It's National Scrapbooking Month!!

This year for NSM we have an awesome group of special products called Live Beautifully. First, there's the paper pack containing 16 sheets:  2 each of 6 double-sided designs and 2 each of 2 single-sided gold foil designs.  To coordinate with the paper we have a D-size stamp set.

Finally, the Cut Above Layout Kit is perfect for everyone from the seasoned scrapbooker to the novice. The kit comes by itself or you can bundle it with adhesive, journaling pen and an album. Better yet, the bundle is 20% off retail!! The finished pages, presented in an album, makes a lovely gift for Mom, a graduate or a June bride.

Be sure to check under "Events" for information on all the classes I'm offering using the Live Beautifully products.

More Throwback Thursday Graduation Layouts

More celebration of Graduation season and Throwback Thursday...

in 2013 Tommy paper (still available on Studio J) came out in the perfect colors for my son's graduation!

Layout #8 from Make It From Your Heart Volume 1.
Info on how I used Flip Flaps to make the announcement interactive can be found on my Facebook page.
"Liberty" die cut from Artbooking.

Notice the color I added to the white cardstock using our Spray Pen? I  previously wrote a blog post about this technique.

"Sideline Surprise" layout from Imagine. This one can be a little complicated with the angled photos. You can always change them to squares. Mine got a bit busy so I used ribbon to separate the two photos on the left pages and highlighted the action with frame shapes on the right side.

Diplomas are just rolled paper tied with Baker's Twine.

"Simple Contrast" from Cherish. Flip Flips on both right side photos; instead of three, I have seven photos. This layout also includes paper from Lucky, and it too is available in Studio J.

"Contrasting Elements" from Cherish. 
Borders cut using Art Philosophy cartridge.

Flip Flaps on the photo and the program.

Memory Lane

In case you haven't heard about this fun idea:

Throwback Thursday 

When you put a picture from a "while" ago on your social media sites.

I thought it would be fun to play along showing some past CTMH papers, kits, etc. After nearly fifteen years with Close To My Heart, I have a LOT of papers as well as the traditional throwback photos.

Sometime I have old pictures on old paper. 

From the last "Big Bertha" yearly Idea Book 2004-05

Do you remember My Creations Level 1 Kits? Level one kits included pre-printed layouts and coordinating papers. The My Creations line also included a 12x12 sheet of full color die-cuts.

The colors in the Graduation kit and papers happened to be similar to my college alma mater so this was one of the few times I went back to scrapbook an event from my pre-scrapbooking years. Back then, only my memorabilia ended up in a scrapbook. Photos went in a photo. album. Isn't it great to have both in one place?

I have one remaining layout that is waiting on a photo but I want to show you this idea. Here I covered up the red in the stripes with small strips of Sunset cardstock. The red mat will also be covered so the ends don't need to be cut to size.

More color adaptations using this kit are shown below.

Sometimes I put new pictures on old paper, like this example...

From the Summer 2006 Idea Book

We carried a line of kits called "My Reflections Collection" that included everything needed to make an embellished 12x12 double page layout. I loved these kits! (There's still one unused waiting on my self for the perfect photos.) There was no creativity required, just follow the directions and copy. This was very similar to our current WOTG kits. I probably made this layout nine years ago as a sample, and then it sat, waiting for someone to graduate! Either I forgot it for the first high school commencement or decided not to use it because it wasn't in the school colors. Fortunately when DS#1 and his then GF (now our DIL) received their undergrad degrees it matched perfectly! All I need to do was to print my pictures in the appropriate sizes.

This paper is only a few years old, but it is retired. Pictures from the same "new" event.

Autumn/Winter 2012 included a WOTG called Spellbound. 

The orange (Sunset) and black papers were perfect for graduation pictures from our local college.  I mixed the Spellbound paper with pieces from the My Creations paper pack. 

The bases of these pages are pre-printed layouts from My Creations Level 1 Kit.
I covered the areas in the "wrong" colors with the "right" ones.

To see how I fit the Flip Flaps to size on the announcements, go here.

The die cuts were a free image of the week from Cricut. There's a new one each week! 
I try to pin them to my Cricut Ideas board and share on my Facebook page. These are from the Classroom-June & July cartridge. Check the offering each week and cut what you might need later.