Inspiration from Wilna's Art Class

I started taking an Art class at Two Peas In a bucket. It sounded like a lot of fun and let me tell you it is... I just did the first chapter and I love Wilna's explanation of the thought process behind the creation of her layouts. The first chapter was an introduction to stencils and different ways to use them. One was cutting out the title with silhouette and back the negative with colorful paper, the second was to use gesso with the stencils and the third concept was to use a doily as a stencil and mist it to create this beautiful romantic background. None of these concepts are that novel but just the explanation and the thought process is so good that you want to create a layout of your own as soon as you see the video.
Here is my layout using gesso:

 

 

Here is a close up of the gesso work. This is actually my first layout ever with gesso. It is a fun and forgiving medium to work with. You need to remember to give it time to dry though. I put my fingers in it a bunch of times before even it dried. It took some time to dry in spite of using the heat tool to dry it. I then misted over it with Mister Huey's - Bonny blue mist and few touches of Mister Huey's dewey mist.  I used bits and pieces from the Planetarium Scrapbook kit from Studio calico. I cut out the strips of text from the Lucky Charm Falling star paper from this kit. I love both sides of this paper ... it is beautiful. I used some labels from this kit to use as the base for my embellishments at the top and bottom. I used the star stickers from the Spencer's scrapbook kit. I also used tags from May and June kit and also tags from the Cameron collection from Elle's studio. I love how the Elle's studio products are perfect for layering.

 I made this layout with Surya's photo taken at a recent camping trip to Cachuma lake. We stayed in a Yurt for a night. It was good exposure to camping without going hardcore for Surya and his grandparents. This is Surya's first camping experience. He was a handful to control as he likes to run around without any restraints. But he got into the whole thing the next day morning and it was time to leave. We need to plan better next time and go for a couple of days as all that packing for a single day is a bit of an overkill.
In any case, hope you enjoy the layout because as always the process of making it is super satisfying and fun.
~Neela

From the Roundabout Kit from Studio Calico

I got my Roundabout kit from studio calico a week ago. It was so much fun to go through the contents of this kit. This is how it looks:

Looks good huh!

I made a layout of Surya being defiant at the beach. I forgot to add the date to this layout when I took the photo of the layout. I have added the date since. These were taken in May of this year.

I really loved the cloud paper with the teal plain cardstock in this kit. I also loved the basic grey acetate letters. I combined all of these and made it a pretty colorful layout. I also used some MME enamel dots and some piggy tales stickers. I attached the acetate letters using Tim Holtz tiny attacher. I also used the basic grey frame from Spencer's kit and the cloud stamps from the Planetarium kit. Here is how the layout turned out:

Here is the sketch from which I made this layout:

~Neela
 

Elle's Studio 6/6 Sketch - More from Serendipity collection

I love how versatile the Serendipity collection is. I am still getting more and more from a set of just 10 printed papers from this collection. I used for girly layouts, I used it for my son and I also used it for a beachy layout. I have more papers left so stay tuned for more from this collection.
I am playing along the sketch contest at Elle's studio with this layout. I really liked this sketch but I struggled a bit to get this layout done. I am just happy that it is done on time.

I made this layout with photos of Arjun that were taken on the way back from our little trip on Reef Dancer in Maui. On the way in we sat inside the boat that had a sunken glass cabin from which we could look out onto the sea life like we were looking out a window and on the way back we rode on the deck of the boat. It was a fun little trip.

Here is my layout:

 

Along with the Serendipity collection, I used some enamel dots and washi tape from MME. I also did little bit of water coloring on the title block and the journaling blocks just to make it stand out a little more. I am loving my Inktense pencils. They give intense color with just a little bit of water.

 

 Here is the sketch from Elle's studio:

 

I am loving this company. I also ordered their June Kit and Cameron Collection for more fun. Be sure to stop by at their website and check out their products. Their shipping fee is lower than other websites and I got my goods really fast last time too.

 





 

Fun Day - More from the Planetarium Kit

I am loving the kits from Studio Calico. They provide a fun framework to get your projects started. I made this layout using the May Planetarium kit.

These days it is so hard to get Arjun to pose for photos. He is sick and tired of me running behind him to get him to pose. So the best photos of him these days are ones that are natural and when he is not aware of the fact that I am clicking away to glory. I made this layout using one such photo of Arjun and Chandu at the beach trying to practice baseball with Surya running away with the ball whenever he got his hands on it.

I visualized the layout with this photo in my head in a hundred different ways and this is how it turned out in the end. It is amazing how they always end up turning out.... very different from what is in my head. But isn't that the fun part....

Here is my layout:

 

 

The patterned papers are from Dear Lizzy - Lucky Charm, Elle's Studio and Basic Grey - bow ties. They all have real fun patterns on both sides. I sure hope that I did justice by combining these together. I think I used up every inch of the Elle's studio You and Me paper. I love the grey and white stripes and the teal with white stars on the other side. I also cut out the saying banners on the bottom strip and stuck them along the photo. I have never used Sequins before. I loved adding them to this layout. Enjoy....



~Neela

 

Elle's Studio - Sketch Thursday

I love the Serendipity collection from Elle's Studio. It is fun and colorful. I created this layout with a photo of myself taken when I was about three years old using the Serendipity collection and the May kit from Elle's studio. Here is my layout:

 



I had fun doing some water coloring on the photo mat and the wood veneer in the title. I also did some water coloring in the inside of the butterfly. I used inktense water color pencils to do it. It was so much fun using them. I will be using more of them for sure.

I really loved the sketch from Elle's studio again. Here is the sketch:

 

I inverted the sketch for my layout. I did it because in the photo I am looking up and if I put the photo on top, it would be like the gaze is going out of the layout. Anyway, it made most sense to put the photo at the bottom.

 

Here some closeups of the water coloring:

 



I am also submitting this layout to Studio Calico challenge to use water color on the layout.