I am slowly but surely working my way through my kids' school albums. My goal by the end of this school year (May 2012) is to be caught up or close to it. One thing that is greatly helping me with this goal is Kerri Bradford's school-themed kits and photo collages.
I am almost finished with recording/scrapping my daughter's fourth grade year of school and I always like to do one yearly page that shows several photos from the school year usually with photos that don't warrant their own individual page, those random shots that I took throughout the year but still want to include in the school album.
I used one of Kerri's Picture That [Go Long] Photo Collages for today's layout. I love Kerri's collages for a couple of reasons:
- I can quickly and easily create an eye-pleasing design for my page without having to think it up on my own or figure out what size my photos need to be. Kerri has done all that work for us. :)
- I'm able to include lots of photos on a layout without it looking cluttered or messy. Plus, I can print it out on one sheet and the lazy scrapper in me enjoys not having to piece my photo collages together by hand. ;)
I really wanted to jazz up my layout with a die cut title/embellishment border. I had this idea for awhile of collaging several of Kerri's designs from her School Years and This & That School Digi Die Cut Kits to create a custom border. Here's what it looks like in the Silhouette Software as I resized everything to work together prior to un-grouping the items and cutting them out (please ignore the "third grade" title. I had a brief mommy moment where I forgot what I was doing...lol):
Here's a closer look at the die cut border finished on my page.
I used the following designs from Kerri:
- apple (This & That: School)
- books (This & That: School)
- pencil (This & That: School)
- school stacked words (This & That: School)
- grade 4 (School Years)
I added lots and lots of stamping to my die cuts. Not only is stamping fun and addictive but it adds that custom handmade touch and gives these die cuts the look of depth and dimension (much like you get with pre-made embellishments). A little stamping really gives your die cuts that finished look. I love creating my own accents for my pages but I want them to look more like something I could could have purchased.
I used stamps from Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts and Technique Tuesday.
One of the best things about Kerri's kits (and especially the school designs since that is what I'm focusing on here) is that I can repeat any design as many times as I need to. I have 3 kids and instead of having to purchase 3 titles that say "Fourth Grade" or whatever, I can die cut that same title over and over. I love that. I really feel like I get my money's worth out of die cuts this way. And just because the books, apple and pencil happen to be in a school kit doesn't mean they only work for a school-themed layout. Consider die cutting a whole border of books to create a page about a love of reading (I think I should do that for myself ASAP!), the apple would be great on a card or maybe an apple-picking fall-themed layout and the pencil would be great on a page for my oldest son who loves to write his own stories. When you "break apart" the designs in the kit you get even more out of the designs. :)
SUPPLIES (click on photos for links):
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Stampin' Up Ink Colors Used:
- Real Red, Peach Parfait, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Basic Gray
Retired Technique Tuesday Studio AE Stamp Set:
- Summertime Tags
Be sure to check out Kerri's Blog and Website for all her digital die cutting kits and more ideas and make sure you download her school-themed Friday Freebie HERE:
Don't forget to leave a comment on THIS blog post for a chance to win a spot in Jennifer McGuire's newest class. I'm giving away 3 spots! It's going to be a FAB class!
