Anchored

Hello and welcome back to my blog! It's the first day of the month, which is reveal day on the Stick It Down blog - you can check out the single and double page sketches and the card sketch here. This is the double page layout I have created:

And this is the April 2019 sketch I have used:

The sketch is such a fantastic one, and so inspiring - it can be interpreted so many different ways. On this layout I have alternated white card stock with strips of different patterned papers, but you could use other materials, such as fabric, lace, glitter paper, washi tape, etc. Or different mediums, such as ink, paint, stamping. You can go with a more monochrome look, like my layout, or use all different colours, for a more vibrant look. The possibilities are endless!

Saying that, I knew I would struggle with this sketch, and indeed I did! But that is a reflection on me and my abilities, and not in any way on the sketch!

The idea was to cut out the sunray shape from white card stock and place strips of pink paper in the gaps. By the time I have cut the strips of patterned papers, the white card stock shape didn't fit on top of it! My math failed me somewhere along the line! It really was a hot mess! I ended up sticking the patterned paper strips on two pieces of card stock, cutting the sunray shape out again, this time slightly wider, and adhering each piece separately between the gaps... You can see how messy the background looked before I put the photos on in my process video here.

I also did some stitching on the background, to create some cohesion, as the paper strips didn't look as if they belonged together. I used various stitches randomly, some are more messy than the others. I ended up using silver thread, because I thought it went better with the colour of my skirt on the photos, forgetting that some of the paper strips had gold foil details on! I don't normally mix gold and silver, but I ended up doing just that on this layout...

I matted the photos on a piece of patterned paper on the left, and a square doily on the right. There is a tag for hidden journaling behind one of the photos - I didn't want to spoil the background with my handwriting. I replaced some of the photos with a quote and with a larger ephemera piece.

I toyed with the idea of embellishment clusters, but I decided against it in the end - the background is quite busy, and the embellishment pieces were not really standing out. So I replaced these with clusters of sequins from Spiegelmom Crafts. I chose colours that complement the secondary colours of the layout, rather than the main ones, which did have a calming effect.

I hope you like my layout. I have to say, I ended up liking it myself, despite the rocky start. I am pleased with my colour choice - I think it worked out well. I do like a busy layout and working with patterned paper, so it was important to choose just one main colour, to avoid it becoming too overwhelming.

Don't forget to check out the Stick It Down blog for this month's sketches! The double page team's layouts will be revealed next Monday - I have a second layout with a different interpretation of the sketch for that blog post. You can find my process video for this layout here.