Layout - Rare Thing

Project 3 - Rare Thing Layout

I really, really don't like getting my photo taken.
I would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it.
This of course means that there are not many pictures of me and of the few pictures that there are of me, I really don't like many (because I am just so self critical) so this is what this layout is about. This picture was taken Christmas Day 2012. I think it was taken by my husband, but it might have been taken by my niece. I wasn't 100% happy about the photo but it is the most recent photo of me that I like the most.
I needed a picture of myself for the Circle Journal swap I am in at the moment, so I've manipulated the colour on this photo and added some digital distressing to improve the picture. I printed the three versions I'd made - black and white, sepia and the third with a white vintage frame.
For this layout I started with Bazzill Kraft Cardstock. I dry brushed on some KaiserCraft Vintage White paint then misted with Mister Huey's Color Mist - White.
I cut an off-centre bracket shaped block using one of my templates from one of the sheets in the KaiserCraft Timeless Classics 12" Paper Pad. I added some Tim Holtz Distress inks in Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Walnut Ink to give it some more depth before adhering it in place with my Teresa Collins Mega Runner from Xyron. I love the flexibility this gives me especially on curves and sharp points so it is ideal for adhering cut outs like this patterned paper.
I layered my photos (which I had hand cut to add to the distressed look) and sanded.

I adhered some of the leftover patterned paper to a chipboard dress form from Dusty Attic then cut around the chipboard dress form with my knife. I sanded the edges to hide any dodgy cutting out then inked the edges the same way as I had the patterned paper block. After heat setting the distress ink with my heat tool, I dry brushed more of the KaiserCraft Vintage White paint and misted lightly with Mister Huey's Colour Mist - White. I added two strings of mini pearls using some Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, my quick drying, hold anything permanently glue of choice.
I then painted a clock face die cut I was given in a die-cut swap with some Plaid Folk Art Acrylic Paint - Metallic Champagne for a tonal look. I finished this off with a light swabbing of Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Vintage Photo and Walnut Ink to maintain the common colour scheme across the page.
I offset the clock face and trimmed it to the paper edge then adhered the dress form in place using foam dots.

I finished this with four skeleton leaves I had received in a swap from my friend Gail in Australia. I really like the tone on tone look of this layout and was over joyed to have so many complementary neutral shades in my usual bright colour palette.

When Gail sent me her Junk Journal creation in a partner swap on Scrappers Obsessionz, she also gave me a bag of goodies to add to my journal. Included in the bag along with the white flowers I used on the Dance Layout and the skeleton leaves was a creamy die cut felt strip. I thought it was a little too heavy to use on this layout as a whole strip (it was 2.5 inches wide), so I cut it up into smaller pieces and trimmed out some excess flowers and leaves so it looked less chunky and more delicate. (If only it was that easy to get rid of chunkiness!!!)

I ended up with three pieces of various sizes. I painted these all with KaiserCraft Vintage White as the colour just wasn't quite right for the rest of the elements then I adhered them in place - top right hand corner, bottom right hand corner overlapping one of the photos and wrapped around the stand of the dress form. To these I then added clusters of KaiserCraft mini roses - Coconut, Buttercream and Honey, again with the twisted stems.

To finish off the layout I added a title which I cut using my Cuttlebug from sheets of cork. I matched this with two small journaling blocks I had received in a die-cut swap which I distressed with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Walnut Ink, again to coordinate across the layout. I hand wrote my journaling on with a black journaling pen.