The Everglades Layout

(If you are looking for my Scrap Our Stash Christmas in July Blog Hop post, please visit here.)

Hot off my craft table is this layout about the recent trip we took to Florida and the Everglades. The photos lent themselves pretty easily to the sketch that I had in mind to use. That sketch was the latest Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge WMSC6. I know, I know, these are card sketches, but after doing WMSC4 as a layout I wanted the added challenge to try and make the sketch a layout once again. Add on that making sure to use Waltzingmouse Stamps and it turns into a pretty good challenge! The perk, of course, is that I get more layouts completed, which my DH reminds me regularly on how behind I am.

So anyway, here's the sketch and color inspiration (As I must have had the last Friend of WMS blog hop on the brain cause I stuck to green and blue, which works for this week's Color Throwdown #102!) :

And here's my take:

I first drew my quarter circle on some scratch paper and then figured out how the photos were going to be placed. I knew I wanted the one big 4x6 and then went from there. These photos worked well because with different cropping aspects I could get interesting environment pictures (ie. the warning sign and the tram) and then smaller parts of a bigger picture could be easily cropped out and showcased (ie. the bird and alligator small pictures). I did cheat by gluing down all my photos on the green cardstock, cutting the perimeter of the arc, and then cutting and attaching strips of the remaining sheet to look like I had spaced out the photos perfectly for a grid-like feel. Do you like?

A busy photo collage means I wanted to go less so for the background. I used Waltzingmouse Stamps Off Beat Backgrounds for the grid and zig zag embellishment to my page. I'm thinking I might need to add in some Free Spirit stamps here soon cause my layouts tend to be more masculine than flowery anyway, but for now Off Beat Backgrounds is just the perfect set. I love how the stamps are big to cover a 12x12 with only two across and maybe about eight down! They are so big that I use my cutting mat from my cuttlebug right now as my block! It works!

So, another layout complete. This one was fun to make. Now maybe you'll consider to take on the WMSC challenge? As a layout?

 I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Challenges:
WMSC6
Color Throwdown #102

DETAILS:
Paper - Solid (Martha Stewart)
Stamps - Off Beat Backgrounds (Waltzingmouse Stamps), Ink (Colorbox, Studio G)
Embellishment - Thickers (American Crafts)