Working with Themes

So, I broke the primary rule of keeping my scrapping stash under control:  Don’t buy paper and embellishments that I don’t have photos for!  I saw and fell in love with a collection of zoo-themed papers and embellishments.  I hadn’t been to the zoo since…. I couldn’t remember when.  I do not have kids (a natural excuse for going to the zoo).  What was I thinking?  It’s the scrapper’s ultimate downfall – pretty, pretty paper!  As it happens, my husband and I were invited to attend a fundraising event at the Atlanta zoo earlier this summer.  Score!  A chance to use up this collection.

One of the biggest challenges of working with themed paper and embellishments is that by the time you have a need for the theme again (Christmas, Halloween, etc.), there are newer, even prettier collections that will have caught your eye.  So, my goal is to buy just enough of the collection to satisfy my need to own it and to try to use up as much of it as possible in one sitting.  I do this because I know myself and know that I won’t want to re-use it the next time that event rolls around.  There will be newer collections that I will "have" to have and want to use. 

This is the two-page layout I created for our recent visit to the Atlanta zoo.  I double-matted some of the photos to use the patterned paper and really tried to use up those chipboard pieces in a variety of places. 

      

A Day at the Zoo by Moanica Caston.  Patterned Paper, Chipboard Accents, Brads:  Bo Bunny;  Cardstock: Bazzill; Flowers and Bling Flourishes: Prima; Alphas: American Crafts Thickers; Bella Blvd.

Go ahead and satisfy that need to have the latest and greatest! (Just buy a little bit and use it up before the next new thing arrives!)

Happy Scrapping!

Moanica