Olde Curiosity Shoppe Layout Page for Graphic 45

I've always loved putting my photos into scrapbook albums.  Way back when I was a teenager, I helped my sister put all our parents photos into scrapbook albums and spent a summer, labeling and documenting the stories they had told us about their families, courtship and marriage.  And then as an adult I discovered Creative Memories and got hooked using their techniques and products.  Each year my scrapbooking style changed and evolved with the latest trends and before long I was using almost everything in my scrapbook albums that was available in the scrapbook store.  When I discovered the beautiful Graphic 45 paper collections, I began to add them into my layouts too.

I received the Deluxe Collectors Edition of the Olde Curiosity Shoppe from Graphic 45 and immediately decided to design a quick and simple layout for the January CHA show.  With a favorite photo, a couple of sheets of the paper collection, a Graphic 45 metal embellishment, ribbon and flowers; I quickly had a finished page.  One trick for doing layouts with Graphic 45 papers is to use solid cardstock to mat the photo.  This helps to bring the focus back to the photo espeically if the patterned paper you've chosen has lots of detail like the butterflies.

You may feel hesitant to use the thicker flowers and metal on your layouts and if you are putting it into an album, you might want to go with something flatter.  However, I will be putting this layout into a shadowbox style wall frame for display.

This layout is featured today on the Graphic 45 blog along with Pam's Midnight Masquerade invitation that she designed for the show.  Please go over and check them both out and leave a comment to let me know you were there.

Happy Crafting!
Sandy