Rainbow Order Memory Keeping Ideas
Greetings! We are exploring rainbow order in design today. Rainbow order is a great way to use the full spectrum of color in a collection by placing colors in a logical relationship structure on your...
Mixed Media Layouts that Inspire
Hello!
Our design team has created two amazing layouts using mixed media from our Serengeti and To the Sea collections. They are sharing great tips and information that is sure to inspire you to get your craft on this weekend. Audrey is going to start us off with a 12x12 design.
"I really think the July To The Sea kit was made for me as I grew up loving the beach. I decided to celebrate that love for the beach using photos of one of my earliest beach days."
"I started this mixed media 12x12 page with a yellow watercolor circle on the bottom left around where my pictures will go and then paint splatter using the acrylic paint that came in the kit. The paint is thick and that is how I wanted it, but you can always water it down if you want a lighter feel. After, I took the Linous Spots character stamp sets and used a yellow ink to stamp around the yellow watercolor circle. I wanted it to be yellow on yellow, but chose a mustard yellow, which is a bit darker than the watercolor yellow to make the stamps stand out. I mainly stayed in the watercolor circle, but did bring the stamps out a bit."
"Next, I focused on the main feature of my layout, the photos of me when I was 2 years old. I intentionally wanted the photos to be small, so they are sized 2.5x3. Its super easy to resize old photos. I just snapped a picture of the photo and in photoshop elements resized it to the size I wanted. In this cluster with my photos, I added all my embellishments: washi tape, die cuts, cork pieces, rub ons, stickers and puffy stickers from the kits."
"Since July is my birthday month, and my astrological sign is Cancer (which is a crab) I definitely had to have that cute crab die cut feature prominently with my photo. I stapled with my tiny attacher the cork piece "remember" to add some texture and depth. Because this is a 12x12 layout and my tiny attacher doesn't reach far, I stapled it first before I glued the cluster down."
"I wanted to incorporate some "stitching" into my layout but was a wee bit too lazy to take out my sewing machine, so I took some thread and wrapped it around my fingers to form a messy circle. I then stapled it onto my layout using my tiny attacher."
"I finished the layout by ripping some of the paper away from the top and bottom to place a piece of the paper from the planner kits behind it. I used the paper with the words and lines and chose sentiments that I felt fit my layout. Around the edge, using the pen from the planner kit, I drew two messy lines to mimic the lines on the paper from the planner kit. I ended placing a few epoxy dots around the page."
"I really like how this page came together. I can't wait to see how you all use these beautiful kits. Cheers!!"
Next we have a memory planner design from Rachel. “I decided to get WAY outside my comfort zone and try my hand at mixed media in my memory planner! The inspiration for this spread was the acrylic paint from the To the Sea Memory Keeping Classified Kit. The peacock blue/green is one of my favorite colors and I was very excited to smatter it all over my pages. I also wanted to use the stencil from last month, and, of course, stamps and stickers!"
"I started with gesso on the left hand page, but realized later that it wasn’t necessary because the pages are thick enough to handle the paint. Plus, adding gesso made it a little harder to keep the stickers attached. You live and you learn! I used three techniques to add paint to the page. The first technique involved adding a squirt of paint onto clear plastic (I used the packaging that the stickers came in), spritzing the paint with some water, turning the plastic over and “smushing” the paint onto the page. You can see examples of this on the right page."
"The next technique involved scrapping paint down the page with a straight edge. For this method, you have to give up a little control as to how it will look, but isn’t that what mixed media is all about? The final technique involved stencils. On top corner of the left page, I used a sponge to dab the paint over the stencil. On the bottom of the left page, I used distress ink and a stencil from my husband’s art supplies (he’s the real artist in this family! )."
"I got a little impatient and did not let the paint totally dry, so it smeared a little. But in the end, I really liked the imperfect nature of the imprint."
"Once the paint was dry, I added stamp from the Memory Keeping Kits around the page in areas where I wanted pops of black contrast. I also included a few of the rub-on’s, stickers and a photo from my sprocket printer, and finished the spread with a little bit of journaling."
"It’s always fun ( and a little scary) to try something new, and I am so glad I did! Make sure to stop by my YouTube channel to watch me work on this spread!"
Please share your memory keeping and planner designs with us by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting in our private Cocoa Daisy Fans Facebook group.
Happy Crafting!
~Robin
"I started this mixed media 12x12 page with a yellow watercolor circle on the bottom left around where my pictures will go and then paint splatter using the acrylic paint that came in the kit. The paint is thick and that is how I wanted it, but you can always water it down if you want a lighter feel. After, I took the Linous Spots character stamp sets and used a yellow ink to stamp around the yellow watercolor circle. I wanted it to be yellow on yellow, but chose a mustard yellow, which is a bit darker than the watercolor yellow to make the stamps stand out. I mainly stayed in the watercolor circle, but did bring the stamps out a bit."
"Next, I focused on the main feature of my layout, the photos of me when I was 2 years old. I intentionally wanted the photos to be small, so they are sized 2.5x3. Its super easy to resize old photos. I just snapped a picture of the photo and in photoshop elements resized it to the size I wanted. In this cluster with my photos, I added all my embellishments: washi tape, die cuts, cork pieces, rub ons, stickers and puffy stickers from the kits."
"Since July is my birthday month, and my astrological sign is Cancer (which is a crab) I definitely had to have that cute crab die cut feature prominently with my photo. I stapled with my tiny attacher the cork piece "remember" to add some texture and depth. Because this is a 12x12 layout and my tiny attacher doesn't reach far, I stapled it first before I glued the cluster down."
"I wanted to incorporate some "stitching" into my layout but was a wee bit too lazy to take out my sewing machine, so I took some thread and wrapped it around my fingers to form a messy circle. I then stapled it onto my layout using my tiny attacher."
"I finished the layout by ripping some of the paper away from the top and bottom to place a piece of the paper from the planner kits behind it. I used the paper with the words and lines and chose sentiments that I felt fit my layout. Around the edge, using the pen from the planner kit, I drew two messy lines to mimic the lines on the paper from the planner kit. I ended placing a few epoxy dots around the page."
"I really like how this page came together. I can't wait to see how you all use these beautiful kits. Cheers!!"
Next we have a memory planner design from Rachel. “I decided to get WAY outside my comfort zone and try my hand at mixed media in my memory planner! The inspiration for this spread was the acrylic paint from the To the Sea Memory Keeping Classified Kit. The peacock blue/green is one of my favorite colors and I was very excited to smatter it all over my pages. I also wanted to use the stencil from last month, and, of course, stamps and stickers!"
"I started with gesso on the left hand page, but realized later that it wasn’t necessary because the pages are thick enough to handle the paint. Plus, adding gesso made it a little harder to keep the stickers attached. You live and you learn! I used three techniques to add paint to the page. The first technique involved adding a squirt of paint onto clear plastic (I used the packaging that the stickers came in), spritzing the paint with some water, turning the plastic over and “smushing” the paint onto the page. You can see examples of this on the right page."
"The next technique involved scrapping paint down the page with a straight edge. For this method, you have to give up a little control as to how it will look, but isn’t that what mixed media is all about? The final technique involved stencils. On top corner of the left page, I used a sponge to dab the paint over the stencil. On the bottom of the left page, I used distress ink and a stencil from my husband’s art supplies (he’s the real artist in this family! )."
"I got a little impatient and did not let the paint totally dry, so it smeared a little. But in the end, I really liked the imperfect nature of the imprint."
"Once the paint was dry, I added stamp from the Memory Keeping Kits around the page in areas where I wanted pops of black contrast. I also included a few of the rub-on’s, stickers and a photo from my sprocket printer, and finished the spread with a little bit of journaling."
"It’s always fun ( and a little scary) to try something new, and I am so glad I did! Make sure to stop by my YouTube channel to watch me work on this spread!"
Please share your memory keeping and planner designs with us by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting in our private Cocoa Daisy Fans Facebook group.
Happy Crafting!
~Robin