"Girly Girl" - a scrapbook page and a sketch to try!

I don't know how many of you know this, but before I started scrapbooking long before I started stamping. It's still my passion, though I've done a LOT of cards since I started in the world of stamping. I love creating cards because they feel like instant gratification for me, compared to working on a big 12 x 12 scrapbook page. But there's just something about working with a large 12 x 12 space to fill 3 of my favorite things: photos of the people and things I love, my thoughts and feelings in the form of words and that ever insatiable desire to create with my hands.

Quite a few of you have asked me to showcase more scrapbook pages and to share the creative process behind them. I'm am TOTALLY happy to provide you with inspiration in the world of scrapbooking. Like I said, it's a passion for me....and nothing makes me happier than sharing one of my passions.

Starting this week, I'll be sharing a weekly feature with you. I'm still tossing a name back and forth in my mind as to what I want to call it.....but I know this feature will make many of you very happy. My scrapbooking feature each week will show you a finished scrapbook page, share a sketch that you can recreate with your own photos and break down the creative process that I used to create the page. It is my hope that by doing all of these things, that many of you will have fresh ideas and inspiration to use in your own scrapbooks. And for those of you that are new to scrapbooking, I'm hoping that by sharing all of these things, it will make this wonderful art form a lot less intimidating. You CAN do it!

My "Girly-Girl" page was created as part of GinaK Design's new stamp release that happened last night. I created this page for one of the challenges that was announced at the release party. You can check out the details here: Challenge #2

You can still get in on that challenge up through Thursday night of this week if you'd like a chance at winning a free set from GinaK!

If you'd like to see a larger view of this sketch, just click on the picture at left to pop up a larger view.

I won't be completely breaking down the process of this page, but I wanted to share it with you because I love the way it turned out and because I wanted to let you know that GinaK just released some fantastic new sets and bling yesterday! You can check that out here ---> New GinaK Products

There will be another scrapbook page up on my blog this week that WILL break down the process, so be on the lookout for that. I'm really excited about starting this feature and hope that you'll enjoy it.

I think that one of the things that intimidates a lot of people when they think about scrapbooking is the amount of stuff that's available out there to put on our pages. People think they have to buy it all and use it all in order to make a beautiful page, but that's not the case. While it's nice to have a large selection of "stuff" on hand to create pages with, you can STILL create a beautiful page with minimal supplies. That's what this page is all about.

At first glance, it seems like there's a lot there, but when you look closer, you'll notice that it really doesn't use much more than the essentials. Cardstock, patterned paper, stamps, one choice of embellishment and a marker for hand journaling.

For my embellishments, I chose to use paper that I had on hand and one other small item other than paper. I chose to use GinaK's new Bling & Dazzle Button Babies. These are super sweet mini brads that look like buttons. They come in brights and pastels and are so stinkin' cute! The bright pink was just right for this page and matched my daughter's lips in this picture.

The stamps that I chose for this page are from Carolyn King's new set (she's an illustrator for GinaK Designs) called, Framed Flowers. I stamped one of the flower bouquet images across the top and bottom of the page with Versamark ink and embossed it with clear powder to create my own borders. I sponged over the images with Pretty in Pink to create the embossed resist technique.

I chose some coordinating patterned paper from the Spring Stack from Die Cuts with a View. One paper had small flowers on it and the paper seemed to coordinate really well with the dress my daughter has on in the photo. I used this as the second mat for my photo and then trimmed 3 thin strips to place across the bottom of my page. It carries over the theme and color and doesn't really require much of anything other than just cutting them with my paper cutter. A beautiful but inexpensive and easy touch to a page. The strips almost resemble ribbon in a way.

My other embellishments were also beautiful and inexpensive. They took a little more work, as I cut them from the piece of coordinating patterned paper with precision tip scissors, but I couldn't have asked for a better match to the rest of the elements on my page. I added flowers to all corners of the page and one peeking out from the right side of the photo. It filled in the blank spot that I had going on but was understated enough with the light pink that it didn't take away from the photo or the title and journaling I have next to it. Not all blank space has to be filled, by the way. Blank space sometimes works very well on a page that has a lot going on already. It gives your eyes a place to find rest. This is a good thing at times. Other times, though, that blank space can seem so glaringly empty and takes away from the rest of the page. It's in those cases that something should be put in the space to give the page more balance.

The title and journaling on this page were very simple to do. I stamped the frame from Carolyn's set, overlapping the corners, with Purely Pomegranate ink. I stamped the letter, "G," (from the retired Letterpress Alphabet set from Stampin' Up) in each of the frames. I stamped the flower bouquet image in each frame and emboss resisted them just like I did with the two borders.

The rest of the title and the journaling were done by hand with my Rose Red Stampin' Write Markers. I first did the hand done part of the title lightly with a pencil, then went over it with the marker. I let the ink of the marker sit for about 5 minutes so that it fully set into the cardstock and then erased my pencil lines with a white artist's eraser (you get one of these groovy little erasers in Stampin' Up's Stampin' Pastels). 

The journaling reads:

Girly Girl

Who ever thought that I - "TomBoy Eternal" - would end up with a child that loves pink, dresses, frills & everything girly?

It's often a joke. in our little family of four, that my daughter (who we've called "Girly" since she was 6 months old....and who also didn't realize she had a real name until she was about 4 years old...she seriously thought her name was "Girly) is the only girl we have. I don't really qualify because I'm the "anti-female." Apparently, according to Davy, the only thing that makes me a female is having a big rack and a uterus. *wink* Not that he's complaining any. *wink again*

I'd love to see any of you take on this sketch and challenge you to create your own page! Let me know if you do!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Comments

[Taya]

This is a fantastic layout! I love all the colors! Your daughter is beautiful as well!

[denise (imchatty)]

Love this page, love that you are sharing scrapbook pages and LOVE that you went to full feed! Yeah...you are back in my google reader!!!

[Amanda]

Love the page, and I'd kill to look like Girly! =P

[cheryl]

what a beautiful layout!!

[kimk]

Sweet. Love everything aboutit.. this is how I scrap.. sweet and simple. It was a learning process tho.. not exactly my old friend the CM gals dream come true by any mean ..lol no triangles on each page with lots of empty white space.;]

Love Girly girls pic! She is so pale like I am , you can see her "blueblood" underneath. that's what I heard my entire life.. till I learned in school it's supposed to look that way..
Haruumph..
I think my family took advantage of me being thin skinned to tease me
(yup)
Imagine. you the anti girl love it.
PS all men love the big rack and uterus don't they? hee hee

[Susan]

Oooh, emboss-resist on the border is awesome. And thanks for explaining how you did it! I'm happy that you'll have more scrapping samples - thank you.
Susan

[Carol]

I started with scrapbooking and found card making for instant gratification too - I think you wrote my story! LOL I had to smile when you mentioned matching the papers to your daughters dress. I also create around my photos! I never could make a layout and add pictures later - it just doesn't work for me that way.
Anyhoo - this L/O is so soft and feminine! I LOVE the spongy-looking flower images on the borders and inside the title "G's". This page really showcases your little "girly" with those gorgeous blonde locks!! TFS all your amazing talents :)

[LuvLee]

Absolutely **precious** to the max!!!! I also started by scrapbooking and then got into stamping......my scrapping has seriously suffered since!!! LOL I have the opposite in my daughter.......I'm a girly-girl and spoiled princess and my dd is a tomboy!! Okay, she does wear skirts to church.....but she will NOT wear pink and "do" frilly!!! Just makes life more interesting!! Thanks for sharing such a sweet page and for a great challenge!! I've got plans to get to that today!!!

[Carolyn King]

Your page is absolutely gorgeous....each detail is amazing....from the embossed flower border to the cut images to how you did the title---amazing page! You are so talented!

[amy]

I love this page. Being a mother of all boys i never get to do pink pages unless it is for me.
amy

[Melissa]

So cute!

[laura]

I love this page and I am not a pink fan good job

[tay]

that is such a lovely card.

[Julie Masse]

Erika this is gorgeous!! Just so pretty - maybe I need to get out the scrapbooks again . . . you've inspired me! :)

[Kristin in OH]

Erika...I am definitely loving this girly layout. I have 2 daughters (4&7)& they are definitely into girly things. Thanks for sharing. I will have to remember this one & try one of my own. TFS

[Alesha]

Oh my - I am just in love with this!