Artsy and Quirky London

A few weeks ago I started planning my next photobook - for our London holiday(oh yay!) I was scanning digital stores for British themed kits and told my husband that though i liked the red and blue color schemes I'm not sure I'd like it throughout an entire album. And the dear man said, "don't follow the stereotype, why not get out of the visual cliche!" Why not indeed. But what then? And he said, "Try quirky and interesting like the British are. Think eclectic, trendy, hipster, imperfect, artsy." I was intrigued. And so I did.

Sun from Quirky Heart's everyday bouquet, Paper from Chelle's Creations' ladybug hugs

I scanned pinterest and everywhere for ideas, looked through all of my stash, and decided I will pair artsy drawings and elements with black/white/grey striped/dotted/geometric backgrounds. And then I started making my layout backgrounds, and got completely carried away!

Look how many I came up with, it was so fun I could not stop., hehe. Sixty-nine pages to be exact! This is the first time I've made all the backgrounds before looking at the photos. I let myself play without worrying about how they will come together. I got to use stash that never gets used. I really enjoyed changing up the game, and just playing!

How will the pages turn out? How will the historical London pictures look in artsy quirky backgrounds? Here are the first four pages!

Portobello market was as colorful as this layout even on that first cold grey day when we arrived and visited, before we could even check into our rooms! So much to browse and see!

Credits: Allison Pennington_ChinUp_Birdy, Rachel Young_WishAlphabet, Sticker_Witch_Legs_GinaCabrera, Just Jaimee-paintybits, Lauren Grier-nummybuddies-paper9

Mommyish_theeveryday_gathered-ribbon

The next first morning in London we simply took a bus and got off at the Houses of Parliament, to breathe and take in the iconic and grand views. We are in London!!! Dh and I have been in London 20 years ago, but we were equally exhilarated as the boys at the thought of actually being there! I thought the striped background looked so hip and really showed off the historic architecture, don't you?

Credits: Vinnie Pearce_The_Rise_Elements, Amy Wolff_giddy_scribblecircles, Citrus&Mint_F_blackstripepaper, Kaye Winiecki_currently_hashtagwordstrip, little butterfly wings_messitupvl2_paint, SaraGleason_currently_triangles, 

Stolen Moments Designs_Currently_alpha

We then took a walk around the Westminster Abbey grounds and around Parliament Square where we saluted Churchill's statue and Nelson Mandela's, little guessing that the great man would pass away even whilst we were still in London two weeks later! Also got the guards at 10 Downing Street to take a photo for us! And to my surprise and delight, I really think the polka dotted background supported the beautiful architecture pictures beautifully and made the page modern and visually so interesting!

Credits:Paper_Booville_Dots_GinaCabrera, citrus&mint_blackpolkadotpaper, 

Dream Big Designs_craft_graffiti2_paint, pink reptile designs_rockingcool_alpha, Tangie Baxter _QuickitySplitsWorkshop_Gesso

We then made it to the 10am boat that cruises down the Thames to Greenwich. We sat on the upper deck and it was cold!! But the funny seaman turned 'guide' gave such a fun commentary with so many juicy stories the whole journey, we could not bear to go downstairs.

Credits: KimJensen_MeRightNow_alpha, background paper_Black_Chevron_GinaCabrera, Dream Big Designs_craft_graffiti2_paint, Little Butterfly Wings_messitupvl2_paint

As usual these pages are available as templates in the store.

And here is the first page. Chronicling the 20 hour flight including 6 hours transit at Doha, Qatar that was the way we got to London. Phew!!

Credits: Laura Banasiak_chevron_overlay, little butterfly wigns_fullofwonder_paint, 

Studio Rosey Posey-onemoment, Libby Pritchett-turn-red, Valorie Webber-currently-journaltsrips

And you can download the template here. Will you try something different on your pages? Will you play and have some fun? What do you think of my London 'style'? Love to hear!

And thanks for visiting!