Those who’ve followed me for a while will know that I rarely create scrapbook pages. It’s not that I don’t want to, but rather that I find them incredibly challenging. However I just couldn’t help myself when I printed off some photos taken during a family holiday last October. Each one brings back wonderful memories although some are more powerful than others. This one of my youngest granddaughters is definitely a favourite. Then as I worked through the text I wanted to accompany it I discovered I’d written a poem!

There’s actually two 4″ x 6″ photos on this page. The most obvious one is of my grandaughters laughing as they throw the leaves high into the air. The other photo was of all seven of us. However I hadn’t realised that it was square. So when it printed the people on the very outside were chopped in half! Obviously I couldn’t use that and fully intended to throw it out, until I realised it could be the perfect background for my journalling piece.

Then that led to the the other surprise. As I began to record my memories of this particular event I found myself writing it as a short poem. Who knew I could do that! Especially since I didn’t once try to make the ends of the lines rhyme.

After printing off my poem (I have atrocious handwriting) my next job was to mat the photos. So I cut two 4-1/4″ x 6-1/4″ pieces of Pebbled Path Card. Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I mounted the photos on top. Then I glued the poem onto the second photo so just the top and bottom were visible.

12″ x 12″ PAGE

For the actual scrapbook page I started with a full sheet from the Country Lace 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. I chose a pale Basic Beige design with a subtle diagonal pattern. Then I took a second sheet of the same pattern and cut a strip 2-1/2″ x 12″ with the diagonal going in the other direction. Next, holding the strip in my hands I began to tear down each of the long edges. Finally using a Blending Brush I added some Pecan Pie ink around the edges of the strip and set it aside.

Going back to the DSP pack I then chose a sheet that had a really pale floral motif. This time I cut a 2″ x 12″ strip before once again tearing down the long edges. Then I added Crushed Curry ink around the edges to pick out some of the colour from the photographs. With that done I glued the first strip on top of the second before mounting them across my main sheet.

Now that the background was done I added the two layered photos, glued down at an angle and slightly overlapping each other.

All I needed was a few leaves to finish off the design, and for that I reached for the Cheerful Daisies Stamp Set. On some scrap pieces of Very Vanilla Card I stamped the single leaf with Pecan Pie ink. However it was too dark, so I stamped it again without reinking the stamp. That was much better. After stamping some more of these ‘stamped-off’ leaves I went over them all with a light layer of Pecan Pie ink using my Blending Brush. This toned down the bright card around the stamping. Then I repeated the same process to create more leaves but this time using stamped-off Crushed Curry ink.

To cut out the leaves I used the coordinating die from the Cheerful Daisies Dies set. Then I simply tucked them in clusters under the matted photos and fixed them into place with a little liquid glue. With that my scrapbook page was complete.

MORE SCRAPBOOK INSPIRATION

When it comes to scrapbooking or memory keeping sometimes all you need is a little encouragment. Whether that comes in the form of a photo, or artifact, or simply by seeing what others have done, it really doesn’t matter. Just take a leaf out of my book and give it a go.

This week I decided to join the Crafty Collaborations Scrapbook Sunday blog hop. I hope you’ll click on the links below and be inspired to scrapbook your own memories.

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