International Scrapbooking Day is a pretty big event to scrapbookers around the globe! With COVID derailing all our Spring events this year, I decided I’d pay homage to ScrapFest 2019 in Kitchener and spent iNSD working on this layout. This picture with Lisa Sales Furtney (owner of ScrapFest) and Vicki Boutin (artist extraordinaire!) is extra special to me. All three of us share a passion for paper crafting and our relationship goes back to the very beginning of ScrapFest.

My first inspiration for this page came by way of a free cut file from Cut to You. Gwen Wruck is the owner/design from Australia, and her cut files are lovely! You can find the Cut to You shop here https://createdbygwen.com.au/shop/, but be sure to check out her blog and sign up for her newsletter. She generously gives away additional free cut files through the newsletter. I decided to make this cut file a large focus of the page, so I cut it out twice, once in black for the border and contrast, and once again from Paige Evans’ Bloom Street collection of patterned papers (paper #17).

Once I knew the cut file and picture I was going to use, I decided the best way to honour this special photo, was to try a mixed media layout – something that is not within my comfort zone! I started with a sheet of Vicki Boutin’s White Foundations Mixed Media Art Paper. I then painted a thin layer of white gesso onto the paper to prep it for the next stage. Using the Framework stencil from My Favorite Things, I applied a layer of Iridescent Glaze – CREATIVEFX (also from the Vicki Boutin line of mixed media products) on 3 areas of the page. Once it was dry, I began playing with some powdered pigments (Vicki’s line) to add the colour to the background. I chose colours that specifically coordinated with the Bloom Street patterned paper (Blueberry Pie & Blue Hawaiian). To add the colour, I simply used a paintbrush to wet my background, and then sprinkled the powdered pigment onto the layout. It blends in very easily, and you can also vary the intensity by adding in more powder as you go.

When my foundation page was dry, I adhered the black cut file and picture. I used the negative pieces from the cut file from the Bloom Street paper to fill in the larger openings in the title. Each of these letters were adhered with 2 sided foam tape to add dimension.

I’m really pleased I pushed my comfort level to try something new this iNSD. I’m really pleased with the end product and think Vicki would approve as well! Keep well, and stay safe my friends. I look forward to seeing you at a ScrapFest event in the future!