Time to Travel

Using scrapbook products you love and travel themed items to create your travel pages

I recently went on a trip to Montreal Canada.  And like during any vacation I took a camera.  And of course, with the convenience offered by digital cameras I took tons of photos.  My first task was of course, to go through my tons of photos and see what I had.  I deleted all the bad ones…those that were blurry or "ugly"!   I then started sorting them into groups of pictures that I wanted to scrap together to tell a story about my trip.  I also started looking at the colors in my photos and the products that were available in the ACOT store.  I knew I wanted to have an obvious travel theme on my layouts, but I also didn't find just one line of products that I wanted to use.  When I saw the Reminisce Canada and Montreal stickers and the American Crafts travel stickers I knew I wanted to use these for sure.  I had noticed a lot of red, blue and green in my photos, so I decided to choose these colors as my color scheme.  I then added various shades of these colors, along with the neutral colors of kraft, black and white.  I was then able to go through the store and select papers that fit my planned color scheme.  Below you can see the various products I ended up using.  I really enjoyed the fact that I was able to use patterned papers that weren't necessarily travel themed with my layouts, but by adding a few travel themed embellishments and stickers I was able to get the feel I wanted. 

Designer Tip: By using some old scrap 12 x 12 paper as a base, I was able to paper piece the strips of patterened paper on top of this base to create my background.  This allowed me to have pieces left over to use on other layouts.  I also did not care for how bold the stickers were so I distressed the edges and then inked them lightly with Ranger Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Designer Tip:  On this layout I used some of the scraps from the above layout and cut out the damask shapes and added them as a design element behind the photos.  I again distressed the stickers with the Distress Ink.  I also cut pieces from the My Minds Eye Life Stories journaling sheet to do some of my journaling on. 

Designer Tip:  For this layout I colored the American Crafts Regards Coral Printed Chipboard Thickers with a black Sharpie marker to make them black.  I also created my own fun photo frame by taking small pieces of white cardstock and embossing them with the Cuttlebug Fleur De Lis embossing folder.  I tore the edges of some of the pieces, layered and overlapped them and then adhered them in place. 

Designer Tip:  A fun technique I used on this layout was to take the American Crafts Regards Coral Printed Chipboard Thickers and I rubbed a Black Staz-On Ink pad over them to turn them black.  It gave them a nice slightly distressed look.  (And 2 of the letters are from a different color of these Thickers.  Can you guess which 2?)

Sacred Spaces
This layout focuses on one of the main site seeing activities I did on my trip…visiting local churches and basilicas.  I love looking at the amazing architecture and artwork they contain.  I also wanted to include some memorabilia on this layout, so I had to get a little creative in fitting the pictures, memorabilia and journaling all on a one page layout.

Designer Tip:  I altered the pink American Crafts Lullaby Thickers by coloring them with a black Sharpie marker.  I then gave them a light coat of glue and sprinkled them with black glitter.  I created a pocket out of pattterned paper, but stitching it to my background paper along the sides and bottom.  By leaving the top open I was able to insert some brochures and tickets.  I placed the photo collage on a larger piced of cardstock that I created one inch wider than what I needed.  I creased the cardstock and then attached this folded piece on the back of the background paper so you can lift at the tab to read the journaling underneath.

Designer Tip:  Here I used some scraps of paper to create the photo frame.  I embellished it using bits and pieces of the travel themed stickers and even "scrap" from that strip we all cut off and throw away that is on the bottom of  patterned papers.   I had also run out of "O's" so I altered on from the American Crafts Regards Coral Printed Chipboard Thickers by adding some doodling lines with a black Sharpie marker. 

Designer Tip:  I used a similar layout to the one above just with a different orientation for the photos.  I again used scraps of paper and the travel themed stickers to embellish the layout.  I also distressed the border sticker with the Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I hope this article/reveal helps you look at creating your travel and vacation layouts in a different light.  I hope that you can feel more open to using both products you love along with traveled themed items to create layouts that will help you capture the special vacation memories you have.

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