multiple photos, multiple layouts

Let’s face it. The scrapbooking world has really evolved over the past 5 years, and while there are always fun new techniques and ideas to try, it can sometimes get difficult to get those ever-building piles of photos into albums for your children. If you’re like me, and you have more than one child (I have four…all under the age of 6), you know that you have to manage your time well if you want to be able to preserve the memories from all of those photos. Even though scrapbooking is a personal creative outlet for me, I still want to get memories scrapbooked for my children. I feel that someday, my children will be less interested in techniques on their layouts, and more impressed that I actually recorded their memories and put them in an album.

 Here are some time saving tips and techniques that I use to ensure that I get the most of my time, while still managing to create layouts for each of my children’s albums.

1. Print your own photos! This has been the best time saver for me, because I live on a farm, and I would have to travel about 45 minutes to get photos printed. I own a photo printer, and since most of my photos are digital, there is no time wasted running back and fourth to print and pick up photos. Printing my own photos also gives me the freedom to be creative and easily print photos in any size and shape. Plus, I can use basic skills in Photoshop Elements to create quick photo collages that can easily be duplicated. If you don’t have Photoshop, you could easily arrange your photos in your Word Processing program or another program of choice. This allows you to fit a lot of photos onto a layout, without spending a lot of time cutting and pasting. You can also add journaling right on the photos to save even more time. Even if you don’t print your own photos, you could create an 8x10 collage and have it printed in store.

In this first set of examples, I created a simple photo collage with five photos. I printed the collage (see right side of layout) onto photo paper for each of my children. Then, I found 2 personal photos of each individual child to add to the left page. I typed up a title and journaling and printed it on white cardstock for each layout. Duplicating the journaling and title made the process much quicker.

The Fiskars circle squeeze punch is one of my favorite tools to use. As a mother of four, I don’t have a lot of time to spend with complicated gadgets, and the squeeze punch is a cinch to use. I easily punched out circles from the beautiful Heidi Grace papers. After lining up the circles and sewing down the centers, and adding a few of the Heidi Grace chipboard accents, I had two layouts done in no time at all! By duplicating the layouts and using the same design (with only a slight change with cardstock color), I was able to create a layout for each of the kids in a flash. And by selecting two personal photos of each child, I was able to add that personal touch to each of their layouts.

Here are a few more creative time saving ideas…

2. Sometimes, I simply duplicate a layout to save time. On this second example, I created a quick photo collage and adding the journaling right on the photos. I printed off two copies on 8.5”x11” photo paper. I used the Fiskars Scalloped Paper Edgers to cut the top strip of photos off of the collage. This added a beautiful scalloped edge to both sides of the cut. Again, I didn’t have to spend time cutting and pasting each photo. Since I scrap in 9”x9” format, the photos filled most of my layout, but you could easily add the photos to a 12x12 layout and have plenty of room for using your favorite embellishments and scrapbooking supplies. You could also print the photo collage in a smaller size and use on an 8.5x11 layout. This quick collage allowed me to easily duplicate the layout and create one for each of my girls’ albums.

3. On this last set of layouts, I created two strips of photos, and a group photo of the kids with their daddy. I printed these photos for each of the kids, and then I printed a small individual photo of each of the kids with their dad to add to the second page. Again, I typed up the journaling and title, and used it for each of the kids’ layouts. To personalize the journaling, you could simply add a quick sentence or two about the individual child before printing it off. In this layout, I personalized the journaling by adding a personalized sentence about their individual relationship with their father. This added a special personal touch to each layout.

The Fiskars Corner Rounding Squeeze Punch was a great accent for all of the corners on this layout. I love the way the corner rounding changes up the whole appearance of a layout, and because the Fiskars Corner Rounder comes in the form of a squeeze punch, it is super easy to use. Traditional corner punches require that you line up the paper and then set on a hard surface and push down to punch. The squeeze punch allows you to punch with only one hand, leaving the second hand free to hold the paper in place. You can even punch several layers at once. By selecting a very neutral background, I was able to recreate the layout using more appropriate colors for my son. The Heidi Grace So Loved and So Moody collections have almost identical products in different color schemes, so it made it easy to simply change out the colors while still following the design of the original layout.

So…next time you sit down to print out photos and type up your journaling, think twice…or three times! Print, duplicate and get more done!

By Sherelle Christensen