Thursday 9 July 2009

Layout 41 - Little Shop of Sketches


I sent in my layout to Tanya Leigh at Little Shop of Sketches yesterday so here it is aswell, the "extended" version complete with tips & tricks. (ALOT today...) Here is the sketch...

Please excuse the uncentred photographs below - I am having to e mail them to my blog from My Pictures as Picasa refuses to accept any new photos after gobbling up the 400 it had in there last week, so it sits empty & insolent!

I flipped the sketch then did the mirror image of the flip - if you get my drift...I used some older Basic Grey from a paper pad I bought on sale earlier this year. The prints are very inoffensive & tasteful so pretty easy to integrate into the rest of my stash & coming in handy for the boys. The check is a local Art from the Heart paper.

I have been forced to use the most awful photo paper recently - as mine has been out of stock & the paper is the ONLY matt available for sale in KZN, as far as I know! I discovered that if you get a bit of double-sided tape stuck to it you've "had it" and have to reprint...OR, you've just come up with a fab new technique! It looks like Photoshop brushes but how you acheive this effect is by sticking cellotape randomly around the edges of the photographs then ripping it off...FUN!

Not sure if this will work on Lab printed photos as they are laser printed, not inkjet printed, but give it a try if you like the effect! I used some tiny letter stickers from my older stash, for the date, and the star is part of the letter sticker kit I used (puffy brown & really can't remember which manufacturer...anyone really wanting to know - I will dig around & find them in my stash but right now I'd rather not...)

Here is a close-up of the copper craft wire I stitched on in a doodle-effect. I've had it in one of my stash boxes for ages & quite frankly it has been irritating me, so I decided layout or bin & my environmentally-friendly conscience got the better of me... You see the white patch just below the wire-doodle? I achieved this effect by gently pulling off some tape from a few random areas around the edge - thus keeping my 12x12" sheet in tact but just removing some of the print...

Here is a collage of all the details...I used some corrugated board from some shoe packaging - just randomly tore off some of the top of it to reveal the corrugated core...tiny letter stickers are from Carolee's Creations, supplied with my Cocoa Daisy kit. The metal buttons are very old - from the jeans factory we used to own in Zimbabwe, and the metal shapes underneath are from Expensive That! I soaked them in bleach to remove their shiny silver finish - this is quite safe AS LONG AS you rinse very well afterwards. I love bleaching my metals for a rustic look. Just use gloves or implements as the bleach eats into the ends of your fingers pretty quickly LOL!

That's it from me - no extra time no more - back to the never-ending ironing pile...

10 comments:

Lynette Jacobs said...

I love how you used the corrugated paper and the copper wire...cool!

Desire Fourie said...

Lovely layout and great take on the sketch. A strong design fit for a boy. Good luck with all that ironing ... something I point blank refuse to do ... such a never ending unthankful chore. Hugs from Desire

topkatnz said...

Fab LO Helen ... the accidental taping of the edges of the photos works very well ... nice grungy look!! well done!

Shayne said...

Great LO Helen - love the grunginess of the taped frames.

well done.

Mel said...

Very creative - I like the sellotape idea. TFS

Vicki said...

I'm impressed with the grungy look to the photos too. Well done.

Ella Swan said...

Thanks girls...all your comments have inspired me to get back to my creating desk tomorrow & forget about the housework for a day! I find that the best way to learn about anything is just to keep on doing it, 'cos as you do you discover all sorts of interesting things, like the sticky tape trick! Desire you are right - ironing is a thankless task in a way, but I don't actually mind doing it, I just resent the time it takes!! In the grand scheme of things I do very little of it fortunately as it's only while my maid is on leave...

Monique Liedtke said...

Love this layout of yours, especially the stitching! It's a shame it's not there on the Little Shop blog yet....

Ella Swan said...

Yes I agree with you Monique - but what can I do...

Jacqui said...

Absolutely LOVE the new look you created with the selotape!! Simply have to try that - hope it works as well as yours did....