Life is a Beautiful Journey

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It might have been better if I had named this layout "Life is a Beautiful Accident", because that's totally what this layout started out as.

I had a vision, I wanted to use the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Union Square paper line to create a cut-out background as my base. So I pulled out the paper and ran it through my Silhouette Cameo (how I ever lived without this machine I will never know!). But....the background I ended up with was too delicate. It didn't fit "the vision", and now I had used an entire piece of paper and created something I might never use. So.....I downloaded an individual shape pattern and created my own, more spacious background instead using the Silhouette Studio software and my trusty Cameo. Voila! Vision achieved.

Then I wanted to stencil over the top layer using a lovely Memory Box damask stencil. So I pulled out my grey and black paint, but fortunately, before I could apply paint to paper I decided that would be too dark. So I grabbed a nice crimson red instead. I sponged my paint with different pressures through the stencil and I was a bit skeptical about the result at first, but I pressed on.

I added my other paper layers, also from the Union Square paper line, distressed the edges and added my photo and I was really liking the direction, but something was still missing. And then I pulled out the original background paper I had cut......what a great little extra layer of dimension it added, by snipping out pieces of it and applying them. And then, I got extra points by using the negative bits left over from the original background cuts. I sponged the edges of them, popped them up on pop dots, and adhered them in little groupings around the photo. Below is a photo of the tile pop ups:

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In the end I love how the whole layout turned out, and I hope you like it too! Comments are always welcome, and don't forget to follow us here on the blog by clicking "Join this site" over on the left!

Supplies

Paper: My Mind's Eye - Lost & Found Union Square, Echo Park Dots & Stripes
Silhouette Cameo
Colorbox Ink - Black
Tim Holtz Distressing Tool
E6000 Spray Adhesive
K&Company word stickers
Memory Box damask stencil
Acrylic paint