I have a confession to make. I have a really hard time with brightly colored cardstock. I can’t often make it work. Especially red. And I love red. But an entire sheet of red cardstock never looks right when I use it.
The September kit has some great red, and I definitely wanted to see it on my layouts. I decided to cover most of my page with paint, but to use the red for my title. Then I built my page around the title.
To use this technique for a layout, you’ll need to gather the following supplies:
colored cardstock, patterned paper, contact paper, tiny scissors for detail work, gesso or white paint, other colors of acrylic paint, an old credit card, paint brushes, adhesive, embellishments, sharpie or other writing pen
If you’ve seen my layouts, you can probably tell I like messy. So when I cut my letters from contact paper, I did it freehand. I like the way they turn out that way. However, for a neater look, you could stencil your letters backwards onto the reverse side of the contact paper before cutting them out. Once your letters are cut, place them approximately where you want them. Then remove the backing on the contact paper and stick them down. I started from the right side so they title would end where I wanted it to. I also made sure my letters overlapped a little because that’s the look I was going for.
Once my title was in place, I painted over the entire page with gesso. I made my brush strokes horizontally and vertically to give the background some texture. I also allowed a little of the color from the cardstock underneath to show through.
Then, I chose acrylic paint in two different shades of green, cut them together with an old credit card and smeared it onto the page, especially in the corners.
When the paint was dry, I carefully peeled the contact paper off to reveal the cardstock underneath. Then I outlined the entire title with a black Sharpie.
I used patterned paper from the kit to mat a couple of photos and positioned them above my title.
Then I added some details – the date, a few embellishments, and a label for some journaling.
Finally, I journaled with black Sharpie beneath my title.
Here’s the finished layout…
Hope you enjoy playing with this title technique. Don’t forget to show us what you make!
