Paper Recollections

Today's layout is based on a sketch from Christy's Beautiful Life 30 Days of Sketches Day 10 Round 7.   I love the triangular design of this layout and couldn't wait to pair it with patterned papers from the Me and My Big Ideas MAMBI Sheets Life is Rosy Paper Pad. I used a pink polka dot patterned paper as the background.  For the two triangular pieces, I cut a floral patterned piece of paper and a silver rose foiled piece of paper.  I backed these in black cardstock.  I placed these on the background page pointing towards the top.   I created a banner strip from black and white diagonal striped patterned paper and backed this in black cardstock.  I placed this banner piece across the middle of the layout.  I backed the photo in black cardstock and added a layer of red striped paper and a layer of pink polka dot paper.  I added another layer of black cardstock and adhered the photo on top of the triangular layers and banner piece.  I used a die from the Tim Holtz Thinlits M

Do you have lots of alcohol markers that you rarely use?  I have spent a lot of money on alcohol markers only to find that I really don't enjoy coloring stamped images.  Today's beautiful cards were created while experimenting with alternate ways I can use my alcohol markers. To create the alcohol inked background shapes, I took a piece of Yupo white translucent paper that I purchased at Hobby Lobby and scribbled various shades of pink alcohol markers across the Yupo Paper.  Then, I dropped alcohol ink blending solution in various places on the paper.  I tipped the paper back and forth to allow the pink shades to mix and fill up most of the white space of the paper.  I repeated this process on another piece of Yupo paper using shades of blue alcohol markers. I allowed the paper to dry until parts of the paper felt a little tacky.  Then, I took some of my foil scraps (left over from when I use my Spellbinders Glimmer machine), and placed the scraps on top of the inked surfaces. 

Today's layout features my son's crazy antics and several Vicki Boutin products. To prepare the white cardstock, I covered it with a layer of clear gesso.  Once it was dry, I used a red Vicki Boutin Art Crayon mixed with a little bit of water and applied it through a Vicki Boutin circular stencil using a stencil brush.  I applied this to most of the cardstock and then repeated the process using an orange art crayon.  I used a pallet knife to apply Finnabair Golden Nugget Effect Paste through another Vicki Boutin circular stencil diagonally across the page.  To finish off the background, I mixed black acrylic paint with water and splattered it on the page.  I matte the smaller photo with an orange piece of patterned paper from the Vicki Boutin's 6x8 Color Study paper pad and matte the larger photo with the "Say Cheese" 12x12 piece of paper from the Kaleidescope collection.  I also placed a piece of this paper behind the smaller photo. I used a 2" circle punch

Today's layout uses the Bokeh technique from Vicki Boutin's Friday Night Live YouTube tutorial. This technique is truly magical, and I knew it would pair well with the stage lighting on my daughter's dance photos.   I started by prepping a piece of 12x12 cardstock with clear gesso.  While the cardstock was drying, I cut a piece of acetate with 3 different sized circle dies, leaving a lot of space in between the circle cutouts.  I scribbled a purple Vicki Boutin art crayon on my nonstick mat and sprayed it with a little bit of water.  I used a stencil brush to pick up the pigment and applied it in a circular motion to the left side of the cardstock.  I repeated this until the whole left side was covered in purple pigment.  Then, I repeated the process using a pink art crayon.  I placed the acetate stencil with the circle cutouts on top of the pigment.  Using a slightly damp baby wipe, I placed it on one of the circle cutouts and rubbed away the pigment in a circular motion. 

Today's layout celebrates my daughter's spring orchestra concert and combines several of my favorite things - die cutting and stenciling.   To prepare the background page for the watercolor, I covered a piece of 12x12 white cardstock in clear gesso.  Next, I smooshed Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide Ink onto a piece of plastic packaging and used my Distress Sprayer to add water to the ink.  Using the "kissing technique", I "kissed" the packaging to the white background starting from the top left moving down to the bottom right of the background page.  I dried the background using a heat gun and repeated the process a few more times to darken the color.  I repeated this same process with Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide Ink. After the ink dried, I placed the Vicki Boutin heart stencil diagonally across the top right of the page.  I used blending brushes to diagonally stencil hearts using Abandoned Coral, Antique Linen, and Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide Inks.  I