Freebie: Layout & Template

When I was in fifth grade, my teacher told me something that would stick with me forever:

“Always KISS- Keep It Simple, Stupid!”

Now, while I don’t support teachers who make a habit of calling their students stupid, I can attest to the fact that simplicity, whether it be in life, in writing, or yes, even in scrapbooking, is an excellent way to make a bold statement.

Often, as scrappers, we find ourselves with a whole slew of pictures from our most recent exploit, but really only one good one. In my case, I’ll have 800 pictures from any given event, and I might keep three of them. (I’m a little shutter-happy.) So when I get home, and I’m sorting through hundreds of pictures, and I pick my one keeper, I then find myself saying something like, “Oh dang it! A one-photo layout?! Lame!”

And to that little voice, I then respond, “NAY! A great layout can be made with just one photo!”

I did it, and you can too, with a little help. Sometimes the best layouts feature one beautiful photo that tells a beautiful story- and the layout just helps it shine more. For example, this layout:

Notice how the whole layout seems to frame the focal point, and serves to draw the eye right to the kiddo? By choosing to keep the page free of elements, putting in just a little bit of well-placed journaling, and triple framing the photo, the beholder automatically is drawn to the photo- the whole point of the layout.

Now it’s YOUR turn! Here’s a freebie for you- the template (shadows and shapes included) for you to add your own papers, photos, journaling, and title work and make a beautiful simple layout. Just go my website, and use the access code FREE01 to download.Feel free to share your layout with us! Put a link to your layout in the comments, and I’ll pick one to feature later this week.

(Just CLICK HERE, and use the access code FREE01 to download.)

And hey- do you like the papers used in the layout shown above? They can be yours! The Iron and Wine paper pack from ShellinaScrap is available now at my shop.

Happy Scrapping!

Also: Don’t forget about the huge CONTEST going on until Friday March 11- you could win a whole bunch of free digital scrapbooking stuff!