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Anastasiia Tysevych – Czech Republic
Tamara Morton – United Kingdom
Take your travel memories to the next level with this breathtaking travel scrapbook album by Graphic 45 Brand Ambassador Maria Smeshkova. Created with our vibrant Scenic Route paper collection and the Vintage Rose Binder Album, this interactive scrapbook album captures the beauty of Rhodes Island, Greece through layered textures, vintage-inspired embellishments, pocket pages, and dimensional details. From Mediterranean blues and citrus tones to maps, vellum, acetate, and travel-themed ephemera, every page is filled with scrapbook inspiration for preserving vacation memories in a creative and meaningful way. In today’s video tutorial, Maria shares how to combine Graphic 45 papers, embellishments, mixed media techniques, and thoughtful page design to create a handmade travel album that is both elegant and functional. Whether you love memory keeping, interactive mini albums, or vintage travel scrapbook ideas, this Scenic Route project is full of techniques and inspiration to spark your next papercrafting adventure.
“Hello everyone!
For today’s project, I created a travel album dedicated to my trip to Rhodes Island, Greece, a journey that happened all the way back in 2012.
For many years, these photos stayed untouched. I printed them several times, tried different scrapbook collections, and started planning this album more than once, but nothing ever felt quite right. I could never find papers and embellishments that truly matched the atmosphere of this trip, the warm sunlight, ancient architecture, blue sea, citrus colors, and cozy Mediterranean feeling that I remembered so vividly.
But everything changed when I saw the Scenic Route collection by Graphic 45.
The moment I opened the papers, I immediately knew this collection was meant for these photos. The beautiful combination of deep blues, warm oranges, lemons, travel motifs, maps, and vintage-inspired details perfectly captured the feeling of Rhodes for me.
I used the Graphic 45 ring album as the base and combined pocket pages, ivory cardstock pages, acetate pages, vellum, book paper, die-cuts, ephemera, chipboard elements, rub-ons, and stitched details throughout the album. I also created custom decorative tiles for the cover using a Stamperia mold and finished everything with layered embellishments and dimensional details.
One of my favorite parts of this project was creating simple but visually rich compositions. I didn’t want the pages to feel overcrowded, so I focused on balancing photos with small paper layers, vellum, decorative accents, and subtle textures. There were so many photos from this trip that I eventually decided to split the project into two albums. I wanted the pages to remain neat and comfortable inside the rings without becoming too bulky or warped. So this album became Volume One, and there will definitely be a Volume Two in the future.
This project took me several weeks to complete, especially while sorting through old photographs and selecting papers and embellishments for every page, but I truly enjoyed every moment of the process.
I honestly couldn’t be happier with how this album turned out. It feels bright, warm, nostalgic, and full of memories, exactly how I remember Rhodes.
Travel Scrapbook Album with Scenic Route by Maria Smeshkova
Happy papercrafting!” ~Maria Smeshkova
When working with large amounts of vacation photos, avoid overcrowding your pages. Maria balanced her layouts with smaller paper layers, vellum accents, and dimensional embellishments to keep each spread visually rich while still allowing the photos to shine.
Pocket pages, acetate inserts, vellum layers, and flip-up elements create movement and variety throughout the album. Combining different page styles adds interest and helps tell a more dynamic travel story.
The Scenic Route collection worked perfectly with Maria’s Greece photos because of its Mediterranean-inspired palette of deep blues, warm oranges, lemon accents, and vintage travel motifs. Choosing papers that naturally complement your images creates a cohesive and polished album.
Scenic Route Album Kit Walkthrough Video
Scenic Route Card Kit and Peel Back Pop-Up Card Tutorial
We hope Maria Smeshkova’s Scenic Route Binder Album inspires you to pull out your favorite travel photos and start creating your own memory-filled masterpiece. This project beautifully combines storytelling, interactive scrapbook techniques, and layered vintage style to transform treasured moments into lasting keepsakes.
Be sure to watch the full video tutorial for even more tips, techniques, and creative inspiration. Then shop the Scenic Route collection and our binder albums to start your own travel scrapbook adventure today.
Be sure to share your creations with us and tag @Graphic45 — we love seeing how you bring our collections to life!
