Earth Tones by Danielle Vertigan

When I look at a photo I see the beautiful faces smiling at me.

But I also see the background. I see the colours and the textures.

Its important with some photos that these details don't get lost when transferred to our albums.

Today I'm focusing on the background.....

In the image I've chosen I see the beautiful surrounds of the gorgeous Murray River.

I spend a lot of time there with family and its important to me its not lost in my layouts.

My first step was to capture the colours

Neutral, soft greens of dried grass, the water and a clear sky.

a spritzed strip in Sunshine followed by Apple of My Eye.

Using Leather I added liberal spritzed sections tilting my page to create drips.

 Across my top section I layered tissue paper using Gel Medium.

I left it rough  and wrinkled to create the grass texture.

I used the Brickwork stamp and the Birchwood Stamp to add another textural layer, blending this between the tissue and the plain card stock.

I also maintained the uneven edges when stamping.

Not using a block allows you the freedom to move and manipulate your stamp.

Using the Leather I water coloured the tissue paper section just with my fingers slowly adding more water to create the desired blend.

Next I took my Leather and Snow White Colour Paste, then I selected a netted stencil. I framed the edges of my page with the leather. Sprinkled it whilst wet with the bling embossing powder and set with the heat gun. I've allowed the Paste to bubble as I like the textural element it leaves.

I repeated the same process using the Snow White and the Apple of my Eye embossing Powder

Whats left is a rustic background, that's textural and customized in colour.

Its at this point I couldn't figure what I wasn't keen on????

I rotated my layout 180 degrees and it was perfect!

What space up the top reflecting the clear sky....

To blend the change between the cardstock and the tissue I added a gold foiled strip and created my photo mat using a chocolate died muslin.

the string circle's where created freehand and then the gold ink was randomly rubbed over the muslin and string.

I kept my embellishments raw and neutral. Whilst maintaining the textural feel of the layout overall.

I love how the just turning the layout around  during the construction faze gave me exactly what I was looking for.

Being open to change during the layout build can stop you from a do-over.

As I always say there is no such thing as a mistake.....

I love where this finished and hope you enjoyed the journey!

Till next time

Danni