Star Player! by Jen McMurtrey

Star Player! by Jen McMurtrey

Pew . . . pew . . . pew . . . that is literally the sound constantly coming from the back room in our home at any given moment as my husband realizes his childhood dream of owning his own arcade games. Over the past several years, his collection has grown to almost a dozen games that he has restored and several that he has sold to pay for his hobby. Our house is the place to be with its built-in game room, and the kids and their friends love hanging out and playing the “old school” arcades.

After first seeing the Family Fun Collection, I was pretty sure Simple Stories designed it with us in mind because it is perfect for documenting this aspect of my family’s life. In fact, my first project using it is all about his arcades!

                       

                     

Admittedly, this layout has A LOT going on with its brightly patterned background and large title. However, I felt it was fitting given the nature of the project and the story I’ve chosen to document.

To create the background, I used the 6x6 Retro Diamond Stencil with several coordinating inks. Beginning with the lightest ink, I applied the diamonds randomly on white cardstock. I didn’t worry about them lining up perfectly as I went and several of the colors overlap one another.

                        

                            

Using my Silhouette, I cut the Pew! Pew! Pew! title letters using a free font I found online that mimics the pixilation of the retro games. I chose to align the photo and embellishments along the center of the page and ended up covering the middle title row.

                        

                      

The large arcade in the center of the layout is fussy cut from a 4x6 card included with the patterned papers. Using that as the starting point, I adhered it with foam squares to pop it off of the page. Next, I added a 3x4 journaling tag followed by the photo on the right.

                         

                          

Pulling several embellishments from the collection, I added chipboard, stickers, and die cuts atop the journaling tag and photo.

                        

                     

Since this layout is already super busy, I chose to limit the number of embellishments and keep them along the center of the page in line with the picture and journaling.

                            

                            

I know this project is not in line with what I usually create, but it was fun to step outside my comfort zone. It is important to enjoy the process when you are creating even if that means the end product is not in your normal wheelhouse.

The Family Fun Collection has too many fun elements to count and can be used in so many different ways. I can’t wait to see what you create with this amazing, new collection!!

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1 comment

  • Amy Cunniff-Bleau: June 28, 2021

    This is an AMAZING layout!!

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