Friday 10 August 2012

Be Free Layout - Les Papiers de Pandore August Sketch






Hi there girls :)  I've had this post pre-scheduled for a while
now so have just popped in to update it with the current link
to this sketch now that it has gone live HERE.  I'm here to
say THANK YOU SO MUCH to every one of you that
has been in touch with me in some way, be it in the comments
on my last post, on Facebook, via e mail, and even by phone!

I am bowled over and overwhelmed by the outpouring of
love and condolence messages from you all.  I can assure
you that it is a real source of comfort to me to know that
all around the world there are caring, good-hearted people
like yourselves lifting me up, thank you :)
You make me stronger!

I have so many comments to return & can't wait to see
what you have all been up to!  I'll do that next week.

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Did you know that Les Papiers de Pandore release a monthly
sketch on their blog HERE Julie is a talented sketch designer
as well as scrapbooker and product designer too!  It was my
turn to play along with the sketch this month, which you can
see up on the blog at Pandore today HERE.


I'll admit this was challenging for me as I'm scared
of circles!  There I said it!!  Funny 'cos I love to use
flowers and doilies, both of which are circular shapes!

Anyway, I had the photo printed that I wanted to use
so I went with the Urbanessence collection - you can
purchase it HERE - and used 2 of the wonderful stamps
that go with the collection - see those HERE.


Instead of layering up my background papers to create
a border I decided to create the look of a border by
blobbing gesso in the centre of my page then pulling it
our to the sides, leaving an uneven border of about an 
inch all round.  My new gesso - Claudine Helmuth Studio
is LUSH.  I highly recommend it.  Just look at the contrast
in opacity you can achieve by varying your pressure.  Love!


As painting and misting often make even the best quality
paper warp a bit I always glue my entire base paper down
to a thick sheet of 12" paper (taken from the inside of the
page protectors when I buy a new album) as this really
helps to flatten it out.


I substituted the circles for stars, cut from the Urbanessence
paper - Star System - see full collection HERE.  I backed
them with Urbanessence Skyline & embossed them using
UTEE then pop-dotted them up and twisted some twine 
around them {actually that's electrical wire I saved from a
broken appliance!}


The tickets come from this sheet from Urbanessence HERE.
It's a 12" sheet of "Tags" for cutting up and adding as
embellishments and journaling blocks.  I inked them to 
grunge them up a little.  To get that pale effect you really
need these, but you can substitute with make-up wedges
if you can't get hold of them, although these are great 
because they have little lids so no ink is wasted as it is 
still ready to use next time & not dried out.
My title "Be Free" comes from the Urbanessence "Tags"
paper, inked and matted.  I double matted the photo
and inked that too.  I gave it a white vignette effect & border.


I continued the star/twine theme at the bottom, as well
as dropping some drops of yellow mist around both clusters.


Yes that is a real CD you see there!  I was burning a photo
disk and encountered a problem so it wasn't readable and I
couldn't burn over it so I decided to use it as an embellishment!
Seeing that the layout is about my daughter's dance show it
seemed appropriate!  I actually embossed over the top, through
a stencil, then "journaled" the names of the songs Cami danced
to around the edge of the CD embellishment. 


The layout didn't look complete to me and seemed to be
missing the ZING! that I like my pages to have, so I pulled
out my Urbanessence stamps and got to work around the 
edge, using paint, not ink, as I wanted a strong, messy effect.
I used the Chevron stamp {yellow} & the splat {black}.
Finally I was happy with the end result - it looked complete!

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If you would like to play along with the sketch using Pandore
products you need to upload your creation to the Pandore
Facebook page for a chance to win {random draw}.  You
can find a list of retailers HERE or buy direct HERE.

Supplies List for "Be Free" Layout

Background Paper - Star Sytem - Urbanessence -
Les Papiers de Pandore
Printed Papers - Urbanessence "Skyline", 
"Expression" & "Tags"  Les Papiers de Pandore
Stamps - Urbanessence
Gesso - Claudine Helmuth Studio
Paints - Making Memories Asphalt & Lemon
Embossing Powders - UTEE by Ranger &
Powder ZING! by American Crafts
CD & electical wire - stash
Alphas - Webster's Pages Storytellers {Yacht Club}
Ink - Dark Grey, Red & Yellow - Memories
Mist - Maya Road - Sunflower




22 comments:

Lizzy Hill said...

Hand up! Hand up! ME TOO!!! I have a real problem with circles...I'm trying my best to overcome the fear by DOING them...not easy, I can tell you....I LOOOOOVE that yellow chevron stamp in the bg...it just adds to the 'aliveness' of the whole page - it's really, really vibrant:):)

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I love love love this Helen!!! I loveeeeeeee the colors, the photo, the layers... and love love love love the CD!!!!! You have just inspired me to try something with CD's and a canvas!! YOU ROCK!! Totally pinning this!!!!!!

Mitralee said...

oh Julie, you are a rock star pinning Helen's page!!! Good job on this, the little added yellow along the edges did pull it all in together!! I am having a moment about those stars....really really love them!!!

gracescraps@gmail.com said...

This LO couldn't be more perfect for this fab photo. This photo just screams for the amazing color and design you gave it!! Continued prayers, Helen. ~ Blessings, Tracey

http://gracescraps.blogspot.com/

sandi said...

Fabulous! Love how you used stars in place of the circles...you go girl!

Keren Tamir said...

Helen this is amazing!! And she is adorable!! Awesome job with this sketch!! Thanks for your sweet comments!

Debbi Tehrani said...

Such a vibrant, energetic, and fun page, Helen! Love the stars, and the circles look fab. Your whole page design is perfect for that fun photo!

Unknown said...

wowe It's a fantastic page!!!

hugs carla

Denise Price said...

Wow, those Urbanessence supplies look like they were MADE to go with your photo! I love the youthful, celebratory vibe of your LO. And you know I love that you used recycled electrical wire and a CD on your page. :)

Mona Pendleton said...

Such a beautiful mixed media layout Helen! What a cutie you featured here!

Unknown said...

Wonderful layout, Helen! So much energy and fun...I love that you switched in stars for the circles, just perfect for that photo!!! Hope you are doing well :)

yyam said...

Wow! Love the gessoed background and the cool effect on the CD! Such a spectacular piece Helen! :)

FiKenward said...

Well I'm a little bit the opposite I love circles so much that I'm trying not to use them, lol Great vibrancy to your page Helen as always with some great textures, this photo was perfect for this page and I love your take on the sketch.

Linda Eggleton said...

Love the border you've created with the gesso, Helen...and that you've used a CD!! Totally awesome layout...the colours are so bold & vibrant..love it!

Jasmine S said...

Awesome page Helen. Just love how you have scrapped that wonderful photo and the colours and stars.

Alison said...

So much to love about this Helen...everything works wonderfully with that great pic of Cami!
Alison xx

dstandard said...

This is awesome Helen- you work the paint so well. I'm always scared to ruin my page and you just come out bold and awesome!

Lynnda said...

Wowzars!!! I really love this Helen!!! The colors, the photo, the layers... and that CD...Totally Rock...Such a great inspiration my friend... I think I wanna try too... You amazing!!! Hugs...xoxo

Eila Sandberg said...

He he this is SO much fun Helen! ingenious to use a CD and to make the gessoed frame, brill idea! as has been said before me, this really has plenty of zing and energy!! xoxo

Kerryn said...

This is so fun and funky Helen. Love it!!

Marjie Kemper said...

Ooooh I love this picture of your daughter! What a great tribute you've made and you rocked the colors AND the circles challenge.

Sharm Nidyanandan said...

I have a problem with geomatrics! Not just circles! Even hexes and squares! Sigh...I love all the hexagon projects goin around, but I just can't get started lol! Love your projects! I sooo wana try mixed media but simply have no time..guess it's gotta wait till the kids grow up :) love your layout here! The stars are a fantastic addition and the pic of your dd is a nice one to be scrapped! ;)