I'm slowly working on my London trip album. Those pictures of platform 9-3/4 were taken during my visit of the Warner Bros. studios. The reproduction of King's Cross Station is quite impressive, and I had fun taking pictures with the luggage going through the brick wall.
I mixed Project Life and traditional together on this layout, which helped me include more pictures while embellishing a little bit more. I particularly like how my 9-3/4 circle turned out. I found some numbers that were the right scale in the Plain digits and punctuation grungeboard kit from Tim Holtz. I've had this set for at least a decade and I keep going back to it from time to time. It has so many pieces in it, it's been lasting me a long time and there's still quite a few pieces to use left in it! This time, I tried something new to cover the grungeboard: Distress crayons! I recently added two new colors to my stash, Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot, after seeing online how you can easily darken some details on your projects and blend the colour using your fingers. I don't do a lot of mixed medias and I don't usually like getting my hands dirty when crafting (I have a bunch of tools, that's what they are for), but I found myself really enjoying blending the crayons in the nook and crannies of the grungeboard and around my papers using my fingers. (In bit part because the crayon will wipe off your fingers super easily without leaving a trace.) I was laying the numbers over a circle die-cut out of Merry Merlot cardstock from Stampin' Up! (which matches the Harry Potter burgundy so nicely), but it felt a little flat, so I pulled out my Black Soot Distress Oxide ink to blend on the outer edge, which made a huge difference.
Because I had selected stars over hearts from the list, I used my Star Border Punch at the bottom of the 4" x 6" black panel. I tried a few options to back the punched part, but in the end, I decided I liked having it as open lace the best. I kept the punched stars aside, figuring I could use some of them somewhere on the layout. Some were glued around the journaling part and on my number circle, but I had this last-minute idea to glue some on the right page and as I was throwing some randomly on the page, I got inspired to have them come out of the train, like a magical cloud. I'm really happy with this last-minute addition.
I also punched out a few tickets, to go with the train theme, and I topped a couple of them with star-shaped enamel shapes.
I needed something to make my journaling block and none of the Harry Potter papers I had were neutral enough to write on, so I reached for my scraps, which are organized in 12" x 12" plastic drawers, by colour. While I don't use my scraps nearly as often as I could, this system does come in handy whenever I am working on a card or layout and I need a small piece that would match what I am using. It sure came in handy here, as I went through the brown/beige drawer, trying to find something that would work. I had to get all the way to the bottom, but sure enough, I found something that worked. It got even better when I die-cut the scrap with the Stacked Deckle Rectangle dies from Sizzix and inked the edges using Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink. Perfect old parchment look. The Harry Potter sticker sheet had some red wax sceals on it, and I used a calligraphy pen to make a fancy first letter. Not my best calligraphy work, but let's give it points for effort and originality.
Supplies
Dies: Stacked Deckle Rectangles (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Months (Echo Park);
Patterned Papers: Wizard (Moxie); Wizard 102 (Reminisce)
Cardstock: Basic Black Core'dinations, Joyous Noel 6" x 6" Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
Accessories: Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot Distress Crayons, Blending Tool (Ranger);
Plain Digits & Punctuation Grungeboard (Tim Holtz Idea-ology); Black Journaling Pen;
Harry Potter Alphabet Stickers (Creative Imaginations); Black Calligraphy Pen;
Washi Tape, Star Border Punch, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Ticket Duo Punch,
Mini Stapler, Regals Enamel Shapes (Stampin' Up!); Circle Layering Dies (Tonic)
Wizard 102 Stickers (Reminisce); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)
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