Make a Splash with Echo Park!

Whether your summer photos are new or old...

Whether you create 12x12" or 8.5x11" layouts...

Whether you prefer a day at the beach or just backyard summer fun...

this post has something for everyone!

In this post I'll give you directions for making three pages (above), using 100% Echo Park papers and embellishments.  It's a great way to celebrate summer and reduce your Echo Park stash at the same time.

For the first layout...

Supplies:

* papers from the Splash collection: Diagonal Stripes, Big Waves, Mini Stripes, Solid Blues, Solid Orange/Red

* paper from the Summer Days collection: Borders

* stickers from the Everybody Loves Christmas collection: Alpha Stickers

Directions:

1.  Trim the B-side (wave images) of the Diagonal Stripes paper into a 8.5x11" rectangle (landscape orientation).

2.  Mat a vertical photo on the Solid Orange cardstock.  Use the red mini alphabet stickers from the Everybody Loves Christmas sheet to spell part of your title at the bottom of the photo.

3.  From the B-side (bubble images) of the Mini Stripes paper, cut a rectangle that is 2.5" high and 7" long.  Adhere it near the bottom of your page, leaving about a 1" margin on the left and bottom sides of the paper.

4.  From the B-side (orange/white wave image) of the Big Waves paper, cut out a rectangle that is 7" high and 4" long.  Adhere this rectangle flush with the right side of your layout, leaving a top margin of 1" and a bottom margin of half an inch.  Let this rectangle overlap the one you adhered in step 3.

5.  Trim a 5" square from the darker side of the Solid Blue cardstock.  Adhere this square in the center of your layout, with a 1.5" margin above and a 2" margin below the square.  Tuck about half an inch of the right-hand side of this square beneath the Big Waves paper. 

6.  Adhere the matted photo from step 2 atop the blue square.  Now only the left-hand side of the blue square will be visible--the rest will be covered by the matted photo.

7.  Trim a small sunshine image from the Borders paper.  Place it on the blue square, and use the blue mini stickers from the Everybody Loves Christmas sheet to place title words above and below the sunshine image.

8.  Trim the pink-and-red border sticker from the Everybody Loves Christmas sheet into smaller pieces, and position these pieces on the layout as shown in the above photo.

9.  From the Solid Red cardstock, trim a rectangle that is 1/2 inch high and 2" long.  (You can use the brand identification strip at the bottom of the sheet for this.)  Trim a dovetail notch on the left hand side of this rectangle.  Adhere this rectangle at the top of the Big Waves rectangle, flush with the right hand side of the layout.  Trim a little "Splash" logo from the brand identification strip at the bottom of one of the pieces of paper, and adhere this logo atop the dovetailed red rectangle.  Voila, your layout is complete!

Up next is the 12x12" layout...

Supplies:

* papers from the Splash collection: Diagonal Stripes, Solid Teal, Journaling Cards

* papers from the Summer Days collection: Solid Green, Rainbow

* stickers from the Little Girl collection: Alpha Stickers

Directions:

1.  Use the Solid Green cardstock as the base of the layout.

2.  From the B-side (image of white dots on a yellow ground) of the Rainbow paper, cut a rectangle that is 4.5" high and 12" long.  Adhere two horizontal photos to this rectangle, one on either side.

3.  Fill the remaining space between the two photos with a piece of the Solid Teal cardstock.  The length of this piece will be the distance between your photos, and the height will be the same as the height of your photos.  Use a ruler for accuracy.

4.  Trim the beach ball image from the Journaling Cards paper.  The grid printed on this paper will help you make straight and even cuts.  Adhere the beach ball between the two photos, atop the teal cardstock.  Use the dark pink mini stickers from the Alpha Stickers sheet to spell out your journaling above and below the beach ball.  For a fun look, place the letters at jaunty angles.

5.  Adhere the rectangle that you have been working on to the green background cardstock, leaving a 2" margin at the top and a 5.5" margin at the bottom.  Trim stripes of your choice (I chose blue clouds and a green-and-white grid) from the Rainbow paper and adhere them just above and below the rectangle.
6.  Cut three cards of your choice from the Journaling Cards paper.  (I used the cards that say "I Wish I Was a Fish", "Wet & Wild", and "I Love the Sun".)  Adhere them in a zigzag pattern below your rectangle (see photo above).

7.  From the B-side (wave images) of the Diagonal Stripes paper, cut a rectangle that is 3/4 of an inch high and 12" long.  Adhere this strip at the bottom of the layout.  Trim a strip of your choice (I chose hot pink) from the Rainbow paper and adhere it along the top of the wave-image paper.

8.  Trim one last strip (I chose yellow) from the Rainbow paper, and adhere it along the top of your layout.

9.  Fussy-cut the oval-shaped "Staying Cool" phrase from the Journaling Cards paper.  Tuck it beneath the photo rectangle and adhere it in place, letting the top of the oval stick out past the top of the layout.

10. Use the large alpha stickers to spell out your title, placing half of the title to the left of the fussy-cut oval, and the other half of the title to the right of the oval.  Now the second layout is finished!

And for the final layout...

Supplies:

* papers from the Splash collection: Diagonal Stripes, Solid Orange/Red, Solid Yellow

* stickers from the Playground collection: Alpha Stickers

Directions:

1.  Crop three photos into square shapes.  Mat your focal photo on Solid Red cardstock, leaving a few extra inches at the bottom of the mat.  Mat your two supporting photos on Solid Orange cardstock, again leaving a few extra inches at the bottoms of both mats.

2.  Trim a piece of Diagonal Stripes paper so that it is 8.5" tall and 11" long.  This will be the background for your layout (landscape orientation).

3.  From the Solid Yellow cardstock, cut a rectangle that is 2" high and 11" long.  Adhere this rectangle to the bottom of your layout.  Use the Alpha stickers to spell your title on this yellow rectangle.

4.  Tuck the three matted photos beneath the yellow rectangle.  Refer to the picture of this layout (above) to guide your photo placement.

5.  Remove the border sticker from the sheet of Alpha stickers.  Carefully place it along the top of the yellow rectangle.  For the final touch on the layout, decorate the red photo mat with a yellow star sticker from the Alpha sheet.

Here are a few extra hints for completing these layouts:

* If you like to make back-to-back layouts, the two 8.5x11" pages in this post will work perfectly--you can make one on the back of the other.

* Echo Park collections mix and match well.  If you are missing some of the components in these layouts, try substituting similar components that you do have in your Echo Park stash.

* I hope you've enjoyed these layouts!  Feel free to comment with any feedback.  Have a great week!