Everybody Loves a Circus

It's true, everybody loves a circus! I have to admit that I do-my Scrapjazz username is "circusrunaway," after all. If you recently took a trip to the circus yourself, you're probably looking for circus-themed products to create layouts for the photos [K1] you took. But even if you haven't been lately, a circus motif is a great look to consider for your pages, and is masculine enough to work on a page for a son, husband, or boyfriend.

Patterned Paper with a Circus Feel

When I think of using a circus theme on a scrapbook page, I immediately think of the vintage circus posters that were hand-painted with pictures of the big top, elephants, the trapeze artists, and the ringleader. They were done in a beautiful, muted color palette that had a worn, antique feel. There are lots of lines of patterned paper that evoke this feel, such as We R Memory Keepers's Comstock Circus Collection and Rusty Pickle's Under the Big Top.

Your idea of the circus might be more modern, with bold primary colors. If this is your take, then brightly colored patterns from BasicGrey's Lollipop Shoppe and Lucky would work well. But there are lots of other patterned paper designs that would work well that aren't labeled as "circus." For instance, Daisy D's Classroom Dots and World Bazaar Circles combine primary colors with a vintage feel. Another option is to use a harlequin (diamond-patterned) paper. These come in different colors and feels, made by various designers, and any would lend itself to a circus theme.

Whether vintage or current, posters for the circus always tend to have that same, distinctive "circus" font! To recreate this on your own page, you have several options. Many fonts with this look are available for free online, including Extra Ornamental by House of Lime and Nasty, a grungy version by Misprinted Type.

If you're looking for chipboard letters, Li'l Davis Designs' flocked Vanderbilt letters have the same feel, and come in several colors. Their coordinating papers and mini albums could also be used for a circus theme.

Circus Animals

Hands down, my favorite part about the circus is seeing the animals. Circus animals, such as elephants, lions, and ponies, can be found as stamps, stickers, and even on patterned paper. Paper Source has adorable lion and elephant stamps, and A Muse has Ellie the Elephant. Paper Salon also has circus-themed elephant and lion stamps, and even has a circus tent and popcorn to match!

In terms of stickers, Jolee's Boutique has a circus-themed set including elephants and a pony. While circus stickers are harder to find, if you look for lions and elephants as zoo animals, you'll have a wider selection. There are also patterned papers of circus animals that are not meant for circus-themed pages, but could definitely be used that way. My hands-down favorite is BasicGrey's Oh Baby! Girl Macy paper.

If you're a digital scrapbooker, Virtual Scrapbooker.com has a set of digital circus-themed embellishments that include a circus elephant and pony as well as a circus tent and popcorn.

Hopefully, these ideas will point you in the right direction when it comes to making circus-themed pages. Whether you have circus photos to scrap, or your family is a circus in and of itself, you can make some beautiful pages using this theme!

Get everything you need to create your own circus pages with circus scrapbooking products from Scrapjazz.com!