One Scrap at a Time: Top 10 Scrapbook Layouts of 2017 + a GIVEAWAY

Hello blogging friends!

I am so excited to be sharing my Top 10 scrapbook layouts with you again this year! If you are hopping along, you would have arrived from Suzanna Lee's blog. If not, no worries, you can start hopping at the end of this post. I have 2 Giveaways going on ... details are also at the end of this post.

1. Capturing Joy - The highlight of my year was being asked to design a cover for Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine Summer Issue! a COVER!!! They ask 3 designers to create a layout with their supplied photo, title, and journaling and choose one for the cover. Unfortunately, mine did not make the cover, but was still showcased inside! So 2017 was the year I was almost ... almost a cover girl. Here is my take. I used the Simple Stories Say Cheese III collection. It's totally cover worthy, right?

2. Winter Wonderland - I had a blast designing for JustNick Studios and Simple Stories! This layout I created with the Winter Wonderland collection and the Nordic Background 2 digital cut file.

3. Sweet, I Love Your Face - Here is another JustNick Studios and Simple Stories layout using the Love & Adore collection and the Ring Around My Heart digital cut file. What could be cuter than selfies with your dog, lol.

4. Mermaid Hair Don't Care - Mid Year I started designing for Paper Issues. This layout was created with the electrifying Pink Paislee Summer Lights collection and FREE cut files from Paper Issues.

5. Bring On Summer - Some fellow designers and I started doing a Stash Bash YouTube series a while back. Every month we pick an item in our stash and then create YouTube videos using that item from our stash. For July, it was washi tape. I love my washi tape! On this layout, I used loads of washi tape all down one side of a sheet of 8.5x11 cardstock. The only pattern paper used was the 12x12 background paper which was also Pink Paislee Summer Lights. The title and Sun were created using JustNick Studio digital cut files.

6. Love You - This is another layout I created for Paper Issues using the beautiful Crate Paper Carousel collection by Maggie Holmes. It was prefect for my Myrtle Beach ferris wheel pic. I love the soft colors combined with the pop of black and white stripes ... and those gold thickers are amazing.

7. Life Is Amazing - I could not wait to get my hands on the awesome PinkFresh Studio's Escape the Ordinary collecton. There are some layouts that just come together so easily. This was one of them. Clearly I was having a short love affair with triangles this year! How could you not with amazing pattern papers like this one. I love the photo cropped in a triangle. Machine stitching emphasizes all the triangles, then dimension was added with some Creative Embellishments triangle chipboard pieces that I found in my stash. Even more triangles were placed along the bottom using the Compressed Chevron digital cut file from JustNick Studios. The Life Is Amazing title is also from JustNick Studios.

8. Dream Big - This was another layout created for the Stash Bash YouTube series. In November, we challenged ourselves to use our spray mists. I used the plastic packaging smoosh technique to add splashes of color to my background after using a Silhouette sketch pen to draw this awesome dream catcher. It is a digital cut file in the JustNick Studios on-line store. I really wanted to do some hand stitching on the dream catcher ... ok a LOT of hand stitching! It took forever, but I love the end result. The feathers were also colored using the same ink as I used on my background. I embellished it with the Cocoa Vanilla Studios Bohemian Dream collection. This is another collection I could not wait to get my hands on! so GORGEOUS.

9. Poogan's Porch - I scrapped lots of photos from our vacation to South Carolina this year. Poogan's Porch was a favorite place we had lunch in Charleston. People, the food was AMAZING! I used the Pebbles Simple Life collection and a JustNick Studios digital cut file to create the background. I wanted to create the look of beautiful tin ceilings that you find in old houses.

10. So Very Blessed - My last layout is another using the Crate Paper Carousel collection by Maggie Holmes and even more JustNick Studios digital cut files. I love this photo I captured of my niece's family. I printed it in black and white so as not to detract from the colors in the Carousel collection. The fabric black and white striped bows are stunning. I used some flair from Pretty Little Studios to add some whimsy.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

My first GiveAway is a $20 gift card to the Paper Issues on-line store. You must enter this giveaway on my YouTube Channel. I would love to have you stop by and become a new subscriber. A winner will be selected on January 7th. You can get the details here...

My second GiveAway is also on my YouTube channel. If you are a cardmaker, you will want to check this one out. On this video, I am showcasing most of my Christmas cards I created this year. This GiveAway ends on Dec 31.