Hello, welcome to the Scrapbook Blog Hop! This month our Design Team created projects based on World, Town, or Home. We hope you enjoy and will be inspired by them! Don’t forget to leave comments. We love hearing from you! At the end of my post, you will find the full line-up to help you “hop” along.
My 12″ x 12″ scrapbook pages today reflect a visit to the aquarium. I am taking 2 of the grandkids to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago next month so this was perfect for me. Exploring the ‘big city’ and the underwater world hits 2 of the 3 themes for this month. Now all I have to do is take 5 perfect photos of them to complete the Aquarium Trip Scrapbook Pages.
I wanted to use the absolutely gorgeous NEW Expressions in Ink Designer Series Paper with the gold metallic in a sea of greens for the background. And so I set about playing with all my nautical under the sea theme stamps and dies. The Friends Are Like Seashells and Seascape bundles won my heart.
Here are the 12″ x 12″ Aquarium Trip Scrapbook pages.
And a close-up of each page
I have heard that Stampin’ Up! is all about card making. That could not be further from the truth. I find the quality coordinated products make it easy to create beautiful scrapbook pages with very little effort. Check out the product that I used to create the pages.
CREATING PAGE ELEMENTS
Seashells
The large seashell was stamped, embossed and die-cut from Pale Papaya cardstock and stamped with Cinnamon Cider ink using the Friends Are Like Seashells bundle and the Seashells embossing folder. TIP: I find it easiest to work in order – stamp, die-cut, emboss.
FACTOID: Did you know that the large conical shell is a True Tulip (Fasciolaria Tulip) shell? It is commonly found in the sea grass beds from the North Carolina coastline south and west to the Gulf of Mexico and in the West Indies and Brazil. According to Wikipedia … The tulip shell has a fusiform (fancy name for ‘like a spindle with yarn on it‘) outline, with an overall smooth surface, and presents fine growth lines, and small denticles on the inner edge of its delicate outer lip. It is whitish to tan in color, with rows of darker brownish blotches of various sizes. Over the blotches are symmetrical rows of thin lines which spiral along the whorls of the shell, which are normally about 9 in number.
The starfish (sea star) is stamped in Basic Gray ink on the Pearlescent Specialty Paper and die-cut.
Coral
To add gold accents to the coral, I stamped the fan coral with Versamark onto Granny Apple Green cardstock and gold heat embosssed. Die-cut coral pieces from the gold embossed Granny Apple Green cardstock, Pale Papaya, and Cajun Craze cardstocks. I love how the dies create texture on the coral die-cuts.
Fish
Die-cut several of the small and a large fish from Rainbow Glimmer Paper, and scraps of a Pumpkin Pie patterned paper.
Photo Frames
This layout is for 3″ x 4″ and 3″ x 3″ photos. The frames are cut 1/4″ larger than the photos. I used the Shaded Spruce cardstock to stand out against the background.
ASSEMBLY
- Use a ruler to line-up the bottom edges of the photo frames across both pages and space between each frame. TIP: A clear flat edged 12″ ruler is very handy.
- Die-cut title from Shaded Spruce cardstock backed in an Adhesive Sheet. The Playful Alphabet dies are a great size at 3/4″ tall. Placing the title straight can be a bit tricky. Sometimes I draw a faint pencil line and erase it after placing my title. Another useful scrapbooking tool is an alphabet alignment guide. It is easy to place the adhesive letters on the guide (just the lower 1/4″ -1/8″), line up the guide and press the letters in place. Then slide the guide out.
- Add Forever Gold Laser-cut (retired) or Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack foliage as shown.
- Use Dimensionals behind the shells, coral, and fish.
This looks like a lot more work than it really is. I attribute all that to the gorgeous Expressions in Ink Designer Series Paper. Thank you for enjoying the Aquarium Trip Scrapbook Pages. A list of all the supplies used on these pages can be found below my signature. If you are reading the post from an email, you may not see the supply list. Just head over to my website for the complete list and to purchase anything you might need to create beautiful scrapbook pages. Thank you!
Next up in the Scrapbook Blog Hop is Lisa Padget at Crafting Hugs. If you are interested in participating in future blog hops, please let me know. We welcome all levels of memory keepers. Our only requirement is that you use Stampin’ Up! products (new or recently retired). Please join us.
Wow! These are great pages and just perfect for the aquarium spread.
Thank you very much for your kind comment. Creating pages to document fun moments in time is a joy.
I truly love everything about this! I believe my DSP is arriving this week and I cant wait! The DSP is a piece of art all by itself but you took it to a new level with some aquatic life. It will be a perfect place to display your aquarium pictures. And of course, always love your factoids.
Thanks again for continually sharing your talents with us all!
Thanks, Lee Ann. I love the bright fluid look of this pattern. And can’t wait to go to the aquarium with the kiddos.