A Taste of Spring

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Spring! Since it's only January, I guess we'll have to make do with this layout based on the January sketch from Swirlydoos, featuring my DGD in April, 2015.

The Swirlydoos January kit features beautiful papers and embellishments from Lemoncraft and I've taken advantage of the colors and pattern of the Gossamer Blue 04 to start my Spring layout. Because I was going to do some heavy stenciling, I first gave the paper a thin coat of clear gesso to cut down on the warping. (It won't prevent it completely, but it does make a big difference.) When both sides were absolutely dry, I applied Ranger Grit Paste through one of my favorite stencils (Natural Flourish by Art Stamps) and let it set for a few hours.

The photo was matted with plain white cardstock and then a layer of light blue, with packing in between each layer to give it a lot of dimension. I knew that I wanted to tuck bits of embellishments underneath, so I taped only the center of my bottom layer to the paper.

Next, I selected a piece of ephemera from the sheet that came with the kit; I cut it out, inked the sides, and cut it in half down the middle. I arranged the halves next to my photo, turning the bottom piece upside down to use the border edge.

From the kit, I used one of the Kaisercraft blooms, as well as some of the Lemoncraft flair buttons and a bit of the Lemoncraft trim.

The rest of my flowers (and the scattering of pearls) are from my stash. The vines were cut from a Poppy Stamps die.

The metal butterfly - treated with a light coating of Vintaj Patina - is an EBay find.

There was still a bit of gap in my mind, so I did a bit more rummaging through my embellishment and came up with this resin birdhouse that I've been er, saving and that was the perfect way to finish off my cluster.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by; I truly appreciate your visits.