A real-life 'in-the-flesh' layout at last

A week or so ago, I was lucky enough to get to a class run by Sue at PaperArts where we tackled a complicated set of tasks including cutting, masking, spraying, shrinking, quilling and inking (just for starters!). As it was quite a time-consuming challenge, I didn't get to finish the second layout I started, and it has been lying on my desk at home ever since, asking to be completed.

And at last, it is finished:

I tore, rolled and generally distressed the base cardstock, sprayed some Glimmer Mist in one area (I seem incapable of using this stuff without getting big blobs of ink on my work but hey ho, all adds to the character), and used scraps of patterned paper and cut-outs behind the photo.

You can't see too well from the photo, but the papers are stuck on using foam mounts to give extra dimension, and in the top left, I've scattered sticky gems around for extra bling (there are some to the right hand side, too!). The small flowers come from my stock - some Primas, some charity shop, and the checked bow came from a Christmas gift. The large flower was cut from the Tim Holz Tattered Floral die, while the centre is a button from my button stash tin (thanks mum!). Oh, and I used some roses cut from the rose ribbon stuff you can buy by the metre. I shrunk one using my heat gun.

Add some ribbon and ric-rac, and some letters from the My Mind's Eye Lush collection and Bob's your uncle!