Wildflower & Honey | Caroline Aston

Hi Magpies, it’s Caroline back with you again. Today I have three layouts to share with you using the absolutely fabulous Wildflower and Honey Collection from Vicki Boutin. Color Kaleidoscope was the first of Vicki’s collections that I’d used and I had so much fun with it. So when I saw Wildflower and Honey I knew I had to have it. I love both the papercrafting side of this collection, as well as the mixed media products.  

Hide and Seek

For my first layout today, I knew I wanted to pick up on the lovely green in the collection. As I thought it would go perfectly with these photos of my cat hiding in the bushes.

I printed my photos at 3×4” and then matted them onto black card to give them a thin black border. The Field of Dreams Paper is gorgeous, with the rainbow hearts. So, I decided to use it behind my photos. Trimming a piece from the 12×12” paper, which just included the green and blue hearts.

I knew I wanted to add some colour to the background. Therefore, I used some mixed media paper for my background and I started by working out where I wanted to place the paper and photos. I added a faint pencil mark so I knew where on the page to add the colour, without it ending up being covered up.

 

I used both the cool and the neutral packs of Vicki’s Art Crayons to add colour to four areas of the page, where I knew I wanted to add my embellishment. Waiting for each colour to dry before adding the next, so that the colour layered on the page, rather than mixing together. Once I was happy with the positioning of the colour on the background, I used the wonderful leaf stamp from the collection’s Stamps & Die Set with silver ink. Stamping it so that the leaves would peek out from behind my photos and embellishment.

Next, I added the patterned paper and photos to the page. Along with some die cuts from both the Ephemera Die Cuts packs. I finished the page by stamping some small label stickers in both black and silver ink and adding them to the page with some stickers from the Sticker Book.

Finally, I placed the whole layout on to a piece of black cardstock, to give it a border. This was because I used mixed media paper from an A3 pad for my background, which meant my page was slightly smaller than 12×12”.

Documenting Happy Moments 

My second layout today is quite different for me. It came about by simply experimenting with the new Dry Powder Paint Pigments and the stamp and die set.

I started by stamping out a number of the flowers from the stamp set onto mixed media paper. Then I mixed some of the powder with water and watercoloured the stamped images. Using two colours for each flower. I wanted to see what all the different colours looked like, so I created lots of different combinations. Finishing them off by adding some Iridescent Glaze to give them a shimmer, then die cutting them with the dies included in the set. The powders mix together really well and I loved how the flowers turned out, therefore I decided to make them into a layout. 

To start the layout, I roughly positioned the flowers vertically in rainbow order, along the left hand side of the page. Then, I followed the same process to create some leaves. I wanted this to be the main feature on the page, so I kept the rest of the layout very simple. Matting the photo on to black card, then onto the B-side of the Hive Paper and positioning it to the bottom right of the flowers.

To finish the page, I added another flower and leaf to the bottom right of the photo. Then added my title and three stamped phrases using some Elle’s Studio Stamp Sets. 

Enjoy Today

For my third layout I wanted to use the collection to document a photo from our summer holiday. Wildflower and Honey includes some beautiful yellow and teal elements, which I thought would be perfect for this page.

I again started with a piece of mixed media paper and worked out where I wanted to place my 6×4” photo. Matting it first onto the B-side of the Full Bloom Paper. I cut two strips from the B-sides of the Field of Dreams Paper and the Sweet Honey Paper to provide a grounding for my photo. 

Next I added the colour to the background, using colours from both the warm and cool art crayon sets. Then I mixed some of the teal art crayon with some iridescent glaze. Applying it to the page through a stencil to add some texture. 

I added die cuts and stickers from the collection to three areas around the photo, along with a perspex asterisk. Placing them so that my embellishment formed a visual triangle around the photo. I decided to use one of the die cuts for my title. Adding the location to the page using some Puffy Alphabet Stickers from Pinkfresh Studio. 

To finish the page I added my journaling to the left of the photo and then placed the whole page onto a 12×12” piece of black cardstock to give it a border.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today. I hope you have enjoyed seeing my layouts using the Wildflower and Honey collection by Vicki Boutin, which you can find in the shop here. This collection has been so much fun to work with and I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with the mixed media aspects.

I will be back on 25th October with more layouts using Wildflower and Honey. See you then.