Revamping a Layout

Hullo my friends! Lizzy with you today – to show you how I’ve ‘revamped’ a page that I created & never used for its original purpose. Plus a few hints on how you can use Faber-Castell gelatos to create a background.

Here’s my ‘before’ page.

And 'after':

 Initially, I did this:

Yeah, a bit radical. But necessary!!

CREATING A GELATO BACKGROUND

Take a sheet of plain card stock. Coat with gesso, or something similar. I used Matisse ‘Whte’ emulsion, which is similar. What you need is any product that will coat your paper, so when you slosh on a pile of water it won’t turn to mush. I used the white to tone down the colours as I worked with them – that’s the look I was aiming for.

Oh yeah - I keep my gesso in these bottles - easier to work with! Then I work out where my photo will go, mark it with pencil, so I don’t waste putting the color where it won’t be seen.

 Next step, choose your colours & simply squiggle them onto your paper.

Put lots on. Then with a water spray [an old mist bottle is the best], spray on a LOT of water. So much that it ‘pools’ on your page.

Next, using your finger, basically ‘finger paint’ it.

Once you’ve done this –working the colours in together a bit as well, add more water. Now tip your paper up & down so the colours ‘run’ together. If you want drips, now is the time to create these.

If there is too much water, simply add more Gelatos at this stage & work them in again. Once you’re happy with the ‘look’, you can leave it as is. Or do this extra step. VERY gently, gingerly almost, using some paper towel, blot the paper. This gives a bit more texture which I like, & softens & blends the colours even more.

That’s it! Let dry. I’m impatient, so I use my old hair dryer to dry my page.

If you find it has curled up, then simply coat the back side with gesso or paint – any wet medium will do. Once it dries, your whole page will be flat. This tip comes from Zeneva Kovic…..& it’s a fabulous one!

So, now I’ve got my paper & the bits from the original page I wanted to add, plus some extras…& I set about making it look decent. Some of the silver doily went under the edges, softened with gesso. I re-jigged the title & added a heart punched from the original paper - stamped, then also gessoed:

This page was for a challenge ‘One Little Word’ in June, where you had to use the word ‘will’…so I stamped that on the background…crookedly, but that was OK…I just made it more crooked ‘til it looked OK!  Here's a few more closies:

Hope this tutorial helps you in some small way. For me, best of all, I ‘rescued’ my page & now I’m happy with it!
Happy scrapping ~ Lizzy ♥♥♥