My happy place...: Serenity

Hey friends!

Today I have a new layout to share featuring some Vicki Boutin mixed media products and the ‘All the Good Things’ collection! I had a play with the Color Pop paints on this page, and I also did some stamping and stencilling. The photo that I documented was one that I took when we were on a family holiday recently. We found this lovely creek, and it was such a peaceful and serene spot. It was the perfect day! Here’s the layout that I created…

To start my layout off, I applied some white gesso through the script stencil in three different places on the background. I wanted to add some texture to the background before I added the paint.

Next I mixed the Saltwater Taffy paint with a little bit of the Plum Pudding to get a colour that matched the blue sky in my photo. Then I added some water to it to make it more fluid, and I painted it over the top of the stencilling. My idea was to add some colour behind the photo, and also to create a smaller cluster in the top left hand corner of the page. (I end up changing my mind though and the mixed media in that top corner gets covered up with patterned paper.)

Once that was dry, I decided to add some stamping over the top of the paint, to give it some more depth and interest. I used the new circle stamps, along with the color wheel inks, to add a few stamped circles.

I also stamped some smaller circles using black archival ink.

To finish off the mixed media, I added a little bit of the Daiquiri Ice paint to the background. I watered it down the same way that I did with the blue, and applied it using a paint brush. The reason I decided to add this colour was because the other colours on the page were very bright and bold, and I wanted to soften the colour palette a little.

Once my background was done, I was ready to start embellishing! I added a few of the die cuts from the ‘All the Good Things’ collection around the right hand side of the photo. I tucked some under the photo, and then I layered one over the edge of the photo. I also used foam tape underneath some of the die cuts to give them extra dimension.

I painted a few of the butterflies from the watercolor sticker pack, once again using the color pop paints. I love that by doing this, I was able to customise them to my page, and they matched perfectly to the other elements on the layout! I adhered the larger butterfly using foam tape, to make it look like it was floating off the page.

As I mentioned before, I decided to add some patterned paper down the left hand side of the page. This helped to bring in more of the yellow and aqua. I added some machine stitching down the edge of the yellow patterned paper, and I also distressed the edge of it a little which gave the page some nice texture. I added my title vertically along the edge of the patterned paper using the chipboard Thickers from the collection.

To finish the page off, I added a couple of enamel dots.

Thanks so much for joining me today! If you’d like to see how this layout came together, you can check out my process video over on my YouTube channel…