When Zach was little, he loved to dress up. We had quite the assortment of costumes such as Batman, Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Ninja Turtles, Darth Vader, Iron Man, and a particular favorite of both boys, Indiana Jones! After visiting Medieval Times in Orlando and watching the knights joust, Zachary was obsessed, and we came home with half the gift shop's toy weapons. Shortly after that trip my mom found this knight costume and Zach loved it! I thought he looked particularly adorable too.
I absolutely loved Zach’s imagination. I had spent most of my childhood playing dress up with my cousins and I loved pretend play, but I never thought in million years that I would have boys that loved dress up as much as I did. In Zach’s imagination he was slaying dragons and fighting a noble battle. Watching him pretend brought me a lot of joy and I loved encouraging him in this past time.
As he got older the costumes were slowly outgrown and donated, but Zach still has an amazing imagination and I dare say that playing dress up fostered his creative side.
Scrapbooking Tips
I used all 6x6 paper pads and a sketch from Scrapbook Generation to create this layout. I loved this design so much that I actually have used it 3 times and counting. What appeals to me is the ability to create the look and feel of the layout with pattern paper - and I use up my stash of 6x6" paper pads doing so.
I loved the Once Upon a Time collection from Echo Park and used it to scrapbook our pictures from Medieval times. It was absolutely perfect for these photos of my dragon slaying knight. This layout would be quick to put together, but I added hand stitching. I find it relaxing to stitch on my pages and it brings back all the counted cross stitch I did with my mom when I was younger.
One technique I really enjoy doing is mixing letter stickers for my titles. I do this for multiple reasons. First, it stretches my supply. I'm always running out of vowels, so anytime I can conserve them for the main words of my titles, I try to find an alternative. Another reason I do this is so I can better control the size of my title. If I have a designated amount of space on a layout and have a longer title, using various smaller fonts will help me fit my title in the space allotted.
Here is another layout using the same design:
Although I used the same 6x6" paper pad design, you'll notice two main differences. First, I switched the locations of the title and journaling. I did this because my title worked better in the white space of the photos on the right page. Another major difference is instead of using four photos, I used 6 photos.
I created my title using a die cut backed with pattern paper. This is another technique I like to use. It can be time consuming to back intricate dies with pattern paper, but this one was fairly easy because it was simple block letters and did not take much time.
If you're interested in learning more about using sketches in scrapbooking, my favorite resource is Allison Davis' Sketch Support on her blog and the coordinating free sketches at Scrapbook Generation. I have learned so much from her and studying her examples. She also offers an amazing class on using 6x6" paper pads you can download and do at your own pace. That is where I got the sketch for these layouts. It is well worth the money and then some.
Supplies used:
You are my Knight in Shining Armor
Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern paper & stickers - Echo Park
Letter stickers - Doodlebug Designs, Inc. and American Crafts Thickers
Embroidery Floss - DMC
At the Lake
Card stock - Bazzill
Pattern paper & stickers - Echo Park
Title - Silhouette Design Studio ID# 290722
Embroidery floss - DMC
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