The power of flower

Working on your spring and summer photographs?

Warm-weather scrapbooking is the perfect excuse to use flowers, and there are any number of products on the market from which to choose. But chances are there are also some items laying around your house that could be incorporated into a page.

Artificial flowers, flowers made from fabric scraps and flowers made from decorative ribbons all make interesting embellishments.

And while the use of flowers usually equals girly, there are (subtle) ways to sneak them on an all-boys page as well.

Take this example. The basic layout was inspired by one recently published in Creating Keepsakes magazine. Add handmade embellishments and journaling to make it your own.

Here's how to make it:

Supplies:

1 solid sheet of 12-by-12-inch cardstock paper

Two-inch letters (sticks, dye cuts, chipboard or other)

Sticker embellishments

Plastic slide frame sticker

Twine

Flower-shaped brads

Scraps of patterned paper

Ribbon scrap

Fastenator clip (or just use a staple)

Hole punch

What to do: Start by cropping photos to 3.5-by-4-inches, then gluing three from the top and a 1/2 inch from the left side of the solid cardstock. Tear two sheets of patterned scrap paper (approximately 3-by-9-inches and 4-by-9-inches). Glue on top of each other about 1/2 inch below photos and 1/2 inch from left side of page. Glue a stripe of 1/2-by-9-inch torn patterned paper above photos. Using 2-inch letters, spell out title along right side of photos. Embellish with sticks and ribbon scraps. Glue a two-by-two-inch photo to bottom right corner of patterned paper scrap below the larger photographs. Cover with epoxy slide frame. Punch two holes (to the right side of the title) about 5 inches apart. Run twine through holes and secure. Add brads (these are flower-shaped) to each hole.