Bakers – A Layout by Riikka Kovasin
Hi there! How has your week started? Can you believe it’s already October and Christmas is coming in about two months? Neither can I. But let’s still enjoy the autumn and the colorful leaves and not jump ahead into things. For this guest post I created a layout once more, this time using the Peel-Off Stickers as masks with the watercolors. You can find a step-by-step tutorial for the project at the end of this post. I did it a bit differently this time than usual.
The layout is about my two girls baking in my family’s summer house. They are really eager always to help when I’m cooking but baking is their great joy. In the picture they are making buns with their grandmother – who’s actually just doing the baking part in the oven, the girls rolled the buns.
I used warm colors to get that homey, warm feeling to the page. I also included the stenciled pattern and sprayed some water to make it hazy, trying to mimic an old, well-used fabric. The white lines that remain after removing the stickers create a nice worn texture on the page as well.
Without further ado, here are the steps I used to create the page! Naturally, you can use the same idea to make cards, art journal pages, or other paper crafts!
Step 1. Start by coating your paper with gesso. If you are using a white background, white gesso is good, but with colored backgrounds go for the clear one. I used a sheet of Dove Grey Soft Finish Cardstock as my background. Dry the layer carefully.
Step 2. After the gesso layer is bone-dry, adhere your stickers in place. As they are really sticky, which normally is a good thing, dab them first to your shirt or sweater to slightly tone down the tackiness. Think about your design and arrange the stickers so that after you add the photo they will still be showing. I used the flowers and the circles from the Crystal Flowers peel-off sheet for my page.
Step 3. Time to add the colors. You can use mists, inks or watercolors, like I did. Let the colors dry before removing the stickers. If you normally use a heat tool to help speed the drying be sure not to heat the stickers as the adhesive will melt and make them stick permanently to the paper. The best way is to let them air dry.
Step 4. When the background is completely dry, remove the stickers carefully. In some places the sticker might still remove the top coat of the paper, but that for me is just fine and adds to the shabby, worn look of the finished layout. After getting the stickers off, add some Distress Ink through the Flower stencil. (Tip: To totally remove the stickers without leaving any residue behind use a sticker removal product like Un Du.)
Step 5. Add some water to your stenciled design. Spray a couple of times to make the design disappear almost completely in some places and just a light mist in other places where you still want the flowers to remain distinct. Also add some color splatters with a paintbrush and watercolors.
Step 6. Time to add some contrast to the background. Choose a stamp that goes with your page and stamp the design a couple of times near your main focal point. Use black or grey ink for contrast. I chose to go with the “Happy Cake Day” and the cupcake stamps from the Just a Note clear stamp set.
Step 7. Time to start building the layers underneath the photo. To mat the photo in place to the background I used the new Speech Bubble Edgy Options die together with the Through the Lens – Wood papers. I cut two pieces to draw the pieces farther apart from each other but you can also cut both sides of the paper with the same die without cutting it in half. I used the Clear Double Sided Adhesive Tape to attach the pieces to my page as well as a stapler.
Step 8. Build some patterned paper layers underneath your photo. Then cut some flowers out of the same Through the Lens papers using the Bunch of Flowers 4 die. Layer some of the flowers on top of each other and glue them together. Then find the right spot for the flower in your page and adhere it in place.
Step 9. Use a piece of craft foam and cut a set of alphabets from it using the Alphabet 2 Lower Case die. Then take a piece of Clear Double Sided Adhesive Sheet and attach it to a piece of corrugated cardboard. Then lay your title on top – don’t forget to make it a mirror image! (Letters need to be backward on the stamp.) Use this stamp to make your title – or if you are making a card, to stamp your greeting! Note: You may need to cut some of the letters more than once, depending on what you want to spell out for your title or greeting.
Step 10. Finish your page with some Peel-Off stickers, other embellishments and the journaling.
Thank you for your visit today! If you see more of my work, please come to visit me at my blog, Paperiliitin. I would love to see you there! Have a great day!
Supplies from Elizabeth Craft Designs:
Soft Finish Cardstock – Dove Grey
Peel-Off Stickers – Crystal Flowers
Stage it Stencil – Flower
Clear Stamps – Just a Note
Speech Bubble Edgy Options die
Through the Lens – Wood
Clear Double Sided Adhesive Tape – 3 mm
Bunch of Flowers 4 die set
Alphabet 2 Lower Case die set
Clear Double Sided Adhesive Sheet – 6×6
Other:
Prima Marketing – Clear Gesso
Prima Marketing – Watercolor Confections Tropicals and Classics
Ranger – Distress Ink Pad Spiced Marmalade
Ranger – Archival Ink Pad Jet Black
Prima Marketing – Delight Delicious 12×12
A Flair for Buttons – Wood Words flair
Doodlebug Design – Matte Sprinkles
Acrylic block for temporarily mounting clear stamps
Craft foam for die cutting letters and a piece of corrugated cardboard (see step 9)
