Does the idea of designing a cover scare you? There are at least two factors at play here. Because it is the cover, the first impression, we feel more pressure to make it perfect. We’re so exposed on the cover!

But there are also some differences between a cover and regular album pages. On the covers there are rarely pictures or journaling. That often only leaves us with a title as the starting point. But even if the elements of the design aren’t the same, the principles are. This means we need a focal point to design around, just as we do when we’re putting together a regular page.

What is the focal point on a cover then? It can be the title. It can be a major design element. Or, of course, it can be a photo or group of photos if we protect them with something.

The Title As The Focal Point

Notice how the cover above is almost the same as the cover below, yet I put them into different categories. Because the title in the layout above is bigger and has greater color contrast, it holds your attention longer. Below, the flower-like design element is what gets the attention, again, because of size and contrast of color.

A Design Element As The Focal Point

Photo(s) As The Focal Point

Once you’ve established what your focal point is, all the other applicable design principles come into play: visual triangles, anchoring, the Rule Of Thirds, etc.

If you’ve been needing to make a cover but have been nervous to try it, I hope these examples and explanations make it easier. You can share your creations in the Paperclipping gallery on Flickr.

In today’s episode for the Premium Subscribers I share an album I made to showcase my children’s handmade gifts over the years for Mother’s Day. I share some tricks for including those items that aren’t exactly easy to put into an album.

If you’d like to learn more about the premium membership so you can have access to all of the videos, click here.

A layout doesn’t have to look like you did it quickly in order for it to actually be a quick one. Below are a couple strategies for interesting layouts that aren’t actually as involved as you’d think.

Choose paper that designs for you.

The one piece of paper I used for the layout above has pattern (the visual texture in the background color and the repetition of stems) and embellishments (flowers) built in for you.

The white space above the flowers is the obvious place to put your photos and journaling. The manufacturer has already made most of the decisions for you and it’s up to you how much more detail you want to add.

Enhance With Stickles

Is it obvious that Stickles by Ranger are on my current favorites list? After two different podcast episodes I still can’t stop telling you the numerous virtues of Stickles. Below are two more I haven’t mentioned yet.

1. Stickles add a lot of pizzaz with little effort.
The glitter glue is so easy to apply that you can zip around the layout, quickly covering all the areas you want. The real trick is telling yourself when it’s time to stop.

It’s also very forgivable if you go out of the lines which means you don’t have to be slow and cautious.

2. Stickles requires no clean up!
That’s my favorite part, since I’m horrible when it comes to cleaning up after using paint, stamps, loose glitter, or embossing. You get the amazing look and pleasure of something you’d expect to be messy without doing any more than to replace the cap.

When there’s no time for labor-intensive layouts, don’t feel you have to sacrifice intricacy for speed. Scrapbook designers can do much of your work for you, while Stickles glitter glue will make a flashy impact with little effort.

Below are seven different challenges for National Scrapbook Day. You do not have to do all of them. I wanted to offer a variety of options so you can choose the ones that best suit you. The more you do, the better your chances of winning. You may repeat the same challenge.

You do not have to be present at the live event to participate in the challenges. I will give out some prizes during the live event to those who are present in the chat. I will award other prizes on the blog on Sunday based on the challenges below.

For each layout or project you upload to flickr, which you must base on one of the following challenges, you will be entered in a drawing for prizes. You have until the end of Saturday to upload your layouts. In the description, please tell us which challenge you used. I will choose randomly from these layouts for the final drawings.

Please do not enter layouts you completed before reading this entry. It’s okay to finish a layout or project you already started as long as you implement one of these challenges.

Challenges:

1. Create a layout or other project using a principle from any one of the Paperclipping Video Tutorials (links are at the right). Upload your layout to flickr. In the description, please share which video you used and how.

2. Recycle an item from your life by incorporating it into the design of your layout. Upload your layout to flickr and tell us what the item is in your description.

3. Begin a mini-book. Choose the photos and a theme. Gather papers, then embellishments, that reflect the theme. Put it all in a pile and photograph it. Upload your photo to flickr and in the description tell us how the products reflect the theme of the mini-book you will be putting together.

4. Words aren’t the only way to tell a story. Make a layout that uses something visual to help tell your story on a layout. Upload your layout to flickr and share with us what visual element you used on your page to communicate an idea or emotion.

5. Use your wonderful scraps. Make a layout that uses at least 3 different scraps of patterned paper. Upload the layout to flickr.

6. Design a layout in this order:
a. Choose the photos.
b. Write journaling on some scrap paper or make notes of the emotion or tone.
c. If you have more than one photo, choose a focal point photo (unless it’s a collage where all photos are equal).
d. Decide approximate photo placement. (Don’t freak out here…you’re free to change your mind at any time).
e. Based on where you think you’ll place your photo, choose paper size and pick your background paper.
f. Choose other papers with colors and/or patterns that remind you of the tone of your layout’s story.
g. Design your layout with the photos, papers, journaling, title. Tape everything down.
h. Add your embellishments last.

7. Design a layout where you cluster at least three embellishments around a title, a photo, or a line.

I will come back tomorrow with a link to the new Paperclipping Flickr Group. You can see the schedule for the three different live events here.

Paperclipping 41 - Everything is Fixable from izzyvideo on Vimeo.
Here is another free video. See what I did to fix the cover of the altered board book I worked on during Paperclipping Live.

You can watch the higher-quality version by clicking on this link.

Today’s episode for the Premium Subscribers is a great tutorial on design. It’s a concept that I use every single time I design something.

If you’d like to learn more about the premium membership so you can have access to all of the videos, click here.

Dina Wakley is an organic, artistic scrapbooker and she recently designed a project for a very unique challenge blog called, Inspired By Amelie. I adore Dina’s project and knew I had to highlight it and Dina as the featured artist and project this week. It is one of the more unique scrapbooking projects I’ve seen in a while.

What I love about Dina’s “Memory Box:”

1. The balance between strong design (the lined up boxes) and free-flowing art (the imperfect stamping and stitching, the dash of red in the backround, the fact that she stitched right over some of the memorabilia as they stick out from their perfect spaces).

2. The gathering of REAL everyday items.

3. The bold, passionate colors.

4. The childhood song, which instantly sent me back to the 1970’s and my childhood.

5. The fact that some of the items overlap, especially how part of the ephemera is hiding behind the page protector.

I had some questions for Dina regarding her project and I figured you would, too. Continue reading to learn more about it.

Interview

You are on the design team for the Inspired By Amelie blog and that’s what inspired this project. Will you tell us about that blog and what it is?
My friend Fauve started the Amelie blog out of a love for the film Amelie. She saw lots of potential for scrapping inspiration in the movie, and she invited a bunch of us to contribute to a challenge blog about it. The idea is to be inspired by the film…its spirit, its colors, its themes.

We have a challenge every month, and every month Fauve lines up a great sponsor for the prize.

What was the challenge that led to your “Memories” project?
In the film, Amelie finds a memory box behind the wall in her bathroom. The box belonged to a boy who had lived in her apartment in the 1950s. Amelie sets out to return the box to its rightful owner.

The scrapping challenge for the blog was to create a memory box of some sort.

How did you decide on the items you put in the page protector?
First I sent my kids on a hunt throughout the house…they brought me a few things (the Legos!). So those things represent my kids. The pieces of film are mine and represent my love for photography and pictures. There are a few coins there from our trip to England last year, and there’s a bit of a map from our China trip two years ago. The mini photographs are from the England trip, too.

The other elements all come from my stash of collage treasures–things that I like and that I tend to hoard, like old stamps and keys and clock faces. The verse that I stamped is from an old playground song that we used to sing as kids.

What were the general steps for putting it together?
Well, at first this challenge to create a memory box stumped me, because I’m really not good at altering 3-D things. Then I got the idea to collect elements together in a scrapbook page format instead of a box format.

I started with the sheet protector–it’s a sheet protector that holds slides, so it’s already divided up into little compartments. I found elements to go in the compartments and then I sewed around them so they wouldn’t fall out. Then I inked & stamped the cardstock, and combined it all together.

How did you attach the plastic page protector to the cardstock?
You can’t see it in the picture, but I stapled it.

What is the technique for getting that red paint look?
I laid down some metal mesh, and I sprayed over it with Terracotta Color Wash Spray Ink by Tim Holtz.

The page protector looks like it was already divided into square compartments and then you stitched more squares through it. Is that right? What size is it and who makes it?
Yep, it’s a protector to hold slides. I got it from Light Impressions.

Will you be putting this into another page protector and then into an album, or did you make it to display on its own?
Good question…I’m really not sure! I will likely find a way to incorporate it into an album.

Inspiration

I can think of so many ways to apply this. Just off the top of my head, you could use it to gather and showcase items from:
1. Vacation
2. Childhood
3. Wedding
4. Birth (yours or your children’s)
5. An ancestor or relative who has died
6. A day’s worth of errands
7. Your current hobby or passion

What could you use this idea for?

To see more of Dina’s scrapbooking and art journaling, visit her blog, Ponderings.
Thank you, Dina, for sharing your unique project with us!

Here are photos of the stunning mini-albums that Dedra made, which I showed in the most recent episode of Paperclipping. I’ve thrown in a few extra pages that you didn’t get to see in the video. I just can’t resist.

Dedra was recently the guest designer for a cool new challenge blog called, Creative Therapy. Since we’re all fans, I thought I’d send you over there to tell them how fabulous we think she is.

I’ll post my own layouts from the video episode a little later.

Paperclipping 39 - Stickles Experiment from izzyvideo on Vimeo.
You’re going to love all the new ideas for Stickles in today’s free episode. Dedra Long contributed many of them and I am so proud to show you more of her work alongside my own in this video. Huge thanks to Dedra.

Trust me when I say you will want to watch the higher-quality version of this episode so you can see all the shine on our projects.

I also have show notes available.

Yes, we do have a video podcast that is just about ready for release. It is a free episode available to everyone–and it’s a good one. We hope to post it tonight, so be sure to come back.

Don’t forget Paperclipping Live tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 6:30pm PST. I will be taking calls through Skype, so be sure to register at skype.com (it’s free) if you’ve had a question you wanted me to answer or have something cool to share with the Paperclipping audience. Calls may be video or audio. Contact me during the live show with my skype username, “noellhyman.”

I will also cover the front of the board book we worked on last week.

I have a backlog of emails with questions I have not answered. I’ll look through those today and will answer them either tomorrow night during Paperclipping Live, or in a blog posting later this week. If you have been waiting for a response from me, be sure to attend tomorrow night’s event or watch the recording later, just in case.