Snow Finally! - Carta Bella - Winter Market Collection

Hello, Rebecca with you today to share a new 12x12 layout using the beautiful Winter Market Collection by Carta Bella. If you aren't familiar with Carta Bella papers, they have a lovely texture to them which makes them feel really luxurious and fantastic quality. It adds a lovely texture to your layouts - and looks especially fab in this collection.

I had some papers left over from last months DT box and I couldn't resist using them to create another layout. We have waited TWO YEARS for snow where I live.... yes... two years! And two weeks ago it was finally our turn, so naturally we were straight out there to play, camera at the ready for some snow pics! 

Because it was snowing and we had snowballs fights and snowballs are round, I was in the mood for circles! I used some circle punches, and metal nesting dies to cut circles from the patterned papers in various sizes. I've used the B side of the 4x4 Elements, the B side of the Snowmen and the Winter Floral patterned papers. For somebody who normally shies away from floral patterns, I really do love the two floral papers in this collections! I then used the blade of my scissors to distress the edges of all the circles. I find this adds much more interest and texture to my layouts so it's one of my favourite techniques.

I used the same patterned papers to cut some snowflake shapes using some Snowflake metal dies. I kept the scraps of patterned paper that I'd cut the shapes from - read on to find out why!

I cut my two photos into circles, slightly larger than the patterned paper circles and arranged them on my layout, just to the left of the centre point. I then arranged the patterned circles around my photos in a verticle design. Ok - confession time - I actually spent about an hour moving the circles around my page until I was happy!! This happens sometimes - but don't give up - you'll eventually find a design that works and that you're happy with!

Remember the scraps of paper I cut the snowflakes from? Well I used them as stencils on my background! I used two different ink pads and an ink blending tool to add the ink to my Premium White Cardstock to make it appear as if the snowflakes were cascading down the layout. For this I used a Distress Ink pad in Tumbled Glass and a Distress Oxide pad in Broken China.

I stuck some of the circles flat, and raised others up onto foam to add dimension to the layout. I used foam behind both of my photos to raise them up and help draw your eye to them. 

At this point I decided I wanted to add some mixed media to my layout. I hadn't really been in a 'mixed media mood' when I started this layout - but that's part of the fun of scrapbooking for me - I never know where my layout will take me! I sprayed a small amount of a shimmery pigmented ink spray onto some packaging and applied a small amount of it, watered down, with a paintbrush just around the edges of my circles and smudged it a bit with my finger so that the lines weren't so harsh. I then added lots of splatters on top. I also watered down some white gesso and added that in the form of splatters too to mimic some snowfall on my layout.

I added my die cut snowflakes, scattering them over my layout randomly and then looked at how I could embellish the layout further. On my previous layout I really showcased the Elements Stickers so for this layout I decided to focus more on the Ephemera pack. I selected several pieces that I thought would work on this layout and distressed the edges with my scissors before adhering them down. I also cut two sections from the 3x4 elements patterned paper that read 'Happy Snow Day' and 'Snow Much Fun' and added those too. I finished off this section of my layout with some tangles of my favourite metallic silver thread.

Because I'd offset my layout to the left of my page slightly, the right hand side was looking a bit bare. I decided to tear a strip of the Witner Floral patterned paper and add it vertically to the edge of my layout. I stenciled a couple more snowflakes over to the right hand side and added another die cut snowflake to the bottom section of the layout.

This left the top section free to add a title. I used a mix of alphas for this - I created the word 'snow' with some Freckled Fawn alpha's from my stash, and used the Aria Puffy Alpha Stickers from Bella Blvd (in Oyster) to make the word 'Finally!'. I had to do a bit of 'letter surgery' with both sets of alpha's to get the letters I required as I'd run out!

And I completed my layout with some Nuvo Drops (Liquid Mercury, Blue Lagoon (Glitter Drops) and Ivory Seashell). I have to say I really love how this layout turned out. Considering I spent an hour faffing with circles of patterned papers, struggling to make them work for me - I'm over the moon with the result and it's one of my favourites!

If you'd like to watch how the layout came together, I have a process video up on my YouTube channel which you can find here.

I'll be back later in the month, working with a brand new collection - Carta Bella's 'Let's Celebrate', so watch out for that!

Take care,

Rebecca x