Stuck?! Sketches Reveal

Goodness gracious can you believe it is time for another sketch reveal? I know I sound like a broken record, but Laura designs some great sketches that I find so easy and inspiring to use. I had my Valentine's Day supplies still out from my February 1st layout, so I decided to use them to document this fun picture of me and my daughter in matching shoes :)

I am still crushing on white texture paste on white cardstock. When I find a technique that works and I love, then I will do it again! Most everything that I used on this page is from Crate's Kiss Kiss collection with the exception of the wood enamel shapes (Recollections), the printed tag (American Crafts) and the gold cursive alpha (Heidi Swapp).

The best part of the layout for me, is using holiday themed product on a non-holiday layout and I find that Valentine's day products are super easy to use. The "Seriously Cute" sticker and the "So Fun" chipboard heart were the perfect embellishments for this page. They complemented the journaling and I love it when my embellishments add to the story that I am telling.

For added whimsy I outlined a few of the paper layers and added polka dot tissue paper under the photo. Some pops of gold and black helped to make the page stand out, and worked beautifully with the colors in the photo.

 We would love for you to play along with us at Stuck?! Sketches. If you do so, don't forget to upload your layout to the blog so that you have a chance to win a prize from one of these two sponsors. 

I have a process video if you would like to take a peek at my process. I was having trouble uploading it and will update this link when I have it ready to view. I hope you have a great day :)

Stuck?! Sketch Reveal Day

I cannot believe that it is February already! Time just will not slow down, and I am trying my best to stay caught up :) It is time for the first sketch of the month to be revealed. This is such a versatile sketch and I'm sure that I'll be referring to it at a later time. 

Before I chose my photos, I had already decided that I wanted to do a Valentine's Day inspired layout and use Crate's Kiss Kiss collection from last year. I held off on buying the collection this year since I had barely touched what I bought last year. It was hard to resist the cute things but I prevailed!! I printed my photos 3x3 to allow me some room to layer some patterned paper under the photos. 

The edges of the heart were getting a bit lost on the page so I stitched around it several times with black thread to give the heart a whimsical look. 

 The background was a bit boring so I switched the cardstock to this dotted swiss by Bazzill and then used some Heavy Body Acrylic paint to jazz up the background. Any type of acrylic paint will work, I tend to prefer the heavy body because it is a bit thicker and easier to control. I used a dry brush to paint broad strokes behind the heart and the photos. This was a great way to add some visual interest and mixed media without it getting too messy. If you're scared of the mess, try this technique. It's minimally messy and I think that it has a pretty big impact for the little bit of time that it takes. 

The layout did not originally have a title, but I felt like it needed one. These Thickers are from the Kiss Kiss collection and I love the font. Titles are not my strong point, and I didn't want a generic title, so when I came up with the title "Mine" I was very happy. It is Valentine themed, perfect for the page, and not my usual title of "Love". Definitely a win!

 Be sure and stop by the Stuck?! Sketches blog post and see what the rest of the design team has made with this sketch. We'd love for you to play along with us!! If you upload your layout link to the blog you are entered into a raffle to win a prize from one of our sponsors.

I have a process video if you'd like to take a peek. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!