paper: Weekly Challenge :: Scrapbook your Black and White Photos | pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Happy Monday! Have you been up to any crafting over the past weekend? Or looking forward to some time to create over the Easter holiday weekend? Whenever you find the time, I have a new challenge for you to stretch your scrapbooking muscles, whether you choose an Easter theme or some other photos from your desk!

This week, embrace colour, but only in your supplies. I challenge you this week to scrapbook your black and white photos. Go ahead and change that photo with every clashing colour imaginable, print it in black and white, and enjoy using any colour scheme you choose rather than struggling to make everything match. Or you might have photos that were originally taken in black and white, perhaps! Everything in style and theme is completely up to you. In recent years, this photo is my favourite in black and white, going from ho-hum in the original colour version with the tinge of hospital lighting to soft and dramatic in monochrome. (There’s a video of that page too!) To get you started on this week’s challenge, take a look at these examples from contributing designer Gina Lideros and guest artist Melinda Sweetman.

Since this week’s challenge is to create using black and white photos, I dug deep into my photos from past Easter events. I found this photo of my son that I loved taken on Easter a few years back. I wondered at first if I could make it work with a flower background and lots of pinks, not unlike Glitter Girl’s latest adventure!. Have you ever used a masculine photo before on a feminine layout? I wasn’t sure at first, but I love it now. I’m glad that I tried something that was a little out of my norm.

Because of the Easter theme, I specifically chose candy-colored papers from the Shimelle Starshine collection, and paired it with a few older embellishments from the Shimelle True Stories collection. I also added a few bits and pieces from other American Crafts collections. To start creating my layout I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out my background and then backed each piece with patterned papers. I topped it with Thickers and just a few small embellishments.
- Gina

This page documents a little family tradition that started back in 2013 when my littlest guy was not even a year old! I have yet to scrap most of these fun memories but figured I would start with last year’s photo as my boys were posing so nicely next to the bunny trap! I wanted to use a lot of bright fun colours so the black and white photo was perfect!

This annual event started when my husband came up with the idea of a trap inspired by Wile E Coyote, grabbed a washing basket, some rope, found a piece of wood from his stash and a plate with a carrot on top and voila! It was such a hit the first year that my big guy asked about it the following year and this Easter coming up we will do it again for the fourth year. Our family got a pet rabbit named Olaf in 2014, but not once did it cross my boys’ minds that perhaps we would catch the “wrong” bunny. Even when I suggested it they both laughed at me!

I pulled that fun paper from my stash, did some water colouring after a light coat of gesso and then matched some paper, stickers, rub ons, and Thickers from the very first Shimelle collection with the roller stamp from the True Stories collection and also some of the Life Is Beautiful and Hello Sunshine collections by Cocoa Vanilla Studios. I love the vibrant and fun look of this page and can’t wait for my boys to look back at this when they get older and laugh!
- Melinda

You have a week to complete the challenge and share a link – but of course you’re welcome to set your own time schedule. Whatever keeps you happy and creative!

Today’s Guest Artist: Melinda Sweetman loves coffee, her family and pretty paper.. You can find more from Melinda on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog.

Read more about: scrapbooking-challenges

21 March 2016

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