In The Cat Cave

... what?!? sarathings?!?

Yes, well, I did the same thing as my friend Sara and brought a few "Undone" layouts to complete at the Paperie retreat this past weekend.  "The Undones" are what Cathie Reed calls her pile of pages that are not yet complete.  I must say that this is generally new to me as I usually finish my layouts... if I am stuck on a layout, I hang it up in my room until something strikes me. BUT.  Since January I have accumulated several... I think its because I have attended several classes (that I am loving) but am not always properly prepared for them... ugh. All of these layouts were left without pictures... or character... yet.

You may need coffee to get through this post... here's your chance.  In fact... let me get a youtube video for you so you can enjoy with some tunes...
This particular layout was created when I attended a class taught by Miss Cathie Reid - we used watercolor paper with mists and gesso, as well as goosebumps to create texture. I loved the goosebumps as we added some ink to get the splats (yellow & blue). See this post to see the 'before' shot! I wasn't loving the colors I picked up before I added the picture... and now, I couldn't be more pleased.  I love these strange pictures of my girl.  Check out the wooden house veneers that I inked using TH distress inks! Fun!

You can see I layered two pictures.  The picture in behind was similar but taken from further out so you can see our puppy dog's face.  Love that little "peek-a-boo" effect.

And of course, I loved the doodling using my AC precision pen...

The next few layouts are all generated from the Paperie's Yearlong Album class taught by Sara Case Strickland.  In this class, we are creating layouts but learning mixed media techniques. Please do check her out, lots of great things are created by her, not to mention all the wonderful things I have learned about mixed media. Thanks Sara!

During the first class we created one layout on canvas, as well as a double page layout. This double page layout was simply playing with twinkling H20s and lots of water. We then used straws to blow the inks across our page. Once at the retreat, I added some doilies and gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine to give it some more color.  These pictures just worked perfectly.
The 12x12 canvas was one giant sticker! :)  Sara loves to attach her layouts to the front of the page protector and put memorabilia in the pocket behind it. Super clever. I loved the idea but had another idea... I thought I would make this page my cover.  So, I adhered the canvas and distressed the edges so that it blended with the chipboard album we were given.

The layout itself has lots of wonderful subtle things.  If you look closely you can see some silver modeling cream (see the hearts?).  This is also on the black binding of the album.  There's also gesso, as well as book paper and patterned paper adhered with matte medium. There's also ink-a-gold (red hearts) ... love the shimmer of this stuff... but I must admit I don't always like to get my hands dirty. Finally, I added the photo this weekend but cut some plastic that came with some embellishments and adhered it over the picture using matte medium.  This should save the picture from getting scratched up.
 If you want to see Sara's take, it was featured in Ronda Palarazzi blog... which was a great shout out to Sara's talent.

For every cover, there's a backcover... this time, I simply covered the chipboard album with gesso.  I then layered some Luminarte Silks on the back in a couple different shades.  I also mixed from Premium Elements with modeling cream to create the purple hearts.  Again, creating texture.  I then joined two Technique Tuesday stamps together with archival ink... saying the following... Love it.

And here's a close up of the stamp...


I missed the March class completely ... noooo... so I missed the cover of the album as well as a double page layout. I solved the album cover problem above.  But because I was with Sara at the retreat, I checked out her layout and asked her what she did.  We used black gesso around the edges (including the diamond stencil) and used perfect pearls over top to create the shimmery leaves. I also used a stencil with white gesso after I placed my pictures.  I really tried to distress the squares and pictures for this layout.  I truly had fun with this layout. I loved placing several photos.