Hello Stampin’ Friends ~

Today I am sharing some scrapbook pages that I did a “few” years back, however they are still relevant today.  Lately I have been talking about getting back to the basics; stamps, ink and paper … and that is exactly what I’m showcasing on our pages today!

I have always felt that the photos should be the focal point of your page, and then the journaling.  Embellishments are great and they are fun, but I have seen pages that are embellished to the point were I could not “see” the photo!! What?

Let’s begin with the simplest of pages … just stamping!

This was a 6 x 6 page in my “Brag Book” … I took two complimentary colors and put them together and then just stamped my images with VersaMark™.  This makes it easy to create a background with multiple colors without multiple inks!  Super Simple … a little gold cardstock to pop my photo and a little glitter to add some pizzazz.  There is plenty of room to add some journaling, I would probably print it on vellum and then add it to my page.

My next page is also creating a background but with multiple colors …

This is a FUN page to make … get yourself an “Uninked Spectrum Pad” on page 202 of our annual catalog and ink it up with your favorite colors.  Here I have Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze and have create multi-colored Oak leaves.  The other leaves solid but using the same colors that were “stamped off” first so they appear lighter.

A simple heading “FALL” made with scraps and you are now ready to add your pictures.  If you want to add embellishments to highlight the photo, may I suggest die cutting your leaves and placing them at the corner of your photo.  Although this stamp set is no longer available … we have many beautiful coordinating stamp sets and dies that you can use.

Next up is a cute page created with sponging ….

Remember, we’re back to basics here … Stamps, Ink and Paper.  Super simple page creating a beach and water.  The Crumb Cake paper was sponged with Crumb Cake ink to create the texture of sand.  We tore the edges of our paper and then sponged them with White Craft Ink to create the illusion of waves.  Don’t put that sponge away yet … We used the same sponge with the White Craft Ink to create soft wispy clouds in our sky.

My last page uses punches to create “color blocking”…

The color “blocks” actually create a frame around my photo showcasing the picture itself while giving us space to add some fun stamping elements and a header.  On this page, I actually stamped color on color … this creates a bolder image than if you would have done them all in Versamark.

The color blocking is a playful way to add dimension to your page and the colors just say “Spring” … gotta love that. Hope it’s coming to our town soon!!

I hope you enjoyed this little parade of pages and that it inspired you to pull out your pictures and do some scrapbooking.

Thanks so much, and have a great weekend.