We are down to the final months of the year, and that means we have some major holidays just around the corner! There is so much to celebrate, and with all of the memories you are bound to make, you’re going to need somewhere to preserve them. Follow along to learn how to recreate this beautiful scrapbook page, featured on the cover of our new October–December catalog, so you can use it for your memory keeping this coming season!
Cricut Design Space™ File:
To kick things off, click here for the free Design Space™ file that will cut the circle shapes out of a 12″ x 12″ sheet of patterned paper to create the top layer of the base of the page. Since circles are part of Cricut’s “basic shapes,” you do not need to own any Close To My Heart collections to use the free download!
Materials Needed:
Our main focus today will be on creating and filling the multiple circle window spaces. Here’s what you’ll need:
· a 12″ x 12″ patterned paper sheet (for the cutout layer)
· a 12″ x 12″ base page, one that will hold all of the window elements in place (we used a sheet of White Daisy cardstock)
· 3-D foam tape
· small circle shaker window foam + acetate
· coordinating shaker window fillers (we used gold star confetti)
· glitter paper
· coordinating cardstock
· additional, coordinating patterned papers
Tip: The glitter paper, cardstock, and patterned papers will be used for the background of the circles, so it’s a great way to use up some of your scraps!
· coordinating embellishments (die-cuts, acrylic shapes, stickers, etc.)
(If you’d like to duplicate our page, exactly, see the recipe at the end of this post for a complete list of products that you will need.)
Instructions:
1. Pair the Design Space file provided above with the 12″ x 12″ patterned paper and cut the top layer for the base.
2. Place the cutout layer on top of the 12″ x 12″ White Daisy cardstock, or whatever you’re using for the base page, and with a pencil lightly trace all of the circles onto it. Remove the cut layer and now, with the marked up base page, you’re ready to start building the individual windows!
3. We will start with the “hardest” windows (they’re really not that hard), and those are the shaker windows. We chose to incorporate two shakers on our page, one at the top of the page and one at the bottom. Both bases for these shakers are 2″ circles, one cut from patterned paper and the other from cardstock.
Using the technique we shared a couple of months ago in A New Approach to Shaker Cards, Step-by-Step, we assembled the shaker windows on the back side of the cutout layer (rather than on top of it). On the back side of the cutout patterned paper, you will attach the acetate, then attach the circle foam tape, then add the filling, and finish by attaching the base.
Tip: For more detailed instructions on how to assemble these shakers from the back, visit the post mentioned in the step.
4. On the solid base page, cover the penciled circles that will not be shaker windows with patterned paper, cardstock, or glitter paper. You can cover all of them or leave a few blank. What you cover or don’t cover is what will show through on your final page.
Tips: You do not have to stay inside the lines. In fact, we encourage you to go over a bit, just outside the lines, so the edges of the circles won’t be visible when the top layer is attached later. You are also not confined to using circles to create these background spaces. All that matters is that you cover the spaces that were drawn on the base page in their entirety. As you cut your paper pieces, refer to the image below to know the size of each circle, if necessary.
5. Add more dimension to the page by embellishing a few of these circle spaces even further using acrylic shapes, die-cuts, stickers, stamped images, etc. You’ll notice that two of the circles on our page are embellished with acrylic stars and heart die-cuts. Unlike the confetti in our shaker windows, these stars and hearts were attached to the prepared base page because there will not be acetate keeping them from falling off the page. Plus, we preferred a more organized look for these spaces 🙂.
6. Once all of your circles are prepared, it’s time to do some additional prep work to attach the two base pieces together! Here’s where you pull out the trusty 3-D foam tape! Depending on where you chose to place your shaker windows and other three-dimensional embellishments is where you will need to add 3-D foam tape to your base page. There are some of us out there that will want to add foam tape all around the perimeter of the page and each of the circles, and possibly a few additional places. If that is you, by all means, go for it! If you’re in the camp of being more frugal with your use of foam tape, then add it where you see that the page will not be supported up by the parts that have already been prepared, including the four corners of the page.
7. With your base page prepared with foam tape, line up the cutout layer with the base, focusing on the edges and corners, and attach!
Tip: Add some regular adhesive to the backs of those shaker windows for a firmer grip in those areas.
And there you have it! It may seem like a lot of steps, but the idea behind this page is simple enough that you will find it comes together easier than you might think!
Mat a photo and add it to the page, along with a few more embellishments and journaling, and you’ve got a gorgeous page worthy of any scrapbook!
Whether you’re backlogged on memories that need a home or are wanting to get a leg up on what you know is to come in these next few months, this type of scrapbook page is versatile enough that it can be used for a variety of themes, not just Christmas. The circles on this page could be used to make constellations and planets for beautiful pictures that come with a night sky, bubbles for those adorable bath time photos or for underwater pictures from a tropical holiday. This type of effect could form the background for flashier New Year’s Eve photos, Halloween costumes, back to school, or any other theme you can think of!
However you decide to use this page, we hope you enjoy this time of year to the fullest and preserve the beautiful moments you are creating!
Recipe:
12″ x 12″ Merry Christmas Page
Z8009 Admit One Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7286S Christmas Story Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X7287S Cherish Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X9044 Mix-in Paper Packet, X6047 Black Cardstock, X6060 Mocha Cardstock, X6045 Sage Cardstock, X6059 Shortbread Cardstock, X5950 Toffee Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z4611 Seabrook Glitter Paper, Z3239 Silver Glitter Paper, Z6523 Avocado Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6515 Paprika Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4575 Black LePen™, Z5010 White Gloss Spray, X7286E Christmas Story Embellishments, Z4626 Red Dots, Z3677 Gold Star Confetti, Z6047 White Acrylic Stars, Z6044 Woodgrain Die-cut Hearts, Z8052 Merry Christmas Layers Thin Cuts, Z4620 Small Circle Window Thin Cuts, Z4569 Small Circle Shaker Window Foam + Acetate, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z2089 Glue Dots® Micro Dots, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine, Cricut® Basic Shapes
Cricut® Shapes:
Basic Shapes
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