layouts for mom

With Mother's day fast approaching, what better time to scrapbook a special woman in your life?

Several members of our design team are here to share ideas for creating layouts that are both touching and beautiful. With some creative thought and Fiskars tools it's amazing what can be created!

Designer: Becky Novacek
I actually jumped at the chance to pay tribute to my mom with a layout. She is just the most amazing woman. She has faced so many challenges in life and maintains this unbelievably positive attitude. (Read journaling!)

When I sat down to put this layout together, I knew I wanted it to represent mom and her cheerful outlook and femininity, so I pulled out some colorful, happy pattern papers from the Cloud 9 St Valentine collection and the Heidi Grace Reagan’s Closet collection. I used the Fiskars Brick by Brick Medium Squeeze Punch on the pattern papers, plus a few vintage book pages to create a patchwork type border around the layout. I love the way it looks sort of reminiscent of a quilt and the way the color pops with the kraft background.

I thought that the Heidi Grace Midnight Kisses Black and White Flourish Flocked paper would represent her beauty and class, and be a nice juxtapose to the homespun look of the border. I used the Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch to accent the journaling and bring more femininity to the page. A few flower accents, a Heidi Grace Alpha Sticker title and machine stitching add the finishing touches. Oh and do make sure that when you do a tribute page, that you use your handwriting when you can.

Designer: Susan Weinroth
I keep a scrapbook full of the pages that I create for my two nieces – it’s full of pink and purple and flowers and glitter, all of the stuff that I don’t get to use for the “boyish” pages that I do for my son. 

When I was planning my page for this article as a tribute to a mom in my life, I immediately thought of my sister and her two little girls (both under 2 years old!).  I admire her so very much, and wanted to create a page with journaling that came from the standpoint of being written as a little letter to her girls, from me – and that is how the journaling is composed here. 

 Each sentence in the journaling block refers back to the page’s title “She”, which also works with my “loves you” accent at the bottom of the page.

To create a subtle stamped and embossed “love” scallop border as I did here (on the left side of the page), simply stamp the word love (from the Heidi Grace Designs Reagans Closet clear stamp set) onto purple cardstock with embossing ink.  Then sprinkle on embossing powder and set with heat according to package directions.  Use the Fiskars XL Round N Round squeeze punch to trim the stamped words out from the edge of the page (remember you only need to punch half of the circle), and then adhere to the edge of your layout creating a “scallop” border.  Accent with circles trimmed with the Ultra Shape Xpress at the top of your page as bases for your title letters, and That’s Amore Squeeze Punch hearts at the bottom.

Designer:  Lisa Storms
The first embellishment I thought of when making a layout about my mom was butterflies.  I wanted to journal about the freedom she gives me … how she never pushes her opinions on me or steps over boundaries, yet she is always there when I do need her.  Freedom to fly while always having a safe place to land.

I immediately grabbed my favorite Butterfly Shape Templates, but thought this page deserved something a little extra special.  Creating my own stamps from craft foam (stolen from my kids' art drawer) was not only fun but yielded beautiful results, and I can't wait to play around with this again. 

I used the Ultra ShapeXpress to cut the butterflies from foam and easily tore the rest of the way right off, like butter!  I then mounted it onto a clear plate so I could see where I was stamping and have easy disposal.  If you want to keep the stamps, be sure to thoroughly cover with adhesive to bond to plate so water doesn't wear off the stamp during clean up. 

I painted the stamp in multiple colors using a foam brush with acrylic paints and "kissed" it onto the Filigree Texture Plate before stamping onto my cardstock.  Kissing means stamping onto a texture to remove part of the color which transfers the design onto your final image.  Be sure to wash your texture plate off immediately (I simply run mine under the faucet) so the paint doesn't dry. 

To create a subtle background paper to coordinate with my theme, I created smaller butterflies the same way.  One I ran through the Crimper before mounting, while the other I added circles using the Anywhere Eyelet Punches.  I stamped with white ink randomly over my base cardstock.  One final feminine detail I added to the layout was Apron Lace border punched cardstock layered over multi-colors of Scallop Sentiment border punches.  Love you mom!

Designer: Kendra McCracken
Mothers are routinely labeled "good" for their dedication to providing for the daily needs of their children. While these tasks are important and honorable and should bring recognition, looking deeper and finding unique habits of woman can be used to reinforce the traits that drive them to be a good mother. 

Doing this leaves you with a more meaningful layout about that mother, one that is sure to make her feel appreciated. Including some special details on the layout using Fiskars tools will add an extra dose of love and comfort to those feelings of appreciation.

An alternative to a standard corner rounder, The Twist & Flip 2-In-1 Scallop Corner Punch quickly adds a pretty, decorative touch to the corners of a layout. An added benefit is there are 2 sizes to choose from on the same punch.
I am one who loves the distressed, aged look. I recently gave up my other distressing tools in lieu of the Fingertip Craft Knife. It adds a dramatic distressing with little effort. On this layout I used the tool to distress edges of my photos.

Adding hearts to a layout as embellishments are always a fun way to support the idea of love. On this layout, I used the Shape Template with Hearts to outline a heart directly onto my layout. I then used the outline as a stitching guide, going over the outline 4 times in a haphazard way, adding to the distressed look I love so much.

Designer: Patti Milazzo

Recently, when I visited my parents I found this photo of my mom and me together.  I think I was about two at the time it was taken.  I don’t remember ever seeing it before, but it’s become a new favorite of mine.

I kept this layout simple with a single sepia photo and small amounts of patterned paper from Heidi Grace’s Forever Love colleciton since I wanted to embellish more with stamps and my favorite Oopsie Daisy and Mint Condition Squeeze Punches.  I gathered a bunch of Heidi Grace Design (Sweetest Bug Icons; Borders, Urban Acres Blvd.; A Little Bird’s Tale; Valentine’s Day) and Fiskars (Wishes All Around) stamps to create flourishes and borders.  Using the long Stamp Block, I stamped borders around the photo and along the top and bottom edges of strips of patterned paper.  I also created a cluster of mixed stamp designs near the lower right group of flowers using smaller Stamp Blocks. 

I cut my circles with the Ultra ShapeXpress Tool and both the Circle Template and the Super Sized Circle Templates – perfect for circles more than 4”.  After journaling on the same color cream cardstock, I cut my tag and punched the top corners with the Chip Off the Ol’ Block Corner Squeeze Punch.  Then I added a few more stamped images on the tag to help it blend better with the rest of the layout.  I finished the layout with Heidi Grace Designs’ Reagan’s Closet Punch Board Alphas and hearts for the title.

We hope you've enjoyed these layouts and are inspired to go create some of your own in honor of the special women and mothers in your life.

By fiskars design team