Asking Permission - Echo Park & Webster's

Last month seemed to fly by in a second. I barely had enough time to get all my Christmas shopping done. Between doing some wedding DIY, family dinners, and working, I managed to get this layout done; but I had to wait until it was sunny enough outside to take pictures. I always set my layouts next to a window and use the natural sunlight to get my pictures. (I wish I had enough money to get a light setup for my photos.)

Echo Park Paper - Victoria Gardens - Rose Garden, Webster's Pages - Country Estate - Serenity, Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Antique Linen, Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Forest Moss,  Prima Marketing - Textured Alphabet Stickers - White

This layout is about my fiancé asking my father for permission and is one of the very few layouts I have that doesn't include photos. I almost always have a photo, but this time I wasn't present for the conversation and therefore couldn't bring my camera. However, I think it just adds to the topic. The papers I used were so intricate and I knew they would quickly overwhelm my page. So, I decided to cut them up in strips instead and post them on white cardstock.

To help the give more definition to the strips of paper, I broke out the sewing machine and did a couple of cute stitches in a brown color. I loved the look of it so much that I also decided to stitch a border (or two) as well. The brown stitching also allowed me to bring in some Kraft paper as a solid. Solid papers are a necessity when working with bold patterns. Your eye needs a calm place to rest. Otherwise, it will start looking really busy.

I bought these alphabet stickers a couple of years ago and I love them. They're white fabric so I'm able to color them with whatever inks I want to match my layout. I was able to spritz them with some water and rub them with Tim Holtz's Forest Moss distress ink. The color was just perfect. But I had a happy accident when I was gluing them down. Apparently my letter 'S' was not yet fully dry and when I dropped it on my page it left a small green smear. So I had to do some damage control. I pulled some more kraft paper out and cut out a flourish with my Sizzix. It wasn't what I had originally planned, but I actually like it better that way.

Hopefully I'll have enough time to have another layout up soon. I'm just having so much fun right now and I want to savor it as much as possible. I want to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful comments I've received since my last post. You guys are just so wonderful. If you haven't started following my blog yet, now's a great time! Just click the little button to the right that says "Join this Site". I promise that you won't receive any spam mail from it. Thanks!