The creative journey...

As I was creating this layout, I was thinking of all the little bits and pieces that go into creating and thought I would share my creative journey for this layout.

First stop...inspiration.
I saw this sketch on the Fiskars Crafts website and thought it looked like fun...so I figured I'd give it a whirl. (Okay, so if you look at my finished layout, the sketch is almost null and void, but it is still inspired by it.)
There was also a challenge posted to use black and white photos and mat them on either scarlet or purple cardstock. I wanted to use purple, but also liked the "scarlet" color I came across, so I decided to use them both.

Second stop...patterns.
I wanted to use this awesome Fiskars stamp set:
I knew I wanted to use the background stamp behind the photos, and ended up using one of those lovely frames for the "tag".

Third stop...style.
Since I planned on using the Vintage Farmhouse stamp set, I wanted to go for a vintage/shabby chic feel, but with a touch of elegance with the rich jewel tone colors I was going to use for the photo matting, but also some girliness since it is about my daughter. I knew I would be using black and white photos and like the look of black and white pictures printed on plain white cardstock - seems a little vintage-y to me, so I went with it. Since the pictures were about Lacie's nails I used a photo tinting marker to add the very tiniest hint of pink to her nails in the pictures.

Fourth stop...theme.
Inspired by the circles on the sketch, I wanted to go with having circles as a theme for the page.

Fifth stop...photos.
I was trying to find two photos to fit the sketch and came across these pictures I had taken of Lacie. I had been telling her that if she would stop biting her nails I would paint them. Well, she finally did it (yay!) and these pictures are from the day I painted her nails. Wait...but I said I was looking for two pictures...and I have three. Well, I love the top and bottom pictures for showcasing her nails, but I really think there's something fun about that middle picture, and just couldn't leave any of them out.

Sixth stop...embellishments.
I received an RAK from a wonderful Fiskateer that included some rub-on letters, some gorgeous decorative accents, and also some beautiful epoxy letter stickers (among other things). The decorative accents didn't end up making it on the page, but they were the main thing I wanted to use. They are metal circles (painted with a light cream color and distressed to show a bit of the metal) that have a beautiful shabby chic look to them and I thought the style would go great with the rest of the page. Plus, they are circles which would work great with the sketch. The epoxy letters (which are on the finished layout) are circles again keeping in the circle theme I wanted to stick with.

Seventh stop...title.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the title, but wanted it to be something to do with nails since that is the context of the pictures. I really wanted to add in those pretty circle letter stickers and I had enough to spell "pretty"...so there it is..."Pretty Nails".

Eighth stop...accent colors.
For the cream colored cardstock that I stamped on I tried to match it to those cute circle metal accent pieces (that never even made it on the final layout). I needed to find a good color to stamp on it, and in my mind I had two options - green & black. I thought about pulling in some of the green from the epoxy letters, but I had never used rub-ons before, and the rub-on letters I received were black. I really wanted to try the rub-ons. I ended up stamping the cream cardstock one time with green ink (Distress Ink in Peeled Paint) and one time in black (Distress Ink in Black Soot). The black just worked better with the black and white photos and the color of the rub-on letters, so I went with that.

Ninth stop...happy accidents.
I wanted to do the rub-ons before I did anything else incase I totally messed it up, so I started on that. As I started putting them on the page, I shifted a bit and made a small tear. At first I was a bit disappointed, but then looking at it again I thought it added to the shabby type style I wanted to go with and so I counted it as a happy accident and then proceeded to rip and scuff the remaining letters as I rubbed them on to the base cardstock. I am pretty happy with the results.

Tenth stop...putting it on the page.
I had already had the basic idea of where I wanted things on the page from the sketch - photos on the right, embellishments on the left. I wanted to use those cute circle accents I keep mentioning, but I thought they would just look too heavy on the page. I thought about making the three big circles from the left side of the sketch go horizontally across the bottom of the page (sort of going with the rule of thirds idea), but that would just be too clunky and I wanted a nice space for the title (which in the sketch went on the other side of the page, but I took that space for the third picture). I decided to let those cute circle accents go back into my stash and just focus on making the title look pretty. I did like the idea from the sketch of that extra strip of paper on the far left of the page, so I went with that. I wanted to mimic that on the other side of the page as well and so I stuck that and the photos in place.
My original intent had been to use the "tag" for hidden journaling behind the middle photo, but realized as I had adhesive all over the back of the photo that it was no longer an option. I had a space between the title and the strip of photos where I thought I would probably place a big flower...maybe folded in half for a fun look...but now I had to find a place to stick that tag, so that's where it went and I just added some Prima flowers around it. Another accident...and I'm not sure if I call this one a happy accident or not, but I guess it turned out okay. I had already used a Fiskars 1/4" rectangle hole punch to make the frame into a tag or I would have just left it as the frame. I found some fun ribbon in my stash (it's from the Target dollar spot a long while back) and used that and the Tiny Attacher to finish it off. I added some Zingz (the same thing as Rain Dots...both from Fiskars) to mimic the smaller spattering of circles on the sketch.

Looking back...Did I stick to the sketch? What did I use from it?
I kept the idea of the strips of paper on the edges of the base cardstock. I kept the general layout of photos on the right, embellishments on the left. I stuck with the circle theme. I was inspired a lot by the sketch, just didn't stick tightly to it.

Final stop...posting and blogging.
No creation is finished without posting it in online galleries and blogging about it, so here I am. Thanks for coming along for the ride on my creative journey!