This month at Scrapbooking.com we have tried something new. We call it the “Triple Play.” We took two school themed layouts and created them three different ways – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. By doing this, we hope that all levels of scrappers can enjoy and use these ideas. And most of all, we want to show you how small additions and special touches can change the look of a page.
The first example of “First Day of School” is a very simple one, geared towards the beginning scrapbooker. This is a no frills page, but it still looks cute. Two printed accents are used as embellishments and the title is computer generated. This example is a great quick and easy page. 
In the second example the layout has changed a bit to allow for matting, some additional embellishments and a change in the title. Matting your photo and accents adds dimension to the page. The word “school” has now been cut out using a lettering template. Using a lettering template does take a little bit of time, but the results are worth the effort. And a strip of buttons has been added for some additional dimension. 
A lot of little details have been added to the third example. The words in the title have been matted. Snaps have been added to the centers of the “O”s. Additional buttons have been added and they are now actually sewn to the page. The preprinted accent has been sanded to give it a little bit of character and the child’s name has been stamped and added to the page.
One thing that is missing from this example is journaling, which we all know is an important part of the page. In this particular case, a second page will be added and will only include journaling. Other options would be to hide your journaling behind one of the pieces of your layout. Or you could add journaling in place of one of the accents. This page could also be used as a title page for your child’s school album. Many options would work on this page; just use the one that would suit your needs.
The next example, “Our Little Artist” uses more preprinted embellishments. Preprinted embellishments are wonderful when you want to make a quick and easy page. You can just attach them to the page and you are done! 
In the second layout, the preprinted embellishments have been altered a bit. You can always make small changes in order to make the embellishment your own. In this case, the white space has been trimmed off of the paint palette and the title has been altered. Some mattes were also added along with some buttons for dimension. 
Again, the final example has several small details added. The buttons now have fiber added to them. The mattes have pen borders to add some interest. The letters of the preprinted title have all been individually cut out and the rest of the title has been stamped. And one detail that cannot be seen in the scan very well is the addition of Crystal Lacquer. Crystal Lacquer has been applied to the paint splat stickers and the paint palette. Crystal Lacquer simply adds dimension and actually makes the paint look wet.
Whether you are a beginner or advanced scrapper or somewhere in between I hope these ideas have sparked some creativity within you. And even if you are a beginner, I hope that you will try adding some of the small details that are on the other pages. Sometimes one small detail can go a long way.
