Scrapbooking With Lots Of Love

It's hard for me to believe that it's been nearly three years since I visited my relatives in Pennsylvania!  I usually try to get my photos into scrapbooks soon after they are taken, but I really put off making a page with these photos, mainly because I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the pictures. ("High-quality people in low-quality photos" was a caption I read recently and which applies here!)  But it was such a meaningful trip, that I knew that I needed to make this page. This was the last time I saw my sweet Aunt Dot, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.  Not long after my visit, she rapidly declined and went to live in a care facility.  I will always be thankful that I was able to spend these few days with her.  

So a couple of days ago, I spread the photos out on my desk.  And I was stuck for quite awhile!  My usual techniques of creating a page weren't working.  There were no predominant colors or repeating elements in the photos.   I couldn't come up with a good arrangement of the photos, no matter how much I moved them around.  I looked through my newest purchases from Stampin' Up and pulled out a beautiful pack of patterned paper called Whole Lot of Lovely, along with the coordinating stamp set, Lots of Love.  I knew when I saw those items, that they had the "feeling" that I wanted to convey.  So I set to work, playing around and gradually my page came together.  Here's a list of what I like about this page:

• Using black cardstock as the background gives a classic look to the page and causes the yellow & white accents to stand out.
• The words on the Tres Chic background stamp (retired) express perfectly my feelings when I think about these family members (memories, happiness, genuine, adore, laugh, together, heartfelt, etc).
• The paper lace doilies help to soften the bright yellow pieces & the larger photos.  They are simple accents, but give a lot of impact to this page.  (By the way, a pack of 24 of these little doilies only costs $3; a very inexpensive way to dress up your scrapbook pages & cards!)

Now that I finally have these photos on a scrapbook page, I don't even notice the fuzziness of some of the photos!  What I do notice is the way my heart is full of warmth and love for these sweet family members!

Here is a closer look at some of the products I used:

Here is my simple stamping tip for this week:

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #9:  Group your accents on scrapbook pages in "threes".

 Take another look at my page & notice how I placed my doilies in three different places, as well as my yellow accents.  

Thanks for reading my post today; I hope you feel inspired to make a scrapbook page with some of your photos (even if they are of "low-quality")!  If you need any supplies, you can browse through the catalog by clicking on the catalog image in the sidebar and then following the ordering instructions under "shop now".  Please let me know in the comments below or by email (godismydelight@yahoo.com) if you have any questions.