Simple Scrapbooks Holiday Edition & Snowy Kisses

Have you ever browsed through a scrapbooking magazine and wondered about the story behind the pages you see in articles and advertisements? I don't mean the journaling (although I sometimes wonder about that too if there isn't much written on the page.) I always wonder about the scrapbookers who made those creations and what their story is. Are they professionals? How did they get their work noticed?

Well, I can tell you one story about page 12 in the November/December issue of Simple Scrapbooks magazine.

That's my daughter, Liliana, making a cute kissing face. I snapped that photo last Christmas while we were visiting our family in Central New York from our home in Colorado.

That page and the CD mini book that is also featured on that page were made during my assignment to create a showcase display of the Reece Soar With It Collection from The Angel Company. The colors and patterns in that paper are great for the holidays and beyond. When I saw that striped pattern, I immediately thought of Lily's striped hat. There are also lots of circles in Reece, so most of my creations had a circular theme. (Scroll down for some round ideas and inspiration.)

How did I get noticed? Well, as a demonstrator with TAC, I've gotten to meet many of the people that are "behind the scenes" at events and all demonstrators are invited to submit art for contests and for the bi-annual Inspiration Book and Catalogue. As far as being published in a magazine, I guess it's a little bit of luck. The magazine is about designs that are a little more simple, and I'm all about simple. It's fun to see some of the elaborate designs in magazines, but in the end, the layouts that get done and in your book are the ones that are really enjoyed.

More Circular Inspiration
Circles are so fun to add to your scrapbooks, although they can be a challenge too. Two easy tools for making circles are the Coluzzle (a plastic template with several concentric channels of the same shape that you cut through with a swivel knife) and a plain old compass works great too. That's what I used for my huge circle on the 12x12 "Cherished" layout.

Need layout ideas? Check out the Round Maps in the Archives at Becky Fleck's Page Maps site.