CHillin' in the Flowers {CUT to YOU}

Hello! :) Do flowers make you happy? They do me! And our cat. ;)

We live on the second floor in an apartment and fortunately we have a nice little deck area where I am able to creatively surrond myself with plenty of pretty flowers. To maximize our space I used some baskets that hang over the railing of our deck. And since our cat likes to sit on the railing, it was only a matter of time before she would also "have to" sit in the flower baksets. If you are a cat owner, then you know how this goes... you try and try to stop them, but in the end you are facing a losing battle, and well... there comes a time when you just give in. It's tiresome to fight a battle with a queen. lol 

After cutting the oh-so-perfect Wedding Boquet cut file I set it on the base of my layout and lightly traced around a few areas to capture the general shape. I then created a mixed media background using the packaging technique and finishing off with a few splats of a contrast color.

It took a bit of time to back this file with seveal coordinating colors and mixed prints, but the effort was well worth it.

At the end of the day, my flowers weren't too much worse for the wear and our cat also got to enjoy them, so I suppose it's a win-win. At least for her.
I hope that you have been inspired by my layout to create! Head over to the store and start creating!

We love to see what you're making so don’t forget to share on the CUT to YOU HQ on facebook!

Hello Summer

Hello! Today I'm sharing a fun mixed media page. Melinda Sweetman and Tamara Buckler  each created and shared some fabulous mixed-media layouts in the past couple of weeks on the CUT to YOU blog, and today I am sharing mine.

I have used the super cute 'What's Going Swan?' cut file to create my layout. I began by adapting the waves in my Studio Software to create a base template by stacking several layers of longated waves, which were also skewed a bit to add some movement and visual interest. This became the base of my stencil. I also created the swan to use. 

I won't lie, it took me a few attempts to get the waves "perfect".  After some trail and error I found that some blue acrylic paint along with some texture medium was the perfect fit and helped me to create these wonderful waves. 

I taped my template to my cardstock and used an old gift card to scoop up the textured medium and scraped across the waves in one fluid motion, moving in one direction, being careful not to move the template. 

I then allowed it to dry a bit prior to removing it. The end result was almost perfect... as you can see, there is a smudge, but this was easily fixable. 

The end result is a subtle texture, but it really adds a nice "wow!" factor to the layout. 

I then added some sprinkings of ink which helps create a nice finished mixed-media look. 

The remainder of the layout was just completing the sweet swan and adding little details to bring her to life.

This was acheived by adding some sequins, a brad, some twine, and a large floral cluster. 

I hope that you have been inspired by my layout, alogn with the super talented Melinda's and Tamara's to try a mixed media layout using one of the many fabulous cut files that CUT to YOU has to offer! Head over to the store  and start creating!

Don't forget to share on the CUT to YOU HQ on facebook!