Tutorial: Mixed Media Background

Hi everyone, Gina here to share with you a step-by-step for creating a mixed media background. This is a favourite process to use when creating my layouts. You can also use this technique on white card stock or patterned papers but I love the chalky contrast of the white gesso against kraft card stock

To start, I've chosen a small b+w photo and a few possible embellishments and ephemera pieces from the gorgeous Photo Booth main kit

Lightly pencil in the position for your photo and, using a flexible plastic card or palette knife, scrape thin layers of gesso onto the card stock, working in different directions. I prefer do multiple thin layers and add in a few thicker patches, cutting lines into them, with the edge of the card or knife to add lines for texture

Once the gesso is dry (usually only takes about 5 minutes) start adding some colour with distress stains or a similar product. I've used 3 colours here; a gold and two different pinks and I usually blend them around with my fingers a bit

Applying the stain slightly outside the gesso  will result in a more intense colour directly on the card stock. Wipe off excess stain with paper towel, or if you prefer the colour brighter leave as is

I also added some random white splotches with a paint pen

Add a few watercolour splatters in a contrasting colour

Frame the  photo with a piece of patterned paper and tag. A torn edge to the paper is an easy way to add contrast and texture.

Position embellishments, ephemera and title roughly where you want them. I've add some cotton thread under the button and star



Now it's time to stick everything down. I changed the journal tag to a different colour and stamped a phrase onto it

A good quality black felt tip pen is an easy way to add some 'controlled' splatters to your page

Here is the final result (with a couple of graphite scribbles and more stamping under the b+w flowers)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you're now tempted to have play around with backgrounds sometime using this technique. It's a fun way to customise colours to compliment your papers and embellishments and I can guarantee that every page will be unique! x

Gina

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Sunday Sketch with Elsie

Hey CTK fans, it's Sunday Sketch time again! I have a 12x12 layout to share with you all today inspired by this weeks awesome sketch. I'm using the new and seriously delightful 'Photobooth' Main & Add-On kits.

I was immediately drawn to the Maggie Holmes Carousel 'Magical' paper in the Add-On kit. I thought it could make a really interesting background for a page, but I wasn't sure how best I could use it.

Once I saw the sketch I knew I had to try and make the paper work because there are embellishment clusters in the bottom right of the sketch, and the Carousel roof design on the paper is also in the same corner.

I love my white space, so using a patterned paper background is a really daunting task for me, so I'm happy I stepped out of my comfort zone!

I decided to add a frame around the entire paper, and I loved how it looked. It contained the paper's design and helped make it make a little more sense in my head!

I added a lot of the embellishments to the bottom of the page. I used three of these adorable ticket and food stands from both the Carousel ephemera pack and chipboard, and clustered them on top of the frame.

This gives the layout some more perspective as it looks like the stands are in the "foreground", the frame is the "middle ground" and the patterned paper is the "background". It's obviously not "to scale", but this idea helps all of these larger pieces work together and make sense when you're looking at the page.

I placed my photo in the same position as in the sketch. It looked a bit random without any embellishments around it, so I fussy-cut some kites from the Carousel collection 'Summertime' paper.

I jazzed up these kites by stitching around them with some thread of the same colour... I can never stray too far away from a needle and thread!

And how cute are the CTK exclusive puffy stickers in the Main kit? Those birds are so adorable, I couldn't resist having them perch on top of the ice cream stand!

And now it's your turn! To play along with this week's challenge, create a layout inspired by the sketch, upload it to the Citrus Twist Kits Gallery with the sketch date (8/06) in the title, and you might win a $5 gift certificate to the CTK store - yay!

I can't wait to see your creations!
- Elsie x