Scrapbooking Playtime

Do you ever just play when you scrapbook?

This layout felt like pure playtime for me. I tend to find myself using the same go-to techniques, products, and style and don't venture out of my comfort zone as often as I should. While scrapbooking is very much a hobby and a lot, lot of fun, I still don't think I play as much as I think I should.

On a Friday evening when my kids were vacationing with their Grandma and my husband was busy working, I decided that I was going to go into my scrapbook room and just play. I had an 8 x 10" picture I was itching to use, a new Silhouette needing to be broken in, some Pinkfresh watercolors, Nuvo embellishment mousse, and a strong urge to just go have some fun and experiment. So that's exactly what I did.

Here is all of the "experimental" play I did:

• I used my Silhouette to cut out the quote in the middle of the picture. I designed the words and layout and then after it was cut I added the colorful stripe pattern behind it. I knew I was mostly going with a monochromatic color scheme for the rest of the layout so I wanted the quote to be really bright and stand out with all the blue-greens.

• I used a circle punch to create the wave strips on the photo. I also used those strips as a template for the stitched waves. To mimic the different shades of the blue-green colors in the picture, my stitched waves are in three different shades.

• I used Nuvo Embellishment Mousse and a heart stencil to add the small hearts. I had the chance to play around with the Nuvo embellishment mousse at We Create last September and fell in love with it. I don't know why it took me so long to use it again! It's such a beautiful product!

• I used Pinkfresh Watercolors and a q-tip to create the "water spots." I've been playing with watercolors here and there and I wanted to experiment with using things other than brushes to apply them to my projects. I was really happy with the way it turned out! I think I'll have to add a supply of q-tips to my stash now!

• To finish, I added Nuvo Drops, some hexagons, tiny hearts, and word stickers to complete the look.

I doubt I would put this layout down as one of the best I've ever made, but I sure did have a lot of fun creating it. I highly encourage you to find some time to venture out of your comfort zone from time and time and simply play!

Products Used: Patterned papers: Simple Stories Dream Big; Hexagon Punches: Fiskars; Tiny heart punch: Fiskars; Circle punch: Recollections; Liquid Watercolors: Pinkfresh Studio; Nuvo Embellishment Mousse: Tonic Studios; Nuvo Crystal Drops: Tonic Studios; Fonts: Matilda and Blackout