In The Mood Inspiration & Tutorial with Megan

Hi Everyone :)

Are you In the Mood for a little inspiration ;) ?

I have a photo tutorial for you today using this fabulous new collection.  I decided instead of doing the obvious to use the collection for something different.  Something more masculine, which was this little guy running down the beach :).

What I love about the whole creative process, is theres no right or wrong way of doing it.  Messy, grungy, simple, complicated its all up to you.  Heres how I achieved the look I wanted.

Once I chose my paper - Dreamy - I picked all the embellishments I wanted to use and fiddled around til I was happy with my composition.

Next I applied gesso over the paper - this prepares the paper or primes it, making the surface slightly textured and ready to accept paint mediums - without it paints or sprays would just soak into the paper. 

While the gesso is drying I started altering my chipboard.  I used a few different techniques - the chain link I just inked with black ink.  The cogs I just painted red - that large red cog? is the negative from chain link - so don't throw those away, they come in handy! And lastly the diamond bits and dots and embossed with the new Black Gold embossing powder - the photo doesn't do this product justice, it embosses beautifully!!

While the paint is drying on the chipboard I could then start splattering away at my background.  I used a mixture of black and white gesso and red paint, all spritzed with water to thin it down and then splattered around the page with a paint brush, starting with the lightest colour first.

The next step was deciding what stamps I wanted to use.  Ive used a mixture from three different sets.  To figure out where I wanted to stamp, I  reassembled my embellishments and pencilled lightly around them, then removed them and started randomly using my newsprint stamp.  The star bursts and circle stamps were used with more precision - I wanted these overlapping the chipboard pieces creating a collage effect.

The last thing I added was seedlings, and stickers, you can see these in the closeups :)

The final picture, the completed layout.  I love it!  He looks like he's having such a great time :) <3

Products Used:

Patterned Paper

In the Mood - Dreamy

Stamps

Tattered Newsprint

Texture Circles

Christmas Collage

Seedlings

Beating Heart

Embossing Powder

Black Gold

February is the month of love and my second project for you today embraces that using the same collection, but this time I went OTP.

To create my centre cluster, I used a combination of stunning flowers, chipboard and diecut pieces.

I wanted the entire project to match so I used the same papers and embellishments in both.

Here you can see the detail added to the sides of the box and the dimensionality of decorated lid.

 Inside I used some of the lovely lace that comes with the collection - and perfect for covering up where you just have'nt quite got the cut of your paper accurate! ;)

Hopefully I inspired you to get creating with this lovely new collection :). See you next month!

Products Used:

Patterned Paper

In the Mood: Pensive, Mellow

Lace

White Venise - Lace 10

Chipboard

In the Mood Printed Chipboard

Flowers

Moody Florals

Remnant Florals

Fresh Florals