2 | Vicki Boutin

Hello everyone!

Today I’m sharing a layout for the Vicki Boutin Design Team, featuring the beautiful iridescent glaze, the cool pack of art crayons, and one of the new Vicki Boutin stencils. I wanted to create a boy themed page this time, so I decided to pull out all of the blue and green patterned papers and embellishments from the ‘All the Good Things’ collection, and I absolutely love this colour palette! Here’s the layout that I created… 

To create my background, I started by applying the iridescent glaze through the circle stencil using a palette knife. 

I added it to three sections on my background. I knew that I wanted to position my photo on the right hand side of the page, roughly half way down the page, and I wanted the mixed media to create like a sideways ‘T’ shape. 

Now take a look at the magic that happened when I applied the green and blue art crayons over the top of the stencilled background! I love how this turned out! To do this, I simply scribbled the art crayons onto some plastic packaging, added a little water using my waterbrush, and then ‘smooshed’ it onto the background. 

Once my background was completed, I got to work adding lots of layers of patterned paper behind my photo. I distressed the edges of the patterned papers to give them some extra texture, and I also used craft foam between the layers to create lots of dimension! 

I created a cluster of embellishments to the right of the photo by layering together some of the die-cut ephemera pieces from the collection. I decided on using that number ‘2’ as the title for my layout, as the photo was taken at my son’s 2nd birthday party. I also used one of the paperclips that has a cute bird on it, but I cut the paperclip off it and just used it as a die cut. On the top right hand corner of the photo I adhered a little chipboard banner. 

On the left hand side of the photo I added the die cut piece that says ‘Life is Good’. I like how the black embellishments add some nice contrast to the page. Under this, I added one of the cardstock stickers from the collection, and I love how the colours on this sticker coordinate perfectly with the blues and greens that I used on my background. 

To finish the layout off, I added some handwritten journaling, as well as a few of the patterned enamel circles from the Finishing Embellishments pack. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed taking a look at my layout. If you’d like to watch how this layout came together, you can watch my process video over on my YouTube channel… 

Here’s a list of all of the Vicki Boutin products that I used to create this layout… 

Foundations Paper 

Creative FX Glaze - Iridescent 

Art Crayons #2 – Cool 

Stencils 

Watercolor Brushes 

Cardstock Stickers 

Cardstock Die-Cuts – Icons 

Cardstock Die-Cuts – Frames 

Self-Adhesive Finishing Embellishments 

On the Edge Paper Embellishments 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Blossom to Awesome 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Pretty Words 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Birds of a Feather 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Soul Food 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Good Vibes 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Positive Note 

Beach Day | Vicki Boutin

Hey friends! 

Today I'm sharing a layout that I created for the Vicki Boutin design team, and this time it's a double page spread! It’s been a long time since I’ve created one, and although it was a bit of a challenge, I had a lot of fun creating it, and I’m happy with how it turned out! Here’s the completed layout… 

I had a play with the brand new Vicki Boutin watercolors on this layout! The colours are gorgeous… So bright and vibrant! I used a brayer to apply the paint to the background, starting off with yellow. 

Once the yellow was dry, I applied the teal over the top, using the same technique with the brayer. I mixed together a blue and a green to make the teal colour. 

After I had applied this, I felt like it was a little too dark, so I decided to apply a coat of gesso over the top to tone it down a little. I still wanted to be able to see the teal, but just didn’t want it to be quite so dark. I applied the gesso using both a brayer and a palette knife, and I like that this also adds some more interest to the background. 

Once the background was dry, I added some strips of patterned paper down both sides of the layout. I distressed the edges of the patterned papers to give them some texture and interest. Then I was ready to bring in my photos and start embellishing the layout. 

I included five photos that were taken on my birthday last year when we spent the day at the beach. I love that by creating a double page spread, I was able to include all of these photos on the one layout! I added some craft foam underneath a couple of the photos to raise them up and give them some extra dimension. 

I embellished the layout with some beautiful brightly coloured butterflies from the ‘All the Good Things’ collection. A couple were from the die cut ephemera pack, and the others were fussy cut out of the Social Butterfly patterned paper. I added some craft foam underneath the wings of a couple of the butterflies to make them look like they were floating off the page. I love the dimension that this adds to the page. 

I added my title to the page using the chipboard Thickers from the ‘All the Good Things’ collection. I LOVE these alphabet stickers – they’re so versatile! Underneath my title I added my journaling, which I hand-wrote onto one of die cut journaling spots. 

I finished the layout off with a few word stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet, and some enamel dots. 

Thanks so much for joining me today! Maybe you’ve been inspired to try out a double page layout as well! 

I have a process video for this layout if you’d like to watch how it came together… 

Here’s a list of all of the Vicki Boutin products that I used to create this layout… 

Watercolors 

Gesso 

Roller Phrase Stamp 

Mister Bottles 

Cardstock Stickers 

Thickers – Alpha/B&W Chipboard 

Cardstock Die-Cuts – Icons 

Cardstock Die- Cuts – Frames 

Self-Adhesive Finishing Embellishments 

Double-Sided Patterned Paper – Blossom to Awesome 

Double-Sided Patterned Paper – Social Butterfly 

Double-Sided Patterned Papers – Good Vibes 

Shine | Vicki Boutin

Hi everyone! 

Today I'm sharing a new layout for the Vicki Boutin Design Team, featuring some of the beautiful new products that Vicki released at Creativation in January. I had a play with the gorgeous new rose gold glaze, and the fun circle stamp/die set. Using these, as well as a few other Vicki Boutin goodies, I created some lovely circles to feature on my layout! 

Here’s how I created my mixed media circles (there will be a link to my process video at the end of the post, so that you can also watch my process)… 

1) Apply a layer of rose gold glaze to a sheet of the Vicki Boutin foundations paper using a palette knife 

2) Stamp some circles in different sizes on top of the glaze, using black archival ink 

3) Mix some gold glitter with the matte acrylic gel and then apply it randomly to the background using a palette knife 

4) Apply the pink art crayon over the top (I applied it both dry with a stencil brush, as well as wet, using plastic packaging) 

5) Using the circle dies and a manual die cutting machine, cut various sized circles out of the background that you created 

I also cut some circles out of patterned papers from the ‘All the Good Things’ collection to add some more interest. 

Next I decided to add some subtle mixed media to my background, behind where I wanted to position the circles and the photo. So once again I used my art crayons, both wet and dry, to add a little bit of colour to the background. I used the light peach coloured one, as well as the pink, and I love the subtle colour that it adds. Some splatters of black art crayon finished the background off nicely! 

As you can see, I used my sewing machine to add some stitching through some of the circles, and others I adhered using foam tape to give them some added dimension. I really love how these circles turned out! 

I matted my photo with the Pretty Words patterned paper and adhered a cute little chipboard banner to the top right hand corner. I added my title underneath the photo using one of the beautiful gold glitter words from the foam Thickers pack. This worked perfectly with the gold glitter on the cirlces! 

You can see here that I also added a few of the glittery gold hearts on top of some of the circles. I LOVE the beautiful rub-ons in this collection! I used three of the butterflies from the rub-ons pack, as well as some tiny gold stars, and I think they add such a lovely detail to the page. 

I also embellished the page with a couple of the word stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet. Lastly I added a little bit of stamping to the background using the ‘All the Good Things’ roller stamp. 

Thanks so much for joining me today! Here’s a link to my process video if you’d like to check it out… 

Here’s a list of the Vicki Boutin products that I used… 

Foundations Paper 

Gesso 

Acrylic Gel Matte 

Rose Gold Glaze 

Art Crayons #1 – Warm 

Mixology Accents - Gold 

Watercolor Brushes 

Stencil Brush Set 

Stamps & Dies – Set 3 

Roller Phrase Stamp 

Cardstock Stickers 

Thickers – Phrase/Glitter Foam 

Self-Adhesive Finishing Embellishments 

Rub-ons 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Pretty Words 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Soul Food 

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Positive Note 

You Have my Heart | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hi friends!

Today I'm sharing my layout that I created for our 'Scraplift' theme over on the Cocoa Vanilla blog this week. I used the gorgeous 'Bohemian Dream' collection to document a photo of my Mum with my youngest daughter Eleanor, taken on Christmas Day last year. The beautiful shades of pink, purple and blue in this collection were perfect for this photo!

I scraplifted a gorgeous layout created by our former design team member, Missy Whidden. I always love the beautiful colours that Missy uses on her layouts, as well as her use of mixed media and cut files. Here's the layout that I lifted...

It's fabulous isn't it?! You can find Missy's original blog post here. As you can see, I stuck fairly close to the design of Missy's page, and I also used the same collection and the same cut file that she used.

I started my page off by applying some oil pastel art crayons to my background using a stencil brush. I used a pink, a purple and a blue to match the colours in the collection, and I applied it in three areas so that it would peek out from behind the cut file.

Next I backed the cut file with patterned papers from the 6x6 paper pad as well as the Beautiful Mess patterned paper, and I adhered it to the page using craft foam to give it some extra dimension.

I added some layers behind my photo using the Dreamer patterned paper (reverse side), as well as one of the 6x6 papers, and a doily from my stash. I also created a little embellishment cluster on the right hand side of the photo that includes a couple of die cuts and a flair button.

I decided to use the die cut tag that says 'You have my heart' as the title for my page. It was the perfect sentiment for this photo! I also adhered a die cut flower next to the tag using foam tape, and I tucked another flair button under the edge of the cut file to the right of the tag. How cute is that little bird?!

A couple more die cut flowers tucked around the out side edge of the cut file added some more detail to the page.

I finished the layout off by adding a few chipboard hearts to the centre of some of the flowers.

Thanks so much for joining me here on my blog today. I hope you've been inspired! Maybe you could try scraplifting Missy's beautiful layout as well!

Mandy x

'Create' Junque Journal Spread | Vicki Boutin

Hi there!

Today I'm sharing a couple of pages that I created in my Vicki Boutin Junque Journal! I wanted to show you an easy technique for adding some mixed media onto a busy or darker patterned paper. Here are the supplies that I used…

   

I love that Soul Food patterned paper from the ‘All the Good Thing’ collection, and I thought that it would be perfect for documenting some photos of my girls doing some painting! Because it’s quite colourful and already has a mixed media look to it, I didn’t want to add too much else to it. But I did want to add a little bit of texture, and some white to lift those beautiful colours. So I decided to add some gesso through a stencil to a few places on the background. It was super easy and I love how it looks! I also added a few splatters of watered down gesso to the background. Here are the completed pages that I created…

As I said, I wanted to scrapbook a photo of each of my daughters enjoying some painty fun! It’s something that they love to do when we are home and the weather isn’t great outside. And of course I love to encourage their arty side, even if it does get pretty messy!

On the left hand page I added a photo of my eldest daughter when she was painting some pretty leaves. Behind the photo, I layered some bits and pieces from the die-cut frames pack, including a frame, a journaling spot, and a tag. Next I added the die cut piece that says ‘Create’ on the bottom right hand corner of the photo. It made the perfect title for these pages, and I adhered it using some foam tape, to give it some extra dimension.

 I added the photo of my youngest daughter on the right hand page. Once again, I layered some items from the die-cut frames pack behind the photo. I decided to also add some craft foam underneath this photo, and I love the dimension that that adds. On the bottom right hand corner of the photo I adhered a sticker from the cardstock sticker sheet.

I created a third point of interest by adding a journaling spot at the top of the right hand page. This completes the visual triangle and helps to draw your eye around the pages. Here you can also see some of the nice dimension that was created by applying the gesso through the stencil.

I didn’t want to add anything else to the pages, because I didn’t want to cover up too much of that beautiful background, and I didn’t want to make it too busy. Here’s a look at my completed pages inside my Junque Journal…

Thanks so much for joining me! I hope that you enjoyed this easy technique for adding mixed media to your patterned paper backgrounds! I have a process video for this over on my YouTube channel if you’d like to check it out…

Here’s a list of all of the Vicki Boutin products that I used to create these pages…

Junque Journal

Stencils – All the Good Things

Gesso

Cardstock Stickers

Cardstock Die-Cuts – Icons

Cardstock Die-Cuts – Frames

Double-sided Patterned Paper – Soul Food

Best Buddies | Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Hey creative friends!

Today I'm sharing a new layout for Cocoa Vanilla Studio, featuring the lovely Bohemian Dream collection! I'm still swooning over the gorgeous colours in this collection, and it was perfect to document this sweet photo of my youngest two kids...

These two are such great friends... they call each other their 'buddy'! I love how this photo really captures their affection for one another!

I started my layout off by cutting a large title on on my Silhouette Cameo. While my cardstock was still on the cutting mat, I added some mixed media to the background using the packaging technique with some oil pastel art crayons. Once the mixed media was dry, I peeled the cardstock off the mat, and then backed the title with the following patterned papers - Galactic (YOU Rock collection), Abundant (reverse side), and Abstract (reverse side). I also outlined the cut file with a black pen to give it some more definition.

I added some craft foam underneath the photo to raise it up and give it some extra dimension, and then adhered it beneath the title. Under the left hand side of the photo I tucked a floral die cut and some beautiful vellum leaves.

I created another little cluster on the bottom right hand corner of the photo that includes another floral die cut, a flair button, and a vellum butterfly. I also tucked a die cut tab under the right hand side of the photo.

I created one final cluster at the top of the page using a couple more die cuts and vellum leaves from the collection, as well as a sticker from the accessory sticker sheet. Once again, I used foam tape in this cluster to add more dimension to the page.

I finished the layout off with some handwritten journaling, a few enamel hearts, and a couple more vellum butterflies.

Thanks so much for joining me here on the blog today! I'll be back later in the month with another project to share with you!

Mandy x