IMP Design Team Maribeth Lysen | Making Pages
Hi friends! Maribeth here today and I want to talk about making pages which is the 3rd module in the IMP class.
Making pages can start different ways. The majority of the time, it’s because I’m excited to scrapbook a photo or a story. Other times I’ll be really excited about product and use that as the inspiration for my layout. I enjoy the shopping and buying part of our hobby. It’s fun to shop, and for those of us who’ve been around the hobby for a while, I still miss walking the isles of scrapbooking stores and getting to see and feel different papers and stickers before I would buy them. I also work hard to follow Theresa’s solid advice to use things when they come in the door and you are loving them, instead of hoarding for the “perfect” project that may or may not arrive. It doesn’t matter what inspires you at any given time, whatever works to get your memories in an album is what counts!
For this layout, it was product inspired. I started with my favorite paper from the “Love My Life” collection by the Practical Scrapper, paper 12×12 #3. I am crushing hard on this particular paper, so I used it to make my title card. I added the adorable sticker from the collection and used a stamp style font to add my dates in Photoshop before printing the card. This set the tone for the entire spread and gave me a nice jumping off point.
When working with a digital collection, I like to start by opening my favorite cards and papers in Photoshop to make sure I use them when I love them just like I do with my physical products. To design my layouts, I use a pocket page template I made myself that matches the 9×12 page protectors I get from scrapbook.com. I use my favorite card/paper first, and then move my next favorites into the pocket template depending on how many journaling spaces and filler card spots I have. This varies every week. Some weeks I have a lot to say so I need more journaling spots.
Some weeks I have more photos and need to add an insert or make photo collages for my pockets. But some weeks, as happened in the month of January this year, I didn’t have nearly enough photos to fill out the layout. When I don’t have enough photos, I go back and add in shows and movies we were watching, podcasts I listened too, books I read, screen shots of text messages with my husband, friends, or family, and if I have any, add in ephemera. If I’m really short on pictures, I’ll look at the week before or the week or two after and see if I can “borrow” any photos that likely won’t get used for those weeks. It’s my album, future me won’t care if a picture is a few days early or late. I have adopted Taylor Swift’s motto, “I’ll do what I want” and roll with it.
Once I’ve got my photos, papers, and cards laid out on the digital template, I add my journaling and start printing. For my journaling I generally stick with a typewriter font so it’s one less decision to make and gives my pages some consistency. For titles and dates I’ll occasionally change it up like I did here.
I use my Epson Picturemate to print all my photos and journaling cards. Having the Picturemate has been a game changer since it’s at my finger tips and makes printing super easy. After everything is printed, I pull in physical embellishments from my stash to add depth and dimension to my spread. This time I used some chipboard hearts from Studio Calico and some of the February 2022 kit from Cocoa Daisy. The chipboard heart was perfect for the “All You Need is Love” card and that was what kicked off my embellishment choices.
I hope you’ll come join us in the Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/inmypocketclasses
You can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maribethlysen/