Five on Friday with Jennifer McMurtrey

Hello Elle’s Studio friends!  

It’s Jennifer here today with this month’s Five on Friday, where we challenge you to use only five products on a project. It is certainly true that creating with less product allows you to be more creative. While I am the first to admit that I have a very large stash of memory keeping products, sometimes I become overwhelmed and struggle to create as a direct result of this. Today’s challenge was perfect in helping me reign it all in and focus on what I really love, which is memory keeping.  

Let’s take a look at the completed project that uses the following products to document my daughter’s 26th birthday. 

  1. Lizzy Alphabet Stamp 
  1. Chipboard Circle Stickers 
  1. Light Teal Cardstock Basic Shape Stickers
  1.  August 2021 Cut Files – Half Sun 
  1. Good Times Paper Stack 

When deciding which five products to use, I knew the first would be a digital cut file—one of my go-to favorites, because I can manipulate the files to suit any and every project. Here, I turned the file sideways to fit the 5 x 8.25 inch transparency page and cut it using two of the patterned papers from the Good Times Paper Stack. Next, I tacked them in place with a very small amount of glue, waited for it to dry, and machine stitched them to the transparency 

At the top-right corner of the transparency, I added two of the tab-shaped Light Teal Cardstock Basic Shape Stickers back-to-back. After masking the bottom of the tab, I used the Lizzy Alphabet Stamp (my new favorite) to add Phoebe’s initials. 

The half sun looks amazing on the transparency, and I love how the black and white photo peeks out from beneath. To give the sun more depth, I journaled in the center and then doodled around the edges with black ink. I seem to be doing that a lot lately, but I love the fun vibe it adds to projects. 

On the photo itself, I added several of the Light Teal Cardstock Basic Shape Stickers in the top corner with the Chipboard Circle Stickers in the bottom corner. Here, I again used the Lizzy Alphabet Stamp to add “2” and “6” to indicate Phoebe’s age at the time of the photo. To layer the stickers, I added foam squares to the backs before adhering them to the photo. 

To create continuity between the transparency and the photo, I doodled a border on the picture using the same black ink as before. This simple addition really makes the photo pop and adds the whimsy that I so love. 

As you can see, I was able to use five products to create an interactive layout with fun elements. I guess less really is more in this case! 

Thank you for stopping by today! Be sure to play along with the Five on Friday Challenge and use the hashtag #EllesStudio when posting to social media so we are sure to see your creations. Who knows . . . you just might be featured on the Elle’s Studio blog! 

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