National Puppy Day
March 23
rd is National Puppy Day, which was first established in 2006 to raise awareness about the horrors of puppy mills. Since the motto of National Puppy Day is "Adopt Instead of Shop," I wanted to share some layouts that I've made about our
dog, Mocha, a rescue dog.
When we adopted Mocha in August of 2009, she was only eight weeks old, and she was one of only three puppies left who hadn't been adopted that morning. It was
love at first sight! I started taking photos of her the minute we got home, and I haven't stopped taking them since. Mocha finds her way into many of our
family photos and scrapbook pages. Here are two layouts that I made using some of her puppy pictures.
This is a very simple layout. In fact, it's one of the layouts that I use to teach scrapbooking to beginners. I started out with a sheet of
kraft cardstock as my base. I often use a neutral color for my base. Then I selected a sheet of
red cardstock and a sheet of
patterned paper that coordinated with my photos. I used the red cardstock as a large mat for my three photos, which I trimmed down a little bit. I punched a border strip from the patterned paper and cut a few embellishments with my Cricut, using black and light brown cardstock. I also die-cut my title.
My journaling took up the fourth quadrant of my photo mat, and I added the title to the top and bottom of this area. Before layering the mat onto the base cardstock, I adhered the border strip. Then I added my embellishments and a small strip of the patterned paper for a final detail.
Although this is a two-page layout, it is just as simple to put together as the previous layout. I've laid out the photos in a similar manner, keeping them close together and touching each other. The base paper is
green instead of kraft, and the size of each page is 8 ½" x 11", as opposed to the 12" x 12" size of the "Puppy Love" layout. Other than that, the design is very similar, and I used die-cut embellishments and pieces of
patterned paper here too. I added a chipboard title, a
stamped image, and some brads to change things up a little.
These layouts are easy to replicate whether you are a beginner or have more experience. You can add more embellishments, use smaller or larger photos, flip the layout, move the title, or whatever you need to do for your design.
I hope these layouts have given you ideas for scrapbooking your four-legged family members. If you don't have a dog (or cat) yet, why not celebrate National Puppy Day this year by visiting your local shelter or adoption agency and taking a lovable puppy or adult dog home? Then you can start documenting the joy and fun that he or she will add to your life.
