Back to my Roots

So, after a few pages of bright and bold, I'm back to my safe zone, for the most part. 

Yep, right back to my muted blues with pink accents; kind of a theme of mine.  What can I say?  I know what works for me, and I will exploit the heck out of it!

I did step a little out of my comfort zone here, I mean, YELLOW!  I'm not sure I've ever featured yellow before.  It was still fairly comfortable though, sticking with greyscale for most of the page.  But I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I think it's a great example of going just outside your comfort zone.

I know I stepped back into my muted blues and greys again here, but I just LOVE how this turned out, and the pictures lent themselves toward this palate.  I think my favorite parts of this layout are the layered hearts that mimic chevrons on the first page, and the scribbled triangles on the second page.  It's also a more 'masculine' page so it can be used for little boys too, which is something I'll be needing if when I get to scrapbooking 2012 ;)

How do you catch up on a backlog of scrapbooking without sacrificing quality of your pages? 
~Digital Nicole

A Couple Posters

A friend of mine had a few requests for some posters, so I whipped these up for her:

 

First, she requested a special gift to celebrate someone who's had a great impact on her life.  I can imagine this template being used in so many ways!  What mother or father wouldn't love to receive a personalized picture for mother's/father's day?  Or given to a special teacher who had a significant impact on your (or your child's) education.  Or simply between best friends parting ways for college.

This one was a lot more straight forward.  The dance studio where she teaches was offering some special group rates for a trip to see Wicked, the musical.  This striking graphic is straightforward and eye-catching, perfect for a busy dance studio whose attendees range from kindergarten to college age and beyond.

 

I couldn't be happier with the results of these two posters, and most importantly, my friend loved them!

 

Enjoy,

Digital Nicole

 

 

The Start of a New Year

Well, I'm starting a new year in my scrapbook anyway ;)

 

Quite possibly the easiest page you can imagine.  It came together in just a few minutes and I absolutely love it!

 

 These pages were also extremely quick.  I know there's a lot of color going on here, but it matches the personality of the pictures so perfectly I think it's justifiable. 

 

 Again, some bold and bright colors going on here.  I've been a little bit out of my comfort zone with these eye catching colors.  I really prefer working in muted, vintage tones.  Sometimes, however, you just have to let the true nature of the photograph shine through, and I just couldn't dull the brightness coming from these photos!

So I have a question for y'all.  Are you comfortable working in any color combination, hue, saturation, and brightness? 

Bring a little brightness into these gloomy days of fall!
~Digital Nicole

 

I'll get right down to it.

Yes - it's been a while since I posted anything.  No - I don't have an excuse.

You'll notice the pages are dated 2009, but in my defense, I only finished them a few months ago.  Like so many of you, I have a terrible back log.  For a while I was catching up, but I've been devoting myself to other things lately and have fallen behind again.

These pages were hilariously quick to put together.  They are understated, but I didn't want to detract from the craziness going on in the photos.

 This is another set of very simple pages, but with so many photo's I felt it was necessary to keep the embellishments to a minimum or risk a chaotic, confusing layout.

This is another understated layout.  I truly wanted to showcase the photos here, especially the one on the right because it's so rare that Zach gets a photo with all his siblings.  Even so simple, each piece was methodically chosen to create an elegant design.

And we've finally reached the end of the year!  This page isn't anything too special to me, but truthfully, neither were the photos.  They're cute, for sure (of course I'm biased), but they weren't of exceptional quality or content.  I really just needed a solid way to end vol. 09.

Happy Scrapping,
~Digital Nicole

How Spring And Pinterest Are Destroying My Scrapbook.

I don't know why I haven't had the desire so scrap lately.  Perhaps its the changing weather that's made me restless.  I want to be outdoors.  I want to make summer dresses, plant my garden, and decorate my house.

I also blame pinterest.  I see so many absolutely stunning pages there that I can scrap vicariously through them! Who knew that was possible.  By the time I get done scouring the web for the most amazing work it's 2am, I'm hunched and squinting at my computer screen and my eyes are bloodshot.  So I go to bed.

I'll share a few older works though.  Nothing exceedingly exciting.

 

 This one was fun because I seriously ADORE Halloween. 

I'm actually quite fond of these pages.  The photos lend themselves to this soft palette of warm greys and shades of turquoise.  And of course, as all scrapbookers know, it brings back such fond memories.

Stay inspired,
~Digital Nicole

triangle layout, and a few older works

Haven't really been working on anything lately, things have been crazy.  I do have a few templates I've started.  I find it helps me to block out my idea in photoshop using greyscale to perfect the layout before moving onto colors, textures, and depth.

Here's one that I think is pretty well done:  Let me know what you think, and if there's any interest I could add a photoshop version for everyone.

I also have a few older projects I can share with you.

These pages were fun to make and went very quickly.  They're quite simple, but I kind of like the understated design.

This one was a bit of a challenge for me because of the colors of the photos.  They were taken in a pumpkin field, so everything was brown and dead and we all wore blue! 

You can also see all my older works in my gallery!
~Digital Nicole

Coffee Filter Water Lily

So I'm working on my sisters baby shower and its sort of a sea theme.  Look at this gem I came across in my Martha Stewart Living magazine:

These beautiful coffee filter water lilies are going to look great on the blue tablecloths already in place.  And best of all - they're easy enough to make that the kids can join in!  They're going to love making these.  I mean, it's really as easy as color, cut, and glue. Here's the instructions, but really, how much more straight forward could it be?

Have you tried these?  Or any other coffee filter flowers?  I'll have my finished product up in a few days and we'll see if they turn out! 

~Digital Nicole