Iris Fox's Blog Posts

Hello friends.  Iris here with a layout using the I Am collection. Have you ever fallen head over heels in love with a piece of patterned paper?  When I first got the this collection in my hands, I squealed in delight with each piece I took out of the box.  But when I saw the typewriter text print with rose gold foiling of the Focusing on the Good paper, I gasped! I knew immediately I couldn't cut it up.  I had to use it as a complete background.

To help all the elements stand out against the dark background, I started with off-white acrylic paint that I dabbed on lightly with a makeup sponge so that it remained translucent enough for the background words to show through.  I thinned some of the paint down with water and used a round paint brush to splatter big droplets. Inspired by the water color circle sentiments in the Clear Sticker pack, I also watered down acrylic paint in aqua, pink, green, and yellow shades, and used the packaging technique to create some splotches. Then I stitched a few lines radiating out from the center.  

Now my base was ready to add all the elements to. I cut the yellow flower and black and cream papers from the 6x8 pad to layer behind my photo.  I'm really loving the scale of the patterns in those pads!  I was going for a mostly symmetric design radiating from the center, so I divided my title above and below the photo.  I used the lovely rose gold foiled "I Am" from the Bits & Pieces pack. The "Me" was cut with my Cameo from the b-side of the 4x6 cut-apart sheet using one of my favorite fonts called Miss Elizabeth. (downloaded from the Silhouette store)  I hand stitched around it to make it pop and to personalize it even more because stitching is one of my things. 

I had so much fun picking the icons and words that really resonate with me and arranging them in a swirling cloud around the photo.  My brain is always swirling with stuff, so I feel this design captures my personality really well.  I used something from every pack in this collection. The "making it happen" was a square from the 4x6 Stickers, but I punched it out with a 1" circle punch so that it could match the others.  

To fill in some of the gaps and create a bit of clustering, I sprinkled lots of hearts around.  I can't decide if the rose gold are my favorite, or the buffalo plaid and striped ones.  I love them all!  One final bit of whimsical touch is a string of pom-poms from my stash I've had at least 8 years.  Great to finally use it and I like how it underscores "I Am".

The I Am collection is so beautiful and inspiring, I'm absolutely smitten with it!  It's full of soft colors, accents of black and glorious rose gold, and tons of affirming sentiments, making it the perfect collection for documenting ourselves.

Supplies

Adventure

Hello everyone!  Iris here with my very first layout for Simple Stories.  I am beyond excited (and a little bit nervous) but ready to play and tell stories using the latest fabulous collections!  

Last month my husband and I made the trek to visit Point Reyes Lighthouse on the Northern California coast. We took a selfie in the same spot we'd taken one 20 years before. Yes, we were taking selfies before they were cool! When I saw the Travel Notes collection, I knew it was perfect to document this story.

Taking my cue from the ocean, I went for the navy background paper that is the B-side from the 4x4 elements sheet.  The “Travelogue” sheet, reminiscent of the lightkeepers' logs, was a perfect addition to house my journaling.

You're going to love the scale of the patterns on the 6x8 paper pad! I chose a bunch layer a-symmetrically around the photos and in little strips above and below.  How awesome is that blue diagonal stripe for framing photos? The orange polkadot, which I cut in scallops for variety, adds a bright pop to the otherwise slightly muted colors. To bring in some of the white that the title has, I stitched across the strips and scallops. It’s subtle, but reminds me of the white capped waves and adds a bit of texture.

I made clusters in four spots with icons and word stickers - one of my favorite Simple Stories products - and made sure each spot had a red heart to draw the eye up and down the page in a zig zag across the photos.  If there were such a thing as a spirit icon, clouds would be it for me. So imagine how thrilled I was that Travel Notes has a couple in the Bits and Pieces pack. I hand stitched them with blue thread to make them extra special.  I fishtailed some of the word strips, and added pop dots to a few so they would layer smoothly on the clouds and the camera from the Chipboard set.

It can be hard to use washi on a dark background, but I've got a tip for that. Cut two strips and line up the patterns to double it up. Now it stands out, but you can still tell it's washi.

The navy and bluff colors and marine type icons were perfect for this story at the sea, but Travel Notes includes great patterns, icons, and phrases for all sorts of travel.  Happy travels and happy scrapping!

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