BOY LAY OUTS!!!!!! REVISED LO!

sigh,,,,,seriously, why are boy LO's so difficult???????????? And why is it that I seem like I am always doing the same thing,,,,,,


bright colors
stars
buttons


over and over and over again???????? I've tried looking in the gallery under BOY for inspiration, sigh but that's not helping much,,,,,,

there's LOTS for baby boys,,,,,,,,but he's EIGHT,,,,,,

I dunno,,,,,is it just me? It feels like just me,,,,,,,,,,like everybody else in the world has this secret that I am missing when it comes to boy LO's,,,,,

arghhhhhhhhhhh,,,,,,,,jus t a rant,,,,sorry.

no holly *sigh* it's not just you... i ALWAYS have trouble with them *sigh*

I'm in that boat also.........I always resort to color and pp to help me out but only have so many ideas. I wish someone would come up with something as versatile as flowers are for girls for the boys in our life.....I have a teen and his layouts keep getting harder all the time. I'm always trying to figure out new ways to use color, pp, paper tearing, and inking to give his layouts a "fresh" look

I struggle with them too cause I did nothing but girl layouts for the last 10yrs then had a baby boy! LOL I have a few that you MIGHT get inspired by in my gallery using some Bo Bunny lines that are way cute! Good luck!

IT's hard to do boy layouts because it's hard to find boy stuff.

Girl page - Flower
Boy Page - Bug?

Girl Page - Sparkles
Boy Page - ??

Girl Page - Hearts, florals patterns, butterflies...
Boy page - Stars, Rocks, striped paper??

I need atv's, trucks and video game stuff. Hard to find!!

You are definitely not alone...

i have linked some things that you could use... i know there's alot!

I don't scrap boys all that much, but when I do I just make them however I want them to look. If I want to use flowers I use flowers. I don't really have a problem with colors because I tend to want to use blue, brown and green for everything anyway so I am good with colors.

two more boy ideas
- gears
- arrows

It is hard; but I've found a few tricks -- enough that I'm almost clueless when it comes to scrapping a girl!

Most stores have cammo ribbon -- narrow and flat. There is also cammo paper.

I'm actually taking inspiration from one of your LO's, in which you hid a frog for your DD. I'm going to start creating different versions of trains to sneak into DS's LO's. On the next one, I'm going to use some gender-neurtral ribbon and 2-4 circles (brads, paint dabber circles, whatever I can come up with)

I saw that one of the companies has set of stitching templates that are boy-themed. I'll look them up for you and add it below.

Skull and crossbones is pretty fun -- glad I have a lot right now!

arrows is a good idea... i think i will be adding this thread to my faves.

I only have boys - dogs, kids, cats even the fish is a boy. Check out my gallery for not-typical boyish stuff.

Leaves
trees
legos/squares
paint splatter

• Gelidy Gelato Said:

omg, funny you should mention GEARS, because in absolute DESPERATION, I ripped apart the broken toy that my dgs was "fixing" in the photos I was scrapping and litterally GLUE DOTTED the gears FROM the toy ON the pp!!!!!!

I kid you NOT,,,,,

I just did a 2 pg of my sons race car, I used grundgeboard and clear ribbon that had skulls on it. Plus Maya road makes some really cute cb gears. boy stuff is hard for me because he is 24, and has to critique every page...do them like you want untill he gets too old to tell you how he wants them

Had a few more thoughts...

What sports does he like?

What is his nickname? (Obviously not to be shared publicly)

there are frogs, rocket ships, pizzas, cars, trains, fish.... there's a ton of options out there.

I have never had to clean GREASE off of a scrapbook embellishment before,,,,,,,

• MommaSaid Said:

lol, no sports (for some reason UNKNOWN to me, coaches get scared when you tell them he's deaf)

no nickname,,,,,,

maybe part of it is that he's an in between age,,,,too old for cars and trains,,,,not old enough for the teenage stuff I find out there,,,,,,

oy,,,,,eight,,,,,,what an age,,,,,

here are some more. i know there are lots here too!

Think....blue, green, brown, orange, black. Sports, mud, dirt...fishing, bikes...oh and food!!! even food...yes, growing boys..ya know! LOL!!!!! Tree forts, bugs, frogs, trucks, construction, tools...science, outer space....

I like to use flannel plaids, strips, arrows, stars, circles, street signs....trees, ponds, dogs just to name a few...

but when you get a pic like this.... what's a Mom to do??? LOL!!!


My Grown Up Boys!!!
By Jojo Noons

that's my problem Holly......teenage boys are hard. Mine isn't into guitars and yes he likes sports but basketballs and footballs don't really fit on a page of him acting goofy with his sister. kwim?? if I have a page of my dd and her friends acting silly, I can add a flower or two to fill in the blank spots.....with a boy??? Buttons have their place and so do arrows, they just aren't versatile like flowers are for girls.

I do have SCAL and recently found a dingbat file of different stars and geometric shapes. I think one evening I'm going to play with that and scraps of paper and see if I can make myself a "container" of generic, use anywhere on any theme layout stuff. I love having flowers so handy and just having to match a color.......looking for the magic embellishment for a boys page.

i cant believe it but i found more... i guess there is stuff out there when you look

• jojo noons Said:

enjoy their sense of humor and make a page accordingly

http://www.scrapbook.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/15085... (this is actually for my family album, haven't decided yet if it will go in either of the kids books.)

Boy LO's are definately more difficult to create than Girl LO's.... BUT.... why cant one use flowers or butterflies on a boy's LO? What if you have a boy that loves to catch butterflies and loves all thats nature? I've used flowers before...for me son. Just gotta know how to use it and which colors. Atm I'm redoing me daughter's photo's but I cant wait to start on me son's baby photo's up to now... I got some awesome photo's of him at our local Oldtimer Day.
I know that there are some great die-cut stickers out that are also 3D..thats a start. And..Making Memories n Basic Grey usually have some great BOY lines. Also...Kaiser Crafts, love their papers. Awesome colors for boys with matching rub-ons n such. Just gotta look harder I guess.... But then, the more satisfied you'll be when ya find something.

OK, here it is, and it just looks so EMPTY to me,,,,,,,

any suggestions???


Little Man
By CommaHolly

Holly, do you have any swirl stamps?? a swirl stamped onto a solid cardstock placed in groups (kind of like flowers,some on pop dots some flat) might look good on there. It will soften the pattern on the paper some and help stand the pics off the background?????

another thought......maybe a block of solid cardstock with tools of some kind arranged on it......a "bouquet" of tools if you will??

• CommaHolly Said:

Good point!

Thinking back to the days I taught third and fourth grade....

I had boys who loved punk rock, hip hop, spiked hair. I had boys who would hunt, jump and try to ride their bikes up in the air. I had boys who built, boys who destroyed, boys who scowled while others enjoyed. Some read inside; others embraced the great outdoors. Some wanted to hang glide while others happily took on their chores.

There are so many boys with some many dreams. Perhaps there are embellishments hiding in his most beloved things?

How about a fun explosive flourish?

A lightbulb for inspiration? Maybe two for a little lightbulb card in which *he* could write what he was feeling or doing right then?

I like the lightbulb,,,,,,,,now I just have to FIND one, lol,,,,,,,,,

No swirls, and I looked for tools the other day and didn't find any, Mel,,,,,,,,

but if I did that would be a great idea

clearly I need more boy stamps etc,,,,,sheesh,,,,,

I have two boys, My oldest is turning 8 in a few weeks. My approach is to go with what is going on in the pictures. We went strawberry picking so I have some flourishes that are stickled and inked that go with the page.

I am also a journaling person, although I think your layout is fine there is room to write about the story behind the pics. Maybe how his skills of fixing things are inherited from his Grandfather. You could make a journaling box out of a tool or decorated with tools.

I guess my tip is not to think about it as a gender thing but as the who, what,why, where,when and how approach.

Just my two cents.

Have you seen these Holly?
These with the real gears might be cute...

cosmo cricket is one of my favourite lines along with fancy pants. I use pinks & rainbows with frogs & mushrooms, who says I have to use something relevant to the picture(s).

• StaceyE Said:

ooooooooo I like, I like!!

Just saw this thread....thought I'd throw in my two cents worth. I have 3 grandsons...granted they are only 4 and 5, but I don't really like to use flowers on their layouts either.

Use jute cord or string...a kite, a pinwheel, dandelions or leafy "plants".

I'll link a few for you to show you what I'm talking about...


Play Ball
By Sgoetter


Pre T-ball
By Sgoetter


Way to go, Sport!
By Sgoetter


Stayin' Afloat
By Sgoetter


These are just a few of the recent ones I've done of the boys...and I do use a flower occasionally...like on the Way to go Sport...but it's not a "girly" flower...does that make sense?

I agree with what someone said before, I really try to fit the layout to the theme of the photo. It helps with the embellies.

I've really had to "learn" how to do boy layouts, because girl layouts are SO much easier!!

Good luck...you can do it!

thanks for all the suggestions guys,,,,,,I'm thinking, lol,,,,,,,,

Wow! Susan's examples are great! I think I need to spend some time in her gallery. I hate to follow her ideas with my less-than-2-cents, but I usually take my cues from what is going on in the pictures I'm scrapping. Here, I used seashells (cut from the patterned paper I had) because he was at the beach):
Dirt! By Library Mommy


Here, I did actually use flowers and ribbon, but I don't think it looks girlish. I've also started using more stamps:
Cozy with accessories By Library Mommy


I also find myself using lots of dots -- circles are easy to make and work great with buttons. And, as you mentioned, stars are good, too.

Thanks for starting this thread. I've seen a lot of really good ideas!

Amy

Holly,

Is it perhaps that you think the LO is missing something because you are such a Stickle addict. Sparkly, glitzy bling doesn't fit easily with the little boy grease monkey theme...so its giving you Stickle withdrawal.

Nonny

Tim Holtz has alot of masculine embellies for boy lo's

Thanks for starting this thread so I could add it to my favs for inspiration! I always get stuck too! There are lots of things to use for boys, but getting it all to flow together like you do with flowers, stickles, and bling is the difficult part for me!!

lol, Nonnie, I am not addicted to stickles,,,,,,in fact, I don't use them as often as I'd LIKE to use them, simply because the LO doesn't call for them I simply want to see all Y'ALL additcted to stickles!!!

I think the problem is,,,,,,,

I don't have enough boy embellies,,,,,I do believe this requires SHOPPING,,,,,,,,

I saw mind's eye has their sneak peeks up on their blog and there looks like some nice boy papers debuting at the summer cha. There was a brothers,dinosaurs,vacati ons themes and more. The nice thing was the papers have designed edges and shapes which is refreshing to see for boys.
Shanna started the thread, it has the blog link.

well, i have four boys (8, 10, 10, and 11) so i'm right there with ya!!

first, i almost never use primary colors for my boy lo's. to me i always feel like i'm making the lo too young looking then i get stuck with what to do.

my usual approach...i use muted colors: sage green, steel blue, tan, brown, light yellow, creamy orange. you get the idea.

on top of this, i think 'nature.' trees, leaves, bark, dirt, rocks, sticks, metal, wood, sand, etc. i know there arent tons of embellishments along those lines but i do think it helps to 'think' this way. i find stamps really, really useful!! lots out there. also like grunge board and metal stuff (tim holtz stuff as someone already mentioned.) i do still use ribbon, brads, some of the gender-neutral stuff. i also do some shabby-chic, antique-y looking stuff for the more sentimental photos.

i do tend to mix pattern papers a lot...i think this lends itself to boy lo's too (like you did on yours.)

good luck!!

I have 3 boys and just got this whole Bo Bunny Collection called Grease Monkey and they are SO fun to scrap with!

Very boy colors and ebellies to match!

• hodgepodge722 Said:

hmm,,,good point,,,,,i kind of wonder if I've gotten myself STUCK on the red/yellow/blue merry go round,,,,,,

Ok, this thread got me thinking. My favorite scrapbooker isKelly Goree and she has ALL boys. Soo then I was wondering what does she use as an embellie? Looked through her gallery...seems like lots and lots and lots of circles. hMM....
Anyway, maybe looking at her gallery would provide some inspiration.

http://www.scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=gallerie...

Oh c'mon Holly, we all know, its almost the first of the month and you are just itching for an excuse to go shopping.

Good boy brands are Maya Road, Scenic Route, Crate Paper, Basic Grey, Idea-ology, American Crafts....just some ideas!!


DANG HOLLY you are a posting machine!!!