Pages from the Heart: Beach Boy Layout

The Reveal
This is my second project for Pages from the Heart this month featuring Echo Park's This & That collection.

Beach Boy Layout

The Details
I really wanted to make a boy layout so I could utilized all the really cute but really specific boy themed chipboard stickers from the collection, so I went over to my sister's house and perused all her photos of my nephew. I wanted ones where he was more natural and in the middle of an action rather than posing. I found a few of him at the beach, which matched the colors and theme of the collection, but there were a lot of distractions in the background.

Original Background

As I had a limited amount of individual photos of him from this setting, I edited it Photoshop. I cut out patches of the ocean and placed it over the people in the background, and cropped it into the square shaped I wanted to use. Don't disregard a photo if it isn't perfect, there are ways to fix a photo and get it to suit your design. 

Edited Background

I decided to use a grid design of six 3 x 3" squares for the central portion of my layout, so it would be like little pockets of embellishments and photos. Since I used journaling strips layered over some cardstock stickers, I also used strips in the other two embellishment boxes to match. I cut up a number border strip and layered it behind a chipboard sticker in one box. In the other box, I cut up a sentiment sticker that was too wide, into smaller strips and paired it with a boy's silhouette sticker.  

For my title, I liked the "boy" banner stickers but they were too small for the title area. I recreated a larger version using my Silhouette Cameo, cardstock and Thickers and paired it with the original to read, "Boy oh Boy." For each letter block, I cut 4 banners in 4 different sizes in 3 colors to match the original chipboard sticker. If you would like the downloadable banner cut file I created, I've included it here. 

Download for Silhouette Cameo: Layered Banner Cut File

The Supplies

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Patterned Papers: Echo Park

Stickers: Echo Park

Alphabet Letters: American Crafts

Brads: Making Memories

Ribbon: May Arts

Chalk Ink: Prima

Paint Pen: Viva Decor

Glitter Glue: Stickles by Ranger Ink

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Pages from the Heart: Father's Day Card

The Collection
I was at Pages from the Heart and saw one of their new collections, Note to Self by Echo Park, and just totally loved it. What I liked best was that the designs seemed very versatile and open ended so it can be used for any occasion.

Note to Self Collection

The Reveal

Since the collection's theme and colors are kind of neutral, it can easily be adapted for more masculine projects. With Father's Day coming up, I wanted to make a Father's Day card. I see a lot of shirt and tie cards, but was imagining more of a row of ties. I searched for an origami tie fold and found this diagram. I folded four ties using 3 x 3" squares of patterned papers.

Father's Day Card

I wanted the ties to be hanging on something, instead of just floating on the card, so I thought to use a skewer from the kitchen to simulate a wooden closet rod. 

I tied in the bold patterns in the paper with a few strips of washi tape in the corner. I wrote a sentiment on a raffle ticket which I cut from the patterned paper. If you'd like to see this in person along with many other design team projects, please stop by Pages from the Heart. 

The Vote

I'm also entering this in CutCardStock's masculine card challenge. If you like my card, please go to CutCardStock's blog and vote for my card by clicking on the "Like" button. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,