Guest Designer | Louise Thompson

Today we welcome the owner of August's sponsor for a guest post...

Louise of Thompson’s Craft Supplies here with this month’s theme, clustering. I am fairly new to scrapbooking, maybe 4 months, and it grew to be a passion as for me, it is an extension of my love for all things mixed media. As such, this was not a term I had heard before so was really excited.

Well, I tell you, this has just revolutionised the way I will scrapbook in the future and I'll tell you why as we go through my creation.

So first of all here is my finished piece:
 

Now let’s talk through the process...

I have been dying for an excuse to crack open the 7 Dots Hazy Days collection and when I hear the theme, I thought this would be perfect. The reason being is that this paper set also comes with stickers and die cut embellishments and tags which I thought would be great to use in the clustering.

I chose out a piece of paper from the range I loved and a photo that matched the colours. I then remembered a really cool piece of packaging I had kept and some hessian which I would use to mat my photo later.

 

    

I then looked for some matching items I could use to make the clusters from the 7 Dots set and my other items. I chose out a piece of Tim Holtz  Kraft Resist paper from the Idea-ology Collection and sprayed with some Lindy’s Gang sprays and also chose some cork ribbon and adhesive die cuts.

These items were then used to make the 2 clusters. They were fairly quick to make and is a great way to use up scraps. I loved how it just helps you prep a large part of a layout and you could make several at a time. It really sped up the overall layout making process and I will use this technique again. 

Kaisermist Shiraz and Distress Ink Vintage Photo were used on the edges to finish the clusters.

Stenciling was added using a Tim Holtz Bubble Stencil and Prima Marketing Modelling Paste. Embossed stamped images were also added using G45 and Tim Holtz stamps. Some of the 7 Dots stickers were added to the inked paper to make the titles and a little leaf stamp was added for a final touch in black ink.

Everything was glued together and stuck down using my favourite Prima 3D gloss gel, perfect for heavier items and uneven surfaces.

Here are some close up shots. I really enjoyed making this project and this vintage/grunge collection. I cannot wait to use it again and try out this technique on more layouts. Hope you enjoy and it helps inspire your own cluster layouts.

Thanks for joining us Louise!  Don't forget UKSA fans have until the end of the month to use the code at Thompson's Crafts!