Taking your Layouts Vertical

Did that title capture your attention? Make you at least ask "what are they up to over there?" {pun intended, lol} I'm going to share a vertical construction project with you today and my inspiration behind it.


I've got a lot of photos from our family beach vacation this summer and I'm working on getting them scrapped. Well, no, really I'm not. I'm so behind on scrapping it's not funny! Sound like you? What's really going on is that I've got all these ideas for what I want to do to get those vacation photos scrapped, but I really need to get to the photos from Christmas... 2 years ago, the pictures of the kids when they were younger, when we first put in our garden, and so on.... you get the idea. I know I'm not alone!

I wanted to do a project that would give me the feeling I had when we were on vacation. That chillaxin' kind of feeling. And one that I know when I look at it, will inspire me to scrap my beach vacation photos because it will bring me right back to the memories and the emotions.

So I decided to take it vertical and create a diorama. I used a big seashell that we collected from the beach as the base for my project. I hot glued some glass marbles to the bottom as feet. You know those glass baubles that you can get at the craft store for decorating vases and hurricane candles? That's what I used. This next photo shows the feet a bit better.


I then cut some Styrofoam to fit inside the shell and create a level base. I painted the foam to blend in with the "waves" just in case any of it showed through. I created all the elements using scrapping stash. For me it was a mix of some digital kits that I have, I'll put a list at the end of the post. I also printed a photo that was just perfect for this project. Adhere each paper and photo element to chipboard and then cut them out. I used an X-acto knife. Sand and ink the edges, and embellish as desired. I used some Stickles and Smooch to dress up the waves.
The waves were hot glued to the front edge of the Styrofoam.

I then cut a piece of cardstock that resembled sand into the shape of the shell and adhered that to the top of the Styrofoam behind the waves. I then created a paste from sand that we collected from the beach and spread it on top of the cardstock to make my beach. I coated that lightly with some Diamond Glaze to seal it. This way you won't get loose sand falling from your finished project. Here is a closer look at the "beach" that I created.


For the standing elements, I created pins to insert into the foam. Cut the heads off regular sewing straight pins and discard the heads. Hot glue the pins to the back of the elements that you want to stand. Insert these through the "beach" and into the Styrofoam.

I used the hot glue gun to adhere some small shells that the kids collected on our vacation along the front of the big shell. I might add a string of pearls there too, still thinking about that.

Now I've got a great souvenir of our vacation that instantly takes me back to that great relaxing feeling! It's like having a little beach, right on my desk. I know when I finally get some time to scrap those vacation photos, I'll have my little shell full of inspiration!

Digital kits used:
Ohana by Britt-ish Designs
Sail Away by Erica Zane
Drift Away by Graham Like the Cracker
Coastal Getaway by Scrapmatters Design Team
Sea, Sand, Sun by Scrapmatters Design Team