Are you ready to escape to a quiet and exotic paradise? When winter leaves and spring begins to bloom, you may want to just get away from it all. Unfortunately, this may not be possible right away but there is a quick fix to releasing that restless spirit. It’s called scrapbooking, like you didn’t know! To escape the hubbub of everyday life, pull out some photos of past vacations and reminisce. Turn your memories into mini vacations right in your own home. To make your trip even more stress free, use coordinating cardstock collections and embellish to your heart’s content. Follow along as we show you how to make complete 8” x 8” and 6” x 6” vacation mini albums using cardstock collections.
Start your vacation by decorating the cover of an 8”x 8” cardstock Mini Album from Die Cuts With a View. All of the cardstock we will use for this album is from Bazzill Basics’ Trio of Trios Boardwalk Collection. Bazzill has done the hard work for you by coordinating shades of cardstock into one collection so it is quick and easy to use.
Kara Clark takes us along on her vacation to sunny California. To start our journey, she creates a collage around the window of the album using Vintage Reproductions from me & my BIG Ideas and Nostalgiques stickers from Rebecca Sower Designs. Make a frame by cutting a square in the center of a piece of cardstock. To fill the frame, cut a square of patterned paper to size and with a rub-on create the title. Embellish the cover with metal corner accents and buttons.
The first stop in your vacation is the beach! The mats for the photos and embellishments are cut from matching 6” x 6” cardstock sheets. Handwritten journaling is written directly on a square of cardstock and attached to the page with square brads. A handwritten tag noting where this vacation took place is attached to the corner of the page for easy reference and emphasis. The handwriting adds a personal touch to the memories of this vacation.
Continue your moments in paradise with tags, fibers, and amazing beach photos mounted on cardstock. The background of these layouts is made from torn cardstock with edges that look much like the waves in the ocean. Tearing cardstock creates varied effects. If you tear the cardstock towards you, the result is the white edges shown here. If you tear cardstock from behind, you get a torn look without revealing the white edge.
For the next stop of our vacation, Cristi Dame takes us to the heart of Mexico! Travel through this exotic country to explore its rich culture and sites using photos, hidden journaling, cardstock and embellishments. Stickers and a single photo foretell the story that awaits us inside of this 6” x 6” cardstock Mini Album also from Die Cuts With a View. All of the cardstock used in this album is from Bazzill Basics’ Trio of Trios Poolside Collection. The background of each page is layered with a sheet of the coordinating cardstock from the collection.
First stop – Puerto Vallarta! Throughout the album, you will notice sepia toned photos printed in small squares and mounted on mini cards tied with ribbon. Inside each of these mini cards a story is printed to illustrate the special events throughout the trip. In the image above, you can see an example of how hidden journaling is used in this album.
Our next adventure begins in Mexico City. Each photo card is mounted on cardstock and accents are made from matching strips of the same cardstock embellished with brads. The word stickers are from Making Memories and capture the hustle and bustle of the market street while contrasting the peacefulness of the Palacio Nacional.
Patzcuaro, Mexico marks our next stop. Travel printed vellum sets the tone for these layouts. Create a vintage feel by tearing and slightly rolling the edges of the vellum. A strip of definition ribbon attached across each page tie together the colors and harmony of the layouts. Metal screw heads attach the two tags adding more contrast to the textured cardstock and delicate vellum.
Well, all good things must come to an end. We’ll wrap up our little vacation with a few more tips to help you create great vacation layouts.
• Try printing sentiments on transparencies to include in your layout like the first one above. You can even find pre-printed transparencies to use to save time.
• Pre-made word label stickers come in a variety of themes, including travel, and allow you to create your own phrases and thought to accompany each layout (see the second and third layouts for an example).
• Add an assortment of travel stickers to emphasis your awesome experience (the third layout shows one way to use stickers).
We hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we did. There is nothing like going on vacation with the ones you love. Now you know that when you can’t just pack up and leave, you have memories of great vacation times to enjoy time and time again. Adios!
To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Look at our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.
