Life and Layers

We are exploring vulnerability over at Inside Out this month.  The kit is absolutely gorgeous, and one of my favorite things is to watch and see what the Design Team creates with these goodies.

I love this layout by Christa because it is exactly what I can never seem to do... it has white space (what's that?  I've rarely seen that on my layouts) and ah-maze-ing layering.  I love, love, love the look of all of that layering.  It gives a layout such depth and interest!  Luckily, Christa wrote up a handy dandy tutorial on layering this month... she must have read my mind.

And, since I can't be the only one out there who needs some tips and tricks on how to layer on a layout, here I am to share it with you. C'mon!  Let's have fun with layering...

Adding Layers

by Christa Paustenbaugh

I love to add bits of layers to my layouts, whether it's just a couple of things in a corner or in this case, it's all over the page! When I opened up the February kit that is the first thing I thought of when I saw all the embellishments and the Dear Lizzy die cut paper. There are so many elements to layer in this kit that my layout, "Life", quite literally fell together by itself!

First up, I knew I wanted to use the Pink Paislee clear cards somehow. I put it against the light blue cardstock and it wasn't the effect I wanted. I decided yellow would do the trick and set to work on digging through my paints to see what would strike my fancy. I found a nice dark yellow and set to work on painting a rectangle paper. I chose to brush it on with a tissue rather than a brush to get a more muted look.

Then I set to work on getting the bits layered how I wanted them. I never adhere anything until I know for sure it's how I want it on the page. Wish I were more of a fly by the seats of my pants kind of gal, but I'm not! I laid the wallet sized photos, overlay and yellow painted paper down in the vicinity of where I wanted it to the edges and border.

Next, I cut out one of the medium sized flowers from the die cut paper and chose a ticket/tag I wanted to use for the title. I laid them on the layout to make sure they were in good composition to the yellows, etc.

Finally, I cut some leaves from the die cut paper, and layered the Maya Road doily overlay with some flower and metal accents. I layered and re-layered until it was appealing to me visually, while still keeping the focus on the photos. I was going to leave it without the pink butterfly (cut from Dear Lizzy paper), but once I cut it and put it on it had a nice pop that I wanted.

I have to admit that I tend to push paper around for a while before it suits me, but this one took much less time than normal. There are so many things in this kit to layer that I look forward to seeing all the different possibilities everyone comes up with!

Thanks Christa!

Do you layer on your layouts?  Let's see them... join us over at Inside Out!