Happy Together - by Lauren Tomecek

Mixed media is not new to scrapbooking by any means and it is a technique which I really enjoy for the opportunity to get messy and just keep layering. Scrapmatts has recently released a range of mesh chipboard pieces which are perfect to use on mixed media pieces. I have used the larger circle mesh (CB5130 Circle Mesh 03) on this layout and created a tutorial if you want to create a similar layout.

 

 

Photos for steps 1-4 are at the bottom of that set of instructions.

1/ Take a piece of cardboard/chipboard and start laying down materials for your background. You can see I have cut part of my mesh into three pieces and positioned them around where I planned to place my photo. I pushed all the circle pieces out of my mesh and put them aside. I have also added some book page strips, builders tape and texture paste through a matching stencil.

2/ Cover the entire background and spare circles in 2-3 coats of gesso. You want to make each background material absorb the next layer at the same intensity to get an even colour. Make sure you let each layer dry between coats.

3/ Using spray inks and water, colour your background and spare circles. I started by spritzing the whole thing with water, then used one purple and two blue inks to add colour. I again spritzed with water to re-activate the inks and then flicked some purple ink around the place for a more intense colour.

4/ I had hoped some ink pooling would highlight the different texture of the background but it didn't work. Instead, I took a bronze ink pad and rubbed it over all the raised areas to highlight them.

 

 

5/ Once the ink is dry, cover your spare circles with dimensional magic and set aside to dry fully.

6/ Pretty up your background, how you go about this is up to you. I placed some washi tape strips around the photo area and edges of the page, then rubbed gesso over them with my finger to blend them into the background better. I stamped some bubble wrap circles in white acrylic ink randomly over the background. I used spray adhesive to stick down two lengths of balled up thread. Lastly, I used a script stamp to create a border around the edges of my layout.

 

 

6/ Add your embellishments and title. For this layout that involved scattering the spare circles and some sequins from top right to bottom left corner of the layout. I also added two charms (CH019 Lock #2) to the layout, one at the title and one at the bottom right of the photo just after the date. My title is a Kaisercraft sticker and a piece from CB1189 Scrap Words 01.

  

 

There you go, an easy mixed media layout in just six steps! Show us what you create with the new mesh by sharing in the gallery.