Step by Step with Melissa Frances

Hi Ladies and welcome to Tuesday Step by Step. I thought that i would try something different today and something that i have seen quite alot on the internet recently. Today i want to share a  step by step layout that shows you how i pull everything together. This is the finished layout that is the end product!

I was delighted when Adrienne gave me the new Melissa Frances to have a play with this month as it is very much my style and so beautiful! i love the soft pastel colours and all the matching embellishments- it makes building a layout very easy!

So i guess the first thing that i think of is story that i want to tell and what photo/s can i use to tell this story. I wanted to do a layout about my sweet four year old who always picks me flowers- everytime she sees one she picks one for me- and on this day i said to Lucy- " thank you for all the beautiful flowers that you give  me" and she said- "its because i love you mum". Awww so sweet. So i knew that i wanted to have this story as the feature of my page- usually i have hidden journalling on my pages but this time i wanted to have the story out there in front. Of course i didn't have an actual photo of her giving me flowers so i used one of my portrait photos that i try to take every month of each girl. Then i can add the journalling that i want that will go with my photo.

So once i have decided on my story and photos i then collect all my products together and lay them out on my desk. For me a page isn't me if i don't have at least 3 papers as i like to use lots of layering so once i have my 3 papers i then work on my embellishments. I bascially collect all the matching embellies that i have that go with the papers- this is easy as i tend to always buy some of the matching embellies that go with a range of papers that i like- but dig through your stash- look for elements that can be cut out of papers and packaging too- the lady in the cluster on the left was cut out of the packaging from the pearls i used. If you don't have matching embellishments- use white and glimmermist or colour them to match up!

You will notice that not everything in the picture got used- once i have my base sorted then i have a play around and see what looks good.

So the next step is arranging a good base for me to build the layout and embellishments on. So i cut my papers and arranged them like so. A couple of layers behind my photo and a small doily to break up the squareness of my layering is next before i add a punched layer going across the page. Because the papers are quite light i tend to always ink all the paper edges so that they stand out from each other too.

Because of the oval shape of the pattern on the paper - i wanted to emphasise that so i adhered some ribbon around the oval shape to give it some dimension and interest as well. A few more layers of stickers across the punched horizontal piece and i am happy that i have a good base to now have a play with some embellishments.

The embellishing stage takes by far the longest - and a fair bit of moving things around and adding and taking different things off till i am happy with how things sit. Quite often i will go away and then come back after 5 minutes and it can give you a different perspective and you can move things to a better place! I usually have 2 main embellishment clusters - one larger than the other with a mixture of sizes and shapes and dimensions for interest. You just have to play till you are happy!

I kept this cluster quite simple- with flowers. leaves, butterfly and the handcut lady - i had a tag and canvas pieces and chipboard pieces too that eventually got eliminated! They just didn't look right as they were too square or rectangular next to the rounder flowers. I added a square resin piece to the smaller cluster which looked better to me.

So here was the finished product again...with the title added to emphasise the story that i was telling in my journalling...

I hope this helps you see some of my creative processes and how i put a layout together... and helps you to maybe try a few new ways to create too....

Happy Scrapping

Francine

Products Used

Melissa Frances- 5th Avenue- Chipboard pieces
Melissa Frances- 5th Avenue - Rhinestones
Melissa Frances- 5th Avenue- Sticker Book
Melissa Frances- 5th Avenue paper- Geraldine
Melissa Frances- 5th Avenue paper- Hattie
Melissa Frances- 5th Avenue Paper- Minerva
Melissa Frances- Resin Frame- Newstand
Prima Ribbon
Prima Flowers
Martha Stewart Punch- Deep EdgeHearts
Martha Stewart Butterfly punch
Spellbinders Butterfly die
Petaloo Flower
Prima alphas

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