Sunday 26 June 2011

My Echo Park Fresh Face Application

***Sod's law...our internet service provider is carrying out scheduled maintenance all weekend so our service is being disrupted intermittently & I have been trying to publish this post for the last 6 hours {no jokes :)}so I had to e mail my appication to ECHO PARK last night instead. Finally our internet is back so here it is!***



 Hey Echo Park fans!  Seen this?!  Thought I may as well have a go seeing as I am a HUGE Echo Park fan!
                                                                                                                                                                  

My first project uses Echo Park SPRINGTIME and fussy-cut a lot of the sweet detail, raising some of the elements with pop-dots for some extra dimension.

I computer journaled in various different colours, in keeping with the bright stripes of the SPRINGTIME printed paper.

As you can see I added some other supplies to compliment my Echo Park products, such as a hand-made doily, some ricrac braid & some decorative stick-pins.

To make my page "out-of-the-ordinary" I created my own grass using tulle (netting) which I bought at my local haberdashery store.  I sprayed it with one of my glimmer mists then gathered it up with some hand-stitching & placed it behind the white picket-fence border sticker.

The little family of birds is 100% significant on this page as they symbolise my husband & me & our daughter leaving the nest (growing up & leaving home).  I was so glad to find the perfect paper to tell my story!



                                                                                                                                                                

My second project uses the same Echo Park Line - Springtime - yet, as you can see, it looks entirely different!  Just goes to show how very versatile Echo Papers are!

 I fussy-cut almost an entire-sheet of Springtime paper to use here (the birds on my first page also came from the same sheet of paper!).
Once I was through with all my fussy-cutting (which took me an hour while I was chatting to my daughter) I simply layered up the elements, some flat & others using pop-dots, at opposite corners of my photograph. 

Lastly I added some bling dots to the centre of some of the flowers, for some extra sparkle, then titled up with some chipboard for texture.  Due to the graphic nature of the Echo Park Springtime floral print it is just as suited to masculine layouts as it is to girly ones, as you can see below...

So easy to create with the beautiful Echo Park SPRINGTIME line!

                                                                                                                                                                  

 Lastly I am sharing a layout with you using Echo Park FOR THE RECORD line.  

As I've said before, this is my absolute FAVE Echo Park line to date, just love the vintage touch & am so excited to see that they have a new vintage line June Release called Victoria Gardens.  I will give you a sneak of that soon when I show you my fave CHA picks for June!

Here I punched & pleated some paper all around a circle of floral print paper, which I then machine-stitched to hold everything in place perfectly.

I printed my photo extra wide using a custom-setting in Picasa (where you state the dimensions of your choice) & selecting the SEPIA option, which I think works perfectly with the vintage papers.

I hand-journaled this time on one of the very convenient "For the Record" journaling cards & mixed some Echo Park flower stickers with dimensional fabric flowers & some of my trademark bling! (Swirls this time).

At the bottom of the layout I layered up  an Echo Park border sticker alongside a strip of "For the Record" paper which I scallop cut, using the scallop design of the paper as my guide.

Before adhering these I added some gathered up tissue-paper (from a new pair of shoes my son bought!) - to match with the neutral colours of the sepia photograph & to add some extra dimension & interest.






19 comments:

Jasmine S said...

They are all gorgeous and what a showcase of Echo Park. Your designs are always so inspiring and every photo just pops.
I just love that last photo stretching all the way across the page.
Awesome work Miss Helen.

Bernadine said...

Love the layouts as always. I also enjoy using Echo Park. Which website are you using to buy your supplies from overseas?

Alia said...

I love EP too! You've done a great job here showing how the papers can be used in a variety of ways.

Yolande (pronounced you-land-a) said...

All these layouts are stunning Helen! Good luck with your application...holding thumbs. :)

Diana said...

All beautiful, very very beautiful.
They'd be idi*ts not to pick you.

Marilyn said...

Beautiful pages, my friend!! I will cross my fingers for you!! I hope you make TPV, too, these ladies are very kind. I'm going to resign in SC,
I'm still working alone so I take one hour to visit my friend's blog today. I wish you the best...Good Luck!!!! :) Take Care!! HUGS!!!

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

These are all GORGEOUS!! I just loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee all the fussy cutting!! WOW WOW WOW!!! You are sooooooooo inspiring! :):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

As always, your layouts are just gorgeous, love the story of the birdie though, hmm... not sure how am I going to take when Clare goes to collage in August!

Kiki Aposeki said...

Of course my Friend, another time you make Beautiful LO!!!!!!

dstandard said...

Fabulous pages - good luck - you rocked the lines!

Lynette Jacobs said...

Beautifully done Helen...you show just how versatile these Echo Park lines really are. Hope you get a spot on the DT.

Mitralee said...

Good job my toes are crossed for you!!!

Unknown said...

Oh Helen these are simply STUNNING!!! All of them....oh I love the sweet little birds in the 1st one, the gorgeous soft colours in the 2nd which totally compliments the photos! and the last one...well it blows me away!! Just love the big photo and in sepia too! GOOD LUCK!! Take care xx

yyam said...

These are just beautiful Helen! All the best! :)

Blossom inch said...

beautiful pages Helen and all the best!

Jessy Christopher said...

I must admit that you are so good with using big photos on ur layouts! These are stunning. All the best to you on EP GDT :)

HappyScrappy said...

All these layouts are so cool, as always :)!
Good luck with the application!
Thanks for stopping by my blog :)!

Sharm Nidyanandan said...

all of 'em are rocking gorgeous Helen!!!! I can't tell which one's my fav cause they're all beautiful!!! Good luck with your application my friend!!!! :)

Eila Sandberg said...

Fingers and toes crossed Helen!! I do love all of your layouts and as I've said before, big photos rule!! Did scrutinize for all the techniques and materials used when these LOs were first uploaded. You have excellent tips on details on all of them. As you are more advanced than I am, I personally find it incredibly useful getting them so that I don't have to test in vain umpteen times and still scratch my head wondering why on earth I cannot get the desired outcome. I am not the only one who appreciates the incredible effort you put into your posts and you sure know I don't skim truckloads of blogs just to be visible as active on line. You're my kind of girl Helen! buy some shoes, splash out on something totally pretty together with Chelsea. Enjoy! Love ya! xxxx