The Great CJ Dilemma ...

Have you ever been in a Circle Journal swap and created a page for someone else's CJ only to find you want to keep it for yourself???  I have and I know I'm not alone!  But I think I've come up with a solution.  I've just created a page for my friend Tammi's CJ (hi Tim Tam!) who's theme was "One of Those Days - you've had a rough day - how do you cope?".  Initially I found the theme tough going but once I hit on an idea and realised how I wanted to scrap it, I also realised I wanted to scrap my idea for myself.  Oh noooo ... I was facing The Great CJ Dilemma!  (LOL!!)  The solution?

It was simple really.  I'm a 12x12 scrapper.  Rarely are CJs a 12x12 format.  In fact, Tammi's CJ is A4.  So, I created my A4 page for Tammi's CJ ...

he

products used:
patterned paper - Stampin' Up! DSP In Color patterns stack, My Little Shoebox Garden Party Blooming trails (reverse), Sassafrass Lass Sunshine Broadcast Static and Flourish; Sassafrass Lass cardstock stickers - Flag Banners ;Stampin' Up! Naturals Ivory cardstock; Stampin' Up! stamp set - Stamp of Authenticity; ela cindoruk Doily News; Jillibean Soup Canvas Flowers - red polkas, brown letters; Prima Sprites flowers; Jenni Bowlin Chipboard Buttons - Bookprint; Collections chipboard - Curly Brackets Multi Sheet, Large Arrows; American Crafts Thickers - Fabric, Delight, Black; Hessian; Stampin' Up! Basic Black inpkad; black Zig Writer; punches - corner rounder, Stampin' Up! Heart to Heart; Making Memories staples

replicated it (and played spot the difference) ...

and then stuck it on a 12x12 background and 'blended it in' a bit ...

additional products used:
Color Core cardstock; black Zig Writer; more Prima Sprites flowers; and additional 'dots' from American Crafts Thickers - Fabric, Delight, Black

How cool is that?  Sure it took a little extra time but let's face it, all I had to do was replicate the original (which I did 'along the way')!  Plus once I added the replicated CJ page to the 12x12 cardstock all I needed to do was add a doodled border and 'spill' some flowers off the edges of the original page on to the 12x12 to help it blend in and look like a finished layout.  So, so simple, and now I can happily send my page off to Tammi knowing I have a copy of it for my own albums.

PS:  Doesn't the red cardstock background on the 12x12 make the whole page just 'POP'?!?!!!  :)