A Photo On Vellum

I almost always order my prints - for the past 18 months or so it's been from Persnickety Prints.  But I've been wanting to experiment with printing photos on vellum (I think it might be a great technique to incorporate into a December Daily.)  So when we went apple picking, I decided to give it a try.  (I have a fairly basic inkjet printer.) 

I picked a photo of two apples and gave it a go.  The ink was visibly wet when it came out of the printer so I set it aside to dry for about an hour.  The end result was definitely worth waiting for - it have a beautiful soft feel that I wouldn't have achieved on cardstock.

products from October Citrus Twist kits.

I did run into a problem when I started to build my layout.  If you visit very often, you know that I like to layer lots of patterned papers.  And I found the patterns showing through my photo and changing the look of the image.  (In some instances I think this would be a great effect, but not what I was going for here.)

 I tried placing it on white card stock, but I lost a lot of the translucent feel the vellum brought to the table.  So I ended up layering a second piece of plain vellum under the photo and that worked perfectly.  And you can see where I used my tiny attacher to add the photo to my layout.  (I didn't want the adhesive to mar the image.)

I definitely will play with this technique again - it is so much fun and creates a unique look for the photo.  If you have any tricks you use to print photos on vellum, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for stopping by.

3 To Inspire

Every Saturday Citrus Twist Twist Kits posts a "3 To Inspire" challenge.  The DT member leading the challenge gives you three prompts that you use together to create a single layout. Last Saturday the prompts were:

1. Create with at least 5 squares. 

2. Use medium (mist, ink, gesso).

3. Layered stickers.

 

So here is what I came up with

 

 

Use 5 squares - I used 4 squares of patterned paper, a square photo and a large square of plain vellum.

 

Use a medium - This was a bit out of my comfort zone.  I used gesso with a mask on that square of plain vellum to create texture behind my photo.  I absolutely loved how this turned out and will repeat the process on other projects.  I also used the gesso and mask to add interest on both sides of the page with the gold crosses.  I also added blue, green and gold ink spatters.

 

Layered stickers - I layered stickers from the Crate Paper Journey collection to create the bottom element in my grid design.  

 

This is one of my favorite layouts in a long time.  I can't wait to see today's challenge.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Vellum!

I have lots of scrap related obsessions, but lately vellum has been on the top of the list.  I love that it has been included in collections in lots of colors, prints and textures lately.  And I have quite a stash.

Most often I use it for layering in a photo block.  But when I saw the current sketch on the My Scraps and More Sketch Blog, I decided to try using vellum as the inspiration for my layout.  The sketch uses lots of strips of paper and I thought it would be fun to layer strips of vellum.

The layered vellum strips created a light girly look that i really like.  I mostly used strips from my scraps. And I added in a few strips of white and gray patterned paper to make the strips feel more substantial.   More vellum and a glassine bag to create a photo block finished off the layers across the page.

I dug out some old Basic Grey chipboard alphas for the title and added some embellishments.  And I just couldn't resist that floral stamp from the Studio Calico Lisse Street kit.  I lvoe that it looks like a doodle.

Thanks for stopping by.

Using Project Life Cards on Traditional Layouts

I was excited to start Project Life this year.  I wanted to like it.  I had a hard to get subscription to the Studio Calico kit.  I bought an album, page protectors and grid cards with my Christmas money.  I bought little calendars to document what happens each day. 

But sorry - I know its not fashionable - but I hated it.  We don't do interesting things everyday- with teenagers, kids in college and 3 jobs between parents we don't even see each other every day.  And figuring out PL cards in pocket pages didn't give me the creative outlet I use scrapbooking for.  So I quit.

But I love the Studio Calico Project Life Cards.  The colors, patterns, and text are so fun!  And I like Elle's Studio cards and find other patterned paper intended to be cut into cards that I really love.  So I started thinking - grid design layouts are some of my favorite.  They tend to come together easily for me, they provide lots of opportunities for layering and using bits and pieces and always seem to look unique.  And wouldn't project life cards make those grid layouts even faster?  They would cut out lots of cutting.

As an experiment, I picked a piece of background paper, a photo and picked a theme - the end of my son's senior year.  Then I got out my PL cards and went to work.  This grid layout came together in about an hour, is visually appealing and says exactly what I want to say.

Here are some tips that seemed to make the process work for me.

1) Pick a base sheet and a color scheme before you pull out your cards. 

2) Make sure you use 1 card that can hold journaling.  (This is a great way to push yourself to add journaling to your pages.

3)  Pull some possible embellishments and scraps for layering before you start.  Don't forget vellum - your best friend when adding layers.

4) Don't be afraid to overlap your cards, embellishments and pictures - it adds depth and lots of visual interest.

5) Plan for your title - it should be part of the grid design, not an afterthought.

So try playing with those PL cards - I'd love to see your projects where you used PL cards in unexpected ways.  Have a fantastic Friday!

Shades of Blue

I have this picture of the harbor in Ashtabula, the town where I grew up, that I seem to use in layouts over and over.  Its not that I don't have othr pictures printed.  I just am drawn to this photo.  I've used it in color and in black and white.  I think it just goes to show that the things we love are inspiring when we get ready to create.

This time I started with a black and white 4x6 print.  I knew I wanted to play with layering and use a soft color palette.  The first thing I did was choose the Amy Tangerine base paper and soften the pattern at the edges with gesso (boy, have I come a long way).  Then I hit my scrap pile for pieces of paper in blue, gray or white and played with the layers-  I added some project life cards, an SC Sundrifter journal card, some shipping tags, a small envelope and a transparency from Basic Grey.

After I attached the major pieces I added a title using naked chipboard thickers, a piece of Dear Lizzy flair, some arrows, some vellum hearts and sequins.  It still needed something at the bottom to balance the layout so I added a Cosmo Cricket fabric sticker, more vellum hearts and some sequins.

I have more projects from this weekend's festivities to share later this week.  Hope you have a great monday!

A Soccer Layout and a Song Title- With a Little Flair

I do tons of soccer layouts.  Sometimes it feels like that is all I do.  So I was especially pleased when a friend told me that they were impressed because my soccer layouts all look unique.  That might be the best scrappy compliment I've ever received.  But it made me think about how I could make my soccer layouts more unique.

So when I had a chance to play this week, I put together this layout with a photograph I had sitting on my desk.

 

Here are some things I did that made this different from other soccer layouts I've done.

• I used a bold pattern as my base.  I often start with a subtle pattern, but almost never use a bold pattern as my foundaytion.  The stripes from Fancy Pants  provided a really fun starting point.
• I limited myself to my scrap pile for the remaining sheets.  That led to an interesting mix of papers.  I even had a scrap of corrugated paper in the pile - who knew that would make a comeback?
• I played with blue and orange ink to add dimension and accent layers.
• I mixed base embellishments from my stash and used nothing that had a soccer or sports theme.  I used a vellum tape strip from Basic Grey and other embellishments from Studio Calico.
• I added a piece of flair from my stash - it added dimension and was a great accent.
• I avoided a sports themed title and used a song title instead.
• And I succumbed to my latest obsession and added sequins.  

I'd love to hear the ways you keep layouts fresh.  Thanks for checking in.  I hope you have a great weekend.

One Little Word Title Page

A few weeks back I talked about trying to do One Little Word for the first time.  I chose "focus" as my word - focus on the positive and things you can impact and let go of things you cannot change.  But ultimately the class wasn't in my budget.  As a result, I've had a hard time getting started. 

But this weekend My Scraps and More had a One Little Word crop on their forum boards (the challenges are still open this week) and it gave me a little kick in the butt.  I put together my title page for my album/journal for one of the challenges.

My album is an old 8x8 ditto album my daughter has discarded and the size presents a challenge all its own.  I've never done anything that size before.  But I have to admit, I was pleased with how this came out.  It isn't quite like anything I've done before, but it still feels true to my style.

Here's a bit about the elements of my page:

• The background is from the Bo Bunny double dot line - I love all the great colors the ledger paper comes in.  It is one of my go to products and I try to keep a range of colors in my stash at all times.
• I broke out the Mister Huey's (in silver again) to create the large "My Life" element and the spatter effect.  I also used it to color a white paper doily.
• I used a Fancy Pants stencil card with the Mr. Hueys and love the impact of those large words.  I then layered a vellum scrap over the top to soften the look.
• The sequins and vellum arrow are from Studio Calico kits and have been hanging out in my stash as things I love but wasn't sure where to use.  Their sequins are the yummiest colors!
• The small alphas and the flair are from Basic Grey.  The sparkly jewel is from a Websters Pages warehouse box.
• The polaroid frame is from KI Memories (yuoget a whole 12x12 sheet of them to break apart - all with different words and patterns.
• The last piece is a Dear Lizzy die cut.

Are you working on your OLW effort?  Any pointers/ideas to start really working on the issue would be much appreciated.  Enjoy your Monday.

Boys Sparkle Too!

I have two sons and one daughter - and none of them like sparkly, glittery things.  (I have to say it seems totally unfair that my daughter doesn't like sparkly things.)  But I get the urge to make sparkly layouts once in  while.  The American Crafts POW paper fascinates me.  It has such a great look and texture - and glitter doesn't get everywhere when you touch it.  So I decided to make a sparkly layout for my oldest son.

I used POW denim paper, a scrap of the Dear Lizzy gold dot vellum and assorted sparkly embellishments.  I added super sparkly Dear Lizzy thickers  and one of those big sequins from SC kits to finish it off.

In order to keep it "manly,"  here are some things I considered.

• Chose your colors carefully - black, blue and gold combine for a masculine feel.  Pink and lavender would have sent my son over the edge.
• Use a simple design.  A clean look is much more likely to have a masculine feel.
• Play with texture for interest.  I used this great black embossed paper from Creative Memories and used the Texture Boutique on the POW paper to add interest.  The vellum and large sequin also added textural variety.

Boys can be sparkly - they just don't want to admit it.  Try making the men in your life sparkle today.

Have a great Sunday!