I said, the design work is done once, you just repeat the elements.  I thought it turned out great, and I really hope you liked it!

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