Creating Layouts with Janine!

Hi everyone, it is Janine Koczwara here, sharing two layouts with you and a few tips on how to create them.  

I often find the hardest part about creating a page is getting started.  Where do I start?  What do I feel like creating? What papers do I want to use?  I rarely have a photo in mind first, often it is one of the last things I decide on in my layouts, so I am not guided by that either!  That is where inspiration sites, such as sketch sites and color sites can be a great starting point.  The two layouts I am sharing with you today were both created with palettes from The Color Room.  I really love the way it makes me think about mixing and matching paper ranges to re-create the palette.  This month it was Prima Sponsorship month and these were a couple of the palettes that I used for the following layouts.

 

This layout is the perfect example of mixing and matching my Prima paper ranges!  I have taken The deep pink from the new Rosarian Collection, the light turquoise blue from the new Zephyr Collection and then 2 different papers from the older Strawberry Kisses range.  You would never realise they were not created as a matching line and I may not have thought to use these papers together without the palette prompt of the challenge.  I really love the over-all impact of these colours together.  

The V cuts under the main image/doilies do not go all the way through.  I line my LO up using the grid on my Comfort Craft Mat and then cut 2 shorter pieces and place them on the same "latitude" line on the craft mat, either side of my central peice to ensure they are straight.  It also means I can add this to my design later, as I did on this layout as well as preserving paper, or just using up smaller left over pieces of paper.

I created a cute little pinwheel effect on my doilies, by cutting out circles from my different patterned papers using a Spellbinders nesting circle die and then cutting them into "pie pieces" (I like to fold my circle in half, then quarters, then eighths to get my cutting lines), and mixing and matching them back together after distressing slightly for a fun effect. The doily under it gives a good base to stick the pieces back onto.

I also love to go back through older items in my stash and use them on layouts.  So often I just gravitate towards the new stuff, but I still have so many older items that I adore and want to use, such as these little centers and the Candy Gems in the main cluster.  Mixing new release items with older items makes everything feel fresh and new again!

PRODUCTS USED:

844455    Prima Zephyr Collection Gramercy
844530    Prima Rosarian Collection Constance
841416    Prima Strawberry Kisses Collection Cherry Blossom
841409    Prima Strawberry Kisses Collection Daydream 
539054    Prima Songbird Vine
561390    Prima Interlude Pink
536152    Monarch Centers
533175    Prima Trellis Roses Turquoise
528929    Prima Caboodles 
554255    Prima Metal Trinkets Songbird
549336    Prima Candy Gems Melon
890773    Shabby Chic Resin - Birds 

In my second layout, I used a much more masculine palette and created a fun boyish page.  Once again I mixed and matched my papers to capture the colors.  Papers were chosen from Alla Prima, and Almanac.  I also found a gorgeous paper napkin that I really wanted to use and I will share a quick tutorial on how to use these on your layouts.  The birds on this page were created using the napkin and a few fun techniques with them.

Here is a how to adhere a napkin to a piece of paper.  Brush gel medium across your paper and then add your top layer only of the printed napkin onto the gelled area.  Keep in mind most good quality paper napkins are 3 ply and you need to remove the 2 excess ply's before adhering. Then gently brush a layer of the gel medium over the top of the napkin to "seal" it in.  Allow to dry and then it is ready.  You can fussy cut around the image once dry and use it as you would a piece of patterned paper.  You can use this technique in exactly the same way on paper and transperency alike. 

As you can see below, you can also just adhere the napkin with the gel medium directly onto your layout or to an element of your layout, such as this tag I am making from Almanac Paper.  You can really see here how beautifully the text of the original paper shows through the napkin.

Below, the black and white flower from the napkin was adhered to transperency and this gives it rigidity on your layout but also means that it has a semi sheer quality so you can see the details under it as well.

I colored the top and the hole of my Shabby Chic Resin Birdhouse using one of the Chalk Inks (rusty bucket).  I gently dabbed it directly on from the inkpad and then used my finger to "smear" it slightly for a softer effect.

On this last image you can see how the text on the patterned paper has come through the napkin and then I have fussy cut it out and foam mounted as part of my design.

PRODUCT LIST:

843656    Prima A4 Paper Pad Alla Prima
844417    Prima 12x12 Paper Pad Script
844165    Prima Almanac Collection Wordsmith
890797    Prima Shabby Chic Resins Birdhouses
555962    Prima Perie Bebe En Francais
556013    Prima Charme Roses En Francais
555986    Prima Camille En Francais
556020    Prima Essentials En Francais
538620    Prima Fairytale Roses White
561413    Prima Interlude Turquoise
891091    Prima Fluid Chalk Rusty Bucket
544249    Prima Chipboard Alphabet Sticker
890940    Prima Comfort Craft Distress Tool
890933    Prima Comfort Craft Mat 

Finally for all of you who are in Melbourne, I will be teaching there on the 11th of September.  Here are the details of the class and there are only 5 places left so get in quick if you want to join in this class!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you found some inspiration in this post!

 

Comments

[Jo Baker]

Gorgeous layouts Janine and fantastic technique tips too. Seems Gel Medium is something I need to add to my stash :)