Well no one can say that Summer isn't here, with all this...err glorious? sunshine! I'm definitely not a hot weather girl so I'm properly hermitting away in the house, with the curtains drawn and windows thrown open. I will also admit to sitting in front of the fan and producing a robot voice, on more than one occasion....ways to fill the hours, eh?
My creativity has taken a bit of a hiatus, since the construction of the cabin commenced and I'm so glad to have finally moved the motherlode of craft supplies in. I still need to insulate the roof so at the minute it is doubling up as sauna. Rather suits one of Anna's themes for this month's Patreon collage sheets, minus the beach and the sea...near enough!
(Excuse the half dead lily.....it is a victim of the Craft Cabin Sauna!)
I was itching to get creating when Anna sent over this months collage sheets, although to be fair that is true for most months, but I have a real tie to the seaside so I was extra eager! There is always such a variety of artwork and differing styles in Anna's content, something for everyone, but the beach themed sheets were calling me.
As soon as I saw the girls and ice creams I knew exactly where I was headed with them. I have (well now did have) a framed photo collage above our bed that I made back many moons ago of J and I's first holiday away together as a couple. We stayed in my cousin's holiday house up in Thornaby. With Redcar beach about a 15 minute drive away we spent much of the holiday at the beach, chilling in the day and misty walks in the evening. The photograph is of Redcar beach, facing towards the town of Redcar, if you face the opposite direction you look at a Redcar Steel Plant. Quite a juxtaposition.
I decided since it is beginning to look tatty I would repurpose some of the photos. I still have the negatives so I can always have them reprinted if I miss them....haha!
I began by pulling Anna's artwork into the Silhouette Studio and set about resizing them so they would be roughly in the proportions I was after. A bit of grumbling at my machine and an emergency ink cartridge change and ta dah!! Ephemera appeared!
I also cut out the journal tags Anna added in this months sheets. I'm so happy she included them as I do love to layer them throughout my journaling but they also work as fantastic prompts for layouts. When I'm stuck for inspiration I'll flip through my phrase ephemera and usually something will jump out at me. They can really change the direction you thought you were going in!
I try to keep my ephemera and bits and bobs I'm looking to scrap or journal with in a pot next to me, as far too often they end up mixed with the offcuts and scraps headed for the bin. Cue frustrated searching and much muttering. I clearly didn't follow my own method below...and ended up with a pile of rubbish and ephemera.
I pulled out my latest 12x12 paper acquisition, the Beach Life Collection and saw how perfect Anna's artwork looked alongside them!
I spent some time pulling out other bits that fitted with the layout I was going for. As it has been such a long time since I last sat down to scrap a 12x12 layout it felt a little daunting. I felt like I didn't have enough things, so there was a lot of rejected items (which I've still actually resort and put away ha!). I also wanted to include some of the buckets, starfish and clams from the other papers, so took some time fussy cutting a few out to dot around the page.
I cut a strip of the beach huts from one of the papers in the pack and placed it towards the bottom of the page. I took this as my line from which to build. I backed my photo on yet another paper from the collection. I wanted something bright to contrast with the green woodgrain effect as without the backing the photo felt a little dull and lost.
I sat moving the pieces around the page trying to find a natural fit. It is quite different working on a much larger scale again, kind of awkward. When I was happy with the visual I took a quick snapshot on my phone, so that once I started moving pieces off to stick things down I wouldn't forget where I put them.
To further pull the photo into focus and add some depth I stuck it down on foam tabs. This, however meant my original plan had to be altered slightly to accommodate the additional height. Both the bucket and the girl's legs needed lifting, so I cut small slithers of foam and popped them up to the same height as the photo.
I LOVE how this little guy looks, he is from Anna's mermaid ephemera pack from the Mermaid Waves collection back in May last year I think? I knew he would be perfect so out he came. I made two small snips into his claws so I could slip the ice cream and ice lolly pieces in, giving the illusion that he is holding them..or running off with them I'm not sure.
The title is a bit of a hit and miss for me. I'm happy with the wording but not necessarily the alphas I chose. They could do with being a tad taller and maybe not glittery! Although, in saying that they do remind me of funfair lights you sometimes see on piers. I think the pearl dots help some with that too!
It's not too bad a layout to say I've not scrapped in about five or six years...there's a few things I might tweak. The bottom half I'm pleased with, but the top right hand corner and title I'm still undecided. I think I'll add a smidge of journalling in and see how it looks!
So that's me for this month, I've really enjoyed working my way back to scrapping again and in time hope to improve. Anna's artwork is so versatile and easy to use, it piques the creative in me and I find myself working away on something before I know it!
Till next time guys! x
Jeni
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