The Whole Layout

Here is the layout we did at the Stamp group meeting last night. It was a lot of fun. We used every circle punch tht Stampin' Up sells! We also used bleach to stamp the flowers on the blue circles. It was kind of funny that the color of the Pacific Point blue cardstick when bleached out matched the Gable Green cardstock perfectly. If I had planned that it wouldn't have matched at all!

First I punched the bottom of the long side of the white cardstock (which measures 8 1/2 X 9 1/4) with the Eyelet Border punch and added the strips of Good Morning Sunshine patterned paper (they meaure 7 1/2 X 3). After adhering the white squares to my background paper I wheeled around the sides and top of the layout.
If you have never used a border punch, it has an amazing effect to your layout or card. It has a guide on each side of the punch so you can line it up perfectly to get a smooth, even border. Hopefully the picture shows what I mean.

If you put the 2 sheets of cardstock together first and wheel the whole thing at once it will match at the center top of the layout. To wheel this long of a pattern you really need to have an ink cartridge in the wheel handle so you don't have to keep stopping and re-inking the wheel and trying to match it up. Be sure to keep the wheel flat on the paper although you can hide a multitude of mistakes with all the punched circles! It will be easier to keep the wheel flat if you stand up to do that part.

Also, start and stop the wheel off your layout. That way there won't be a faded out part at each end. For wheeling an entire layout you will need 2 sheets of blotter paper or typing paper so it will cover both edges.

A tip for punching holes in your circles: Punch the smaller circle first and then hold the larger punch upside down and punch it either centered or off-set like I did the circles on the layout. This makes it easier because you won't be trying to hold the very edge of the circle while you punch the smaller circle in it.

I used the flowers from the pretties kit in one corner of the layout. I put the half-pearl centers on the flowers with mini glue dots. The flowers come in white and you can use your ink pad to color them so they match the layout or card colors. Pretty cool! If you want the whole flower the same color you can put a few drops of the reinker and a few drops of water (depending on how dark you want the color) in a plastic baggie and put the flowers in and smoosh the color into them. If you want a more subtle color or varigated colors or multiple colors you can use the sponge daubers and apply the color from your ink pad.

I did the flowers on the layout 3 different ways so you could see 3 options for coloring flowers using the daubers. I also did one with a yellow center to show the 2 tone option. Obviously, when using yellow and blue, you don't want to let them overlap or you will get green. If you want a band of green in the middle, no problem but if you don't you will have to be more careful applying the second color than I was!