Hey Sweet readers! Today’s Double Take is going to be a fun,
messy, therapeutic crafting session!! I recently watched this video by Celine Navarro (a very inspiring mixed media
scrapbooker) and was SO inspired by her use of old thickers that I decided to
make that my theme for these projects.
If you’re anything like me, you have packets of old thickers
in your stash – you know, the ones where the adhesive is starting to get weak,
or where you’ve used all the “good” letters and just have a bunch of Qs and Zs
left. Well, we’re going to put them to good use today, so get out your
collection!! Here’s a look at the ones I took out:
The first thing I did was to choose letters that would
actually work for a title – I spelled out “Happy Days,” using an assortment of
styles and fonts, and even cutting up my stickers to make the letters I needed
if I didn’t have them. In the end, everything will be covered up, so the
differences won’t be very apparent. After my title was laid out, I chose all
sorts of random letters to scatter about my page, making sure to leave a space
for my photo. It was really SO fun and therapeutic to get these thickers down
on a project, because they’d just been sitting in my stash for a while, and it
felt good to use them!!
With all the letters down, it was time for the messy (aka
really fun) part – painting over ALL of it with gesso/white paint. Make sure to
cover your work surface when doing this!! By the way, I knew that my paper
would get covered in paint, so I just used an old sheet of cardstock that I
didn’t like… in fact, I taped TWO sheets back to back, just to make it sturdier
for the gesso. In my head, I’m using up paper that would never get used anyway,
so it’s a win-win!
While the paint was still wet, I spritzed different colors
of spray ink and blended it into the paint with a foam brush. If you’re
interested in this process, you should watch Celine’s video, because she walks
you through the whole thing! I can’t even explain how FUN this was!! You really
should try it sometime… there’s a sort of freedom in being artsy and messy with
things like paint and mist :)
After that’s all done drying, I was able to quickly finish
my layout with some strips of washi tape and some random embellishments that
were sitting on my desk. I also stamped some sentiments from the new Monogram It set as well as the cute arrow from Made By #2 to add more contrast
and interest to the background. The great thing about this technique is that
you’ve put so much into the background that you don’t need a lot of
embellishments to finish your project!
I loved this technique so much that I decided to do the same
thing for my card. Here’s a look at the first step, with random letters stuck
down to and old scrap of paper:
And then after some good old gesso and mist:
These projects are a very different style than I normally
do, but it was really fun and inspiring for me to try a new technique. I hope
you enjoyed seeing my process with it, and if you’re inspired to try it out for
yourself, be sure to leave a link in the comments!! And if you think this technique might be a bit messy for you, you can easily recreate a similar idea with the new Monogram Alpha stamp set - check out these posts by Nicole and Dana for some inspiration!
I’m sad to say that this is my LAST Double
Take post for Sweet Stamp Shop… for now at least! Of course, I plan on
continuing to be a part of the Sweet family here because it’s been really
awesome!!! A big THANKS to Nicole and Danni and all the other wonderful Sweet
designers I’ve had the pleasure to work with!!
A quick reminder... the Holiday Extravaganza is only a couple of weeks away!!! I'm so excited to share what I've prepared, and I promise you won't want to miss it!! ;) Here's a little sneak peek, which you might have seen if you follow me on Instagram.
Have a great week!!
Hi! I'm Michelle :) I'm a graphic design and marketing student and lover of all things crafty. This is my blog to share my adventures and love of beautiful things. Welcome!
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