I used the beautiful white rocks paper, and the blue word paper from the Wild Whimsy 12x12 paper pack to add layers at opposite corners of my layout, and to matte the photo, and I coloured in some of the mermaids on another piece of 12x12 paper by smooshing some blue watercolour around with Saran wrap. Mixed media always turns out so nice on Wild Whisper patterned papers! To give them a little extra shine, I added a thin layer of the mother-of-pearl paste over the mermaids' tails. I popped my photo up with some fun foam and placed in the center of the layout then tucked the mermaids around the photo. That was basically where my vision ended... I was hoping for simple, clean, beachy and blue, but it just wasn't looking done. I find that the best thing for me to do in a case like this is to leave it for awhile, and come back to it later (in this case, the next day) with a fresh set of eyes.
By the next morning I had a new plan of action! I started by fussy cutting some mermaid tail flowers from another Wild Whimsy paper to use as embellishments that would give my little mermaids a place to sit and help ground them. The next step was to tackle the photo. By adding paper layers to the top right and bottom left of the layout, I had created a channel in the middle of my layout that gave me the feeling that the photo might just float away. An easy solution for this is the draw or stamp a border on the cardstock background, and normally that would be my go-to, but I thought I would try something a little more creative this time. I tore (yep, that's right, tore) the edges of my white cardstock and layered the rock and blue word paper behind the tear, as if they are peeking out from behind the layout. The dark blue creates a border around the layout that holds everything in.
The final solution was to add a complimentary colour to all that blue. I used pink cardstock as a matte behind the photo and the natural contrast between the colours brings back the vibrancy of the blue in the photo. I added a third matte in a dark teal, just to give the photo extra weight and interest. This also gave me extra colours to draw upon to create my title, a rock quote I found online. Finally, I added some pearls and SpiegelMom Scraps sequins to give the layout a little dimension and sparkle, and that really brought it all together! I love this layout. It still feels clean and beachy but also whimsical and interesting. You can find a process video for this layout at my Youtube channel, if you'd like to see more. Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next week, Happy Scrapping!
