Out & About :: An Unlikely Source of Inspiration Using Maggie Holmes' Open Book

First and foremost, we appreciate the many comments in response to this week's Open Book giveaway. If you've yet to discover it, hop on over to HERE and make your mark!

Moving along, the CP Gals are going to spend some time showing off their latest Open Book projects, including this two-page spread from Lisa Dickinson. While out & about scavenging for scrapbook ideas, she happened upon one that might surprise you. It's ultra cute, too!

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Inspiration is everywhere around us, from billboards to store fronts to packaging! Some of my favorite layouts been inspired from unlikely sources. I recently noticed an ad in the latest issue of InStyle magazine for L'Oréal cosmetics, and at first glance, it might not seem to be an ideal concept for inspiring a page design. But I knew the basic composition of a large photo on the left side and grid of circles on the right would translate well to a scrapbook page.

Using a 8 x 12-inch, photo enlargement, I created a double-paged layout that mimicked the elements in the ad. In place of the photo of circular make-up bottles, I used circles of patterned paper that I layered with various embellishments.

I layered my title over my photo, filling the white space much like the text overlay in the ad. My journaling block is similarly placed to the ad copy, though I printed it on a journaling card rather than directly on the background.

Though it wasn't an element in the original ad, I repeated the circles on the lower left side to help tie the two halves of the spread together.

This layout features the newest Crate Paper collection, Open Book, which is a gorgeous selection of scrapbook and photography-inspired patterns in a versatile color palette. The lovely touches of gold throughout also add a touch of elegance and sparkle!

So don't overlook inspiration that can be found in the pages of magazines! Regardless of topic, ads can be a great starting point for your next page design!