Hi! It's Lainie here with a new Build-A-Page tutorial. Are you ready to get a little messy? I wanted to created a layout with a beach feel for the photo of my daughter Austinie walking on a Southern California beach.
To set the mood, I thought I would start my background with some watercolor painting on top of the paper from the May Kit. I just lightly washed some watercolors right on top of the paper (no gesso) because the paper absorbs the color a little better and you get more of a dispersed look.
Next, I used an old toothbrush head and mixed some water in with the paint to apply a splatter effect.
The splatters are accomplished by holding the brush loaded with paint over the paper and briskly rub your thumb over the bristles...
...and this is the effect. NOTE: I put my paper in a box while I am doing this because paint can fly everywhere.
I also did some light stamping with a Bo Bunny dot stamp and Tim Holtz Distress Ink. Next, I used a Prima stencil and texture paste to randomly add some texture here and there. I also lightly added some gesso over some places to give it a softer look.
The May Kit of the Month included this white mesh, which I crumpled and spot-glued to the page to give the background an airy appearance - like billowy sand dunes or frothy waves.
I again added some more stamping for a little contrast and added depth.
Then I began layering in elements like reeds and painted corrugate that would act as fillers - you can start to see the page forming.
Then I added the photo and an assortment of flowers - some from my stash and some from this months kit.
The biggest inspiration for the layout is the sand we received in the kit - I saw it and knew I had to use it. I simply added it on top of glue that I strategically placed around the page.
Here is a close up of some of the sand layered on the mesh.
Lastly, I added my title and spruced it up with a little more watercolor paint to make it pop a little more and tapped the flowers with a little gesso to soften them up.
I hope you try some of these techniques and have a ton of fun experimenting!
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