disney layouts!!!

well, i think i mentioned awhile back that i had been working on getting my disney trip pics scrapped and posted…

— SO  guess what!  i have both trips scrapped (thanks to two 24-3 retreats at scrapbook 911) and one album uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure!

this first set of layouts is from our very first trip to disney – we took drew to disneyland for his 10th birthday in 2007. i can’t believe i managed to fit almost ALL the photos (and i really used pretty much EVERY single photo that i WANTED to use!) on 13 layouts! but as you can see from the layouts they are JAM packed with photos!

at first i was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of photos we took that had to be scrapped, so if you are in the same boat, here are some hints that i found helpful:

1) if you haven’t already printed your pics, and they are digital, try the smaller 4 X 5.3 digital format version. although they are slightly smaller than 4 X 6 pics,  you actually get MORE photo!  by that i mean by getting the true digital size, you don’t loose any of your photo to autocropping like you do with 4 X 6. AND — since they are a little smaller, you can sneak more on a page.

2) break your photos down by event — character signing, flight, hotel, dinners, etc, or by section of the park — tomorrowland, toontown, etc… then make a stack for each and label.

3) then go through each stack and put any “duplicate” photos together – the same shot just at different angle, or a closeup and one from a distance; pics that are basically of the same subject. then look through the “duplicates” and see which ones you can eliminate. Is one sharper than the rest? does one have more members of your “party” in it? are 3 just alike except for facial expressions. this is a good time to get rid of any really out of focus or dark photos too – unless it’s the only shot you have of something.

4) FINALLY, try to lay out the photos from each weeded stack on 2 – 12 X 12 pages. are there any you can crop down? can the photos all fit on a 2 page layout? are there any you don’t need? are there enough to make 2 – 2 page layouts?

— if you take it step by step, and break the photos down into groups, it makes it MUCH easier to scrap them.

my biggest hint though – and it is a REAL time and $$$ saver… is to decide on a color scheme and /or a set of papers and embellishments you want to work with and use them for the entire event. i like to do “theme” albums; Christmas, vacations, etc. using the same color scheme throughout. to me it unifies the pages and makes the event all go together. plus, it is much easier to scrap a BIG pile of photos, if you aren’t spending time trying to find paper and embellishments for each particular set of photos. and it’s cheaper too – since you can use leftover scraps from one page, to use on the next one! just gather your choice of papers, cardstocks and embellishments (ribbons, stickers, chipboard letters, etc.) and make sure everything coordinates. this is a good time to track down old supplies too – look through your stash and pull out anything that goes with the color scheme you’ve picked – don’t foget to pull out paints, pens and inks too.

for my pages, i used papers and embellishments from the REAL MAGIC and REAL MAGIC 2008 lines byREMINISCE, mixed with red, yellow, black and white cardstocks. rub on letters are also from Reminisce – from their FONT BUFFET line. chipboard and foam letters are mostly THICKERS from AMERICAN CRAFTS. i also pulled out some ribbons, stickles, paints and inks in coordinating colors too. surrounded by my mass of coordinated goodies, it was easy to grab stuff and design my layouts using them. i started all my layouts the same though, just photos placed on 2 blank pieces of white cardstock. i cropped and played with photo placement, then added in printed papers, cardstock and embellishments.

so without any further ado… here is my first disney “album”; i hope you enjoy it and are inspired to get busy on your own pages! and PLEASE — feel free to scraplift if you see anything you like!

just click on the photo to open the gallery!