March 28th sketch for SOUS

Welcome to another sketch challenge at SOUS. Hope you have been playing along with us and hope you will play with us this time. When I initially started playing along sketch challenges, I used to stick to the sketch exactly to the very last detail. But as time has passed, I have learnt to look at the sketch to get the essence of it and interpret it fit my photos or my ideas.
When I saw the sketch for this challenge, I knew that I wanted to do something special with the banners. I hardly ever use banners on any project. This might be only the third time that I am using a banner on my layout. I found the perfect cut file at Studio Calico to create my banner. I have linked the source in the supplies list below.

I didn't stick to the sketch a 100% this time. I changed out the size of my photos and I interpreted the the long banner on the right in my own way. But when you look at the layout, the overall essence of the sketch shines through.

Before I dive into the details of the layout, I want to mention that I am taking the Color Studio class at Studio Calico. If you have read any of my previous posts, you will see the layouts that I have made using the concepts learnt from this class. Here is the image of a color wheel that I found on pinterest. I like how it shows the cool and the warm colors.

You can find the link to this pin here. For my layout I used analogous colors(colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel) - blue, green and yellow. I have a lot of white too but that is my neutral color. I made a layout using analogous colors before but stayed on the cool side of the color wheel. You can see that layout here. This time by using yellow on this layout along with blue and green, I transitioned over from the cool to warm side. So I ended up having a little more contrast in the final result. 

Below is a close up of the banner. I cut it out with white cardstock and backed it with some patterned paper that seemed to go with the colors in the photos - yellow, green and blue. I then glued the top down and stitched across. This raised them a little bit and it truly looks like a hanging banner. I also added strips of vellum to the tops of the photos to dumb down the colors in the photos and let the banner pop a little more.

Below is my complete layout. I used two 4x6 photos and one 4x8 photos. I use Photoshop Lightroom to edit and print my photos. I print them at home with a HP officejet pro 8600. I keep running out of ink but I take my cartridges to costco and get them refilled. It is most definitely cheaper than buying new cartridges. Printing at home is expensive but I couldn't live without the convenience to print at my finger tips.

These are photos of my boys driving these jeeps at the lemon festival. We have it once a year here. The kids had a total blast horse riding, car racing, being bounced around in water in these huge balls, jumpee houses and many more activities.
Below is a close up of the journaling. I am loving these chipboard stars from Studio Calico.

Play along and you will be eligible for the monthly draw of the prize at SOUS. Check out the SOUS blog for more details about the dates and the prizes.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

~Neela

SUPPLIES LIST:

InLinkz.com

Using square colors from the color wheel

I am amazed by the results that I am getting each week when I end up making layouts based on the color scheme topic taught in the Color Studio class at Studio Calico. For this particular layout, I based the color scheme on a square color combo. This means, I picked 4 colors from the color wheel that are equidistant from each other. This combo has a balanced color scheme - 2 warm colors and 2 cool colors. I based my layout on a layout made by Corrie Jones for the class. All her layouts are usually amazing. Here are the 4 colors I picked for my layout:

Also be sure to check out this cool web site called color scheme designer where you can select different color schemes and how they work with each other. Here is a preview:

To follow the square theme, I divided the page into 4 quadrants and stamped my sentiment with the 4 different colors. I then added embellishments which matched the colors of the ink in the stamping. I then matted my photo matching patterned paper and added it to the center. The photo had to be black and white because it would have been hard to get one that would match the 4 colors I picked. It was a very simple page to make. Here is my layout:

I love this stamp that I got in one of my older Studio Calico kits. It says "live creatively"and I have been wanting to use it forever. I think this was the perfect opportunity to use it. Being able to think creatively and being able to make beautiful things is something that keeps me going and something that I love to do. So this saying completely reflects how I want to lead my life.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

~Neela

SUPPLIES LIST:

InLinkz.com

Using complementary colors on a layout

Using complementary colors to create a layout was one of the first lessons we had in the Color Studio class at Studio Calico. The examples provided in this class as usual were very beautiful. So when we think of complementary colors, we automatically gravitate to red and green, blue and orange and purple and yellow as the complementary colors. But if you used them literally, in their brightest hues, they could be quite jarring. So using hues of these complementary colors together can be more pleasing. The color wheel below was shared in our class message boards and I think it was so enlightening to see the color wheel with the perspective of tints, hues, tones and shades.

To make my layout with complementary colors, I selected pink and the opposite shade on the color wheel which is shade between green and blue. Here is my layout:

Here are some close ups:

I used the office hours and coffee break scrapbook kit to make this layout. I love this cloud paper from Crate paper Style board collection.I used the Dear Lizzy stickers from Day Dreamer collection to embellish the photos. The stickers went so well with paper. I used three photos of me and my goofy baby while we were waiting for Arjun to finish his baseball practice. I just wanted to record these selfies and the context behind those. 

This is a very simple layout. I first stuck the photos on strip of pink patterned paper. I then stuck this on the cloud paper. I stitched along the top and bottom of the strip. I then embellished with the stickers and enamel dots.  I painted the tag pink with water color and printed my journaling on it and then attached it under the strip of photos.  I also added some twine to the tag and embellished it with enamel dots and mint star sequins from color theory. The sequins are a beautiful color. I love these. I wrote the date at the bottom and the layout was done.

Hope you enjoyed the thought process in making this layout.

Have a great day!

~Neela

SUPPLIES USED:

InLinkz.com

Using Cool Colors on a Layout

I have been taking the Color Studio class at Studio Calico this month. We are on the fourth chapter which explains the effect of using just the cool colors or warm colors on a layout. Since I have two boys, I automatically gravitate towards the cool colors. But off late I have been making a conscious effort to use all sorts of colors even pink on the boy layouts. Why not... what do I do with all the pink product that I get in my kits?

But for this particular layout, I stuck to typical boy colors of blue and green and stuck to the cool color palette. As you can see in the color wheel below, I stuck to the blues and greens which are on the cooler side of the color wheel. You can find the pin for this color wheel here.

Here is my layout:

I used white as my base. I then used this super cool scalloped patterned paper from the Office Hours Studio Calico kit. I felt that it suited a rainy day layout well. I then fussy cut along the edge of the green scallops. I stuck this on a water color paper and I painted the water color paper with colors in the reverse order of the patterned paper. I started with light green and ended with light blue. I then added my photos and title. I like the cute wood veneer buttons that we got in this month's kit. I stitched them with blue embroidery floss and added them onto the layout. I had some plastic heart stickers from one of my previous kits and I added them on. I journaled along the border of the layout on the white cardstock and that completed my layout. 

The whole country seems to be freezing and having heavy snowfall but it has been warm here in California and we didn't have any rain whatsoever throughout the season. Finally in March we had a few showers and Surya was so excited to play in the rain. He loved the taste of the cool drops of rain falling on his tongue.

It was a fun layout to make! Have a great day!

~Neela

SUPPLIES USED:

InLinkz.com

Color Studio Class @ Studio Calico

This month Studio Calico is offering the Color Studio Class. It is all about colors and how to use them in different combinations to get different final results. I am enjoying all the examples and challenges in this class. Till now we did the following topics - Complementary colors, Analogous colors, Square colors and Warm and Cool colors. It has been fun reviewing some of these concepts. At the end of each lesson we are given a combinations of colors that fit into each of these schemes. I think that is priceless. I plan on using this as a reference on my future layouts.

Our first assignment for this class, was to chose a moodboard for color inspiration and create a kit from our supplies to comply with the moodboard. I was amazed by how much there was on pinterest in terms of color combinations that are beautiful. This is the image that I selected:

You can find the pin here.

Here are the supplies I put together to go with the colors in the moodboard:

For the second challenge, we got to create a layout with the supplies we pulled together in the first challenge.When I see these colors, my heart goes back to our vacation in Cancun about 4 years ago. We got a professional photo shoot done and it was so worth it. The photo shoot captured our family and the scenery in a beautiful way. So I not only took inspiration for the colors from the moodboard but I also chose to use my photos in a grid just like the moodboard. Since I had the photos I was going to use in mind and the supplies all pulled together, it was very easy to make this layout. I didn't end up using all the supplies and also ended up using a few different supplies but having a starting point was good. Here is my layout:

Just like the moodboard, I managed to keep the layout light and airy and added a few (very few) pops of orangish yellow. The clothes pins in the moodboard called out for the usage of the wood veneer. The ocean, the sky, the sand and the colors totally called out for these photos. I love grid designs. I am huge fan, it somehow comes to me most easily. 

So there you have it. Before I sign up for any class, I always wonder if it will be useful and if I will learn anything, but I always ending up learning, sometimes big things and sometimes little things. It is amazing see how finding an image that is pleasing to the eye can be converted to a layout. Hope you will try out something like this too. It was fun!

Have a great day!

~Neela

SUPPLIES USED:

InLinkz.com

March 14th sketch for SOUS

Happy Friday! Can't believe that it is almost the weekend again. So I hope you have enough time to play along with us at SOUS for this challenge. You will be entered to win a prize from Creative Embellishments if you play along.

Check out the cute sketch designed by Leah. It is a very pleasing sketch. I loved it. 

And ... here is my take on it. 

I pretty much stuck true to the sketch. I just straightened up the photos and added a journaling block instead of embellishments on the right side. I am happy that I got a chance to layer. I used a whole bunch of stickers from the Party Day collection from Create Paper. It is a fun collection for birthday parties. I selected 3 photos from my son's 9th birthday. Unfortunately, I didn't have great photos from the two parties we had. I just had to select the best. I really wanted to document the event though. Arjun had a great time at both the parties. For the first party at home, all the neighboring kids got together and played minecraft for a little bit and watched the movie Planes later. For the second party Arjun invited his classmates from school and they went bowling together. He had a blast. They all got to eat cupcakes and pizza. They also played at the arcade after the bowling.

There you have it. It is a simple and fun layout. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

SUPPLIES LIST:

InLinkz.com

Rockstar!

I am so excited that Arjun's band has actually started performing and they are doing such an amazing job. They were all a little nervous and a little stiff but what an amazing first two performances. Arjun has been learning to the play the guitar for about 3 years now. For the longest time he learnt on the acoustic guitar and when the band formed a few months back, he started playing the electric guitar and he found it very easy to play that. He is enjoying the performances quite a bit. I am so proud of all the kids in the band. They are little and are 9 and 10 years of age. For them to do so well in front of a big crowd is amazing.

I saw this amazing sunburst paper in the Studio Calico Sugar Rush kit and I knew that this would be perfect for Arjun's performance. I really want to use a photo with all the band members but I haven't asked the permission of all the parents. So for now it is going to be just Arjun's photo.

Here is my layout:

I used the rays in the sunburst to write some of my journaling. I always find yellow a bit challenging to use with colors. But I really like how well it goes with black and white. So I made the photo black and white and used the print and cut feature in silhouette to cut out the photo as a semi circle. I love this feature in silhouette. It let's you place the photo under the shape you want to cut perfectly. Before I knew how to use this feature, I would really struggle to do something like this. If anyone is interested to know how to use this feature, let me know. I will write a tutorial.
It is a very simple page. The patterned paper and the photo are pretty much what make this layout. I love the silver thickers from American crafts and the chalkboard sticker from MME. The steel stars are my all time favorite from basic grey. I added some silver sequins and the page was done.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
~Neela

SUPPLIES USED:

InLinkz.com