A Soft, Harmonious Palette at CCG!

We have a new challenge up at Color Combos Galore with a beautiful palette and a fun Designer's Challenge.

I had the perfect pictures for this challenge. Our sponsor this month, Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker, sent us papers from her It's Raining, It's Pouring collection, so we used those papers for this challenge. The blue paper in the background and the plaid papers are from this collection.

I read aloud to my students every day--gather them on the carpet for a good story. I have a bearded dragon named Leo who lives in our classroom during the week, and I take her out during storytime. Well, one day, I look up from my book, and this is what I saw... Fortunately, I happened to have my camera in my purse that day!

Here are some close-ups. I covered a BasicGrey chipboard element with old Chatterbox paper, which was the only paper I could find in my stash that had the exact green of the palette. Love the subtle textures on those old papers. The buttons on the punched stars are old Making Memories buttons that I stitched on with baker's twine. Those silver circles on the title block are called "metallic dots," and I got them from Jo-Ann's in a bunch of different colors. The letter stickers are by Webster's Pages--love them because they're small. I tried to use elements on my page to support the "literary" theme, and I thought the Heidi Swapp ledger chipboard letters were perfect for this. I outlined them in pen to make them stand out.

I found some burlap in my stash which went with the taupe color in the palette, and I also thought it reminded me of the rough texture of my dragon. I tore a dictionary page that had literary words, added a spiral notebook punch, and used a typewriter font for my journaling--to further the literary theme. I found a trim in my stash that had a similar burlap-y texture.

Here's a shot that shows I adhered the stars for extra lift. I outlined all my elements with a fine-line pen to give them extra texture and dimension. That larger brad is an old MOD brad, and the smaller one is by BasicGrey. I used some old Heidi Swapp photo corners on here, too.

I thought a metal bookplate would be a perfect embellishment--you know, for the literary theme. I was going to leave it open and then thought of adding something dark to balance the black letters in my title. I found these ancient Making Memories brads in my stash. The patterned brad is by BasicGrey--love the edging on the new brads BasicGrey is making these days. The "U Make Me Smile" is a cut-out from one of the Nikki Sivils papers, and that thermometer accent is from Pink Paislee's Hometown collection. It's in the May Work in Progress kit, and this piece was sitting my desk leftover from a layout I was working on and the "Easy to Read" caught my eye and struck me as funny and the perfect addition to my page--you know, the lizard with all the words piled on her.

I thought this sticker, by Creative Imaginations, was hilarious for this page:

You should hop over to CCG and see what the rest of the team made with the Nikki Sivils papers--so fun to see all the different takes on this challenge. And be sure to play along to be eligible for the prizes provided by our sponsor, and you might be spotted and faved for our Gallery Faves!

Thank you for stopping by today and reading about my layout!

A Shiny, Happy Challenge at CCG!

Challenge 189 went live last night at Color Combos Galore. Such a beautiful Inspiration Board we have this week:

The colors are beautiful, but I had to look long and hard to find just the right picture to go with them. I came upon this picture of baby me, and it looked just perfect for the combo. As soon as I saw my shiny bum, I was reminded of the silly song my mom would sing to us when we were little (and naked).

I scrounged through my paper stash to find the colors and came up with some old and new stuff: My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy, American Crafts Dear Lizzy, and some old Fancy Pants. I found some Peach Core'dinations that was perfect. I used the current sketch from Pencil Lines (sketch 234) as inspiration for my page design: 

Here are some close-ups. The journaling labels are by October Afternoon. I thought the little windows in the Dear Lizzy birdhouse needed something, so I added some Pearls (by BasicGrey). That gauzy rose is cut from a Webster's Pages Bloomers trim. For some reason, I forgot to get a detail shot of the other roses, but they're by Prima. At the last minute, I stuck those pins in--I think they're by Heidi Grace (not a hundred percent sure because they were floating in the bottom of my pin drawer--yeah, I have a drawer dedicated exclusively to pins).

I think I have a lifetime supply of Heidi Swapp letters, and I'm always so happy when I have enough vowels for the title I want to use! That little brad is an old Autumn Leaves MOD brad. You can see a little of the Core'dinations paper behind the title, which I sanded.

I love tucking little odds and ends between layers. These two piece are also VERY old. The soap one is a cut-out from Melissa Frances, and the Exhibit A bit is by Daisy D's.

  

A little detal shot from the bottom corner. I added a little Doodlebug sugared brad to the Bloomer rose to make it stay the way I wanted. The sparkly chipboard heart is Dear Lizzy.

  

The edges on that picture above look sort of muddy, but the edges are actually shimmery. Our Designer's Challenge was to add shimmer. I didn't want to cop out and just use the glittery accents, so I dug out the Twinkling H2O's that I bought eons ago when I saw them demonstrated at a stamping store. I distressed the edges of my papers with the Zutter Distrezz-It-All and then painted them with the Twinkling H2O's. So shimmery and pretty. Don't know why I never used them before. I think I tried to use them once but I didn't let the water soak into the pigment enough, so when I tried painting with them, it was too watery.

  

The reveal for the challenge is especially beautiful this week with these gorgeous colors. Head over and check out what the rest of the design team made. And I hope you'll play along. You might catch Janet's eye and be featured or even win a prize from our sponsor...

Thank you so much for visiting and reading about my layout!