Back to School Collection: A Book of First Days by Kathy Skou

Hi Everyone!  It's Kathy today with a mini album featuring Doodlebug's new Back to School Collection.  Every year we take the "first day of school" picture...I decided to put them all in a fun mini to see how my daughter has changed through the years!  Take a peek: 

I started with Doodlebug's Plain and Simple 6x6 square chipboard album.  I covered all of the pages with the fun Back to School Papers mixed with some coordinating Petite Prints..  For my title, I mixed and matched a few different Doodlebug Alphabets including the new Skinny Cardstock Stickers, Chippers and Teensy Type letters.

I wanted to keep the feel of the book basically the same throughout, so I created some frame files using my Silhouette Cameo.  On each frame, I used my Silhouette sketch pens to write the grade.  Here's a look at the inside pages...



And then there's that one page that makes me sniffle....

I'm torn between being excited and sad for the first day of Senior Year picture!!!  Back to School's Stickers, Sprinkles and Doodlepops made this mini so easy to put together!  Now a little something for you... I'd love to share the sketch/cut files I created for the photo frames.  You can download the file to use with your Silhouette here.  That's it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

Patriotic Picnic Layout by Melinda Spinks

Hands up those of you who've purchased an entire themed collection just for one layout? We all get a little carried away when it comes to buying pretty papers and embellishments because they are just so darn irresistible, yes? Well today I'm going to share a layout I created using the Patriotic Picnic collection and as you can see... it doesn't have a thing to do with July 4.

My littlest man is just learning about critters and often comes inside with a snail or two so when he proudly 'catched a ant' I wanted to capture the moment for him. And, how delighted was I to see the adorable 'family picnic' patterned paper with ants all over the flip side.

TIP: Most themed collections come with a neutral or alternate pattern on the reverse side which gives you an opportunity to create outside of the theme.

Patriotic Picnic colours are very much attuned to the red, white and blue however there were hints of yellow, orange and green mixed in so I decided to add a small splash of yellow as an alternative pop of colour.

And as for the wee little ants... I just had to use them on my layout seeing as they were the main focus to the entire story and because they were just too darn adorable!

Thank you for stopping by today! I hoped I've given you ideas in how to work with ALL your papers, regardless of the theme. It sure does make your products stretch further and you can have lots of fun along the way.
Thanks for stopping by today! Melinda

Sunkissed layout by Wendy Sue Anderson

Hi Doodlebug friends - it's Wendy Sue here today!  One of my favorite songs says "Oh, what do you do in the summertime?" And it goes on to talk about all of the fun things you might do (swim in a pool, count the clouds, etc.).  When I first saw the "Sunkissed" line, the song popped in my head, so it was basically mandatory that I create a layout with the song as the title.

These photos are just some quick pics I snapped one day last summer when the kids were just hanging out in the back yard (3 of  my 4 kids), but they pretty much encapsulated what we do on so many of our hot summer days - just hang out in the yard and relax and enjoy each other!

The banner was easy to create with the stickers and some foam adhesive dots.  Adding a bit of doodle twine was the perfect finishing touch.  Oh, and did I mention how much I love the new Skinny letter stickers?!?  VERY much - that's how much!

And the strips of embossed vellum are so light and airy and bright and pretty - I had to add several of those strips. :)

Check out the sprinkle shapes too - seriously, how fun are they?!?

Of course, I had to layer a sunshine doodle-pop right over the coordinating print...and the sunglasses fit too perfectly not to add them.  Doesn't that sunshine just make your day?

Do you have a favorite summertime song?  How about creating a fun layout with the song title or lyrics included?  If you do it, please link it in the comments - I'd sure love to see it!