Yours, mine and the truth, right? Well, for today, it’s Shar’s, Brande’s and Cheryl’s. We chose one sketch from the January/February 2013 issue of Creating Keepsakes to work on, and tried to illustrate how different our processes are.

All Smiles layout by Maggie Holmes for Creating Keepsakes

Find Part 1 here.

What can I Paint?

That was my first though when I looked at the sketch. I loved the triangles and figured I must have a mask I could use to paint, mist or ink those. I knew it would be best to layer the papers I wanted to use first, so I could choose where to paint. I chose some Project Life papers from the Midnight collection and layered them in an arrangement that was pretty close to the sketch. I loved all the patterns, so I wanted to show as much as I could. (Note: I haven’t even thought about the photo yet.)

I mixed some Swivel Chair Sprinklers by October Afternoon with gesso to match for the orange accent colour in these papers. I used a Studio Calico mask but put the paint on waaaayyy too think and it seeped under the mask. What I was left with was not what I had planned on, but a happy accident. I noticed when I wiped some excess paint away with a baby wipe, that the colour was perfect.

I replicated that look in two other places and added some paint splatters, before moving on to sort out where I could actually put the triangles.

The mask that didn’t work with my paint worked perfectly as a template to colour the arrows with a black Sharpie pen. There was so much black in the layout already, it was logical to repeat it over the orange painted areas. (You’ll see how that worked on the finished page.) Because I had mixed so much paint, I really wanted to use it all. I decided it would make a great finishing touch to the card that will hold my journaling. I cannot believe how well it turned out. (I DO NOT have a steady hand!) You can also see that I hand cut some small circles to pop up over the orange pattern.

Since this was feeling like such a whimsical layout, I went hunting for a fun photo. I told you I’d get to that eventually … I chose one of my husband and kids, because it was a day when he was supposed to be at work but made it home in time to meet us for a walk. That story will fit perfectly with the “today was” card. The journaling is missing because I took the photo before the paint dried. I barely let it dry enough to adhere it.  🙂