Friday 20 November 2015

Be Brave Layout - 7 Dots Studio Vintage Challenge
November/December 2015






Hi everyone!  Today a new challenge has gone up at 7 Dots Studio HERE.
The theme for the next month - November/December - is VINTAGE!
That's a fun one isn't it?!  I always love going a bit shabby every
now & then - I do hope you will play along with us!!


I used the 7 Dots Studio Lost & Found Collection HERE plus loads
& loads of layers!  I really had FUN with this one!!  Due to a
serious shortage of scrappy time in the last few months
Saturday nights have turned into my creating/treat time!


This page would be DIFFICULT to teach because it came together very organically.
I just kept adding bits here & there & tucking in more & more layers.  I added
 various metals because they always seem vintagey to me, as well as flowers 
(because vintage always goes with shabby in my book!) & some buttons
 because they really are kind of old fashioned now...


As well as using Lost & Found Collection papers I also used die-cuts from the
 same collection.  These pieces come on a 6 x 12 inch sheet & can be pushed
 out & glued on.  I sanded mine a bit & inked heavily with some dark brown
 ink to give everything some vintage grunge.


I also added some sentiment stickers including the ones you see above.  
These tied in so well with my story of this page.  This was the last photo
taken of our children EVER before we left Zimbabwe, the place of my
birth & theirs.  I told them to look sad but, being little kids, they
continued to smile cheekily except my eldest daughter, then 12!


I love how tanned they were back in those days of a big garden & lots of outdoor play!
I went through some of my old boxes of flowers & ephemera to add some
 genuinely old bits & pieces, tucking everything in & clustering it down the side.


My background work is done with Prima colour bloom sprays in 3 colours - 
Gold Foil, Vintage Gold, Lime Wedge & Vintage Coal plus my homemade 
white mist made from white acrylic paint & water & stored in a screwtop jar.  


Once I had used a lot of the die-cut pieces I also used the negative area of the 6 x 12
sheet they came on (what was remaining after I had popped them out).  I REALLY
enjoy doing this & think it adds a very cool & unusual look to a background.


Of course I also included some paper doily offcuts between my layers for an
 extra shot of vintage!  My photo was an original, taken on FILM! & not in the 
best shape, so I sanded it around the edges to make it look more
 ''obviously distressed''!


And that's it!  I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at my new vintage layout!
I loved seeing my kiddies looking so young!  My daughter is now a 22
 year old beauty whose lost all that puppy fat & that little boy on the left
 there is my youngest son, who now towers over me!  

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8 comments:

Sanderijn de Bruin said...

Awesome layout Helen, I love the colors! Fabulous!

Margaret Mifsud said...

This one is fabulous!! So much going on and yet it's not overdone!! Love it!! Lovely to see your kids when they were younger .. so cute!! Great background, fantastic layers and I love all the metal bibs and bobs around the page!! Pure magic!! hugs xx

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Look how little they all are!!! I loveeeeeeeeee this! LOVING those flowers and all that gorgeous texture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ava Gavloski said...

love this photo of the kids, priceless

Kathy Bradley said...

Beautiful vintage page, Helen, and a very adorable photo of your kids! I love all the textures and layers - wonderful!

Kasia Udalska said...

I love, how you used the pieces of stickers! :) Wow! This page is beautiful :*

Mitralee said...

MOST beautiful! and wow a real film photo, lol! You really want vintage! They are adorable in their young state! So sweet! Things change in a heart beat don't they! Love all the bits you tucked there and there...and those sprays really make the page...love the white spray the best, makes me happy! Hugs my friend for making the journey with those beauties and getting them set up all nicely in a new nest! ;-)

Sandi Clarkson said...

So many delicious layers! And super cute photos!