Let's go! - Leslie Berner

Hi Everyone! It's Leslie on the blog today. I got to make one of my favorite kind of layouts, and that is to use a cut file as my focal point of my page. 

I used the beautiful ' Let's go vacation geo tags' cut file from the Paper Issues shop, and as you all know all these fantastic cut files are for FREEEEE. 

I used the 'Imagine That' girl collection from Eco Park and then added some ' Oh my Heart' from Pink Paislee for the final touches. I used papers from the 6x6 'Imagine That' paper pad to back the letters of the cut file. if you look closely I tried to alternate dark busy patterns with lighter softer patterns, for instance, the 'L' is a darker plaid and the 'E' is a lighter floral print, then the 'T is a soft cloud print that contrast with the vibrant rainbow print I used to back the 'S'. 

I wanted to do some mixed media on this layout, so I busted out my Gelato's and used the Gauva, Bubblegum, Metallic Mint, Metallic Blueberry and Iced Pear to create a watercolor rainbow effect behind my photo. to achieve this effect I used the packaging technique. This is when you take an old piece of plastic packaging, you add your paint or Gelato straight to the plastic, you smoosh it around a little and then you turn the plastic face down unto your layout and proceed to smudge the color of the paint or the Getalo unto the paper. It is a very fun way get organic shapes and lines. It is very easy as well. So if you are scared of mixed media, try this technique. 

I used a lot of layering behind my photo, I used the off cuts from the paper I used to back the cut file as the layering, so nothing goes to waste.

The rest is pretty self explanatory, I embellished with some of the stickers from the 12x12 sticker sheet as well as the 6x12 chipboard sheet. To finish off the final details I pulled out my Paige Evans Sticker Book and chose some elements from the 'Oh my Heart' section as I think that the colors match the Echo Park collection [pretty nicely.

Here are some close ups....

Here is the final layout....

I hope this inspired you to take on the challenge of using a large cut file as a focal point in your page as well as taking a shot at mixed media.