Happy Relax Layout + 2020 Hip Kit Design Team

Happy Thursday, my friends!  I have a new layout to share today for Hip Kit Club, but first I wanted to share the new 2020 Hip Kit Club Fall / Winter Design Team.  I'm returning for another term...yay!  I joined back in February 2015 and haven't left...haha.  What can I say?  This is the best kit club around, and I'm honored to be a part of this wonderful group :)  Congrats to all of these talented ladies!

Here's my newest layout created with the 2020 August Hip Kits.  I had every intention of going with a blue monochromatic color scheme, but I wound up adding in some yellow :)  I started this subdued summer layout with the Pinkfresh Studio Nested Chevrons Stamp.  I used textured white cardstock for the background, and I coated it with clear gesso first.  I used the Art Philosophy Hydrangea Petals from the Color Kit (darker blue) with the Summer Vibes (aqua) ink pads.  I pressed the ink pad to the stamp, spritzed the stamp with water and pressed it down to create a messy look.  I also added more water to blur the edges.

I love this look...kind of like my paper was left out in the rain :)  I chose lots of blue embellishments including some Simple Stories stickers and brads and lots of exclusive die cuts and chipboard stickers.

My photo was taken on a cloudy day, so it's not a super bright typical pool photo.  I wanted to convey that on my page.  Also, her swimsuit matches the ink, and the light blue water also adds to the subtle effect.  I added some Pocket Life cards and white tissue paper behind the photo as well as some adhesive foam to pop it up off the page.  I fussy cut a flower & leaf from a patterned paper and added more stickers.

Here's where I decided to add in some yellow.  I wanted the hint of a sun, so I punched a yellow circle from patterned paper, distressed the edges and smudged some white gesso over it to soften the color a bit.  I popped it up, added some thread behind it and added in lots of little clouds.  The blue ones are from the exclusive die cut pack.  I hand cut the white ones from cardstock.  I smudged a little bit of a grey gelato along the bottom to make them a bit greyer and not stark white.  This was an overcast day, after all :)

I used the Summer Vibes ink pad from an older Color Kit to create a light blue sky area and then used the Heidi Swapp alpha stamps to lightly stamp RELAX.  I also added in some enamel dots.

I used an exclusive cut file and chipboard sticker for my title...they were both perfect colors for this.  I stamped RELAX again, combining both blue ink pads.

To bring in more pops of yellow, I used a few Simple Stories stickers and brads as well as some tangled thread.

I love how the sun and sky area turned out :)

A few more close-ups of all the fun details :)

I hope this inspires you in some way!  I loved the challenge of limiting my colors to convey the mood and colors of my photo.  And I love making stamped backgrounds like this...so fun and very easy to do :)

Here's my process video:

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great day!