Together by Sue Plumb

Hi everyone! Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you. Today I have a 12x12" layout, that can only be described as a colour "explosion". I love using bright colours, and exploring different combinations; and that is exactly what I did for this piece.

I had these fun selfies of my friend and I together I found on my phone, so I converted them to black and white so I wasn't restricted by colour in any way. I wanted to use Colour Shimmer Dusts in two different colours for my background so I selected a couple that I thought would blend together well.

I started with Peacock Colour Shimmer Dust (I think this is my absolute fave!), which I mixed with water and then splattered onto my white cardstock using a brush. I then took a straw and blew the paint randomly around the page to form starburst type patterns. (Think fireworks.)

Once I had a sufficient amount applied, I set it aside to dry before repeating the process with Lollipop Colour Shimmer Dust. (Note - it is important to remember to choose two colours that will mix well, as the first colour will reactivate when it mixes with the second. In this case I knew it would produce a purple, which also happens to be one of my friend's favourite colours.) 

After both colours had dried, I decided to highlight the purple that had been created by adding another shade of purple using Royalty Colour Paste. I applied it through a bubble design stencil from Flutterby Designs using a palette knife; and the pattern provided a good contrast to the patterns already formed by the Colour Shimmer Dusts.

I added an extra layer of interest by drizzling some white acrylic paint over the top of the Colour Paste and then set it aside to dry again.

Whilst the background was drying, I pulled out a few pieces of paintable ephemera that I wanted to use on my layout and I coloured them using some of the left over Peacock Colour Shimmer Dust I had mixed earlier.

At this point I decided I wanted to add in a small amount of another colour to provide some contrast to my page, so I used Sunshine Colour Shimmer Spray, which I splattered around by removing the nozzle from the bottle.

Once all my mediums were dry, I then began constructing my layout. I created a layered mat for my photos to sit on using a variety of patterned paper pieces, a paper doily and some hand-dyed muslin.

I added assorted ephemera pieces (including the pieces I had painted), which I clustered around my photos; and a flair button from Flutterby Designs, which I nested on some messy cotton thread.

Yellow enamel dots added subtle dimension to my page amongst the Sunshine yellow splatters.

My feature embellishment was a handmade heart from Charms Creations. This provided the perfect pop of yellow I needed to bring it all together; and I used a foam word for my title.

With the addition of the black foam pieces, I knew I had to add some subtle black splatters to help tie the black in, so it was a few quick flicks of my trusty Road Base Colour Spray and I was done.

I LOVE how all these colours came together on this piece! Just look at this deliciousness...

Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you. I will be back again in a couple of weeks time with another Colour Blast project.

Until then, happy scrapping!