Best Friends
By Susan Cobb

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Nothing emphasizes a girlfriends layout better than softened colors and a floral motif! Susan began by double matting her photo on green papers, then used coordinating Retro sarapapers™ to print her computer journaling and to trace envelopes, pockets and tags from Susan’s Office Envelopes Template. She added matching flowers to the page with gold brads and pinwheels, then finished off the page with a couple of teal ribbons.

Susan shares her designer tip: “Just because papers come in 12”x12” books doesn’t mean you have to use them solely as background papers! I love Retro sarapapers™ because all of the colors are already coordinated, and I like to cut up the coordinating papers to add personal flair to my projects. In this “Best Friends” layout, I used one whole sheet of flowered paper as the background, then I cut the flowers out of the other sheet to accent the page. I also traced my template onto the solid portions of some 12”x12” bordered papers to make my envelopes and tags.”

Supplies:

• Paper Pizazz® Retro sarapapers™: Blue flowers on yellow (2), lime texture with circle border, aqua texture with circle border and pale lime glimmer paper
• Cardmaker’s™ Citrus Ribbons
• Susan’s Office Envelopes Template
• Cardmaker’s™ Accents Metal Pinwheels #1
• Cardmaker’s™ Accents Gold & Silver Mini Brads
• graphite black Brilliance™ ink pad
• 1/8” round hole punch
• X-acto knife, cutting mat
• Glue Dots™
• glue stick

Instructions:

1. Use one sheet of the blue flowers on yellow paper as the background. Ink the edges of the background paper with black. Mat the photo on the lime portion of the lime texture with circle border paper, trimming the mat to 1/8”. Ink the edges of the mat with black. Mat again on pale lime glimmer paper, trimming the mat to 1/4”. Ink the edges with black, then glue the matted photo centered on the page, 1 3/4” down from the top.
2. Trace the large envelope from the template onto the aqua portion of the aqua texture with circle border paper, then cut out and fold as shown. Ink the edges with black and glue together. Trace the pocket onto the lime texture paper and cut out. Cover the inside of the pocket with aqua texture paper, trimming the edges even with the pocket edges. Fold together, then ink edges with black and glue together.
3. Computer journal onto lime texture paper and crop into a vertical rectangle. Ink the edges with black, then mat on pale lime glimmer paper glimmer, trimming the mat to 1/8”. Ink the edges of the mat with black.
4. Arrange elements on page beneath photo as shown. Trace the large tag from the template onto the other sheet of blue flowers on yellow paper. Cut out and ink the edges with black. Computer journal the school name and year onto pale lime glimmer paper, then cut out and ink the edges with black. Mat the journaling on aqua texture paper, trimming the mat to 1/8” on the left and right sides and 1/16” on the top and bottom sides, then ink the edges with black. Glue the matted journaling to the tag, then punch a hole in the top of the tag. Cut a 3” length of aqua grosgrain ribbon and run it through the hole. Glue the tag in place sticking out of the pocket.
5. Use an X-acto® knife and cutting mat to cut out flower shapes from the blue flowers on yellow paper, then ink the edges of the flowers with black. Add one gold brad and one gold pinwheel to the center of each flower, then use Glue Dots™ to attach the flowers to the page as shown. Cut a 3” length of aqua grosgrain ribbon and tie a knot in the center. Using a Glue Dot™, adhere the knot to the top of the journaling block.