Frozen Toes

I'm still working on my son's sophomore and junior year albums - and as I've said before - that means lots of soccer layouts.  This layout focuses on a Thanksgiving weekend showcase where we had freezing rain, sleet and snow.  I was inspired by Authentique paper and a Page Maps sketch.  Here's the sketch I started with.  I really liked the general design but it presented two challenges.  First, it was kind of "fluffy" as drawn and I wanted to make sure the feminine tone was removed.  Second, it was a single page layout and I wanted to stretch it to a double page layout.  As I started working with paper from Authentique's "Loyal" collection, I found it pretty easy to accomplish both goals - and with a minimum amount of supplies.  Here's the layout I ended up with.

Stretching My Supplies

Here are some tips I used to stretch and/or personalize my supplies and layout.

1.  Choose paper with strong coordinating patterns on both the A and B sides.  Here I used a single sheet of patterned paper, incorporating both sides.  I even had some scraps left.

2.  Use cardstock to mount pictures and add depth.  Here I was able to use scraps and still only had one sheet of patterned paper invested in the layout.

3.  Use odds and ends from embellishment purchases that are hanging out in your stash.  Don't be afraid to alter them to meet your needs

•  The banner was from a LYB banner package and said "soccer fan."  I needed a shorter banner and wanted to use only the word "soccer."  I figured out how to remove a pennant and trim the banner so that I had a banner that met my needs.
• The soccer ball stickers are from an inexpensive sheet of cardstock stickers that are soccer balls in various sizes.  I never used them and finally figured out that they didn't work for me because the soccer balls in my garage (and there are a lot of them) are not clean and shiny.  I fixed the stickers with a little sandpaper.
• The sticker that says "defense" and the small arrows at the bottom of the layout were odd stickers left on sheets used previously.  Don't be afraid to mix stickers from lots of different lines.

4.  Make the most of your page and your pictures.  By layering the Thickers over the photo, I both made the picture more interesting and used up some letters in my stash that tended to blend into the page.

Hope these tips help you stretch your scrapping budget.