Layouts | Sir Scrapalot Designs

Scrap Along with Sir Scrapalot: You “Lift” Me Up

Posted by Aaron aka Sir Scrapalot on Jul 29, 2010 | View Comments

One commonly used method in digiscrapping is to “scrap lift” or “lift” someone else’s layouts. Scraplifting is the process of using another person’s layout to inspire your own. This can be a great tool for times when your creative mojo is on vacation, or when you see a layout by someone that you really like. Sometimes, a scraplift can be a pretty exact copy of the original layout. Other times, your layout can just be inspired by the original layout. It is important that when you do a scraplift you make sure to credit the original layout in your credits. When you are using someone else’s layout to inspire your own, it’s like using someone else’s template or papers – it’s a tool you used. The person who originally created it deserves recognition.

This is a scraplift I did not so long ago. On the left hand side is my layout, on the right is the layout I lifted, originally by Denise Beatty.

You’ll notice that in this lift, I recreated the original layout pretty exactly. While doing this, I still managed to make the layout my own, and fit my own style. If you click on my layout, you’ll be taken to my gallery and in the credits you’ll see that I put that it was a scraplift, and linked it to Denise’s layout that had inspired it. Sometimes, linking may not be an option. In those cases I usually put something like, “Inspired by the layout Poker Night by Lady Gaga in the July 2011 Creating Keepsakes.” While not linking directly to the layout, I am still giving credit to the original designer.

So, in today’s Scrap Along, I have an assignment for you. I want you to do a scraplift. For this assignment, I want you to go through CT Member Laura’s gallery HERE, pick a layout, and scraplift it. Come back here and link me up to the layout, and Laura and I will randomly pick one winner from the entries to win a GC to my PDP store!

Have fun! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Wednesday Favorites: Funky Playground Designs

Posted by Aaron aka Sir Scrapalot on Jul 28, 2010 | View Comments

I’ve not been at FPD all that long, so my list of products is considerably shorter than at PDP. However, I wanted to share with you again one of my most favorite kits of all time. Practically Perfect is soft, airy, and light. It screams late summer to me, and I absolutely love how it came out. Check it out.

I loved it so much, I actually did my own layout using it. For this layout I also used an awesome set of templates by Jaclyn Bernardo who also sells at FPD. She has some great ones, but I especially loved this set that I used.

And just because I love this kit so much, I am putting it on sale for 50% off until Monday morning. Make sure you grab it now!

9 Killer Template Designers Whose Templates I Love

Posted by Aaron aka Sir Scrapalot on Jul 26, 2010 | View Comments

Seeing as I am such a template-a-holic, I thought it would be great to share with you some of the template designers that I regularly use. You’ll notice that they represent a pretty wide range of styles, but I think that keeps everything looking fresh and new.

Cindy Schneider at Sweet Shoppe Designs – I’ve talked before (and talked and talked) about how much I love using Cindy’s templates. I love the clustered look of them, which I have such a hard time coming up with on my own. I also appreciate the little things that Cindy does to make using her templates easier, like color coding the layers. One of my favorite sets of Cindy’s templates is this bundle:
Janet Phillips at Sweet Shoppe Designs – Janet’s templates are almost the polar opposite of Cindy’s. Janet’s are clean and graphic, and always put the attention right back on the photo. Janet is also the master of templates with an insane number of pictures. I especially like this template:
Amy Martin at The Lilypad – Amy’s templates are always a little bit funky. She recently has been doing some templates that have cut out spaces in them, and I love the way those look. I also love that Amy often offers mini bundles, singles, and larger bundles. One of my favorite sets by Amy is
Jaclyn Bernardo at Funky Playground Designs – Jaclyn really is awesome at stacking in her templates. Stacking paper strips, or background papers, or elements, they always look awesome. She even has sets of just her stacks, which I love too. I love this one especially
BTA Designs at Polka Dot Plum – BTA Designs templates’ are great for white space layouts. They often feature a large background with a small cluster in one of the corners or the middle. I especially like this set of templates:
Berry Sweet Designs at Polka Dot Plum – These templates are excellent white space layouts too! They are minimal with a little layering and lots of space around them. This set that I picked also has ample space for journaling, which is a major plus. Check them out
Nikki Epperson at The Digi Chick – I got hooked on Nikki’s templates when she was at PDP with me. What I really like about Nikki’s templates is that sometimes, they are nice and super layered and fun…and other times they are nice and simple. She has a variety of styles, which makes her templates appealing to me. I love this set
Ali Edwards at Designer Digitals – Do I really need to say more than her name? Ali is one of the masters of digi scrap. I love her simple styled layouts. Always clean and graphic, but never boring her templates always seem to make a statement.
Cathy Zielske at Designer Digitals – Cathy’s another designer with nice, clean and simple templates. What I always find fun about Cathy’s templates is that they usually have some great word art already built into them. I love this template

So those are 9 of my favorite template designers. Who are yours? Whose templates do you love using? Let me know in the comments below!

4 Ways to Use One Photo On A Multiphoto Template

Posted by Aaron aka Sir Scrapalot on Jul 19, 2010 | View Comments

So I am sure that by now, you all know that I love to use templates. They are the backbone of my scrapping process, and I don’t know that I would be able to get as many layouts done as I do without them. Recently, I have become really inspired by the templates by Cindy Schneider at Sweet Shoppe Designs. These templates are incredibly layered and detailed, and I love them…except for the fact that they usually have 2 or more photo spaces in them. This becomes problematic, seeing that I usually work with one photo per layout. Today I wanted to share with you the 4 ways I get around using multiphoto templates with only one photo.

Repeat the photo – this is probably the most obvious, but really works. Often, especially when I am working with a photo I really like, I will just repeat the photo. By doing this, I not only fill up the photo spaces, but I emphasize the photo I am using. You can see this technique in my layout, “Sunny.”
Replace the photo with elements – I usually use this technique when the kit I am using has a lot of great elements I want to use, or I need to use to enhance the feel of the layout. For example, with this layout “Curious Keira” I really wanted to emphasize the flowers on her dress and the floral patterns and floral elements in the kit, so I took the placement of the secondary photo and replaced it with a cluster of the flower elements. In most cases, you can make it look as though the secondary photo wasn’t even there in the first place.
Replace the photo with a journal spot - This is the easiest of the approaches I’ll use to replace a photo in a template. Often, journal spots are similar in size and shape to photos, so I can easily use them instead of photos. In this layout, “Mother,” I actually created my own journal spot by placing a frame in the photo spot, and then putting paper behind it.
Just take the photo out – This is the best thing about templates. When you are working with a template, and you find something that you don’t want to use, you can just take it out! Often it takes a little maneuvering to get the other elements and photos fit once you take something out, but it’s worth it to be able to use the one picture I wanted to use. In “We Like Peanut Butter and Jelly” I took out the second photo, and flipped the main photo to help fill the space.

These are just a few of the many ways you can work templates to fit your scrapping needs. What methods do you use to make templates work for you? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Frankly, Lisa – New from Sir Scrapalot Designs!!

Posted by Aaron aka Sir Scrapalot on Jul 14, 2010 | View Comments

This week, I am excited to bring to Polka Dot Plum, a kit inspired by something that was a huge part of my life as a kid…Lisa Frank stickers!! I remember going into the stores and seeing them everywhere, all glittery and fun full of unicorns and rainbows. This week’s kit, Frankly, Lisa, is inspired by all that. Check it out.