Layout Class - Circles photos without chopping up your photos!

One trend I keep seeing popping up just lately is circular photos on layouts. But part of scrapbooking is preserving photos too and you may not always want to cut up your precious photos, especially if they're irriplaceble originals and even in the times of online storage it can still happen that one day all those saved photos could 'poof' dissapear!
To tackle this I've come up with a way to create the look of circle photos without cutting into your photos.
To start with I've measured my photo and made a strip of paper the same height. This is going across the bottom half of my layout where the photo will be but you can put it at the top too if you want to switch the layout around.

Next I've arranged where I'd like the circle to be on the photo, (this can be changed though too as I've done later on!)

To fix my die in place I've used some little bits of washi tape to hold it to the paper then slid out the photo. The paper piece, (this turquoise/dot one) was then taken away and put through my die cutting machine to cut out the circle from it. If you don't have a die/machine combination you could use a Silhouette or draw a circle with a compass or cup to cut out with scissors.

For the rest of the layout to build the top half up I've added a strip of washi tape then the upper half of the Stargaze patterned paper, (everything used is from the Lite and Embellishment June kits) and a chalkboard tab sticker in the top right.

Next I've added the 'frame' paper piece cut out earlier. My photo has been placed underneath with a little removeable adhesive holding it down then the paper piece over the top has been glued along the left edge and bottom edge only for now. the top edge will be left open for easy removal of the photo if ever required. While the right side of the paper is still unstuck it's easy to slide around the photo to place it within the cut out circle to where it looks the best. If you need to move the photo up a little you can slide it under the upper paper above.

I liked my photo more to the left than I originally planned so to fill in the excess space along the side I've added some more of the Stargaze paper, this time using the lower half with the black backing. Once it was in place I've added more adhesive to this side and pressed the paper piece with the frame down to finish.

 Now all that was left to do was embellish a little more. I've used a circle die from the Lite kit cut to reflect the circle photo and cut out another. I've cut out the 'lovely' bit from the Curious paper sheet. The coloured stickers are the Pinkfresh ones from the Embellishment kit. I've also added a little doodling to the chalkboard tag at the top with the white pen from the kit.

A few extra enamel dot touches and it's finished!

This basic idea of using a frame for your photo/s can be adapted to any shape. Maybe the shape of the country you're visiting for holiday photos, stars, flowers, even initials. You can get really creative with this!

Happy scrapping! xx Leo