January Layout

This year I've decided to focus a little more on doing scrapbook layouts.  I'm no big scrapbooker, I've only done a few layouts.  Nothing I feel really proud about because for some reason I find them to be a big challenge!  I even took a scrapbooking class, because I thought there must be some kind of science to it.  I discovered that's not really the case and although there are some design theories out there on how a page should be laid out to appeal to the eye, it really is a matter of your own preference.  I mean, who's going to be looking at it?  You have to be happy with it and that's all that matters!  So here is my January layout that I will hopefully have some pictures for by the end of the month.  I thought it would be cool to document each month so at the end of the year I can look back and see the changes in my kids while also having a scrapbook to document the year.  

The only Cricut cartridge I used on this was Designer's Calendar.  I chose this color theme because I had the fantasy of entering into the design call that My Pink Stamper held last week.  It required the colors pink, green, and brown, and a color of your choice.  But in my usual fashion I didn't get it done on time.  However it was a good thing because it was the catalyst for getting this done!  I added a few irock gems on the snowflakes and I'll probably add some stickles but this is it for now.  One thing I did that I don't normally do is lay out everything with colors in Design Studio first.  It was very helpful to do this, and if you're design challenged and color challenged as I am, it really helps you see what it will look like before you cut.  Of course you can only use solid colors, which wasn't a problem on this one.  I suppose you could just substitute a color for a print if you were using one.  It is great to get the right sizes so you know everything will fit right where you want it.  Here's a screen shot of how it looked in Design Studio before I cut it.

The only complicated part is getting all the layers in the right order so the preview is right.  I started by creating a preview page where I put all the shapes where I wanted them.  Then I copied and pasted them on separate pages and chose the preview color.  When I wanted to cut it I loaded the file onto my Gypsy so I could arrange the shapes for the best use of paper without changing it in Design Studio.  If you haven't tried this, give it a shot!  I'll be back.......