Using large photos & a challenge

The kids were snuggled in on the couch this weekend watching Frozen for the zillionth time, so I snuck away for a few moments in my craft room.  I love to create, but printing pictures is my least favorite thing.  I do have a little box where I keep extra photos that haven't been used yet, but I flip through those so often I'm kinda tired of seeing them.  As I was looking for something to use on a project, I found two photos of me with my kids that I had printed on a piece of white card stock.  The photos were a little bit larger than I would normally use, so it was fun to play around with paper and photos in a different way.

I challenged myself to create two layouts...one for my daughter and one for my son using these two photos.  I used the Office Hour Scrapbook kit and Project Life kit from Studio Calico to put these together.  The least amount of options, the better for me.  I can sometimes get lost in paper and embellishments if I'm not careful! :)

I thought it would be fun to offer this up as a little challenge with a fun prize on my blog today!  I'd love to see your take on this project!

It's super simple to do and you really only need a printer and some paper to make it happen!

Here's a quick little walk through....

Start by printing two photos onto a piece of 8.5x11 white card stock.  I used Aperture to print my photos by choosing the "two photos per page" option.  Play around with your printer settings and try to get two large photos on one page.  If you would like to Photoshop to layer your photos, I put together a little template for you to use.

8.5x11 Photoshop Template

After you have your photos printed onto one page, just cut right down the middle for two large photos.  Now it's the fun part!  Get those photos and stories onto a layout!

Here's my two layouts!

I used some papers from the Office Hours Scrapbook kit to create a base for my photo.    I sewed my photo onto a piece of printer paper so I could add my journaling under the photo.  I filled in the bottom part of my photo with this awesome cut file created by Paige Evans.  A few embellishments, cork stickers and a trimmed journaling card finished off my page.

For this photo, I started with a vertical band of papers on the right side of my white background.  To keep it girly, I added a large white doily and a few stamped flowers inspired by this tutorial from Elizabeth Kartchner.  I also sewed a glassine bag underneath my photo so I could add my journaling onto a Project Life card and slip it into the bag.

So are you up for a challenge??  I'd love if you would play along!  After you post your project to your blog or gallery, add a link in the comments here!!  This challenge is open until next Monday, March 24th.  I'll post the winner to my blog and send out a fun little goodie bag!

Happy Monday and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

xoxoxo