Finding Inspiration & The Story

This is a post by Design Team member, Shanna. Enjoy!

I love taking a sketch or a template and making it your own. Really if anyone else were to look at the end product they wouldn't think "oh yeah it's from a sketch I saw", but they can really help get the ball rolling at times! When I made this layered template from Amy's page it was kind of fun to see where she was coming from creatively. What I was really drawn to (an often do myself as well) is the long vertical line she had on the left 1/3 of her page.

I loved the clusters she has on the page but I wanted to create something a little more graphic with my page but still have it all focused on that 1/3 of the page. I also remember seeing a layout from Amy a while ago that I feel in love with.

What I was specifically drawn to was the "darling" stamp I love not only how she used it but the whimsical feeling it brings to the page. I knew I wanted to use it on a page about my daughters but I wasn't sure which photos or how exactly I wanted to do that. All I could think of was "oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling clementine...." and unless I was going to stage a photo of Addison eating a clementine that wouldn't work! So I went off to the greatest source of inspiration known to mankind.... Pinterest! I simply typed in "darling" in the search box and look what popped up…

There it was. Not only my inspiration but my story. The moment I read this I thought about Jaden (12), she has always been such a confident young lady but recently has started to doubt herself (as with most tweens) and I just wanted to tell her exactly how much I believe in her.

I knew this layout (as with most) would start in Photoshop and I thought with the graphic look I wanted in the end it would be fun to just print the photo on the same page as my journaling so I opened up a 8.5x11 canvas and placed her photo where I wanted it on my finished product.

From there I wanted the journaling to be at the top of the page to really set the tone, knowing that my title would fill in the remaining vertical space. I set up a text box so that each side of the journaling would line up with the edges of my photo.

Once I printed out my page I thought I may use my cameo to cut out the title work but then I remembered these lovely chipboard thickers! Call me crazy but I kind of love the raw chipboard look especially with the black and white and the tones in the photo. I just tried to line up the title alone the same lines I already created in photoshop. I stamped "darling" directly on the paper and then once I had the chipboard letters down I lightly added the stamp on top of the letters that overlapped the stamps.  I knew I wanted a little bird at the bottom so I found one to cut from the black to match the Plus One collection, then simply added the mixed tape mini washi to line the left, add a little black splatter and call it done!

I love the way this turned out and I am so thankful for the inspiration to help spark the story.

I hope this has sparked something in you! Now go tell your story!

—Shanna

Shop for Amy Tangerine products at your local scrapbook stores and online at Scrapbook.com and Simon Says Stamp!