It's almost here! Can you feel it? Summertime! June brings the end of school, the start of vacations, and the warm, fun, summer months with it! How will you be spending your time this summer? Whatever is on your agenda, I'm sure it will have many photo opportunities and then a need for creative ways to display them. Here are a couple of fun ideas to kick off your Summer scrapping!

Janis Medina-Maghinay made this cheerful clock/shadowbox for her desk. She says, "I gave away altered clocks as Christmas presents to my girlfriends two years ago but was unable to make one clock work. It is a little more than 11" in diameter, so I just bought a stand for it and use it as a photo frame/shadow box instead." What a great idea to creatively use something that would otherwise be going in the garbage.

The colors are what drew me in, and the details are what made me fall in love with this very creative piece.

The cool blues and yellows used are so bright and are great reminders of the beach, summer, and all that's happy. Adding in the warm bits of orange and brown just grounded the color palette and lends to the hint of the summer heat and the reason for Janis and her family being in that water!

Upon a closer look, you can see how much effort Janis put into this project. A lot of fussy cutting! Everywhere you look, your eye settles on some little treat; starting from the way Janis used her paint to create a backdrop for this stage, to the cluster of stickers on the upper left corner of the photo which tells her story, and the lovely little flowers- all of which creates a triangle around the photo, making your eye focus there first.

I love all of the special touches, but my favorite has to be the actual sand that settled at the bottom! It adds to the beachy feel and gives the project another texture and dimension. The sand also has a funny story attached to it as Janis describes how she got it, "An officemate of mine had a vacation in Boracay, one of the best beach destination here in the country, which is famous for its white fine sandy shore. I asked him if he could bring me white sand as "pasalubong" (gift or keepsake). It turned out he packed a bottle full and almost got into trouble with authorities in the airport... we didn't know it was prohibited! I don't want his efforts go wasted so I really try to be very frugal and selective in using his gifted sand."

Thanks Janis for sharing your lovely shadowbox with ScrapStreet! It certainly has me inspired to make something for my desk as a reminder of warm, sunny, carefree days of summer with my family.

Out of Town Altered Clock by Janis G. Medina-Maghinay

Supplies: Papers, Stickers, Chipboard: Bella Blvd, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Ink: Ranger Industries, Pen: Uni-ball, Other: paint, sand, clock.

Design Notes: Basically, I made a layout in the faulty clock and poured in the sand for that added "beachy" feel. My altered clock/shadow box now sits on my office desk and every time I look at it, I am reminded that it is important to take time off work to be with family.