NEW YEARS EVE SHARES

Hi everyone!! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I can't believe the Year has gone already!! Before I get started today I would like to apologize for my absence the past couple of weeks. Aside from family time and all the busy holiday cheer, my Son has been very sick, which left me no opportunity to share. Thankfully he is better now, and as he is off spending the New Year festivities with his Dad. I have decided to spend New Years Eve at home, it's not often I get a goodnights sleep anymore, so I decided I would make the most of a night to myself to catch up on some well earned sleep. It is also a perfect opportunity for me to stop by and share with you one of my latest creations, and also highlight some of my favorite pieces from this year. 

'Only 19'

I created this layout a couple of weeks ago using some of my new Prima products, along with some old ones, for their December BAP. I noticed the other day that I was yet to share a layout with you focusing soley on myself. I have shared a journal page but not a layout. After a visit to the Prima blog and seeing the sketch by Magda Bolinska I realized that it was perfect for expressing myself at age 19 in a creative piece. It's very different to anything I have worked with previously and I found it quite a challenge, particularly finding a suitable place for at least one embellishment cluster.... You can find the sketch, along with others, product sneak peeks, gorgeous design team work and much more on the prima blog.

The sketch: 

Here are some close-ups for you:

As I mentioned earlier, I have used a combination of some newer products, along with some old, along with some very very old Prima products that I found hidden away in my stash!! The bright Pink sheet of paper was Prima but silly me spilt stuff on it, and I just didn't have any other Prima paper that I thought would suit the layout. Somehow I came to the conclusion that painting it Pink would work, and I'm glad I went that way as it adds the perfect girly touch!!

The background paper, along with the metal frames are from the Engraver Collection, whilst the paper layers are Sunrise and Sunset, Printery and Just Us. I Have also combined the Sunrise and Sunset bottle caps, with part of a Prima flower from the Gillian Collection and a resist butterfly from the Romantique Collection (the little yellow rose is from a 2 dollar shop), to create a feature for one of the frames.

 Lots of gorgeous Prima flowers as always. Once again, as you can probably tell, there is quite a mix of new and old flowers here..

One thing I love about watercolors is they still allow you to see any original background on the paper. I love the effect created in this layout especially. To achieve this fantastic texture and color combined with the original pattern I have simply coated the entire background in a very thin film of gesso so that the pattern was still entirely visible, and also so the watercolors didn't soak into the paper, allowing me to really play with them on the page without damaging the paper. When my gesso was dry I added texture paste using my fave Prima mask, and then I painted it. 

As you can see I have used this technique on quite a bit of my layout, however this top half of the layout also combines stamping, lots of glitter and small glass beads. I was aiming for a much more arty look with this layout to better show my creative personality, and even though I have used almost all the same materials and techniques I normally would, I feel that I have done well in achieving that desired result.

Here you can see some of the small glass beads in the background. I really love adding these at the moment!! Even though they are such a small detail, they are fun to use creating  more texture and depth on my layouts.

I finished off my photo with some creamy/white waxed twine, and some ribbon, whilst I finished off my page with some art tiles, enamel dots, another big white bead from a broken necklace and more glitter, paint drips and flicks. 

I hope you all enjoyed my final creation for the year, I'm sorry I don't have anything else new to share with you tonight but it's very late here and I want to keep some surprises for the early weeks of the New Year. Before I go however I thought I would quickly share with you some of my favorite creations for 2013.

'Treasured Moments'

'My Perfect Little Dreamer'

'Watch you go'

'Oh so Cute'

'The world is Full of Wonder'

'Cute as a button'

'Baby Got Blues'

I would like to thank everybody who has stopped by to visit my blog this year, in particular those of you who have become followers and taken the time to leave such wonderful comments. I'm ever so grateful for all your support and I hope I can continue to inspire you in 2014. 

I'm off to bed now, terrible I know as it will be the New Year here in less than 40 minutes, but I can no longer stay awake that long!! I wish you all the best for 2014. Happy New Year!!!