Sunday, March 11, 2012

LOAD #11 - Oceans Pacific

Today's layout is another one I pre-designed in Studio J and copied using items from my stash. One of my blog readers asked me to elaborate on how I do the Studio J layout first and then recreate the layout, so here goes. If you're not interested, feel free to skip right down to today's layout! First, let me mention that I use Close to My Heart products almost exclusively. If you are using other products, Studio J is not so helpful as a design tool. I log onto Studio J, pick a pattern based on the number of photos I want to scrap, and then scroll through all the paper packs until I find one that I think coordinates well and that I know I have at least a portion of the pack on hand. The people at CTMH have already put together six paper combos based on the pattern I've chosen, and I select the one that best showcases my photos. At that point, I also verify that I have enough of the particular papers they use, so I can recreate the layout using traditional methods. I then drag my photos into the suggested photo wells, decide if I like the layout as is or if it needs to be rotated or any papers switched out. There are also suggested embellishments and title and journaling areas I can test-run. Basically, I end up with a completed layout that only took me a short time to design, I haven't spent any money, and I can order my photos and start scrapping, knowing that my end product will be something I really like. You could do this in other programs (like Photoshop Elements), but it would be a lot more work because you would have to scan all your papers and embellishments in order to test them out. My husband doesn't get this; he thinks it adds a lot more time to the process, but I love seeing the full picture before I even cut into my papers, plus the CTMH designers are so clever that I get great ideas from seeing what they came up with. It's like the ultimate in scrap-lifting!



Recipe:
The Works Alphabet & Live inspired stamp sets
Majestic Blue Level 2 papers
Desert Sand, Outdoor Denim, Chocolate & Crystal Blue cardstock
Outdoor Denim & Chocolate ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Chocolate grosgrain ribbon
Outdoor Denim spiral clips
Craft buttons
White Daisy embroidery floss
Pattern: Conclusion Combo from Imagine

2 comments:

Kay Wallace said...

Hi, Cheryl! Just hopped over from Let's Scrap to check out your blog--and immediately joined! Love your work and am so happy you joined us!!

awjmgmom said...

Thanks for the explanation Cheryl. It's kind of like sketching it out with color. (I do this with colored pencils sometimes with my layouts.) The layouts that go superfast for me are the ones that I've done that with. Thanks for taking the time to explain! Your rocking your LOAD!