I live with the ultimate Star Wars fan. My older son Caleb eats, sleeps and breathes Star Wars. This obsession started when he was four years old, and is still going strong. Because Caleb battles a neuromuscular disease, our family was given a trip to Disney World through Baking Memories 4 Kids. The boys were thrilled to participate in Jedi Training and I have so many Star Wars themed layouts in our vacation album. I had to start getting creative. I turned to Pinterest for some light saber inspiration, but had to adapt and the following layouts show how I made my own paper pieced lightsabers.
My Little Jedi's
As the boys were walking towards the Star Tours ride for their Jedi training, I snapped these photos of them walking with my mom. I was struck by image of my big tough Jedi holding onto Nana's hand!
I had purchased a bunch of Star Wars patterned paper and die cuts, but after trying to work with them, I quickly realized that I needed something to help my photos stand out.
For this particular page, I created three long lightsabers for a creative backdrop. To create the handle of the light saber, I started with a rectangle of gray cardstock 2x3 inches. I then trimmed black cardstock to 1/4 inch strips and cut them 2 inches long (for the top of the handle) and 1/2 inch long (for the bottom vertical grips on the handle). For the center strip a cut a strip 2 inches by 1/2 inch and adhered it to the middle of the handle and then added a red enamel dot in the center for the power button. I made the light saber blade by cutting a 2x9 inch strips of colored paper.
Meeting Darth Vader
Caleb and Zach were over the moon excited when a Disney employee stopped them while we were in line for the Star Tours ride, right after their Jedi Training. They told Caleb that Darth Vader requested to meet him. Then Darth Vader presented Caleb with an autographed light saber. This was a surreal experience for my little Star Wars loving boys!
I did the same light saber technique that I did on the previous layout - with one exception. To fit the white space on the layout, I made them thinner. One light saber was too fat - it didn't look right, and the just two light sabers didn't look right either - its better to work in odd numbers when embellishing a layout.
I actually preferred the look of the thinner light sabers. The only major difference was I took one of the little black lines off of the handle to keep it looking proportionate. I also used a small red enamel dot.
Vader's Lightsaber
This layout is very similar to the previous layout, as I am a firm believer in not "reinventing the wheel" as my dad would say. I used the same pattern paper and created the same lightsabers but turned them on their side to create a top and bottom border for my photos and journaling. I did go back to my thicker size light saber to better fill the space on my layout. Being able to customize any embellishment to the size of the layout you have is one of the reasons I love being able to create my own!
While I love using pattern paper, if the images are large, I try to break it up so it doesn't overpower my photos and journaling. I typically journal on white cardstock so my words stand out, but the white journaling block clashed against the dark background. I had some gray cardstock on my desk left over from the light sabers, so I redid my journaling on that instead. It drew the eye immediately to the journaling - which is an important reason of why I scrapbook - but it looked more natural in this layout.
Although I made this particular embellishments three times already, I'm sure there are more light saber photos and layouts in my future.
Comments