Monkey Boy - Graphic 45

Before we get started today I want to wish my Graphic 45 teammate, Laura Dennison, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Visit her blog, because she is mad talented!

I have a Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue layout to share with you. I have a lot of tropical photos from our various vacations, but for this layout I decided to use a photo of my youngest son with his stash of monkeys!

(original photo courtesy of JC Penney)

Jonah is 11 now, and is not too thrilled to have this baby photo splashed all over CHA and the Internet! But, oh, he was so cute! He loved monkeys, especially a small, yellow and green one. He carried "Green Georgie" everywhere. (Green Georgie eventually started to look like a filthy, gray bar rag!)

I used Photoshop to change the photo to black and white. Then I "colorized" the little monkey to make him pop off the page. This is a simple photo-editing technique that you can do in Photoshop Elements.

You need two copies of your photo, one black and white and one color. Place the color photo on your workspace first, then layer the b/w photo on top. Using the Photoshop "eraser" tool, simply erase the b/w portion to reveal the color behind it. So easy! When you are finished, merge the layers and print.

I don't normally like to use flowers on boy pages, but this jungle-themed page just screamed for flowers and leaves! I fussy cut some leaves from the Tropical Travelogue paper, plus I mixed in some pre-made flowers. I also colorized the pre-made flowers with ink. All the flowers were white or cream when I started! This is a very fussy layout! {grin}

I like lumpy layouts. Which means that either my scrapbooks are very fat, or the layouts never make into a scrapbook! I really like the dimension and texture. Most of my layouts work better in shadow boxes. If I ever get around to actually putting them IN shadow boxes!

I cut out the passport images from the Exotic Destinations paper and made a three-dimensional book for the top of the page. It was hard to make all of this fussy paper work together, but I think it turned out pretty well. Besides, how can you go wrong with such a cute baby?!

Supply List:
Graphic 45 Supplies:
Graphic 45 papers:
Tropical Travelogue: Paradise Postage, Rainforest, Island Jewel, Seaside Holiday (8x8), Exotic Destination
Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue Stickers

Core'dinations: Signature Series Graphic 45 Cardstock: Bon Voyage
Clearsnap: Colorbox Decades Graphic 45 Antiquing Ink: Dark Cashmere, Bon Voyage
Clearsnap: Smooch Spritz: Ice Rink, Splash, Vanilla Shimmer, River Mossy, Tea Party, Green Olive
Imaginarium Designs: chipboard numbers
Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L: foam squares

Neenah: Natural White cardstock
American Crafts: Black cardstock; Precision black pen
Want2Scrap: Chipboard corners
Wild Orchid Crafts: flowers
Prima: branch
Copic: Markers
Craft supply: twine
Adhesive: white glue, Scotch 3M tape runner