Fun in the Pool Layout

Hello friend! This Summer/Daddy layout I'm sharing today was created using the gorgeous My Life 365 collection. The focus of this week is to create a summer project using the June products in My Life 365 and mix them with other Bella Besties products, including the Puffy Luna Alphas. It was a bit challenging for me to create this layout because I'm a paper lover, and this collection features two sheets of patterned paper, one of which has cut-apart elements, which is amazing for embellishing the layout and adding borders and words. 

I chose two photos of my husband and daughters, and since the products have summer and dad elements, I decided to mix both themes to create a layout to celebrate him. For the background, I'm using white cardstock. In the upper part, behind the photos, I added a Scattered Straw Distress Oxide Ink diluted in water to add color and interest there. Then, I cut three strips of the blue patterned paper with waves and fussy cut around them to give movement to the layout. For dimension, I used foam them in the lower edge of the strips. Above the blue strips, I added other strips of paper to create contrast and add color to the layout.

To mat the photos, I used the Bella Besties 6x6 Gingham and Strips Rainbow pad. For one of them, I used the orange gingham pattern, and for the other, the green striped pattern. I left a border on the bottom to make them look like a Polaroid photo.

After that, I started embellishing the layout. On the right photo I made a bow using white crochet thread. In the lower corner, I made a cluster using a die cut from the Ephemera Icons and a few puffy stickers. The blue splash on the side and the two phrases were fussy cut from the cut-apart paper. The blue tab is a die cut from the Ephemera Words pack. As a little detail, I used an epoxy red heart on top of the "I Love You" phrase to make it cuter.

Between the two photos, I added a die cut sun using foam tape.

For the title, I used the Luna Orange Puffy Alphas to create the word "fun". Then, to complete the layout, I fussy cut the other part of the title from the cut-apart paper. To give it a resting place, I cut the waves border into two parts and arranged it under the title using foam tape. The border is part of the Ephemera Icons pack. The teal drops on the left of the title are from My Life 365 Puffy Stickers.

Finally, I added the strips of journaling. The layout was nice, but I feel it was lacking something. This is when I reduced the white cardstock to 11" x 11", distressed the edge, then matted it with a navy Bella Besties Dotted cardstock. With this change, the layout looks more artistic and has a better finish.  After all that, I made a border around the layout using a black pen and a ruler. Now I'm happy with the layout, so I called it done!

Thank you very much for your visit. I hope you like this layout as much as I do and it inspires you to craft. 

Have a wonderful day and come back soon for more inspiration!