Pinkfresh Studio - Happy Blooms - Tea for Two

Hello everyone,

Claire here with you again sharing my second layout with the Pinkfresh Studio Happy Blooms collection.  You can find this gorgeous collection in the shop here.

Now, for this layout, I wanted to make some paper straws, and base my design around them - here's how it turned out:

I started with a piece of Premium White Cardstock, and begun to make the straws with that stunning striped paper called Handkerchief (it's the B side of the bold green patterned paper). 

I cut strips of about 2.5 inches wide in various lengths and rolled them around a paintbrush to create the straw, securing in place with red tape.

Now, I will say that the quality of Pinkfresh Studio papers is second to none - the papers are a little bit thicker than standard patterned paper which did make rolling the paper trickier than I expected, but I took my time and they worked perfectly.

I tried various designs, but in the end settled on a circular layout (I'm loving circles at the moment), and cut a circular mat from the Daydream paper to use as the anchor of my page, distressing the edges before placing centrally on my page.

I laid my straws in a staggered design to the left hand side of the circle, securing in pace with Glossy Accents. Next, I matted my photographs, using the green side of the Handkerchief paper and Heirloom paper.  I placed one on the circle base with foam pads, and the second laid flat on top of the straws. The overlapping of the pictures on different levels of the page created fabulous volume and dimension.

With the design now complete, I began to embellish.

I made a tag from the Homegrown cut apart paper and added an eyelet and string from my stash, tucking it under my photo.

Next, I took some flowers from the Floral cardstock Ephemera pack, curling the flowers and placing them around the outer edge of the circle and around the straws.

I also took some strawberries from the Cardstock Ephemera Pack and placed these on top of my straws, along with some of the flowers to create a cluster around my photograph.

Opposite, I created another cluster, using some of the food and drink elements from the cardstock ephemera pack, to sit alongside my photos of our cream tea.

For my title, I used those beautiful bold green Puffy Alpha Stickers - these are fabulous! They're one of my favourite alpha sets. They create such striking titles.

To finish the page off, I placed a banner from the Journaling Bits pack across the straws, distressing and curling this at the edges to create movement. 

Finally, I added some die cut leaves from my stash and some of those unbelievably amazing New Pinkfresh Jewels in Ballet Slipper - Trust me, you need these!! :) 

So, that was the page complete. I think this collection is my new favourite. The colours, paper patterns, alphas, journaling bits, ephemera and stickers provide so many options. I think it's all just stunning.

I hope this has given you some inspiration. I will be back with one more layout later this month with this collection and I have set myself a challenge - no white cardstock! 

See you soon.

Claire.