Oh, Summer We Love You / Bella Blvd

Hello again!  Today I have another layout for Bella Blvd to share.  I was up on the blog last Thursday sharing how you can use punches to create a fun layout.  I know a lot of us get carried away with our electronic die cutting machines like Cameos and Cricuts.  But what if you don't have one of those?  If you have some punches, you can create something just as fun.

I have several different sized square punches.  I wanted to create a bright Summery layout, so I pulled out several patterned papers from Sweet Baby Girl, Color Chaos, Fresh Market, Simply Spring, Classic Calendars, and Illustrated Faith's Whatever is Lovely and She Blooms.  I punched squares from all these papers and even a few Clear Cuts.  I used a light minty teal cardstock as my background since it matched the water in the photo.  I added some white gesso to the cardstock first and then used a few shades of teal Shimmerz to create a watercolor effect.  Pool pages are my favorite because I love creating "water" on the background.

I love how this turned out!  I used some of the Ciao Chipboard Elements here and used a few gelatos to create a faded ombre look.  I paired it with some alpha stickers to create my title.  I added a She Blooms die cut heart and a few yellow Enamel Hearts as well.

I love the Bella Clear Cuts!  They punched very easily, and I love the look of the random dots.  I added some pink machine stitching to most of the squares for added detail.

I think the colors in the photo really accentuate the squares...the colors are a perfect match.  I added a bit of aqua thread for an extra pop of that darker color, and I used a white dotted Clear Cut as a layer behind my photo.

Here's one more close-up of the left side...more squares, more tangled thread, and more lovely little hearts!

I hope you are inspired to use your punches to create a layout.  This technique kind of reminds me of backing an intricate die cut with bits of patterned papers.  You still get a lot of color and pattern without being too busy.

Thanks so much for stopping by!