Mystery Border

(Saturday, Aug 11) I work on these next pages together as two-page spread. I layout the photos and postcard in rough arrangements for each page (images 1 and 2).

I make a few quick mental notes: use the epoxy sticker "Vineyard Adventures" as a title and use the postcard for page two, use the vineyard 3-D sticker as an accent, use the "A Taste of the Good Life" sticker as journaling box for the first page, use the blurb on the back of the postcard as journaling for page two.



For the first half of the spread, I try three colors of photo mats before ultimately deciding that maize makes the pictures pop moreso than the other two colors (image 3). However, it's late and my eyes are getting heavy, so I must go to sleep.



(Sunday, Aug 12) Uncle Sal, Aunt Tracey, Josh and Stacey came over earlier today. Tracey was showing off the pictures she took during her trip to Europe (Italy, Greece, Turkey, etc.). Stacey was seeking succor on an embellishment for her save the wedding date cards. After visiting with them and putting Summer to sleep for the night, I steal a little more time to work on the Biltmore album. Mom, my ever-faithful scrapbooking companion, is here also.


Picking up where I left off, I decide to utitlize some more of the Biltmore tissue paper for part of the background of at least one half of these pages. I also think I might round the corners of the pic of the Inn with the corner rounder. With my plan roughly in place for page one, I turn my attention to page two.

Since I'm using a postcard on this page, I want to write the postcard description on a journaling box from from Cottage storybox. I'll put this to the left of the postcard because I want to do captions for the two photos. In keeping with the color scheme of page one, I choose a maize journaling box (image 4).



Mom is ogling the pages she has done. "I'm so proud of these," she says. "You should be," I say, "You've worked very hard on them." The pages are particularly gratifying for her because of the anticipation she's built up over the last few months of doing them.


I know I need to hand cut a mat for the postcard. It's slightly bigger than a photograph and the storybox mats aren't quite big enough. Adding a mat to the postcard will lift it off the page a bit and keep the eye from wandering off the page. When selecting a color for a mat, I've found it's usually best to select a subtle color from the image to bring it out. This allows the image to pop off the page a bit more. Now, if it clashes too much with the overall color scheme, then try the next best hue. I select a sheet of paper from the Colonial paper pack. The easiest way I've found to cut paper to perfectly fit an image is to mark it with a pencil. A pencil is my one indispensible tool when I'm scrapbooking. Primarily, I use a pencil to mark positions on a page and to measure cuts and, of course, to make notes. Pencil marks are easily erased, leaving the page and cutouts pristine. Small caveat: I do not recommend using a standard No. 2 pencil or pen to write on the back of photos. Over time, this will deterioriate pictures. Instead use a photo labeling pencil.



An idea for a cute border is working itself out in my mind. I found a long sticker of leaves in my stash that would correspond well to the leaves I'm planning for page one. As for the other part of the border, I'll have to leave you in suspense. Hey, gotta keep you reading!


I adhere everything to page one, including the stickers, but because the journaling box has a glossy finish, I have to wait for the ink to dry before applying tape runner to the back (image 5). Meanwhile, I make punches for my mystery border and adhere them to the page by first applying tape runner to the page, then placing the punch-outs over the adhesive. This saves me from trying to apply adhesive to each little punch-out.



I adhere my pictures to the page, then commence with the captions, using Journaltopia Writing Guide to ensure my writing is straight. I choose the purple fine-tip pen to write the captions. Mom suggests I add little twigs to my mystery border with a pen for an added effect. I test all the green colors I have on a piece of scrap paper, but none of them are the right color. I decide to use brown instead.


I adhere the now-dry journal box to page one. Then slide the page protectors on both pages, and I'm done! (images 6 and 7) Not a moment too soon either - Mom is packing up her stuff which is a sure sign it's bedtime!

The grape vine border mystery revealed: I used an average, ordinary hole punch to punch out "grapes" from a scrap piece of paper. Before removing the leafy vine sticker from its backing, I hold it up to the page about where I want to adhere it. Using my handy, dandy pencil, I mark on the page where the "grapes" will be most visible. Over the pencil marks, I put tape runner onto the page, then apply my punched out "grapes" over the adhesive. Next, I added the leafy vine sticker to the page followed by squiggly twigs with my brown fine-tip pen (retired product). (Image 8)