Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This is a guest post from Simple Scrapper design team member Jean Manis.

Spring heralds the beginning of baseball season in the United States. Baseball fans turn their attention towards RBIs, full counts, and close calls at home plate. You may find yourself spending weeknights sitting on the bleachers at Little League games or weekends rooting for the home team at Major or Minor League ballparks. Over the years, I’ve put in many hours at baseball games with my two sons and husband. Baseball is one of our favorite pastimes.

Scrapbooking supplies for baseball are not as abundant as they are for less specific scrapping themes. Scrappers often turn towards a traditional “all American” color palette (red, white, navy blue) to which they can add theme-specific details. Others choose to match team colors with their paper choices. Nonetheless there are plenty of digital and paper supplies available to add pizzazz to your layout.

Capturing photos of the baseball (or softball) games of your son’s, daughter’s, boyfriend’s or husband’s or a family night at the ball park is not without challenges. Often clear shots of the action simply aren’t possible. Walking onto the field during play is not allowed, and most of us don’t want to carry a long lens to the ballpark(or don’t own a long lens to begin with). I’ve got countless shots of my sons batting behind a chain-link fence and of Major League pitchers on the mound with the heads of the fans in front of me in the photo foreground.

Digital Products

Put Me In Coach by Julie Billingsley
Digital kit includes bright-colored papers, embellishments, and an alpha to scrap a number of team sports.

Baseball Dreams ScrapKit by ScrapDZines
Baseball-specific digital kit includes papers and embellishments in a vintage-feel, traditional-color palette.

ArtPlay Palette Sports No. 01 ValueSet by Anna Aspnes
Multi-sport kit includes background papers, solid papers, an alpha, brushes and overlays, transfers, and elements, as well as instructions for using brushes and clipping masks in Adobe Photoshop and Elements.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame Kit by Kerry Stewart
Baseball-specific digital kit includes patterned and solid papers and embellishments with a vintage feel.

Home Run Brushes and Stamps by Katie Pertiet
Baseball-themed digital brush and stamp set would work with a variety of paper choices.

Home Run by Kaye Winiecki
Baseball-specific digital kit includes papers and embellishments.

Game On! Designer Kit by Elise’s Pieces Designs
Brightly-colored kit includes papers, embellishments, and an alpha to scrap a variety of sports.

Cut Ups: Sportsmanship by Katie Pertiet
Digital sticker set would work with layouts for baseball, as well as other individual or team sports.

Traditional Products

Sports Edition II Collection by Teresa Collins
Recently released collection includes paper, stickers, brads, stamps, and die cuts, to scrap a variety of sports including baseball.

American Made Collection from My Mind’s Eye
Recently released collection includes patriotic red, white, and blue papers and accessory sheet. Although not sports-specific, the collection could be used with other baseball elements on a layout.

Banner Stickers and Chipboard Pieces by Jenni Bowlin
Variety of banner stickers could be used with the chipboard pieces to create an embellishment for a baseball-themed layout.

Toy Box Collection Kit by Crate Paper
This boy-focused collection with a vintage feel includes papers, stickers, ribbons, buttons, brads, and chipboard.

Block Party Collection from Bo Bunny Press
Collection of brightly-colored papers and stickers with a summery feel.

Letterman Flocked Chipboard Thicker Stickers by American Crafts
Chipboard alphabet stickers available in a variety of colors with a collegiate sports feel.

Baseball Quote by Reminisce Die cut cardstock stickers with a baseball theme.

Digital Layouts

Baseball by tashdown

Baseball by JenLin

Softball by scrapdz

shortstop by shhbabymine

Game Face by Lindar70

Baseball Game by BrittanyLane

my all stars by PaulaSG

Traditional Layouts

My Scrapbook Nook March Kit Crate Emma’s Shoppe by danni reid

Go Pads! by vistagirl

going, going…. GONE by Sha-Sha

6 years of Little League by SIFullerton

grampa’s moment 2010 by Boysmama

mr. baseball by PattiM

Tips for Scrapping the Baseball Theme

• Allow yourself the flexibility to create your page beyond the constraints of the photos and team colors.
• Feel confident in your choices for a traditional page if that’s the direction you want to go.
• Don’t feel obligated to add elements to a clean layout just for the sake of using elements.
• Journal about the smells and sounds of the ball park to bring atmosphere to your page and put the audience into the game.
• Be willing to scrap the defeats, as well as the victories – it’s all part of the game.