Tutorial // Layering Colored Vellum

One thing that is relatively new to my stash of scrapbook supplies (in the last six months) is colored vellum. I love that the semi-transparency of the material allows for layering and creating different hues. You can layer complementary colors for an unexpected effect, or similar colors for different tones.

For my layout today, I wanted to focus on blue-green colors, so I chose cool colors - vellum chambray, vellum poolside, and regular vellum to soften the colors.

I started out by using my Silhouette Cameo to cut two circles from each sheet of vellum - one 4" circle and one 3.5" circle. I used to have a manual circle cutter but it was pretty iffy at doing its job, so I love using my Cameo for precise shapes. To cut the vellum circles, my Silhouette settings were: blade 3, thickness 30, and speed 5. If I'm cutting more intricate shapes, I'd slow down the speed of the blade.

Here are my six vellum circles. (Not pictured: I also used my Cameo to cut two slightly smaller circles out of scrap paper - 3.75" and 3.25". I'll talk about them later).

Once my circles were cut out, I began arranging them on my layout until I was satisfied with how they look. This is roughly what I decided on.

Adhering vellum can be a problem because of its semi-transparent quality. Some options would be to strategically hide the adhesive under embellishments layered on top, used vellum adhesive, or stitching. I decided to go for the stitching route since I thought white stitching would provide a nice contrast.

I used the slightly smaller 3.75" circle I cut out of scrap paper as my guideline for where to pierce the holes around the 4" circle. Since I don't own a sewing machine, all the sewing I do is by hand. Piercing the holes before stitching helps a lot and makes the stitching look nice and neat. I hand sewed all the circles while I watched some TV :)

Here's what the layered vellum circles look like after I finished all the stitching!

After completing that, it was time to add my photo and embellishments. I used lots of goodies from Studio Calico's Wanderlust and Essentials collections. There are lots of great embellishments that worked perfectly for my layout, like the scrap pads, vellum alpha stickers, enamel dots, and wooden buttons.

I decided to finish my layout off with a strip of my favorite patterned paper from Studio Calico's LemonLush collection and some washi tape. I think it really brings the layout together by mimicking the orange hues in my photograph. Here's my layout!

Supplies: vellum - white, chambray, poolside; buttons- Wanderlust wooden buttons; sticky note - Wanderlust scrap pad; alphas - Wanderlust lowercase alpha stickers; paper clip - Essentials flag clips;  enamel dots - Essentials blue enamel dots, gold enamel dots; roller stamp - Wanderlust phrases stamp; star sequins - sequins; patterned paper - LemonLush Impulsive;  cardstock - American Crafts cardstock; die-cut machine - Silhouette Cameo; washi tape - MT tape; thread - DMC; pens - Uniball Signo white pen, Micron pen 

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my layout process and give colored vellum a try :)

Studio Calico Classrooms

Just a quick heads up, there's still time to enroll in some great classrooms over at Studio Calico!

Life Scripted with Kal Barteski is still open for registration! I've always been interested in brush script and it has been really fun learning alongside such a great teacher. I've been trying to incorporate some brush script in my scrapbooking projects as well! Class is available immediately after purchase. Here are some examples of what I've done.

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Learn the art of minibook making with the Mini Book Library classes! You can purchase the entire class bundle and get a bit of a discount ;) Nicole's Workshop is available immediately if you prefer to purchase the classes separately. That's a sneak of it up there. The fold-out mini is so cool. I can't wait to make my own, once I figure out a theme!

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Color Studio with Lisa Truesdell is the perfect class for learning about color combinations, including color in your projects, and how to play with color. I'm happy to be a contributor to this class and this one will begin in March. Don't forget about the must-have Color Theory collection at SC. Lots of basics and awesomeness packed in this line, including a great range of dye-based ink pads. I think my favorite colors are Emerald City and Mint Hint! The paper pad is also a great basic to have, and I love the slightly distressed texture designed by Tim & Beck.

So, what do you think? Hope you join us in the classrooms!

Mama Elephant February Stampede

Welcome to the Mama Elephant Release Design Team blog hop! Our newest release is now live and available for purchase in the store: www.mamaelephant.com. I'm the last stop on the hop and you should have arrived here from the talented JJ Bolton's blog, but if you got lost along the way you can make your way back to the Mama Elephant blog. 

I decided to focus on the new Sketchy Letters alphas. I thought the letters would look cute paired with the sketched panda from Pandamonium, and I added some colorful balloons from Up and Away to complete the birthday card.

To celebrate the new release, Mama Elephant is giving away one of each of the new stamps released! Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede. Winners will be announced on the blog on the last Stamp Highlights Day. You have up to 3 chances to qualify to win! Just leave a separate comment for each!

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Have fun!