Tutorial Tuesday by Laura C...All About Layers

What type of cardmaker are you? Clean and Simple?
Layered and Complicated, or somewhere in between?
When you see a multi-layered card, what do you think?
A. Oh I could SO do that!!
B. No way I would even try that!!
C. I would never have the time or patience to try that!

This pictorial will show you, that layers not only look
fun, but ARE fun to do! And they are a fun addition to
your skills as a crafter!

So start with the basics, what do I want to work with?
Paper is a great place to start. But, dies (or a Cricut
design) are good too. I knew I wanted to use my new
Donna Salazar Rose Creations Dies, so I was thinking
soft and floral. The Victoria Gardens collection
from Echo Park(EP) was just the ticket.

So now what? Choosing some other fun dies for
possible layers....ink colors that match the papers
(Wild Honey, Peeled Paint and Spun Sugar are
a perfect match here!). This is the goodie collection
I ended up with:

Next source of inspiration....once I made my
flowers out of 2 of the few solid colors available
in the EP and cut out some green leaves(matched to
the green in the EP) I wanted to make sure I drew
those colors out to the entire card--one of the key
ingredients in good layering.


So here is the step by step process....step one...
plain white card base, and stamped image
(La Blanche by the way....check these out in
the store quick before they are gone!)

Step 2: I love layering with the journal boxes
in the EP kits....a great layering tool!!


Now my image was a bit big....that's why the
finished project ended up with a window box!
It was made by cutting out that white center,
and layering in acetate and very thin strips
of paper to mimic a window. I made it a shaker
box by using foam tape, and adding some
Suze Weinberg Bedazzles.

So next layer...because of the white trellis,
it really got "lost" on my white paper, so a
darker solid layer helps to "ground" the piece.
I wanted the focus on the window still, so I
kept the color close:

So next up....my three flower colors were....
salmon pink, soft peach, and a soft olive color
in the leaves....to bring the olive in and
"ground" it in the design, I made this layer:


Ok, looking good....but I still haven't given that
soft peach flower a reason to be in there.....so,
need a peach layer! Another great dimensional
trick....add in the "opposite"....so the band of
peach paper was layered in sideways:


Now I did not want to add yet ANOTHER
photo....lol, but I did ink the green and peach
layers to give them even more dimension,
especially since they were "deeper" layers.
Next up....haven't given the black window
frame any place in the design yet....so, yep,
here it is:

The Spellbinders Ironworks Motifs are really
amazing layering pieces. you can tuck them
under, around, have them peeking out from
behind.....they are really awesome!

And so here is how we are doing:

Very nice, but all that white space....and again....
I'm thinking we need a little more of that black...
it looks kinda lonely, doesn't it? So here we go:

Doesn't it just "feel" complete? We pulled out
all three of the major color players.....grounded
them to the design using layers of the black
that if you notice are present in the top,
middle and bottom layers.....it's a perfect
card sandwich!

Depth was also added with the shaker box,
and enhanced by adding ink and Glimmer Mist to
the stamped image.

And a final look at the finished product:


So....did you enjoy this tutorial? Give it
a try....it really is just step by step, and
it will get easier every time!

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Products:
Spellbinders dies (Donna Salazar Rose Creations,
Foliage, Ironwork Motifs, Labels 8 & 18
Echo Park Victoria Gardens 12x12 kit
La Blanche Stamps
Distress Ink (Wild Honey, Spun Sugar, Peeled Paint)
American Crafts Brads
Glimmer Mist (Iridescent Gold)
Suze Weinberg Bedazzles