Peek-a-Boo, I See Through!

I think I'm going to start calling Tuesday's "Tutorial Tuesday".  I think we're overdue for another piece of goodness from our design team.  Here are some great tips by our very own Felecia on how to use see-through elements on your scrapbook pages, as shared on our community forum boards.  Let us know what you think after you read it!

Using See-Through Elements

by Felecia Krech

There are TONS of see through items in this month’s kit…but sometimes see-through elements can be intimidating, or baffling. Here are a few suggestions for using see-through items. They provide a huge number of options, depending upon how they are layered or backed.

One thing to keep in mind when working with see through elements: what you put behind a see through element can completely change how it looks.

Just to see how it would photograph, I put three pieces of cardstock behind the Hambly transparency: white, dark pink and pale pink…you can see that the transparency color changes based on what is behind it.

Experiment with backing to see what looks best for your project. You can certainly choose to use a see through component as the foundation for your layout like I did on the See Through layout..(note that these are very hard to take pictures of for posting. You might have to experiment with that, too!)

Fussy cutting is a great option for see through elements. Choose an element and cut it out from its background. I really wanted this little element from the larger transparency, but couldn’t get the whole transparency to layer correctly with the rest of my page elements. Cutting just the element I wanted was a perfect solution. There are now layers of see through and paper elements.

Another option is to back the element with paint or ink. If you are going to use ink, use alcohol ink and be sure you allow enough dry time. I thought about dripping alcohol inks on this doily, but chose instead to use paint.

To paint, turn the item over, paint liberally on the back and allow to dry.

The results are so pretty!

See through elements also allow us to combine techniques. Fussy cutting, backing and layering were all used for the butterflies.

I first cut several butterflies from the sheet, then ran them through the Xyron (You could cover them with any dry-ish adhesive. Wet adhesive will make them curl.)

Next, I cut pieces of ribbon and adhered them to the backs of the butterflies. You could use other papers, tissue paper, or fabric for this step.

Next, I cut the excess ribbon off and embellished with a few little pearls. Finally, I layered them over other un-backed butterfly sections to give some dimension.

See through elements provide lots of options for scrapbooking and using visual imagery. The possible uses depend only on your creativity!

Happy Scrapping!

I know I alway struggle with acetate... I love it, but I never know what to do with it.  I can't wait to try out some of these techniques!  Thanks Felecia! 

How about you?  What do you like to do with see-through elements?