jamaica | may project life

As I sat down to start putting my post together I couldn’t help but think of silly alternate titles—“how to scrapbook a Mickey Mouse party without getting cartoony” or “essence of Mickey” or maybe “grown up Mickey.”

Earlier this month, my nephew turned 3 and my sister-in-law threw a fantastic Mickey-themed birthday party, complete with mouse ears for everyone. It was a Mickey extravaganza from the cake to the decor to the goodie bags—all Mickey. The challenge for me was figuring out how to record my nephew’s third birthday without having it be over-the-top Mickey Mouse too.

Even though I took almost a hundred photos, I limited myself to just a handful. To ensure they didn’t overwhelm each other, I decided to spread them out across a few pages. Adding a 5″ x 7″ insert to my small album allowed me to include a larger photo without adding another spread. I like how the white space of the new photo looks against the busyness of the photos beneath it.

To back that image, I used the handdrawn pluses from quintessentials no. 4. The black on white coordinates with the balloon photo and looks sharp against the yellow stripe from say yes to (papers). The photo of my sister-in-law and I which would have gotten lost tucked amongst the four images on the original spread, stands out now with the two contrasting patterns behind it.

Loving how the right side of the spread looked but not the two pages together, I realized I needed to add one more layer to help add some separation. The 4″ x 6″ fits perfectly over the 5″ x 7″ insert and the soft teal pattern from outdoorsy helps distract your eye the photos behind it. It’s blank now but I’m thinking I might add some journaling printed on vellum later.

And, despite my original plan, I had to give a nod to Mickey with the final touch of red. Of course, it’s not a real red but the red on pink hearts from eternal sunshine.