Water does not have to be any farther away than the backyard! Children always manage to find a way to cool off. A hot day is a great time to fill water balloons or water guns and stage a water war. Or perhaps your little one loves to set up a slide into the pool or run through the sprinkler. The looks on their faces as they hit that freezing cold hose water are priceless!

Take a cue from these designers and draw your colors from the clothing or the background to make your photos shine. The bright yellow in Kathy Martin’s Slip ‘N Slide layout is taken right from her photograph and she added the touches of red and blue to match her son’s clothing. Her color choices really create a sense of harmony on her page. Janneke Smit’s Just Add H2O embraces the primary colors in her photo. That red swish with the sun element she added is so eye catching! Paula Gilarde tackled the bright orange in her photos by using orange as an accent color on her "Dive In" page, a great way to take a tricky color problem and diffuse it.

Slip-n-Slide by Kathy Martin

Supplies: Paper: BasicGrey, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts, Die Cuts: Bazzill Basics Paper, Journaling Spots: Jenni Bowlin Studio, Buttons: Buttons Galore & More, Eyelets: Making Memories, Fonts: Eric Light, Other: embroidery floss. Tools: Electronic Cutter: Silhouette (QuicKutz), Border Punches: EK Success for Stampin' Up!, Other: sewing machine.

Design Notes: One simple design element to bring a cohesive feel to a page is to repeat elements. In this layout, note the repeated use of the stars and the colors red and blue - arranged in visual triangles for maximum impact.

Journaling: You really enjoyed camp G.R.A.C.E. at the Y.M.C.A. You got to ride horses and visit with a therapy dog. You loved the ceiling fans in the lunch area. But most of all, you loved the giant slip-n-slide!

Just add water by Janneke Smit

Supplies: Paper: Cherry Arte, My Mind's Eye, Cardstock: Canson, Petersen-Arne, Rub-Ons: Making Memories, Flower: Maya Road, Brad: Chatterbox, Paint: Delta, Marker: Sakura, Pen: ZIG Memory System (Kuretake), Software: Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Design Notes: I made a simple page for an everyday moment of my son playing in his small inflatable pool in the backyard. For the sun I used a transparent PVC flower, cut the petals into sun rays and painted it yellow. I used a large brad for the center of the sun, but instead of going through the page with the prongs, I folded these behind the sun and attached the sun to the page with glue dots. The swirl is cut out from one of the patterned papers.

Journaling: one boy (check) one backyard (check) one spring day (check) one inflatable pool (check) one fun afternoon (check) 06.15.07

Dive In by Paula Gilarde

Supplies: Paper: Fancy Pants Designs, Cardstock: Core'dinations, Acrylic: Fancy Pants Designs, Flowers: Kaisercraft, Bling: BasicGrey, Pen: Micron. Digital Supplies: Frames: Photo Cluster No. 15 by Katie Pertiet (Designer Digitals), Software: Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Design Notes: I used the acrylic shape and the bling to play up the water theme. I dismantled a Basic Grey flower to create the effect of water splashes, along with the background patterned paper.

Journaling: Cooling off with Ali & Graci - July '09