from start to finish | gillian nelson

Hi, gang!  Today I’m going to take you through my process of creating my “Make You a Deal” layout from the Block Party gallery.  Warts and all.  :) Click here to download this start to finish tutorial as a printable PDF.

First, I gathered up supplies from the Block Party Kit and add-ons that I thought I’d like to use.  Aren’t they pretty?

I chose the Block Party Numbers Cut Design from the SC Digital Shop, and resized the file to 7.475 inches wide and 9.9 inches tall.  I then cut the design from white cardstock.  I chose the yellow diagonal stripe and the notebook-lined patterned papers as the backgrounds for my 2-page layout, and trimmed them each down to 8.5x11 inches.  I decided to use the numbers diecut over the diagonal stripe to help tone down the stripe pattern and to balance the white from the opposite page.

I decided to add a little dimension to the diecut, so I used number stickers from the Jenni Bowlin alpha sheet in the Woodbrooke Road add-on as masks.  I sprayed Mister Huey Calico Shine and gave the die cut an even coat.  Calico Shine gives a subtle, but very pretty effect and just a little bit of depth.  (My son would like it on the record that he makes an excellent and cooperative hand model.  So noted.  Thank you, son.)

While waiting for the mist to dry, I cut strips of varying widths from the cloud and chevron patterned papers, plus a strip of the yellow diagonal stripe.  I then inked the edges of the strips of paper and my photo.  I always ink the edges.  It can’t be helped.   Here’s where I need to confess that while inking the edges, i dropped my StazOn pad onto the photo and the notebook background paper.  Awesome.  And while I’m confessing, I should also admit that I may have used an expletive or two when this happened.  There.  I feel much better getting that off my chest.  What do they say?  Mistakes are merely an opportunity for creativity?  Something like that.  So, my next step was to reprint my photo (it couldn’t be saved), and I decided to cover the ink on the background paper with the Thickers from the main Block Party kit.  Problem solved.  I put the Thickers on a scrap of wax paper, coated them with VersaMark, and embossed them with some Powder Zing (such a pretty blue).

Once the mist dried, I removed the number stickers from the numbers die cut, and adhered the diecut to the striped paper.  Then I stuck down the strips of paper to each side of the layout, trimmed the ends that hung over the edges, adhered my photo, and penciled in my journaling.  (Note the remnants of black ink pad on the right side, there.  Do you blame me for the expletive?  Really?)

Next, I started placing the chipboard hearts and the wood veneer arrows from the Wildberry Court add-on across the strips of patterned paper on the right side of the page and also to the left of the photo.  I stamped the index tag with the “You” stamp, also from the Wildberry Court add-on.  I added the OA badge from the Pollard Avenue add-on, as well as some of the delicious silver washi tape.  De-Li-Cious.  I stuck down the chipboard letters over the aforementioned ink spots.  And no expletives this time, because I actually liked it better this way.  See?  It all works out in the end.

I wrote over the journaling in ink, erased the pencil lines, added a title using the itty bitty pink BG letter stickers from the Wildberry Court add-on, threw some of the little silver stars on there, and finished off with some pops of red (OA index tag, enamel dots and BG number stickers).

Voila.  Done.  :)