Happiness Is...

I scrapped this photo four years ago; the Nature’s Haven collection from 49 and Market inspired this “re-do”. Behind the house where I grew up there was an arbor leading to a flower garden. In early Spring, most of the garden was bare, save for a few perennials as the ground was turned and planted in preparation for the beautiful varieties that grew in the Summer. By then, the vines around and over the arbor itself would have sprouted leaves and sweet tea roses, creating a shady refuge from the sun.
I have so many wonderful childhood memories of playing house there with my sister; we would bring out our dolls and blankets and our toy dishes and such and set up for a day of domestic fun. As I grew older, those benches provided the perfect spot for curing up with a book, surrounded with the fragrance of the flowers and the chirping of birds all around. I decided to scrap this latter memory of soft, slow summer days and the pleasures I had reading.

I started by cutting into the K and Company paper 2” from the edge all around to give me a border piece and an 8” square to use for matting. Next, I trimmed the Berry Delight sheet by ¼” all around. I distressed the edges and adhered it to the border piece.

I cut out a piece of the remaining K and Company paper slightly larger than my photo and distressed the edges; I gave my photo the same treatment. These were glued together with several pieces of cardboard underneath to give my piece some dimension.

Next, I selected bits from the die cuts and laser cuts. After inking the edges, I started to arrange my layout. Once I was satisfied – but before gluing – I applied some rub-ons here and there around the page.

I assembled my pieces, adding bits of cardboard behind some of the embellishments to add a bit of “pop”.

 A few closeups:

Piles and piles of books to be read, some pretty blooms and an adorable froggy to keep me company...

 

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*****Supplies*****

***Paper***

49 & Market – Nature’s Haven Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Berry Delight #JNH-33113

K and Company – Antique Garden Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Tiny Wildflowers #30000075

***Embellishments***

49 & Market – Nature’s Haven Collection – Die Cuts – Elements #JNH-33199

49 & Market – Nature’s Haven Collection – Laser Cuts – Elements #JNH-33175

Simple Stories – Simple Vintage Essentials – Rub-Ons – Butterflies #20426

***Mediums***

Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pad – Ground Espresso

***Other***

Beacon – Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive

Craft Country – Aleene’s All-Purpose Tacky Glue

Scrapbook.com – Artis Craft Glue

***Tools***

EK Success – Cutter Bee Scissors

Tonic Studios – Tim Holtz – Tiny Distress Tool

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As always, I want to thank you for peeking into my blog; your visits mean a lot to me.

 

Life Is So Good

 

I’ve scrapped this photo of my Granddaughter taken by her mother before. It’s one of my favorite images of her, so it immediately popped into my mind when I opened the February Scrapbook Kit from Tres Jolie and discovered that it contained paper and laser cut elements from 49 and Market’s Alena collection.

This took a few days to complete because I decided to fussy cut a lot of the flowers and butterflies that were included on the cover sheets of the paper pack and the laser cut embellishments. While I was doing that, I put together a plan for my finished layout.

To begin, I cut an 8” x 8” square in the center of the Full Bloom page and put it aside for a future project. (This is a good way to stretch patterned paper; I only needed the outside area.) The remaining 12” x 12” piece was glued to an 11.75” square of chipboard to give it stability.

I trimmed the Exquisite sheet by .25” on all sides, giving me a 11.5” square; this was adhered to the base.

The photo was glued to one of the laser cut frames, then cut down to fit. I glued small pieces of chipboard to the back of this, as well as to the other frame pieces that I had selected. These were arranged in a fan-like arrangement and glued to the page.

I adhered the “twine” piece to the bottom of the photo and then selected flowers and leaves from the pile of laser- and fussy-cut embellishments, starting with that marvelous flowing vine. To add dimension, I used foam adhesive to glue them all down.

To fill what looked like a gap, I added a few “ticket” pieces to the side of the photo after tearing the edges and topped this with my title piece.

To finish my page, I glued down a few scattered butterflies and a bit of script: the “beauty” piece above the vine.

A few closeups:

 

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*****Supplies*****

***Paper***

49 and Market – Art Options – Alena Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Exquisite #AA-37254

49 and Market – Art Options – Alena Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Full Bloom #AA-37292

***Embellishments***

49 and Market – Art Options – Alena Collection – Laser Cut Elements #AA-37360

***Other***

Beacon – Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive

Craft Country – Aleene’s All-Purpose Tacky Glue

Scrapbook.com – Foam Adhesive Strips #sbc-bcadh-3122

***Tools***

EK Success – Cutter Bee Scissors

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As always, I want to thank you for peeking into my blog; your visits mean a lot to me.