Inspiration: Creative Layout Design with Paige Evans Class on Scrapbook.com + SCT challenge Stamp Your Heart Out
I watched the three Paige Evans class videos this weekend while I was scrapbooking. I love the gradient design in her layout shared in the third class and the way she had done her stamping, but I was absorbed by what I was working on and sort of forgot about it until I had a flash of inspiration later that day. I wondered, what if I used my mini envelope punch board and created a pile of colorful envelopes? The wheels started turning. I initially had a certain picture in mind, but I didn't have a print copy of it and in the end, I got caught up in what I was doing and ended up just doing a picture-less layout. Sometimes, the journaling is all a layout needs.
I glued all of the envelopes shut except the one I slipped my journaling in. This was mainly because most of the scraps I used for my envelopes had a backside that clashed, so seeing inside the flap would have ruined the rainbow effect.
It took a while to select papers that worked well together, cut them to size, punch the envelopes and assemble them. I looked through my stamps and a postage image in the Till We Meet Again set from P13 that was perfect. I started creating my gradient. It's too bad most of it got hidden, but having the stamping peek on the sides really made a big difference on the overall design. I used other stamps from the same set to stamp on some of the envelopes as well.
By the way, I should share how I glued my envelopes down. I fiddled to arrange them in a pleasing way and once they were in place, I wondered how I could stick everything down and keep the envelopes where I wanted them. So I actually placed a strip of tape at the bottom of the envelope only and then I was able to slip the next row of envelope underneath it (and I also figured that it left me room to embellish later if I didn't glue everything down too firmly). I started from both corners and worked my way to the middle. Because the envelopes are piled up, it doesn't really matter if the top portion is not glued down, it's not liking a flat piece of paper where corners are coming up. The envelopes are sturdy enough to stay in place, and it gives the whole thing a bit of dimension without the use of dimensional adhesive.
For the title, I used the Society Alphabet Bigz die from Tim Holtz. I cut the letters out of chipboard first and then I went back to my scraps to use the same papers for the letters following the same color order. This took a while because I have repeating letters, but the result is pretty cool. I did a line of piercing underneath as well.
I started decorating the envelopes. I had a roll of Doodlebug Design washi that has postage stamps that can be torn to be used individually (probably my favorite washi tape I own). Another cool Doodlebug washi from the French Kiss line looks like mailing envelope border with the red and blue stripes, so I added it to my blue envelope. And then I added buttons to most of the envelopes in matching colours.
On the main envelope, I was really happy to be able to recycle my yellow chipboard circle from my previous layout that I wasn't able to use because the colour clashed. It looked beautiful here, so I embellished my main envelope with it and then I went digging for a chipboard accent for the center. Surprisingly, I found what I was looking for in the Simple Vintage Coastal set. The stamp worked perfectly, and then I lookd at the other elements and found three words - hello, fun and enjoy in aqua, which were perfect to add to the other envelopes.
For the journaling, I folded a piece of Soft Sky cardstock in three and handwrote my journaling on it. I thought about using my computer to print in colour, but I realized that doing a layout about the art of sending letters and not using my own handwriting would be pretty ludacrous! Hence the threefold to have more room. I didn't like the cardstock showing as much as it did, so I used a leftover paper from the same collection and I did a belly band around it, then tied a ribbon, which makes it easier to pull the journaling out of the envelope. I looked through my box of ribbon scraps and I loved how the Tango Tangerine ribbon looked next to the aqua, so I added it and tied it in place with gold and white baker's twine.
My journaling talks about my love of writing and receiving mail. I've had dozen of pen pals when I was young and have send hundreds of letters over the years. Then email became more popular and eventually, people got sucked into social medias and texting, the efficiency of it all being more appealing, and handwriting became a dying art. I can still enjoy sending mail through the greeting cards I send, but sadly, my own inbox remains pretty lonely.
I love how this layout turned out. Granted, this is a scraplift but it was fun to take the concept and reinterpret it differently, And who doesn't love rainbow projects?
Supplies
Stamps: Till We Meet Again (P13)
Ink: Various (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Textured White (American Crafts)
Patterned Papers: Paper Scraps from Various Companies
Dies: Society Alphabet (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Paper Piercer, Stampin' Dimensionals, Designer Buttons, Chipboard Circle,
Tango Tangerine Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Crushed Curry Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!);
Gold and White Baker's Twine (Spellbinders); Mini Envelope Punch Board (We R Memory Keepers);
Special Delivery, Wish You Were Here Washi Tape (Doodlebug Design); Buttons (Foof-a-La)
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