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It is always so inspiring to browse the Cocoa Daisy gallery and I truly enjoyed picking some of my recent favourites for this blog post!
I immediately fell in love with this layout from Ami, using the March kit! I love the layers, the twine and the tilted paper! Check out the rest of Ami’s gallery and her blog.
I also love this layout from Sherry – such a wonderful idea to save some of the petals from the bouquet in the envelope! They look so beautiful and I think I spot some of the sequins too! Check out Sherry’s gallery and her blog.
This design by Asil is soooo wonderful! I also love the soft colours so much. Don’t miss the rest of Asil’s gallery and her blog!
The layout I chose for my lift was made by Amber, using the February kit. It’s such an explosion of colour that really inspired me! Amber’s colourful gallery is found here.
Here is what I came up with, using the April kit.
I hope you enjoyed this fabulous inspiration from the Cocoa Daisy gallery!
Welcome to a new week! Today I am sharing some step by step photos from the process of creating another layout using the February kit.
I wanted to document our new routines since Tuva started daycare recently. I had an Instagram photo that I took one evening to capture how I have been carrying her so much. Even if things are going great at daycare, she really shows that she needs to be close when we are back home again. It’s cosy, but it also does complicate things, like cooking for example.
I started out by picking the supplies that I wanted to use.
I knew that I wanted to try to create a layout with lots of white space and with most of the design elements at the top of my page. I cut some strips out of the patterned papers I had picked out.
I moved my photo around and found a placement that I liked. I also picked out one of the pockets and library cards, for my journaling, and I cut one of the cute cameras out (both the camera and the library cards are from the Starring Role add on). I hadn’t glued anything down, at this point.
Next I used the white letter stickers to write “new times, new routines” on the pocket.
I then decided to add some stamping and heat embossing, using the Zing embossing powder in Aqua.
After stamping and embossing I used some double sided tape to glue down the papers and then I added some machine stitching. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the loose threads, but eventually I decided to cut them off.
I then added the photo, using 3D foam squares, and I also glued down the library card pocket and I added the year “2013″, using the corrugated alpha.
As a final step, I cut two thin strips of patterned paper and added them to the bottom of my page.
Today I’ll share some tips on how to use those scraps for a layout. One way to bring smaller pieces of different papers together, is to add paint and colour on top of them.
I started out by picking a few scraps, and layering them below the photo I wanted to scrap.
I then removed the photo, glued the papers down using some double sided tape and added machine stitching. I then used the punchinella from the kit as a stencil, to add some gesso on top of the papers.
When the gesso was dry I got some mist out. I removed the lid and dipped a brush into the mist and painted it onto my background, and i also added splatters of mist.
I then wanted more yellow and decided to add some acrylic paint. You know there are paint dabbers available in the shop, don’t you?!
I then added the photo, some letter stickers, a small piece of tape and a couple of paper strips, to finish my layout.
I hope you’ll have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by!
Hello! I am here to share some tips on how to use one of my favourite products – gesso! I find that I’m reaching for the gesso very often and I really do use it a lot, for all kinds of projects.
Acrylic gesso is a ground that is used to prepare a surface before painting. It can protect the surface and it also gives “tooth” to the surface, improving the adhesion of the paint. BUT… gesso can be used in so many more ways than this…!
I often use gesso instead of white paint. Gesso contains less pigment than white paint and I love that I can add a thin layer of gesso, partially covering a surface but still having what’s under neath showing through.
Here are just a few examples of all the possible ways of using gesso in your projects!
Use gesso together with a stencil, to create texture. It’s not as thick as modelling paste, but it still works great with stencils.
Cover a surface with a layer of gesso and then draw or make marks in the wet gesso. The pattern becomes more visible if you paint the gesso when it’s dry. You can also rub some of the paint away, leaving more paint in the crevices, and making the pattern stand out even more.
Stamp in the wet gesso. Just make sure that you clean your stamp right away!
Use the gesso to tone down a pattern, for example the writing on a page from a book. The amount of gesso you add will decide how much of the text is visible.
Here is another example where I used gesso to tone down a patterned paper. I painted the entire patterned paper with gesso and then added mist on top. When it was dry, I cut a part of the paper out and used on a layout. The original pattern is still visible, but the paper has a whole new look.
I love the look of misting on top of a surface covered with gesso and I love adding several layers of gesso and mist, on top of each other – for example starting out with a surface that is completely covered with gesso, adding mist and then adding gesso using a stencil on top of the misted surface and then adding even more mist on top of the dry gesso.
I recently created a layout for this blog, where I wrote in the wet gesso, before adding mist.
On this layout, using the October kit, I used gesso, stencils, acrylic paint and Glimmer Glam to create a fun background.
This layout using the September kit, is another example of where I used gesso to tone down the patterned papers.
Other ideas are to use gesso on a patterned paper to create a journaling spot for your writing, or you can use some gesso around the photo, to make the photo stand out. You can also mix gesso with paint or mist, if you want it coloured instead of white.
I hope you are inspired to try some gesso out!
I also want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas!
