*Sweet Stamp Shop* - Double Take | Monochrome

Today's Double Take is going to be all about monochrome!! I'll be showing you how I made the following projects:

First, let's start with the layout. I picked out a few photos of a recent adventure I went on with some friends where we took some archery lessons!! It was really fun, and a PERFECT opportunity to use that bullseye stamp in the Wheely Like You set (really, could there be a set MORE perfect for this occasion!?) I was so excited that the theme worked so well that I went crazy and stamped it repeatedly, and then punched them out with my 1" circle punch - so glad the images fit perfectly in the punch, so I didn't have to fussy cut all of them, haha!

Before laying them down on my page, I decided I wanted something in the background to make it more interesting and to add texture. I pulled out some acrylic paint and mixed up a grey color with little splashes of blue (which I decided would be my one other color to concentrate on besides black and white). I thickly brushed the paint through a mask.

While the paint was still wet, I pressed some of the bullseye images into it - it saves the step of gluing them down later!

After that was all dry (I left it overnight), I started layering up some papers behind my photos. One thing that is really great about making a monochromatic project is that choosing your supplies is SOO easy - just pull out whatever is black and white, as well as your focus color! Since I didn't really have room to journal on the background, I made a super simple journaling pocket to stick a tag in. *TIP* Instead of trying to cut that indent in the journaling pocket, just use your circle punch!

With just a bit of embellishing later, my layout was done!

For my card, I pulled out my gelatos - I only have one set and it has three shades of blue, so I knew I just had to use them for this monochromatic theme!! They've been feeling a bit neglected anyway. ;):

Here are some pictures of the card, and if you want to see the full step by step pictures, visit my post over on the Sweet blog!

We're making our way into November now, which means that there are only a few weeks left until the Holiday Extravaganza!! I'm working hard on the project I'll be sharing with you, so keep your calendars marked!! I hope you're as excited as I am. :)

Have a great day! :)

*Use Your Words* - Moment

Hello everybody! I'm here today with a new challenge word from Use Your Words challenge blog - "moment." When I was brainstorming ideas for titles that could use this words, I came up with lots of typical ones that I've probably used before, such as "Love this moment" or "Enjoy every moment." (Great and versatile options for a title, if you want to play along, by the way!) I finally came up with a title that could be great to document something that I think otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten down on a layout.

So I decided on "Moment of truth," which might seem really dramatic but I felt it fit with my story - I wrote all about being a design major and the critiques we have in class. I never really realized that this was a big deal, because it's so normal in my life, but last year, I took a basic photography class with people who weren't necessarily design majors. They kept stressing out before every critique because for them, "normal" was studying for tests rather than having the whole class look at your work and say what they do or don't like about it. I have to admit, I do still feel nervous and anxious sometimes when I'm pinning my work to the wall, wondering if everyone will hate it. But I thought that was just normal! Well, apparently not, so I'm glad I'm getting this down because it really is a big part of my education and my life.

For this layout, I had a lot of fun creating my background - I just got a new pack of gelatos, after eyeing them during many of Wilna Furstenburg's videos. They come in packs of 4 of coordinating colors, so I mixed some watercolor pencil in there too for more colors. They are sooo fun to work with, and I can't wait to experiment some more with them! Then I just piled on a bunch of papers and embellishments in a carefree way. I'm really loving that I'm becoming less and less concerned with things looking perfect and having straight lines and all that - it lets me feel free and I enjoy myself so much more.

Anyway, I hope you'll join in with our challenge this week! I'd love to see your take on the challenge word. Don't forget to link up over at the Use Your Words blog, and to have fun with it!!