Picture Pocket

Time for another tip for your scrapbooking and this involves adding more pictures to your layout, without overcrowding it.  I showed you a scrapbook flip photo not long ago.  This time...the picture pocket.  It is SOOO easy.

Here's what you'll need:

2 or 3 photos (one needs to be larger than the others)
Foam tape
A tiny piece of ribbon
A brad
Decorative paper

Pick the picture you want to show on the layout.  This needs to be the largest of the pictures.  It will be the cover of your pocket.  Put your decorative paper behind the picture for a pretty border.  Instead of taping or gluing it directly to your background paper, line the outer edges with thick foam tape, leaving the top edge open...no foam tape there.  If you need a little lesson on foam tape, you can find it here.  We've blogged about that too!!  It really is a fun discovery if you've never used it.

Make sure your second picture is smaller, so it fits in the pocket of space created by the foam tape.  Attach a looped ribbon tag to the top of the smaller picture to use as a cute handle to pull the photo out of the pocket.  I use a cute brad to hold the ribbon in place.  Slip the smaller picture behind your cover photo.  Pull it in and out a few times to make sure it works smoothly.  You can certainly add more than one photo.  Then, have fun watching people discover your secret picture pocket.

Nature Frames

Those small rocks at the bottom of a fish tank suddenly popped into my mind while I was driving home from work over the weekend.  Not the bright colored blue and aqua green rocks, but the natural brown, black, and white ones. 

I imagined them in my mind...framing a photo of myself on a beach in Monaco.  The beaches there have pebbles instead of sand.  The idea seemed to make the picture 3-dimensional in my imagination...with the tiny rocks popping off the glossy paper and landing on the frame.  Before I arrived home, I found myself scouring the aisles of a dollar store.  I found a bag of rocks, larger than I'd hoped for, but in the price range I required...$1.  Nearby, 2-for-1 wooden frames, and some floral moss called my name.  I suddenly had plans for two nature frames for a total of just over $3.  Now, I had to make this image in my mind come to life...the beauty of creating!!

For the rock frame I would suggest a strong gel adhesive like a glue gun.  You need a gel because it helps you ease the rocks into position...just make sure it will dry clear.  This project is as easy as placing the rocks on the frame one at a time, letting some slip over the edge to cover the wood and make it interesting.  Just make sure your bottom is even if you are placing the frame on a flat surface.  Nothing to it.  For the moss frame, I bought a room temperature gel adhesive so I could press down on the moss until it held, without burning my fingers.  Then, I sprayed it with hair spray to try to keep the pieces connected in place.  You can certainly add embellishments...the moss frame calls for a little bird in the corner...whatever fits your style.  The nature frames gave my pictures more character and they look lovely on my shelf.  Of course, the fact that I planned to share this project on my blog resulted in the immediate elimination of my bikini photo.  I'm crafty, not crazy.