jbs mercantile: smithsonian

this layout is about my grandpa eck (left in photo) and the shell he discovered that was named after him and resides in the archives of the smithsonian (i shared the story HERE earlier).  the photo of my grandfather is one that my mom let me have in my teens.  it's a random photo taken at a time when i didn't even know him. once i started scrapbooking, i never imagined i'd ever have a call to use the photo, but it really seems fitting with this story.  the photo of the shells i found and downloaded off the internet.  i printed the journaling straight from my blog post and attached it to the back of the "read this" tag stuck behind the second photo.

the layout was created mostly with the april mini-album and antiquarian kits.  i wanted to get some centipede action in, so i decided to go with christy's challenge of making your own kit from leftover bits from past kits plus my challenge to add stamping on text print papers (from my stash).  i love the way it came out.  it has the feel to me of a smithsonian archivist's desk, full of bits and pieces of information and treasures to be cataloged and recorded.

it was really nice to challenge myself to dust off my stamps and actually use them (instead of just letting them continue to collect dust).  i used three of my old rubber stamps on this page.  the label to the left of the shell photo (stamped in jbs ink pad), the swirl on the tag (stamped in jbs speckled egg), and the circle frame behind the right photo (stamped with american crafts gold embossing powder).  

i included lots of bits on this that might not make sense on a page about shells until you pull in the idea of a museum of natural history.  i went with the idea of collections which is where the butterflies and botanicals come in.  i also used the vintage envelope to highlight his extensive travels, the vintage map to spotlight his time in central america, and the little anchors for his high seas adventures.

one last thing (besides the amazing dear lizzy glitter thickers) before i go.  the washi tape.  i swoon.diagonal gold stripes from freckled fawn and grey chevron from jbs.  love and love.