Elliot's First Grade Class Layout

I am counting down the layouts until my son's elementary album is finished, and all I have left are two class photos. As I mentioned earlier this week, I really don't enjoy scrapping these, so I had skipped 1st  grade, but this morning I did a deep dive and found my son's school portrait layout that I scrapped back in 2014, then I just made a layout that would complement that page. Having the recipe listed made it super quick to pull out my supplies, but I had to use a different background paper since I only had a few scraps left of the papers I had used previously. I actually like it better with the alternative paper, so I also posted the double page layout so you can see both pages together. Here's the single:

And here are both pages together. What do you think? Does it work? I love that the background of my son's photo matches some of the tones of the new background paper, but the burgundy of the class photo is challenging! Let me know if you have any suggestions to help the flow.

Recipe:
You & Me papers
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media patterned paper (American Crafts)
Creme Brulee cardstock
Olive and Chocolate ink
Woodgrain washi tape
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: hexagons
Challenges: A Cut Above Anything Goes with a die-cut; The Neglected Stuff Challenge - my items are the paper I used to cut the hexagons out of and the photo itself.

General Cornwallis Layout

Back in February, I scrapped the other layout for "Walk Through the American Revolution," a program put on by my son's elementary school, in which my son played the British General Cornwallis, but I never scrapped the photos I took of him at home. I really wanted to use all five photos, but there was a lot of empty space around the figure of my son, so I eventually decided to crop each one to about 2.25" wide so I could line them up across the page. I don't do this very often, but I like how it turned out here, especially with the frame around the center photo. Another layout done for my son's elementary school album, and with only two layouts left to go, I might even complete it by the end of the month!

Recipe:
Route 66 paper & stickers
Moonstruck, Cranberry, Sky & Canary cardstock
Moonstruck, Cranberry & Sky ink
Light Greg fineliner pen (iBayam)
Bold + Bright puffy thickers & ephemera (American Crafts)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: stars, scalloped border
Challenges: Cut It Up #358 For the Boys + must include a die-cut (mine isn't a card, but it's for a boy's album, so hopefully that counts); One More Page  Any scrapbook page goes; The Outlawz Anything But a Card Anything goes with optional theme: Let’s Play!

Elliot's 5th Grade Class Photo Layout for LM #802

I have to confess, scrapping my kids' class photos isn't my favorite task, so I skipped it for my son's last two years of elementary school, but now I am trying to finish his school album, so I forced myself to do it! It ended up being a more enjoyable project than I expected and was a great way to do my design team inspiration for this week's Lasting Memories June-themed challenge: June is the sixth month - use six of one of the following shapes: heart, square, hexagon, or circle. I chose to use circles in a variety of sizes and different papers. The Lasting Memories challenges for June are open until July 4th, so come check them out, be inspired, and play along!

The kids' names have been covered over for privacy reasons.

Recipe:
Colorful Kit papers (KI Memories)
Miscellaneous scraps from my stash
Sunflower, Candy Apply, Clover & Sky cardstock.
Candy Apple & Sunflower ink
Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)
Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remant Rubs (Ideaology)
Starry Night stencil (Simple Stories)
Dot Fade layering stencil (Stampers Anonymous)
Challenges: Alphabet Challenge Blog C is for Circles; Neglected Stuff Challenges  - my neglected stuff is the KI Memories alphabet paper; Paper Rocks Scissors #17 - used scissors to cut the wavy cardstock.

Congrats Grad {Elliot} Layout

I am so close to finishing my son's elementary school album, and it only took me a year longer than I had been hoping (it was my goal for May 2025)! Here's his graduation layout, complete with journaling about his unique streak that I hope helps him succeed in the future. As I was working on this layout, I noticed a scratch piece of cardstock that I had used last month to test my foam stamps for Elliot's Pool Party layout. It looked pretty cool as the background for the school building ephemera, so I threw it on here. I still have a tiny scrap that I may need to use on a card, but it was nice to use up some of it.

Recipe:
Book Fair papers (Simple Stories)
Kraft, Candy Apple< Heavenly Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Candy Apple, Ocean & Juniper ink
Capri, Crystal Blue, Glacier & Dutch Blue re-inkers
Black marker
White gel pen (Sakura)
Book Fair ephemera (Simple Stories)
School Is Cool ephemera (Bella Blvd)
Ruler ribbon (Offray)
Outdoor Denim brads
Stars Halloween Mix (Bella Blvd)
Top Dog & Star Attraction Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Pattern: Splitcoast Stampers Sketch15Nov3 - I changed up the right hand page to fit with my photos.

Challenges: Colorful Options - used Option #3 Rainbow; Double Trouble #216 Graduation theme -includes Thing 3's twist to use kraft paper; NBUS Challenge #87 - my never before used stuff is the Book Fair papers.

Buon Compleanno Layout

For my birthday in 2019, we threw a party for some friends at a local restaurant that has been a favorite of ours since my hubby and I were in college together. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get many good photos due to the low lighting levels in the place, so I decided to just scrap these two of me with the complimentary spumoni ice cream our waitress presented to me. She said, "Buon Compleanno!" as she gave it to me, which is Italian for happy birthday, so I decided to use that for my title.

I'm not super vain but vain enough that I decided to cover over what birthday this was!

Recipe:
Friendship Alphabet Small and Bugs & Hugs stamp sets
Dream Maker papers
Kraft & White cardstock
Ballerina, Flamingo, Hollyhock & Glacier ink
Hollyhock & Black markers
Heavenly Blue ribbon
Pink grosgrain ribbon (Michaels)
Pink baker's twine (American Crafts)
Baby Pink embroidery floss
Lace flowers (Daiso)
White Pearls
Bitty Sparkles
3-D foam tape
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap 14th Birthday Bash Sketch #4

Challenges: Creative Knockouts #571 Real or faux stitching - 3 Xs and stitching on blue ribbon; Double Trouble #217 Birthday themed + optional: use kraft; Farm Quest Grocery Game Anything food or drink goes; Art Nudge Challenge - I was inspired by the photo of the dog wearing a birthday hat, since I had to wear a silly hat for my birthday! Also used a similar color scheme.

Pool Party Layout

Another layout for my son's elementary school album, this time commemorating the pool party thrown for the 5th graders as a reward for their hard work. This layout kind of evolved as I was creating it. I knew I wanted to play along with Little Red Wagon's challenge to make your own background, and I had considered using a circle stencil, but after trying it out on a corner of my cardstock, I realized it would take forever to do the whole two pages, so I nixed that idea. Then I thought of stamping circles and was hunting for a circle stamp when my eye fell on some foam stamps I had received as a prize back in the Creating Keepsakes days - around 2007. I thought they were cool but had no idea how to use them, so they have been sitting unused in my stash for 19 years! A short YouTube video later (and a bit of practice on a scrap piece of cardstock) and I was ready to go. The background was a bit of a gamble, but I love how it turned out in the end. 

Recipe:
Background Elements stamp set
Lisa Bearnson foam stamps
Heavenly Blue, Canary & Pear cardstock
Capri & Pear ink
Capri, Crystal Blue, Glacier & Dutch Blue re-inkers
Light Greg fineliner pen (iBayam)
Beach Party PML card
Monograms 2 Chippies (Mintay)
Bold + Bright Thickers (American Crafts)
Green Fields enamel dots (Altenew)
Clear Shimmer Brush
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 27 - not one of my favorite sketches but I had fun with it this time!

Challenges: Alphabet Challenge Blog C is for circles; Little Red Wagon #860 Create your own background; NBUS #86 - my never before used stuff is the foam stamps; Color Dare #705 - I used two shades of blue so am not sure if that disqualifies me from the challenge or not, but I was definitely inspired by your color palette!

Friends Forever Layout

I'm still working on scrapping photos for my son's elementary school album and only have a few layouts to go. This one will actually go after his graduation layout that I have yet to scrap, but I just felt like doing it today!

And here's the pocket with the tag pulled out a little ways:

Recipe:
Elemental papers
Field Trip Journaling Pad (American Crafts)
My Crush Bestie Assortment paper
Pacifica & Lagoon cardstock
Creme Brulee, Sorbet & Pacifica ink
Prussian Blue fineliner pen (iBayam)
Elemental Complements (chipboard shapes) & journaling pocket
Old Soul ephemera (American Crafts)
Acrylic Shapes
3-D foam tape
Challenges: Let's Craft and Create #231 - Tag! You're It! Used a tag tucked into a pocket for my journaling; The Neglected Stuff Challenge - everything on this layout is neglected stuff except the ledger paper and the ephemera piece with the tab on it.

Remember 5th Grade Layout

I am nearing the completion of my son's elementary school album and needed to scrap this open house layout, but I was so tired of thinking of creative titles for open house. Can anyone relate? Then I noticed his teacher had written him a little notice that said she will always remember him, so that inspired me to cut out the "remember" using my Cricut and an ACOT cutfile. Stamping "5th Grade" and adding some school-themed ephemera were the finishing touches.

Recipe
Stacy's Hand Alphabet stamp set
Vicki Boutin Mixed Media paper (American Crafts)
Fern, Saffron, Outdoor Denim & Black cardstock
Saffron & Capri ink
School Is Cool ephemera (Bella Blvd)
Book Fair Bits & Pieces (Simple Stories)
Confetti embossing folder
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped circle
Cricut Design Space: smiley face, title using ACOT cutfile
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge #32

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure Used the Confetti embossing folder on my cardstock; Paper Rocks Scissors #16 Used scissors to fussy cut the hexagon and scalloped circle photos; Pick 3 Challenge #5 Used Embossing (on cardstock) + Blue + Numbers (5th Grade + Date).

Crossing Tower Bridge Layout

I was looking through my photos today and realized I had never scrapped the companion page to my original Tower Bridge layout which I created back in 2025, so it seemed like a good day to get that done. I debated about putting a big title on here but finally settled on the small banner that I created using Cricut Design Space and an alphabet stamp set. Hopefully I made the right choice!

Recipe:
Friendship Alphabet Small stamp set
London 6" x6" paper pad (Carta Bella)
Color Kaleidoscope paper (American Crafts)
Sky, Sapphire, Candy Apple, Slate & White cardstock
Sky, Slate & Black ink
Mars Black fineliner pen (iBayam)
White gel pen (Sakura)
Tim Holtz Tiny Text Remant Rubs (Ideaology)
Star Attraction Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug)
Cool Summer Nights & Red Sunset enamel dots (Altenew)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: scalloped rectangle, scalloped border
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: notebook paper, banner
Pattern: scraplift from Scrapbook.com
Challenges: NBUS Challenge #86 My never before used stuff is the London papers, the red enamel  sots, and the Tim Holtz Tiny Text rub-ons; Try It On Tuesdays Going Round in Circles.

Sibs Layout

Love these random photos of my youngest kids! I don't really remember what we were doing when these were taken (possibly we had just eaten lunch at one of the local restaurants) so I didn't include any journaling, but I guess that is less important than the big smiles my kids are sporting.

And here's a close-up of the stenciled background and the embossing on the flowers:

Recipe:
Trinity stamp set
Love Grows Here papers (Bella Blvd)
Nectarine, Cotton Candy, Canary & White cardstock
Nectarine, Cotton Candy, Canary, Juniper & Sapphire ink
White Acrylic flowers
Craft buttons
White Daisy embroidery floss
Great Lengths stickers (CM)
Love This Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug)
Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Supernova stencil (Visible Image)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap #328

Challenges: Can You Handle the Pressure? Embossing folder with optional twist of embellishments: flowers); Cut It Up #356 Flowers + must include a die-cut; Hearts Quest Challenge Blog #85 Anything goes with a heart; Stencil Fun - used a stencil on my background cardstock; Unicorn Challenge Blog #120 Something New - used a new paper pack.