Living My Dream: NSD Studio Calico Challenge #4

I made this layout above for the National Scrapbook Day challenge #4 at Studio Calico. The challenge is to make your own patterned papers with stamps. I wanted to take this a step further to really challenge myself, so I created a piece of patterned paper using my Neocolors and stamps on mixed media paper to use as a backdrop for my photos. I thought it would be helpful to show you the steps I took to make it, so here you go!

I started with the stamp set named Galahad from the Camelot kits. I took the plain 2" circle stamp to create my background.

I used a water brush and dripped a couple of drops of water directly on the stamp. Then I took a green Neocolor II and colored onto the stamp base over the water. If the stamp is TOO wet, shake a litte of the water off before stamping it. It should be wet, but not dripping. Now turn it over and stamp it onto mixed media paper or watercolor paper (mine is cut to be 12" wide x 8" tall). I usually use the Thin Letterpress paper in the shop as it is thick and does not warp, is almost pure white which I love, and has a nice texture to hold paints and wet things well. After stamping each circle, add more of the crayon and more water as needed to keep it wet. I love how the stamped images are lighter and darker in areas as I did not apply the crayon evenly.

My next step was to cover each circle with stamps. To do this, I took a circle punch that was 1.75" and I punched a circle out of a piece of scrap paper. I then placed the scrap paper over each of the circles as I stamped inside them to block the other areas of my background. I used some of the Galahad stamps on this, but I also added many other past kit stamps. There is a complete supply list with links on the Studio Calico blog. When stamping (I used the dark gray ink from Color Theory), I like to stamp the image multiple times without re-inking so some are darker and some are lighter.

After each circle was covered with stamps, I started coloring the background. I used a red Neocolor II crayon and I colored a little bit of an area and then used a water brush to move the color around the background between the circles.

This is another image just showing the way I colored some areas and then spread the color around. After the paper is wet, sometimes I add more of the crayon over a wet area so some areas are more saturated with color than others. I love how you can create a watercolored looking background with these crayons!

When I finished with the red, I realized my paper was looking a bit too Christmasy! haha So then I added some splotches with a yellow Neocolor II crayon - adding yellow to my layout was never my plan, but I think it adds some nice color! I kept the majority of the color in the bottom right corner and lightened it as I worked up so some areas were lighter than others.

After I finished with my background paper, I cut a large 8" circle out of the red paper from the Color Theory Paper Pack (one of the best purchases I've ever made as these papers are awesome for backgrounds in place of cardstock!). I then took the circle I had cut out and traced it on white mixed media paper and cut out a circle to outline my red circle. I colored on this one with a black Neocolor II crayon to add stripes. This outline was an after thought, but I liked how it frames the circle and how it has a Dr. Seuss type feel to it!

I also made another piece of patterned paper with stamps shown here:

This stamp is perfect for creating unique backgrounds and was part of my Sugar Rush scrapbook kit a couple months ago. I used this paper underneath my photo to "matte" it.

And that is IT! I hope you made it through this very long description of how I created this layout! Every now and then it is really fun to create something with paints, mists, crayons, stamps, and all our fun supplies. I love how this turned out and it really let the inner artist in me out for a little while as it is way messier than my usual approach to scrapping! I hope you have fun with this challenge - try to think outside the box and use your stamps in unique ways! Happy NSD! suzy

PS: As PROMISED: (NOTE: That was NOT the craziest thing I've ever done. Not even close. But it WAS the only one I was willing to talk about publically and put all over the internet)

I think the other guy in the first picture is Tom Clancey - the author. But I wasn't paying much attention... haha. The first picture is right after he kissed me. I said I was embarrassed and he said "that's ok, so am I" while he was looking at me. I thought that was adorable. He was quite handsome back then - but then again, I looked much better too! It was about 20 years ago when I was 30. And I still can feel those lips on my cheek .....