Dandelion Dreams

I had such fun making this LO! It's an idea I had a while ago, with lots of different things I wanted to incorporate into the layout - including the flowers in the picture being the only colour in a black and white photograph. Of course, it ended up almost nothing like I first planned! The photograph is of my two eldest daughters on one of their first days together at school. They started the same year, but at different times of the school terms because of the difference in their ages. They were so excited to actually have a full day together in school (but that didn't last long though *lol*). I made such a mess making the roses - lots of scrunching up with paper and gesso (and inks and starburst stains)- and thoroughly enjoyed every messy moment. The butterflies were easier - but took a lot longer as I waited for each layer of kids glaze to dry. I get so impatient! Of course I had the usual blank cardstock to start off with, and lots of distressing and inking just for fun. The stitching had to be there - but I did draw back quite a lot on what I wanted to do. I felt that enough was enough, and anything extra may not work very well - especially with those huge scrunchy flowers! I decided to call the layout "Dandelion Dreams"... almost as a follow-on or accompaniment to the layout I had made a few days back named "Dandelion Wishes".

Finally got a page done!

I love this photograph of my brother - it was taken at Farley Mount in 1980. I had bought a "Kodak Ektra 12" camera with my birthday money that year, and that little (very almost useless) camera went with me everywhere. Every now and then, a photograph would be developed that I knew would be a "keeper" - this was one of them. Not bad for an amateur 11 year old.
For this layout, I used a basic grey paper called Passe (from the "Archaic" range). What's quite unusual about this layout is that all the elements are sewn on either by hand or done with the machine...
The oak leaves and the bird were made in the same way - using pages from an old book, I cut out the shapes I wanted, then used gesso over them. I also used Ranger Distress Inks all over these elements, and also all over the layout :)

My Mr Perfect

I never claim that I have the perfect man... just that I have the perfect man for me - My Mr Perfect. He really is my soul mate and other half (though he says "better half"). The photograph was taken last year at the New Forest - a favourite haunt of ours, though we haven't managed to go lately. For this layout I used a core'dinations whitewash paper and totally demolished a K&Co paper called (get ready for this one... it's a mouthful!) Mira Citrus Botanical Die-cut Glitter Thermography Paper. Tim Holtz made his usual appearance - walnut stain this time, just to darken and distress the edges, and I finally used my Gesso! I used it first to blend in the photograph to the background cardstock - after sanding the photograph edges. I used it also to make a lot of the swirls and flourishes, building the gesso up over a space of time (2 days) and waiting for it to fully dry before sanding it lightly to get the effect I wanted. A few green pearls to swirls around, a bit of doodling with white, black, and green pens, a bit of sparkly fabric lettering... and it was finished!