Day 141: Convention Contest Layout

Each year at convention there's a big Layout Contest. This year's theme was Make It From Your Heart. I thought long and hard about how I wanted to express that theme, before taking a little bit of everything I love and putting it into one layout.

For the background I cut and sanded strips of Black Cardstock, then created the bold black stripes. I had seen this pic of a wedding bouquet on Pinterest and I wanted to turn that into a scrapbook page. I used this 2011 layout from a now defunct blog as a sketch of sorts, since I basically wanted to create my own B&T bar filled with pics of the artwork that I've made from my heart. I used Blossom and Chalk It Up B&Ts for that picture bar.

I cut the title from Gold Glitter paper using the Artiste cartridge font. I popped up the bigger letters using the Thin 3-D foam tape - this is my favorite foam tape ever! The first time I got it was on accident, because I hadn't realized we were carrying two widths of foam tape, and now I can't live without it. I added a ton of hand stitching in Gold thread using our Stitch Ruler.

I struggled with journaling this page a bit. It's hard to put into words why you love what you do sometimes. For me, I make things not just because it's fun, or glitter is cool, but because this craft allows me to spend time reflecting on the good in my life. Family. Friends. Love. Joy. Happiness. My life isn't perfect, but it's perfect for me. This craft renews my heart and makes me a better mom, wife, sister, and friend. It's like counting your blessings every time I make a page.  

Of course, I also find the process of creating pretty things from nothing but some white paper, ink, and water pretty fascinating. You can check out my Rolled Flower Tutorial for the lowdown on how I did these watercolor paper flowers. I find it so satisfying to create something from simple materials. 

Finally, instead of a banner I actually added my business card to this side of the layout. I usually put my class schedule on the back, but after my move I haven't started a regular schedule again yet. So this time I chose a quote.

I won't lie - this layout took me a while to finish. It was a labor of love, pure and simple.