Christmas Scrapbook Layout with Lauren John

It’s Lauren from Team Mama here, with my first DT blog post. I am excited to share with you all a scrapbook layout using stamps from the Forever Memories collection. I love using non-generic sentiments alongside my Christmas stash, and I hope you will enjoy trying this project out as well. if you give it a go, please tag Mama Makes on social media so we can all have a look. The stamps are currently available from Etsy or the Mama Makes website.

What You Will Need:

Mama Makes Forever Memories Stamps
White Card
Kraft Card/Paper as a base
Black Ink
Cosmic Shimmer Colour Cloud Blending Ink – Fresh Grass
Ink Dabber and Sponge
Red Pen (I used a Spectrum Noir sparkle pen)
Gold Embossing Powder
Heat Gun
Clear Ink (for embossing)
Patterned Christmas Paper
Nuvo Drops (or your favourite accent/glitter glue)
Wooden Christmas sentiment
Gold Washi Tape
Super Sticky Double Sided Tape (or glue)

To Make The Photo Frame:

1) Choose 4 sentiments and lay them out on a piece of white card with enough space between them to cut them into equal size strips. This will give you a good idea of what area to cover with the blending ink.
2) Ink up your sponge on it’s holder, and cover the area with colour cloud blending ink, and leave to dry.
3) Stamp your sentiments in black ink, evenly spaced, but leaving some space at the end of the card, this will allow you to overlap and mount your strips.
4) Cut your strips and arrange them in a frame, overlapping where needed.
5) Print out your chosen photo to a size that will fit the frame around the edge, then stick the photo and frame on top, fairly central on your scrap book page.
6) Stamp out the heart and camera icons – I did one in black ink and coloured red, then embossed the other using clear ink and gold embossing powder. I did four to arrange around the frame.
7) Put your chosen wooden sentiment in one corner of the frame.

For The Christmas Trees:

These trees make a cute addition to the page, and are super easy to make.
1) For each tree cut 3 squares of paper measuring 3cm by 3cm, 4cm by 4cm, and 5 cm by 5 cm.
2) Fold each square in half , open out, and fold in half again. Then fold diagonally both ways as well.
3) Open the squares out, then fold in half again, then fold in on each side and you will be left with a triangle shape. Fold in each side of the top, in to the middle, and you will have a completed triangle fold. For more tips please search for origami triangle fold, but it’s very easy to do once you’ve got the hang of it.
4) Cut two strips from a different piece of Christmas paper to use as tree trunks and fix these either side of your frame.
Then build up your tree over lapping each layer slightly from biggest to smallest to create your trees.

Finishing Touches:

I finished my scrapbook page with glittery gold washi tape, and some Nuvo Drops from Tonic, but the great thing is scrapbook pages are easily adaptable if you want different colours, extra embellishments, or more origami. Also don’t be put off if you don’t have the exact products I used in this project. My blending ink could easily be replaced by other ink brands or water colour paints, even colouring pencils in a pastel shade, so they really show the sentiment stamps off.