Our Good Life

 

One of my favorite techniques in digital scrapbooking is using a photo mask—it’s such a simple way to create a big visual impact! A photo mask helps blend your photo into the background or shape it in a creative way, drawing the eye right to the heart of your page. Whether you're going for soft edges, a bold silhouette, or an artsy paint-stroke effect, masks make your photo the star of the layout. I love how they add depth and interest without overwhelming the rest of the design. For this page, the photo mask really brought the focus to the moment I wanted to highlight most!  I thought I came up with a pretty creative way to use it along with a pocket scrapbooking page.

This page just makes me smile! I used the super fun and colorful Fieldnotes #17 bundle—it’s full of bright papers, flowers, and playful little extras that I just love using. I pulled together a mix of family photos, including some silly ones of Jessica and a few special moments like her Make-A-Wish trip to Tokyo in 2018. I really wanted to capture the fun, happy energy of our time together. Jessica has always had a knack for snapping photos when no one’s looking (and usually when we’re making weird faces!). I added a few clusters, some rainbow word art, and lots of pops of bright beautiful color to match our goofy, sweet, and joy-filled life.

Photo Mask challenge June 2025 at Digitalscrapbook.com

Perforated Pocket 4 Templates from Miss Fish over at Ginger Scraps

The Fieldnotes #17 Digital Scrapbook Bundle by Marisa Lerin is exactly the kind of kit I delight in—bright, bold, and bursting with happy energy! It’s packed with playful elements like hand-drawn flowers, colorful butterflies, fun tags, and cheerful word art that instantly make a page come to life. The rainbow-striped papers, messy paint textures, and vibrant patterns are perfect for adding that joyful pop I’m always drawn to. Whether I'm scrapping sweet everyday moments or just playing with color, this bundle makes it easy (and fun!) to let my creativity shine. If you love bright kits like I do, this one’s a total treat!

Fieldnotes #17 by Marisa Lerin

I just enjoy how the photo mask added that extra pop to my layout—bringing attention right where I wanted it while still blending beautifully with the fun, colorful vibe of the page. Paired with the bright papers and happy little pocket-style elements, everything came together just right. This page makes me smile every time I see it, and that’s exactly what scrapbooking is all about—preserving memories in a way that brings joy all over again!

Until next time, scrap your story, share your heart, and always be kind.

Joy of Books

Color Palette Challenge from Digitalscrapbook.com

"A unique aspect about Digital Scrapbook are all those individual graphics that the upload Teams and designers take extra efforts in getting uploaded to the site. This accomplishes two things. First, it allows everyone who has a free account to download 5 graphics a day for free. Secondly, it allows you the flexibility to download just what you want, when you want it. 

Let's show some individual graphic love and use these to create a page as opposed to using a full kit. I chose some summery colors for you this time! 

Use only items from any or all of these color search links: "Teal" | Turquoise | "Ivory" | "Mustard Yellow" | "Red""

This layout was created for the Color Palette Challenge over at DigitalScrapbook.com, and I had such an enjoyable time working with this vibrant mix of mustard yellow and teal. The cheerful palette brought just the right energy to these sweet photos of Jessica enjoying one of our favorite pastimes—bookstore visits! I loved using these bold colors to highlight the playful, story-filled theme, and the rich floral accents and paint splatters helped tie it all together. The pops of word art like smile, story time, and books added a fun storytelling touch to match the memory.

Layout template by Saskia Veldhoen

Found in Digitalscrapbook.com Commons

The layout I picked for this Color Palette Challenge features a fun and modern diagonal design with strong visual movement from corner to corner. It includes two photo spots—one near the top right and one toward the bottom left—each accented by layered floral clusters and playful swirls. The diagonal stripes in the background help guide your eye across the page, while still keeping the focus on the photos. I loved how this template gave me a great balance of structure and creativity, with space to showcase both pictures and embellishments beautifully.

This Color Palette Challenge was such a joy to create for—between the vibrant colors, the playful template, and the sweet memory captured, it all came together perfectly. I love how the layout highlights our special story time moments and our shared love for books. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at my page—hope it inspires you to document a favorite memory of your own!

Until next time, scrap your story, share your heart, and always be kind.

Hello 55!

 

This week's pocket-style page is extra special—it celebrates not only a new challenge day but also my 55th birthday! I had fun diving into this bright, bold, and joy-filled layout that captures the fun, the feelings, and even a few silly selfies from my special day. Turning 55 feels like a mix of magic and mischief—equal parts wisdom and wonder. I wanted my page to reflect that blend of celebration and reflection, with pops of color, heartfelt journaling, and playful touches like cake, balloons, and birthday sparkle.

Some of my favorite highlights: a sweet Sunday supper with family, a giant chocolate cake, and a moment to just sit outside and soak it all in. I included snapshots from the day, along with bits of what’s bringing me joy lately—like YouTube deep dives and strawberry shortcake! I love how digital scrapbooking lets me hold onto all those pieces and moments in one place. Cheers to 55 and this beautiful, crazy life!

The "Make a Wish" Collab Bundle from DigitalScrapbook.com is a total celebration in digital form! I absolutely loved working with this bundle—it's bursting with bright, happy colors that instantly bring the party vibes. From confetti and cupcakes to balloons, candles, and birthday flair, every element is designed to make your pages feel joyful and festive.

There’s a great mix of bold patterns, fun word art, playful tags, and dimensional embellishments that layer beautifully. Whether you’re scrapping a birthday, a milestone, or just a week filled with happiness, this bundle makes it easy to tell your story in a colorful, uplifting way. It was the perfect choice for documenting my 55th birthday celebration!

TGL March & April pocket layout template

Date Card

This layout was such a joy to put together—a celebration of turning 55, embracing the little things, and using bright, beautiful supplies like the Make a Wish bundle to tell the story. It’s pages like this that remind me how special everyday moments can be when we take the time to capture them. Whether it’s cake, laughter, or just sitting outside with a smile, I’m grateful for it all. Here's to more scrapping, more color, and more reasons to celebrate!

Until next time, scrap your story, share your heart, and always be kind.

My Happy Place

One of the more challenging types of prompts for me at DigitalScrapbook.com is the Scraplift Challenge. The idea is to choose an inspiring layout from a curated list and use it as a blueprint—keeping the overall design or feel similar, but putting your own creative spin on it. It’s not always easy! Sometimes I catch myself making my page look too much like the original. When that happens, I have to remind myself that this isn’t a CASE challenge (Copy And Study Everything), it’s a scraplift—meant to spark inspiration, not imitation.

For this round, I picked a bright and beautiful layout full of sunflower tones that immediately spoke to me. I kept the vertical structure and that cheerful yellow vibe, but gave it my own twist with a summer vacation theme. I swapped the original’s coffee shop charm for a breezy, outdoor feeling. Instead of two angled photos, I used one centered snapshot, added a bold wooden frame, some florals, a sunshine element, and a ribbon bow to bring in warmth and movement. The scalloped edge detail felt like the perfect touch of playful fun. With word art like “happy summer” and “my happy place,” this layout became a joyful little celebration of sunshine and memory-making.

While the original layout feels like a cozy pause over a cup of coffee, mine captures that carefree feeling of being in your favorite place with your favorite people on a sunny day.

This time, I was drawn to a layout that practically glowed with sunshine. That bold stripe of yellow with sunflower accents just popped off the screen and I knew instantly: this was the one! 

My page to scraplift is from Twin Mom Scraps

To create my scraplifted page, I used the vibrant Tinsley Bundle by Rachel Martin. This kit is bursting with warm summer colors—yellows, peaches, corals, and soft browns—that were perfect for capturing that sunshiney feeling. I pulled a mix of patterned papers for the background and especially loved using the scallop border piece to echo the playful edges from the original layout. I layered in floral clusters, cheerful word art, and that stitched sun element to tie it all together. This bundle made it so easy to create something bright, happy, and totally “me!”

Scraplifting is such a fun reminder that inspiration is everywhere—and it’s even better when you get to put your own heart into it. I loved working with the cozy yellows and bright flower vibes on this one. It was a joy to take a beautiful layout and give it my personal twist.

If you’ve never tried a scraplift challenge before, I highly recommend it. It’s a great way to spark ideas and stretch your style in a whole new direction.  Here is a link for you to the Layout Challenge thread at digitalscrapbook.com

Until next time, scrap your story, share your heart, and always be kind.

Throw Your Cap in the Air

This month over at DigitalScrapbook.com, we're throwing our caps in the air with a fun challenge all about celebrating the graduates!  For my take, I chose to highlight J-one year post–high school graduation and already making waves! She's working at Vanderbilt as a phlebotomist (her dream employer!) and will be starting nursing school this fall. I just had to document this proud mama moment with a layout that captures her success, growth, and the bright future ahead. 

Quick Pages Kit #5-2

I started with this adorable graduation-themed quick page from digitalscrapbook.com, which already had so much charm with its vintage damask-style background, dotted center panel, and classic grad elements like the cap, diploma scroll, and that fun "The tassel is worth the hassle!" word art. To make it my own, I added a bold navy frame around the photo spot to help my image pop, swapped in a different arrow for a bit more dimension, sprinkled in some glittery navy stars for a celebratory feel, and included extra word art to tell a bit more of the story.  Just a few little tweaks brought it from quick page to personal keepsake!

If you’d like to recreate a similar look or just add to your stash, I’ve linked a couple of the main kits I used below. They were perfect for adding that polished, personalized feel to this keepsake layout. I’m also including a few extra graduation-themed kits that are totally worth checking out—great for celebrating every cap toss, diploma, and proud moment! 

 Grad Bundle by Marisa Lerin

Color Basics bundle from Marisa Lerin and Brooke Gazarek

Fieldnotes #17 by Marisa Lerin

Graduation Mini Kit from Marisa Lerin

It’s always so rewarding to take a ready-made quick page and give it a personal twist. With just a few extra elements and meaningful touches, this layout became a treasured snapshot of a huge milestone. Whether you're celebrating a recent grad or reflecting on the journey, I hope this inspires you to dive into your own stash, explore a few new kits, and create something special. Don’t forget—every tassel tells a story! 

Until next time, scrap your story, share your heart, and always be kind.