Well friends, we're moving forward with our next page. It's all about crystal clear acrylic today - do you remember the stuff? Are you still using it on your projects? To this day, I remain a huge fan of transparency. It's a quick, simple way to bring more texture to one's project. It's glossy surface pairs well with matte pattern papers and other items without the lack luster sheen commonly affiliated with transparency. It has a magnification quality I really enjoy also. When applied on top of other elements, it tends to bring them forward (just slightly), which is sort of interesting to me. I find myself intrigued by the contents that lay beneath a transparency because it often highlights their best features; color, pattern & shape. So, I thought why not use a transparency frame for this next page? I located one in my transparency drawer from Fancy Pants (this frame is retired folks! If you don't have one, make one - 2.75" x 2.75" with an opening of 2" x 2"). I backed it with an assortment of items, including pattern paper, a vintage flashcard and a dotted pink journaling tag (Elle's Studio). Feel like revisiting your transparency stash? If so, follow along below! We have much to do...
Let's quickly set-up the overall page before discussing the frame and it's contents. Prep your photo (may have to downsize it some to fit as shown) and Fuschia cardstock (skip the dots - you won't really see them anyway) as shown and adhere them to the backside of Monday's chipboard page.
How do you like the torn frame? Yes, it's not perfect, but you know what?! It does the job fabulously, so it turned out to not be that big of a problem (I was afraid it would be). Plus, it was the only one I had, so a girl can't be too picky, can she?
We're going to back the frame with a few items from Elle's Studio (Love Elle! Her pink tissue packaging automatically deserves a reorder and the candy is another huge plus!). The journaling tag is here and the vintage flashcard card, here. Hold on to these items though - don't adhere anything together yet! We have polka-dots just over the horizon!
Trim this *uber* cute polka-dot strip from Bella Boulevard's Sunny Happy Skies "Border N' Blocks" pattern paper. Trim a section of the dotted paper to fit inside the top portion of the pink journaling tag and adhere it as shown.
The dark brown background of the polka-dotted pattern paper is key here as it contrasts well with the pink journaling tag. If you're without the paper, find another dark color polka-dotted pattern paper you think might be a good replacement.
Pre-measure and trim a section from the flash card to fit the bottom portion of the journaling tag. Of course, select a word that best describes your subject matter. Adhere the trimmed flash card to the tag as shown.
This is where I'm going to provide you an option as I think it will make you're life easier and help you to avoid a major letdown. If you take a peek at the photo below, you'll notice an attractive pink lil' bird (American Crafts :: Botanique collection - Aster Phrases). Well, he's a rub-on and unfortunately, I didn't add the lil' guy until after I stapled the frame to my decorated tag. The staples became a barrier to my applying the bird in a sensible fashion. If seeking to be smarter than myself, rub the lil' bird on now and then add the frame as I did above using a couple of staples (I have Tim Holtz's mini stapler..it's not required to complete this step - a regular ol' stapler will work!)
Oh, don't forget the branch as well! Laugh. Without a bird and branch rub-on? I bet you own a small chipboard/die-cut bird and a branch of some sort (stamp? rub-on? etc.) - heck, birds have been around forever and we still collect them like candy..well, at least I do anyway. Laugh. They're a neutral enough embellishment that they work great on any project!
Notice the abuse my rub-on endured as a result of my "not thinking ahead"? Luckily, the rub-on held it together long enough to avoid my ruining the page...it was seriously a close call folks!
Now that we've substantiated what sits beneath the frame, how about embellishing it from the top? Pre-measure and trim a small strip of Green crosshatched pattern paper (Bella Boulevard :: Sunny Happy Skies - Magic in the Sky). Layer the bottom edge of the strip with white scallop border (Doodlebug :: Lily White Paper Frills). Adhere the strip to the your page as shown using large foam core pop dots.
Trim another strip from Brown cardstock to fit the very bottom of the page - it should sit slightly beneath the scallop border. You'll want to tuck it beneath the scallops!
This is one of those optional steps you can skip if you're without the punch I'm about to mention. It's from EK Success and is titled "Photo Labels". Focusing mostly on the small, long label at the very top of the punch, punch a label from Gray cardstock. Layer the label with a tiny Blue label sticker from October Afternoon (Ducks in a Row collection). Adhere the label combination to your page as shown using good ol' wet adhesive.
This is probably where you'll have to do some substituting as I organized a couple of misc. items for this next step (and the following). Find either a chipboard or die-cut piece that looks similar to the Vanilla chipboard piece in the image above. It should kinda look like an old fashion label.
Embellish the label shaped piece with an epoxy sticker (KI Memories) that's been layered with Fuschia cardstock. Select an epoxy sticker that best matches the page's color palette.
Adhere the label shape piece to your page as shown using wet adhesive. Further accent it with Light Turquoise Rhinestones (My Mind's Eye :: Lush Collection - Blue). Vary the size of the rhinestones for added interest.
I almost stopped creating the page at this point, but for reasons I can't explain, I felt the urge to add a bright yellow sun to the very top corner of my page. The bird was calling for a nature friendly backdrop (besides all the crazy cute dots!) and a sun seemed fitting. You might have to muster up an unusual combination to create a sun similar to mine. I layered a KI Memories epoxy sticker with a a small floral sticker from Echo Park's "Sweet Summertime" collection. Adhere your one-of-a-kind sun concoction to the page using a foam core pop dot.
We're three pages into the album and we have another three or four to go...like I already mentioned yesterday, I want desperately to have this album finished for you by Sunday. We'll find out sooner rather than later if I'm able to reach this goal...lets keep our fingers crossed, shall we?!
Thanks for the kind mentions about my hair..yes, it shall eventually find it's way to my shoulders, but not for the next couple of years my friends! Laugh. It is seriously beyond short, but I'm love 'en it and so is my pomade collection. We're surviving my new short & choppy, messy hair together. I think in another week or two, I'll like it even more..it's already growing like a weed! Thanks again for the rave reviews you guys! You're all so sweet!
Before we call it a night, there's one lil' surprise I failed to share with you yesterday - The Creative Connection event is less than a month away!! I received an invite recently to contribute to one of their latest ongoing blogs titled, "In Your Own Words". If you'd like to check it out, visit the blog here..if you'd like to learn more about the event, visit here. It's pretty darn amazing...still working my way into the event. I'll keep you posted!
