Journaling by Peggy Nardini

I'm a journaler. I like to journal. There's an old saying, "A picture is worth 1,000 words", well I like to use 'em all! So let's talk about ways to get creative with journaling and incorporate a couple of different ideas into your next layouts.

We've all seen examples of journaling written on strips of cardstock and then adhered to the page, typically along the side of a picture. A fun variation of this style is to use the strip under a row of photos as in this example from a recent layout, "Roommates". A second row of journaling could easily be added above the row of photos if you need more room.

This second layout shows images from the NCAA Regional Championship my daughter's college softball team won last spring. I've done a number of layouts about the tournament with quite lengthy journaling, so I've already written a lot about the experience, but still have some great photos to include on my scrapbook pages. Here, I made tabs to go along the sides of the pictures, including just a few words of journaling.

This final example is a more traditional style of journaling, the journal block. The plain, simple block containing your journaling is sometimes all you need to finish off a layout. In "Alley Cats", that's what I did. But don't be afraid to step it up a bit and add an additional design element (die cuts, stickers, rub-on, etc.) to your journal block. Here I included small black circles representing bowling balls to tie all of the elements together.

On your next layout, don't be afraid to write it all down! Include those words along with your photos. Whether you computer journal or use your own handwriting, the written word is important in telling the complete story. It's even more fun when you get creative with it and use the new lines of paper Scrappin' Sports and More will be debuting at CHA later this week. All of the layouts in this article used our newest sports line On The Edge Sports. You're gonna love it.

Creative Titles by Shannon Blinn

One of the most eye-catching features of a layout besides great photography is a great title. On this layout, I used the brand new farm line. I cut the word "chicken" from the sticker and added it to brown cardstock to make it stand out more. I then added some black dots with a sharpie marker. Because my other word was made of chipboard, I added pop dots to the back of the sticker word so that the title really stands out on the page. Add a little sizzix die cut with coordinating cardstock and a little mesh for effect and there you have it...a fun, eye-catching title. You can even do this with your journaling. Our stickers and papers are so much fun, that you can cut out words and elements from the stickers and paper to add a little extra to your title and journaling. If you'll notice...I even added a sticker BEHIND the letter "O". Subtle...but effective.

So let's see your creative titles!! Want to see this one up close and personal? It will be at CHA in Booth #2988.

Products Used:
#1292 Chickens (Down on the Farm)
#5553 Chickens Cardstock Stickers

New Releases for CHA!!!!

It's that time of the year again.  The scrapbooking industries best time of the year, the time when all the fun, new & exciting products are released at the annual CHA-Winter show in Anaheim, CA.  Scrappin' Sports & More is excited to be releasing not one, but two new lines!!!  It's a busy time for designers everywhere getting their projects ready for the booth.  Keep checking back next week as you will see some great new projects from the Design Team using these new products.  Okay...here they are....hot off the press today & ready to ship to your store :)

The first line was created by Ronnie McCray and is called On the Edge Sports.  This is an amazing new line; I mean who doesn't like those dotted swirls!!  Make sure you take a close look at the camping one...how fun is that little camper?  And the fishing paper....such a cute little blue fish :)  Okay, I'll stop writing and just let you judge for yourselves.

Pretty amazing, don't you think?  Well, that's not all.  The next line was created by Steve and is called Down on the Farm.  This line has so many uses.  For those of you involved in 4-H, you will be all set not matter what animals you brought to the fair.  Did you ever take pictures of your kids or grandkids feeding the ducks, well we have some paper & stickers for that too.  Do you have a couple of furry companions that live in your house like I do?  Well, check out the dog & cat papers & stickers.  You get the idea, so take a look for yourself.

And here are the stickers that coordinate with the Down on the Farm line.

And last but not least, we have some cardstock sports stickers being released at the show.  These coordinate perfectly with the Name of the Game line.  There are 3 different sizes on each cardstock sheet.