This weekend I finished a layout design after being inspired by Kathy from Scrap Our Stash blog, which I design for, and by a call from Creating Keepsakes magazine. This is a portrait which I have been wanting to scrap for a long time and I used some techniques that have been in my to try file for a while. Of course I also wanted to use some of my stash so I was able to do this as well.

The 12x12 layout features a 7.5 x 9.5 photograph which I cropped down from a 10x13 photo. I am a professional photographer as well and I happened to have taken this photo of my daughter at my former studio so many years ago. Using a corner rounder punch I softened the edges of the cropped portrait then used Powder Puff Pink Cheeks Chalking Ink to put a little color around the photo edge. This helped to also smooth the transition between photo and embellishments. From SEI's Chocolat Collection I handcut what is actually 2 pieces of bracket scroll butterfly pattern paper, then used the chalking ink to ink the edges of the brackets before I placed this on the background cardstock. I did this inorder to break up the white and pastel pink keeping the design from feeling flat while also adding some visual interest with color and pattern.

The technique I have been eager to try on a layout for awhile is to crochet an embellishment for a design. I love to incorporate other crafting techniques or art mediums into my layouts and it is a great way to use up left-over supplies from my other craft project or to recycle items from around the home. I used a soft white baby yarn, left over from an afghan I made, to crochet a scallop edge frame for the photo. I began this project by edge punching a piece of white cardstock measuring 7.5 x 9.5, same as my photo size. After being trimmed with my scallop edge punch I lost about 1/4 inch measurement on each side of the paper but was left with holes in which to start my crocheted frame. The scallop punches also help to secure a heavier pink velvet ribbon in the corners that I used as a trim on the inner part of the frame in order to add a bit more color and to ensure a smooth transition between the frame and portrait. Glue dots adhere the ribbon on the edges of the frame. I then adhered the portrait directly to the cardstock with adhesive and then adhered the entire piece to my background papers.

In addition to the frame embellishment, I used some 1/4 pieces of silk flowers (found these at the fabric store in the clearance bin and grabbed them for scrapping instead) to create multi-layered pink & cream silk flowers with chipboard vines framing the portrait. The flower pieces are layered 4-6 pieces and held together with my favorite adhesive Glue Dots (nothing else would work so well) and then secured with a pearl brad. The brads are also attached to the yarn of the frame but I needed more glue dots to ensure everything stayed put. This embellishment really gives the page a lot of dimension. If height on your layout is not something you are comfortable with then perhaps you might have done it different from me by layering the florals flat using a flat adhesive, though the look would be very different and I cannot visualize it being nearly as flattering.


In my stash, I had some bright pink & blue chipboard vine looking scroll pieces from Bo Bunny in my stash which did not match this page even a tiny bit. Refinishing them seemed more labor intensive than just starting from scratch which is how I became inspired to cut 1/8 inch chipboard scrolls with my Cricut Expression using my Home Accent & Storybook cartridges. More information in this post on cutting chipboard with a Cricut and extending the life of the adhesive cutting mats. Afer I inked them green I used a vine pattern stamp and clear embossing powder to add some dimension to my "vines." I really love these scrolled vines as an accent on layouts but I just do not feel they can stand alone and need to be coupled with florals or some other type of foliage as they are not quite scroll shapes. They just go better this way even if they are just doodles they need some floral enhancement. I also cut my journal box from the chipboard but I did so in 2 different sizes for a layered effect. I put the pieces together with the craft foam for depth then nestled the entire piece into the flowers and tucked the chipboard vines into the open space of the journaling box and used more craft foam adhesive discs to secure the vine to the page. Using a thick craft foam allowed for everything to fit together well without stress on any piece from the height of the frame or flowers. This layout would be beautiful in a shadowbox on the wall but it fit very nicely into the page protector of the album despite the thickness of the page created from the page embellishments.

I have placed my title with the silver stickers but will need to come back and journal once I know just what I want to write and the font I will write it in. I like to practice any hand-journaling for my layouts before I take pen to paper or layout and I know I will use my own handwriting because I already placed my journal space down on the page. Even without my journaling the "I Love You" charm gives the page a completed look I think and I could probably just leave everything as it is.

Taylor, My Angel single page 12x12

I appreciate your taking the time to learn about how I put together this layout and as always I appreciate your support of my art and my blog. Feel free to contact me anytime you have questions!