UKS Blog Hop!! Adding Layers and Dimension

Hello everyone!



Welcome to the UKS Spring BlogHop! You may have come to me from PaperCollecter Anon

If you lose your way, or have dropped in on me directly and want to follow the hop, you can see the full list with all the links here

Ever wondered how to get from this...

... to this?
I'm here today to share my process for adding layers and dimension to a scrapbook layout. I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of other ways, but this is how I do it and if you manage to gain something useful here today it would make me very happy!

So, I started my first layer by rubbing over the cardstock with white acrylic paint where I expected the embellishments and photo to go. I tend to have a sketch in mind when I start a project although I'm pretty flexible and sometimes the end result is far removed from the original idea! to create more depth I overstamped the painted area with a background stamp with more acrylic. I try not to worry too much about how it looks at this stage because a lot of it will be covered up anyway.

Now to start adding some paper layers... my layout has a border top and bottom and along one side, I cut my strips ready and do a little inking and 'lifting' of the paper with my fingers to stop it looking too flat on the page...

I use the same process for adding layers behind my photo, I don't think about the size of the paper too much, just adding scraps and offcuts of coordinating papers in a way that pleases me and if I like it? I stick it down! (or I would be there for hours shuffling paper *rolls eyes*) HOWEVER... I only stick down in places that will still enable me to lift the edges of my papers and tuck more things in should I need to. Can you see the difference using your fingers to gently curl the edges of the paper makes to the overall look of the photomat?

Now for the fun bit! Notice that I haven't actually stuck down my mat yet, I still like to have a bit of 'shuffle-space'! I've added more depth by using the negative space from a scallop circle die cut, with a little PP peeking through behind and a fussy cut flower raised with popdots over the top. I've echoed the banner diecuts on the photomat with more banners in the top corner.

Nearly finished, but the layout needs more contrast so a bit of black stamping and ink spattering is required (that's another reason why I don't stick the mat down!, a few extra embellishments (yup, I stuck a bird on it!)and a bit more woodgrain tucked in here and there to help tie everything together.

So, just the title (and a few more twiddly bits...) to go! If you've managed to stick with me for this long then thank you for your patience. I do hope you found this useful and it has given you some ideas how to create layers in your own projects. The PPs I have used for this layout are all from the latest Quirky Kit from Crafty Templates.
The next blog on the hop is The House of Bears thank you again for visiting and I hope you come back soon!

Please comment on this post by midnight 18th April if you would like a chance to win this...

I will pick a prize at random and post the results in my next post.


Nikki xxx