Summer Scrappin' Series / Sunshine & Rainbows

It's Saturday...woo hoo!  I am so excited to be participating in the Summer Scrappin' Series again this year.  My long time scrappy friend Audrey Yeager hosts this every year, and she invited me back to play :)  This is the final week...she creates 21 layouts over the course of three weeks in June, July and August.  Each day she has a guest scrapper join her, and I am Day 19.

Here's the layout I created.  I love trying to recreate patterns in my daughters' swimsuits on my background.  This is probably my favorite little swimsuit from the past.  The top photo is of Reese from 2011, and then Paige in 2013.  I saved the suit after Reese outgrew it, and then Paige wore it.  They were both age four here, and it makes me want to cry looking at how little they were!

To recreate those rainbow stripes, I used Distress Oxides on thick white cardstock.  I first covered the cardstock with clear gesso and let it completely dry.  Then I just lightly scraped the ink pads over the paper in overlapping stripes.  I went in the same order as the colors in the suit.  Then I simply spritzed the background with water and let the colors run and blend.  I used a small acrylic block to help smoosh and drag the color along, but the oxides and the water did all the work.  You can see exactly how that happened in my process video below.

Once the oxides were dry, I used a hibiscus stencil from Michael's to create some big white flowers on the background.  I used some white acrylic paint with a foam ink blending tool to make them.  Then I cut some flowers & leaf clusters on some vellum using my Silhouette Cameo.  This cut file is an exclusive from Hip Kit Club from last summer.  I also used some flowers that I fussy cut from the Simple Stories You Are Here collection from 2016.

I also used a few chipboard frames from that Simple Stories collection because they matched so perfectly.  I added in some matching tangled thread in a few places as well.  Those enamel dots are also from Simple Stories.

I love the look of vellum on the background like this!  Subtle yet it still makes a statement without going overboard, I think.  That cute sun is from the new Paige Evans Truly Grateful collection, and I fussy cut it from a patterned paper.

I love how this title turned out!  "Sunshine" is from Truly Grateful.  I cut the word so I could stack it, and love how the top of the "h" nestles up under the curve of the "n."  (((Shout out to Jen Schow for her ability to "nestle" things beautifully!)

The smaller white foam Thickers are from Paige Evans Pick-Me-Up, and I used the Distress Oxides and my finger to smudge each one a different color.  I wrote my journaling with a gold metallic pen.

The fun thing about flowers and leaves is how they look when the edges are bent up!  The dimension makes all the difference :)

I created a cluster over on the left edge using more flowers, leaves and thread.  I wanted to pull in all the colors from the rainbow here, so I fussy cut more flowers.  I also added another of the vellum flower clusters.

The very last thing I did was splatter some Gold Heidi Color Shine!

I thoroughly enjoyed making this page!  Nothing makes me happier than starting with plain white paper and making magic out of it with color.  Have you ever tried to recreate the shapes on the clothing from your photos?  It gives you a starting point and for me, it made this design come together quickly.

A huge thank you to Audrey for having me again this year!  Love ya, girl!

Be sure to check out my process video....there are so many more details there.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a fabulous weekend!