Anatomy of a Page

Recently, Ali Edwards had an item on her blog called Anatomy of an Album. This inspired me to do a blogpost called "Anatomy of a page".

For me, making a layout is about layering.
Layering is about patience....
Patience is about reflection, not acting straight away.

So... when I am making a layout I am not glueing down anything (like I used to do when I just started scrapping). I wait until I have like 3 or 4 layers that I like and only then I attach these layers to eachother. Most of the time the layering continues but only in details.
I remember that when I started srapbooking, I was looking with open mouth to multi layered layouts in the 2peas gallery, having no clue how they had made it. I wish every scrapper would show a step by step guide of their own work now and then, to share their way of creating with others.

What follows is a step by step photo guide to a finished layout with several layers. Enjoy!

1) I chose this picture because I wanted to make a layout for my daughters album that showed how unflattering these last weeks of the pregnancy were. This picture of me is typical for all pregnant woman at the end of the pregnancy; you cannot sit normally (read: with your legs closed) anymore, nor walk for 10 minutes without panting and wanting to sit down.... oh.. and your shoes don't fit you anymore so you have to wear your rubber boots.... :-(. And to top it off... although it is end of November... there are no coats / sweaters in the world big enough to cover your ever expanding belly.




2) This Rouge de Garance patterned paper is perfect for the background because of the coordinating colours of the graffiti on the picture and my top.




3) I layered a piece of wallpaper on top of it... beautiful colours!



4) To make it visually exciting I added a Hambly transparency to cover the complete page.

I love the see-through effect of all the different colours and the patterns.




5) To create a frame I cut the transparency slightly smaller than the page and added the picture to a place on the layout where it wouldn't cover up the wallpaper or the flowers from the patterned paper.




6) Once the layers and the pictures are positioned on the layout, I started adding details like these Stazon stamped stars from Purple Onion Designs. I also used masking tape to attach the photo to the background.

7) Another transparent layer added!

On my desk I found a leftover from the transparency I printed to create this layout .

8) Time to add the title! In this case I chose self adhesive letters in horrible colours.

9) Horrible colours? No problemo! I recently forced myself to use the products that I once bought but never use because they are just not right.... Now I just alter them to my liking so I can still use them. This way I can get rid of stash that is just lying there... I also do this with patterned paper nowadays... i just paint or stamp on it..whatever.. at least now I try to make something with it. To change the looks of these letters I used alcohol ink.

10) I decide the stamps are too vague so I outline them with a black Posca Pen and add some colour to them. And I pull of the masking tape of the picture and outline it too.

11) Now it is time to add some journaling...a part that I hate. You might have already noticed that.. I hardly have any journaling on my pages. Here you can see I had to "repair" my page with black paint, because of a failed attempt to add some funny text. For the balance I add a strip of paint under the photo as well.

12) Now that I have my paint in front of me..... I go wild and start adding some red and white paint as well. During that process I think of the good old Dymo label maker for my journaling.

13) Finishing touch!

14) Detailed photo of the paint structure.

AND A FINISHED LAYOUT