April 25th sketch for SOUS

Yay! It is friday again. Check out this fun sketch designed by Nanne at SOUS. I love this sketch and had fun making  a layout using it. Hope you will join us. 

Here is my layout:

I cut some layers of paper with scissors. I like the slightly imperfect look of this style. It seems like more and more designers are using scissors to cut layers. For this layout I used a sweet photo of my son playing at the beach last year. I love the contrast that this picture presents... the vastness of the ocean and how tiny Surya is in front of it. For this layout I mainly used elements from the Bluegrass kit from Studio Calico. After I put all my layers on the base cardstock, I felt that some thing was missing. I then added white acrylic paint to soften the whole look and to transition the layers to the base. 

Here are a few close ups:

I love this cloth badge that came with the kit. It was fun to use  on this layout.

 I had so much fun making this layout. Play along for a prize from Scrapbook Circle. I am waiting to see your layouts.

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Mixed Media Class with Studio Calico

As I mentioned before, I am taking the mixed media class with Studio Calico this month. Céline Navarro and Anna-Maria Wolniak are the teachers and they are immensely talented ladies. It has been fun but it is not easy. I wanted to post some of the layouts I have been making with what I learnt from this class.

Here is one of my layouts...

I made this layout with a photo of one of my friend's daughter. I love the photo but I am not 100% satisfied with how it turned out. I first started off with a plain white cardstock and covered it with gesso. I let it dry completely overnight. I then mixed some pink mist in modeling pasted and used a Teresa Collins stencil to add the hearts in the background. The big lesson learnt here, is to stick down the stencil with washi tape or masking tape before starting the process. I didn't and my hearts didn't turn out as crisp as I wanted them to be. I was disappointed but I kept going :) I then added the pink triangular piece of paper behind the photo and matted my photo and added the other embellishments. I then added drops of mist and painted the edges of the paper with neocolor II crayons. I also scribbled with some mist at the edges of the photo. I then matted my white cardstock with another patterned paper to hold it down and provide some interest around the edges.

Here is another one....

For this I used a black and white photo of my son that was taken by his drama teacher. It was taken for the cast introduction of Wizard of Oz. Arjun was Merlin the monkey in the drama. All the kids did such a wonderful job in the drama. They are unbelievably talented. They had all been practicing for the last 5 months. 

Here I colored the background of the black and white photo with neocolor II crayons. This was one of the techniques taught by Céline in the class .... except hers looked much better. I added a layer of gesso to the busy background paper. I then colored most of the words with necolors and inktense pencils. The coloring part is really fun. I then added some colorful layers behind the photo and added some enamel dots for a little more pop of color.

I really want to get my technique of using the modeling paste right. I need to practice a little more. It creates a really fun texture on the layout. I will try this technique again and will keep you posted. Do leave me comments of your experience with mixed media. I would love to hear it.

Have a great day!
~Neela

April 11th Sketch for Sous

Happy Friday! Hope you like the sketch from SOUS today. I really like it for it's versatility. It can be interpreted in a ton of different ways. You should check out how each of the design team member interpreted this at SOUS. I loved looking at the projects and I know you will too.

And here is my interpretation. I have been taking a mixed media class at Studio Calico. All my fellow team members at SOUS are such experts at mixed media. It is real fun using all the different mediums and techniques. 

For this layout, I first covered the whole white cardstock with Gesso. I then let it dry overnight. I then cut it down to  11x11 so that my photo would cover the whole width of the cardstock. I then applied gel medium with a stencil. I got a glossy finish gel medium, I wish I had gotten a matt finish though. The gel has a little shine to it when it dries. I then used a vermillion  neocolor crayon to color the edges of the cardstock and then used some water to spread it around. I then kept adding more neocolor and water and mixed it around till I got the desired effect. I then sprayed some aqua and blue Studio calico mist over the gel medium and dried the neocolor and the gel medium with a roll of kitchen paper towels. I then added my photo with a few embellishments. I stuck this 11x11 cardstock on a 12x12 cardstock so that I had space for my journaling. I smeared some gold neocolor around the edges of the outer cardstock in order to tie it in with the embellishments on the page. And there you have it, that is my layout.

Below are a few close ups:

The photo itself is from our trip to Cancun a few years ago. Actually they are a series of photos that I stitched together with Photoshop elements to create this panoramic view. I loved this view from our room. 

I want to see what you do with this sketch. Do play along. You will be entered to win a prize from SOUS. Do you know that this month's sponsors are Scrapbook Circle? Have you seen their kits? They are amazing.
And the most important announcement of all, SOUS is having a design team call. Check out the details here.
Have a great day!
~Neela

Supplies List:

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