Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Artsy and Quirky London

A few weeks ago I started planning my next photobook - for our London holiday(oh yay!) I was scanning digital stores for British themed kits and told my husband that though i liked the red and blue color schemes I'm not sure I'd like it throughout an entire album. And the dear man said, "don't follow the stereotype, why not get out of the visual cliche!" Why not indeed. But what then? And he said, "Try quirky and interesting like the British are. Think eclectic, trendy, hipster, imperfect, artsy." I was intrigued. And so I did.
Sun from Quirky Heart's everyday bouquet, Paper from Chelle's Creations' ladybug hugs

I scanned pinterest and everywhere for ideas, looked through all of my stash, and decided I will pair artsy drawings and elements with black/white/grey striped/dotted/geometric backgrounds. And then I started making my layout backgrounds, and got completely carried away!

Look how many I came up with, it was so fun I could not stop., hehe. Sixty-nine pages to be exact! This is the first time I've made all the backgrounds before looking at the photos. I let myself play without worrying about how they will come together. I got to use stash that never gets used. I really enjoyed changing up the game, and just playing!

How will the pages turn out? How will the historical London pictures look in artsy quirky backgrounds? Here are the first four pages!

Portobello market was as colorful as this layout even on that first cold grey day when we arrived and visited, before we could even check into our rooms! So much to browse and see!
Credits: Allison Pennington_ChinUp_Birdy, Rachel Young_WishAlphabet, Sticker_Witch_Legs_GinaCabrera, Just Jaimee-paintybits, Lauren Grier-nummybuddies-paper9
Mommyish_theeveryday_gathered-ribbon

The next first morning in London we simply took a bus and got off at the Houses of Parliament, to breathe and take in the iconic and grand views. We are in London!!! Dh and I have been in London 20 years ago, but we were equally exhilarated as the boys at the thought of actually being there! I thought the striped background looked so hip and really showed off the historic architecture, don't you?
Credits: Vinnie Pearce_The_Rise_Elements, Amy Wolff_giddy_scribblecircles, Citrus&Mint_F_blackstripepaper, Kaye Winiecki_currently_hashtagwordstrip, little butterfly wings_messitupvl2_paint, SaraGleason_currently_triangles, 
Stolen Moments Designs_Currently_alpha

We then took a walk around the Westminster Abbey grounds and around Parliament Square where we saluted Churchill's statue and Nelson Mandela's, little guessing that the great man would pass away even whilst we were still in London two weeks later! Also got the guards at 10 Downing Street to take a photo for us! And to my surprise and delight, I really think the polka dotted background supported the beautiful architecture pictures beautifully and made the page modern and visually so interesting!
Credits:Paper_Booville_Dots_GinaCabrera, citrus&mint_blackpolkadotpaper, 
Dream Big Designs_craft_graffiti2_paint, pink reptile designs_rockingcool_alpha, Tangie Baxter _QuickitySplitsWorkshop_Gesso

We then made it to the 10am boat that cruises down the Thames to Greenwich. We sat on the upper deck and it was cold!! But the funny seaman turned 'guide' gave such a fun commentary with so many juicy stories the whole journey, we could not bear to go downstairs.
Credits: KimJensen_MeRightNow_alpha, background paper_Black_Chevron_GinaCabrera, Dream Big Designs_craft_graffiti2_paint, Little Butterfly Wings_messitupvl2_paint

As usual these pages are available as templates in the store.

And here is the first page. Chronicling the 20 hour flight including 6 hours transit at Doha, Qatar that was the way we got to London. Phew!!
Credits: Laura Banasiak_chevron_overlay, little butterfly wigns_fullofwonder_paint, 
Studio Rosey Posey-onemoment, Libby Pritchett-turn-red, Valorie Webber-currently-journaltsrips


And you can download the template here. Will you try something different on your pages? Will you play and have some fun? What do you think of my London 'style'? Love to hear!
And thanks for visiting!

16 comments:

  1. I absolutely love your backgrounds and thanks for the template! Just wanted to mention though just wanted to mention though, on your portobello market page I think you mispelledportobello!

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    1. Oh thanks for pointing that out! I was having too much fun to spell check :)

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing! Love your templates!

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  3. Wow!! I love your husbands idea and you did an awesome job so far!! Thank you for sharing! I need to work on our NYC pages but waiting for that spark of imagination!! Thank you for the template! Can't wait to see more of your England pages!

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    1. It's really fun to get a that spark of imagination or inspiration! I am so excited to play. Enjoy creating your NYC pages too!

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  4. Oh.my.goodness! These are FABULOUS! So glad you scrapped 'outside the box'...It's so hard for me to think outside the 'typical'..but when I do, they are my favorite pages. Can't wait to see more!

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    1. Oh yes, a fresh take on things is always such a treat!

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  5. Love love it!!! So will you be selling your papers? You should ( : I always love how you travel with your family. What a blessing.

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    1. I guess you can't sell the paper as you were using other product. Maybe you could link or list the sources? Someday when you have time ( : Thanks!

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    2. Haha yes! I am good at using other designer's fabulous designs! :)
      I will list the resources as I go along, as I post the layouts. Safe to say most of the artsy elements are from Quirky Heart/ Michelle Godin, Pink Reptile Designs, Valorie Webber, Justaimee, and Laura Grier. Background papers were from everywhere! I was surprised what I could find in my stasf when I know what I'm looking for! Thanks for asking!

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  6. Thanks so much for the lovely template! I like the London backgrounds you designed, too. Very fun!

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  7. Just an FYI ... I about went nuts looking for the background paper in the first sample as it's not in the Ladybug Hugs kit. It was a freebie and can be found here: http://www.chelles-creations.com/2012/7-28-ladybug-hugs-playdate/

    Cheryl

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    1. Oh yes it was in the Lady Bug his Freebie not the main kit. Sorry for sending you searching. It's a beautiful paper that I have used again and again. Thanks for providing the link!

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  8. I enjoy your style of using lots of photos on one page arranged so beautifully. Thank you for the freebies as well as those that I've purchased. Your templates allow me to make good use of my many photos from the pre-digital era.

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  9. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work. Love your templates

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