April Guest Designer - Jen McMurtrey

Hello Crafty Meraki friends! I am so happy to be featured as one of two guest designers this month and cannot wait to share the projects I have made. This month will be fun as I use what are normally viewed as cardmaking supplies to create scrapbook layouts. 

Let's take a look at my first project.

Today's layout is a spread for my monthly album, which is a smaller format than my usual 12x12 inch projects (each page measures 5 x 8.25 inches).

I love using stamps to create unique backgrounds, which is what I did here with the Crafty Meraki You Inspire Me Stamp Set. To begin, I stamped the images using VersaFine Black Onyx Ink on two pieces of cardstock - one for the background and one to use with the Crafty Meraki Love Slimline Tag Die.

I love the simplicity of the black stamp but wanted to add a colorful focal point to the page. To do this, I used alcohol ink markers to color the large floral image before cutting out the "Love" sentiment with the slimline die. 

To really set the colored floral sentiment apart from the rest of the page, I layered two more sentiments cut with white cardstock on the back and then offset a shadow using three layers of black cardstock. Layering multiple cuts creates a thick die cut similar to chipboard.

The left side of the spread features a photo of my daughter and her husband, which I printed in black and white to keep it from clashing with the florals. After printing the photo, I decided to print another and cut it out using the Crafty Meraki Love Slimline Tag Die. 

After backing it with black cardstock, I adhered it atop the original photo using foam tape to pop it off the page. To tie in the colors of the florals to this side of the spread, I added bias tape ribbon to the top of the tag and stapled it in place with my tiny attacher. This was a super simple way to make Phoebe and Jose the focal point without adding a ton more embellishments.

To complete the project, I added typed journaling to the photo and adhered Crafty Meraki Limited Edition Gems Dew Drop Collection - Apricot to both pages. 

Here is one more look at the completed project.

Thank you for stopping by today, and I hope you have been inspired to think outside of the box and create with supplies you may not always turn to. I look forward sharing another memory-keeping project with you next week. Until then, feel free to visit me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jenmc72/).