A New Adventure: My Process, My Way

I climb up the stairs, thinking about what I'm going to find at the top. I have a lot of paper to put away. I know that much. I sit down in the middle of a scattered selection of scrapbook kit contents, on the floor, where the frenzy of the beginning of the month page making usually begins.

I start slipping pieces back into packaging and, underneath a sheaf of sheets of patterned paper, I find a photo. It has browns, greens: a picture of me taking a picture of a view of the Scottish Highlands. It was meant for use with my Gossamer Blue August kits, the colours were perfect. Distracted, now, I pull out the bag of August bits again and within minutes I have a layout planned. I post my progress on instagram, because I'm pleased with it. Then I go back downstairs.

Days later, when I return, I pull apart the bones of my layout. It's not what I wanted. I start again. I swipe gesso over my background cardstock and wait. I have spotted the sewing machine, threaded to hem curtains; and because I'm loving a sewn-over-paint-y look right now, I start thinking about stitching. I paint part of my page with October Afternoon Mary Mary blue ink. That leaves an uncovered gesso part, but I'm going to let it stay. It adds texture.

I spot a Life Pages card, flowered, grey, pink, mustard, so I grab my papercutting scissors and trim each tiny flower away from the next. I lay my photo on the painted part of my background and begin arranging the flowers to hold it down. On my desk I see different flowers, pink and grey, cut from a Paige Taylor Evans sheet in this month's kit. I don't need the pink flowers, just the branches; but I don't cut them off. Instead I tuck them away, hidden under my photo, where they will add another layer, lift the photo slightly without being seen. Then I take everything back off the cardstock again, because I haven't stitched yet.

 I sew. I lay it all out again. I trim another Life Pages card, a survivor from my original layout plan, into a banner. Now I need a grounding piece: again, a Life Pages card, navy, contrasting enough to pull your eye right across the page whilst bringing out the smoky blue mountains in the photo. I use navy alphas, then, to lead your gaze back to the left again, so you can read the journaling. I balance those two with a couple of navy enamel dots to create a triangle. How about another one? A second triangle to get you moving right round the page? I like the idea of something natural, so I tip an entire jar of wood veneers onto the floor. I pull out cows, little horses, but I settle on birds to draw attention to that sky.

Am I nearly done? I want to add a little map paper, so I trim an extra banner. Maybe that's enough? I take a photo. I post it to instagram

then I think again. I add inky black splashes. I take another photo. I see some little stars scattered on my desk and I lift three and arrange them along the top and more weight there seems to make the banner hang more successfully. I like how the stars hint at the reaching sky in the picture. I reckon I'm finished.

I make it all up as I go along....