Monday, February 29, 2016

"Live, Love Laugh (Almost 3)" Mixed media layout 'Finnabair style'

"Live, love, laugh (Almost 3)"


Hi everyone,
I'm here to show you the first layout that is published upon the Canvas Corp Brands blog! I am so proud! 
When I made these pictures of Connor to use for his upcoming 3rd birthday invitation, I already saw a lovely layout in my mind, with emphasis on the brown and mint. 
Soooo, this "Live love laugh" paper from Canvas Corp from their Kraft series, went perfect with the merry picture! Don't worry about all the black gesso, you won't even know it's there once it's finished. I hope ;)


The embellishments were picked out to suit Connor at this age: numbers, cars, planes, trains, gears, puzzle pieces (I actually used a cheap puzzle of Connor, ssshhh, don't tell him!) and some quirky arrows, stars and feathers because what else can you use for boys that isn't girly like flowers?
Also, I drew some quirky lines with my glue gun.
You may wanna skip the next step I took though... I burnt my fingers terribly when a star covered in hot glue fell and I picked it up. I do burn myself occasionally while using the glue gun, but this time it was different! My finger felt like it was on fire and even after holding it in lukewarm running water, it kept burning. I had to delay my layout  (and almost everything else!) for hours. By then it was evening and I was too tired. The day after I approached my glue gun with new feelings...

My colleague gave me the hint to put a bowl of water near while using my glue gun. If anything happens dip your fingers straight into the bowl! 


So finally I was able to piece all my embellishments together.


Next came the time-consuming gesso'ing. Turned all of the embellishments white.


Oh dear, what's she doing now? I had a brilliant idea you probably shouldn't copy, because it didn't really work out anyway. I wanted to 'gesso' the edges black. And the edges of the embellishments too. But that didn't go smoothly, so I just dabbed some more black on the surfaces.


Then, against better knowledge, I sprayed the whole shebang with glimmermist. At first just the 'Verdigris'. VERY shimmery indeed. But it didn't cover up the fugly, harsh black spots I had made. What to do? 
Let's give the white gesso mixed with 13Arts Magic Powder (for more texture) a try, by dabbing it on with a foam brush. Like I learned from someone the other day. 
Wowzers! That worked incredibly well! 
But it became a bit too boring for my taste, so I sprayed some more glimmermist. Verdigris, Rolling Tide and even some Boardwalk to darken it up. Still not satisfied, I brushed everything with a bit of Goldenbrown Inka Gold


There. All done. Gave the (already distressed) edges a little spray too and then I wrapped some iron wire around my embellishments. To spice it up a bit.

So here you have it. Hope you like it. I for one am happy with the outcome. And believe me, I am not always.
Comments are very welcome, questions too. Hop on over to my facebookpage too, I'd like that! 
Or come and follow me on Instagram!

Happy scrapping!












6 comments:

Artforte said...

Really liked the layout and the color combination

Artforte said...

Really liked the layout and the color combination

Mandy: Less is Bore! said...

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me a note!

lilyandthelotus.blogspot.com said...

Beautiful project and what a cute little face in the middle of this awesome layout :)

Mandy: Less is Bore! said...

Thank you sweet Susan! 😙

Mandy: Less is Bore! said...

Thank you sweet Susan! 😙