April Layouts - Part One
This month's inspiration came from a number of sources:
The April subscription kit from Like For Ever,
The focus subjects on the U.K. Scrap Addicts blog, which is stitching for April and multiple photos for March,
And the challenges and sketches on the Paper Issue blog.
I have been using lots of the new goodies from the Crate Paper Chasing Dreams and the Pink Paislee Oh My Heart collections as well as Magnolia Jane from Heidi Swapp.
I'm also keeping the Little by Little and Lovely Day collections from American Crafts handy and have been printing and cutting lots of florals out from ACDigitals and the Silhouette digital store.
Awesome Everydays
This layout happened by random chance. I was never going to use this crazy colourful side of the background paper, but rather opt for the b-side, which is a gradient vivid pink... and then I came across this photo and realised that a lot of the bright colours on the picture were represented in exact shade and vibrancy on the paper. So I took a deep breath, prayed it would not end up looking a hot mess and went for it.
I didn't want to overwhelm the layout with too much embellishment as it was busy enough with all the colours. I used some print-and-cut Pink Paislee florals from the Silhouette shop, which coordinates with the Paige Evans Oh My Heart papers. I printed them quite large, so they would not get lost among the crazy circles. I matted the photo and the title on a paper that coordinates with the background, but is relatively solid in colour - it not only adds contrast, but also separates the photo from the background, so it's easy for the eye to find. The two embossed phrases are from the cut apart sheet, which I'm thoroughly in love with.
There's a hidden twist in this layout: secret journaling behind the photo - it's a massive tag, which coordinates with the background paper! Again, a printout from the Silhouette shop. I love the freedom these digital purchases provide - with the right software you have the freedom to manipulate them to suit your purposes.
At this point I was happy with the papers and the embellishments, but the layout looked quite flat. And that's when the inspiration came from the UK Scrap Addicts website, where everybody has gone stitch happy this month. So I decided to bring my good old trusty sewing machine out of storage and give messy stitching a go. I chose charcoal thread for the edges and orange for the tag - this gave texture and dimension to the layout.
I used a bright green shade of Heidi Swapp Color Shine on this layout (I think it's called Mint) - I took a bit of a chance with this one, but I'm glad I did; I think anything less bright would have been drowned out by all the other colours.
If You Think My Hands Are Full...
A super-simple layout using paper from the Maggie Holmes and Paige Evans lines, commemorating our Mother's Day celebration this year.
I used a journaling tag from an older Paige Evans collection and again, print-and-cut Silhouette florals. The little individual flowers are from AC Digitals from the Shimelle Little by Little downloads - these are my absolute faves right now, you'll probably see them scattered about on a lot of my layouts.
The sequins are from Becky Higgins - it came in the April Like For Ever kit; I am so grateful for these, as it's not something I would have bought on my own accord, but found them really pretty and already used them quite a lot.
Treasure
Now this one is a really special layout. The photo is so close to my heart, I have waited so long for the right materials to scrap it with. And then I realised that that day would never come. The photo was taken in 1981, when everybody wore brown all the time and even the photos came out with that sepia tint. Which would be great for Autumn layouts with lots of brown and beige and all the shades in between, but I wanted the layout to be light and airy and girlie.
The story is about a carnival celebration in nursery school where I was dressed as the 'Dream Fairy'. I wore a lovely light pink dress, which was made for a wedding where I was a little flower girl. It was the most beautiful dress I have ever possessed. I felt so special in my costume - to this day it was one of the best days of my life.
I used a Heidi Swapp patterned paper from the Magnolia Jane collection for the background. This is my current favourite patterned paper, and the story has to be a pretty special one to deserve to be scrapped on this. The watercolour pattern on the paper also reminded me of the shade of my dress.
The story is a long one - I printed it on vellum as I only have an A4 printer. I toyed with the idea of running it through my Minc machine, but then I thought the black ink would give the layout some gentle contrast.
I almost always journal in English - this is the language I speak in everyday life with everyone around me, so it makes sense to tell the story in the same language. This story however happened a lifetime ago, when Hungarian was not only my mother tongue, but the only language I spoke. The story only has relevance to the people who were there with me at the time, or who know me from that era, so it made sense to journal in Hungarian.
This layout is also one of the few where I use gold and silver together. This nearly never happen. I wanted to use the gold Heidi Swapp washi on this page as well as the big 'treasure' word. On the other hand, I also wanted to use some stars, but I wanted them in silver as my costume had some stars sewn on, which were cut out of kitchen foil. The two colours - icy pink and silver - were really complementing each other and suited the theme - dreams - so well. I wanted to recreate it on the layout, which meant taking the chance on combining silver and gold together.
I also scattered some florals on this page, as some of the journaling is about the costume my best friend wore, who was dressed as a flower. Her mum took apart a crocheted throw and made a dress out of it. The individual squares had a floral pattern, which made it a valid flower costume... seriously, our parents were so creative! I suppose living in a communist country in the 1980's, you had no choice but to be creative...
