Hi Everyone and welcome to Part 1 of our Summer Cyber Crop - this weekend we are going to bust some stash! OVer the course of the weekend we will share layouts and tips for using up some of your existing stash and throw in some sketches and a few challenges for good measure!
So our first stash busting focus is alphabets. I am going to share a new layout and the technique used to create it and a few older layouts which will help you use up those alphabets.
So here is my layout, there are no alphabet stickers on the layout which is a bit ironic on an alphabet busting challenge! However we are going to be using up alphabet stickers to create a title and background using ink, art crayons or watercolour.
To start the layout I knew I wanted to use this photo and a few pieces of ephemera, in order not to waste time and resources I laid out the pieces roughly where they would go.
Next I added my title "Holding Isaac" under the photo. When that was done I used other alphabet stickers to build up around the title. I wanted to do a few things to help the title stand out so I added some punctuation marks around the title to help add a bit of separation from the other letters while still continuing the flow of stickers.
Also when filling the space treat the extra letters as shapes rather than letters so feel free to rotate other letters to fill the spaces.
Take away the photo and ephemera...
I used Vicki Boutin Art Crayons applied to acetate then picked up with a brush and dry brushed over the top of the alphabets. I used my ephemera and a test piece of cardstock before starting to check that it was the right tone.
Make sure there is really good coverage around the title.
Remove the letter stickers EXCEPT the title then using only the remaining colour left on your brush add a little colour over the top of the exposed letters - this will tone down the bright white of the letters that are not part of the title just a shade and will help your title to stand out.
Don't forget to share if you have a go at this technique or if you try any of the other alphabet busting ideas below on the
ATDML # Create Facebook Page.
Other Alphabet Ideas...
This is a similar idea to the one above but instead of using the alphabets to create a mask the alphabets are inked before adding them to the page. I can take ZERO credit for this layout as it was my take on a class by the wonderful Debbie Jewell who used the inkable Mr Hueys Thickers to create a stunning background. In this example we made the title stand out by inking it in blck.
Not got enough of an alphabet left to make a full title? No worries, one of my favourite things to do is make a mixed font title, I often do it even if I do have enough of a single font to make the whole title! However if you have a sheet of alphabet stickers or thickers with many letters used up it is worth having a think what individual words you could make from what is remaining - there are even websites where you can type in the letters you have and it will list all the words you can make like this one here:
Find words containing these letters / words in a word. (litscape.com)
Here are a few of examples of titles made with different fonts for each word.
When you are using smaller size alphabets you could use the same principle but instead of making mixed font titles you could add emphasis and highlight key words in your journaling using alphabet stickers or stamps as I did in this layout.
Finally of course there is just the option of using a really long title - another thing I am fond of! This layout which I used as the example for a sketch challenge earlier in the year game me a chance to showcase lots of the gorgeous coloured mini puffy alphabets from Pinkfresh which I love!
Join us at 6pm for a Sketch Prompt with Karen.
