LOAD Recap 1

And so another LOAD comes to an end. I really think it was the best yet. The prompts were really good and got me thinking in all sorts of ways that were unexpected. I created 28 pages which I mostly love (just one or two on the more like side of love!). And I used up lots and lots of stash, finishing off three kits to the point where there were just scraps left, including one which was certainly my least favourite kit of last year. So that feels good.

But first, here are the first half of the last layouts:

21st February


The prompt was to go to your favouite scrapbook magazine/resource and spend five mins looking though. Find a new or different way of doing something or using product and go for it.

Actually, I didn't do this prompt as I had thought about these photos while I was doing the previous day's layout and thought I wanted to do a comparison layout of Joe and Ted at the same tourist site doing exactly the same thing. I was surprised when I tracked down the photos of Joe just how similar their poses were and yet what different boys they are/were. An interesting process for me, reminding me to do this more often.

Side note: I actually got Joe's age wrong here (he was 14 1/2!) even after going backwards and forwards trying to work out hold old each of them would have been. Ok, maths was never my strong point! But I figure it was close enough to leave it and the title wouldn't have worked!

Another kit finished.

22nd February


Product highlight day: use paper punches.

After finishing off the kit yesterday, I really wanted to attack another one of my least favourites and this one sprung to mind. It really was one I just couldn't get to grips with at all. The papers were way too bright and there were four different banner items in the kit and I was just wondering how many banners you can have in one kit! Even I got a little bannered out. But I am always up for the challenge and so I opened it up and looked again with a more critical eye.

I love this die cut and it was by far the nicest paper in the kit and so that was a good start. I had seen this cutting technique before and thought it would be a good way of creating a space for the photos and a separate space for embellishment and title. Then I spied this pack of title letters that have been sitting around for a couple of years and decided that this could just be a bright, silly layout about Easter.

I don't really have a lot of paper punches and I only buy the ones I really want to use, so I just picked out a couple and used them in a way that is a bit new for me. I punched the edge of the photos and I quite like how that turned out. And I punched the scallop circles and decided to try to make some flowers using the JBS crepe paper strips. At the end of the day, I can see that the layout is ok, but it's not a fave at all. I like the die cut background and the banner and seeing product being use up but the rest - bleh!

23rd February


Lift a design element from an advertisement.

I again decided to go my own way on this one and didn't use the prompt. I've done that before though and it's a really good prompt - one to remember in the future.

Having attacked the "least favourite" kit the day before, I decided that if I could make one more layout out of it, I could justify breaking up the rest and calling it done. So another banner layout was born and I vowed to try and make it to the end of the month without any more banners.

The inspiration for this came from an old email I had come across from 2008 from Libby. We were just about to go over to visit for Easter and for Maddie's birthday and Libby was telling me how excited the kids had been to see us. Such a simple little thing but I remember thinking how funny the "Maddie loving" was and it felt good to know that they like us going to visit. I'm not sure the excitement is quite the same now that they are older and I am not certain that R gets so much attention from Maddie any more but it was lovely to remember back.

Thanks to my photo storage binders, these photos from that trip over were easy to find and are perfect to tell the story.

Another kit used up!

24th February


Use a list as journalling

Obviously, towards the end of LOAD, I was feeling a bit rebellious as here is another layout that I didn't follow the prompt for! But it did start out from the prompt so does that count?

I started thinking about a layout I had seen in the gallery listing favourite books, recent faves, what's being read at the moment etc and thought that this was actually something I hadn't done yet. So I started writing down a few ideas and in the end decided just to go with my favourite book of all time.

The book itself as well as the story is very special to me and even though the photos look a bit uninspiring, it was important for me to include it on the layout.

Another kit with elements that have proved more difficult for me being used up although I have added in a few pieces for the cluster and the journalling paper.


I thought I would  break up this post into two as I realise it is quite long and I wanted to put a bit at the end about what I have learnt this time around. So watch this space for LOAD Recap 2.


Have any of the prompts triggered any new or unusual ideas for layouts with you?