Guest Blogger: CD Muckosky's One Hour Layout!

Well, hello and Happy Friday, CK blog readers!

I am so excited to join you for some fun today. For those who may not know me, my name is C.D. Muckosky, and I was the first Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooker of the Year in 2006, regular columnist through 2007 and member of the CK Dream Team in 2008.

I hope your summer has been just super! Ours has been full of adventure and lots of fresh air. I’ve loved having all three of my girls home with me, and as we were getting everything organized to go back to school last week, I longed to be able to tuck them away and keep them right here at home with me every day! At this time of year I always seem to find myself reflecting on how we spend our time and how I want to live this life of mine.

The truth is, I love to tell the stories of our life in my scrapbooks. I love to weave a tale using heartfelt words and every little detail on my page to back them up. But sometimes scrapbooking is my own reflective time and creating is 100% for my own fun. Through my pages I am able to look back and reflect on what I was thinking, and I am giving my girls a window into my heart, a glimpse into who I am and who I want to be. Hopefully when they look at my art they will be inspired to reach a little bit further themselves.

On a Lovely Limb by CD Muckosky. Supplies Patterned paper: Fancy Pants Designs; Ribbon: Making Memories; Rub-ons: Maya Road; Spray glitter: Glimmer Mist, Tattered Angels; Spray ink: Adirondack; India ink: Bombay, Dr. Ph. Martins; Acrylic paint: Liquitex; Art pencils: Prismacolor; Laser-cut cardstock ( mask): KI Memories; Digital Word Art: Chickie-D Art by CD Muckosky; Software; Adobe Photoshop; Pens: Uni-ball Signo, Newell Rubbermaid; Adhesive: 3D Foam Squares, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Tacky Glue, Aleene’s; Other: Craft wire, hardware tape and masking tape.

Even though I like to take some “me” time to do this kind of page every now and then, this time of year is crazy busy, as I am sure it is for many of you, and I don’t have endless puttering hours to spare. So for this layout I limited my time to just ONE HOUR. One hour to reflect and play and pour out where I am right now onto one piece of paper.  Today I’m going to take you on a little visual journey through my layout process. Like a mini layout class for you right here—maybe you’ll even learn a new trick or two!  

Step 1: Choose photo and message. First, decide on the message you are wanting to share. (The whole page is going to reflect this, and you will want to keep it in mind as you work.) I chose a recent summer photo of myself and a piece of word art from the new “page tattoos” kit, coming soon to my online shop at Little Dreamer Designs. Open both your photo and your word art file in Photoshop ( or your photo editing software).(Note: If you don’t have a digital file to express your message, you can type over your picture with a cool font.) 

Step 2: Add text and print. Drag your file right onto your photo and re-size it if necessary. Flatten your image and print it out. It’s all ready to go on your page. Whoo hoo, easy peasy.

Step 3: Gather goodies. Now let’s create a super happy quick background  to give this picture a great home! Start by gathering a few art supplies—anything that makes you happy is fine. I am going to limit myself to just a few things for this page. Limiting my time AND limiting my supplies, I find, is a super fun way for me to get a bit more creative. Today I’m playing with some things I have kicking around that have holes or patterns I can use to build my background. Things like lace paper, stencils, sequin waste and plastic canvas. Then I’m going to choose a few mediums to color my page with: a tube of acrylic paint, some spray ink, India ink and a few art pencils. 

Step 4: Protect your work surface. Ffor an extra-quick, extra-messy page, you definitely want to cover your work space. I  am using a big piece of packing  paper that I have been using for awhile now ( I can’t wait to use it in my work once it is all covered in lots of yummy mess!). Once you have chosen a background paper, grab another paper that you can tear up and quickly tape down to add texture to a corner of your background. I am using old book pages on mine and letting lots of the edges stay free.

Step 5: Spray ink or paint over a “mask.” Now the fun begins! Lay down your first “holey” surface over your papers and spray ink or splatter paint right over it to begin building up your background pattern.

Step 6: Keep playing. Lay down your next holey surface and add more color and pattern right over top! Notice how my acrylic paint keeps some of its shape when I really glob it on? Go for it, my friends! Get those hands dirty. 

Step 7: Splash on some ink. Now that we have a few layers going on, let’s grunge it up a bit with some carefree splats of India ink (black watercolor paint/watered down craft paint will also do just fine). No careful placement needed—just drip and splat to  your heart’s content!

Step 8: Add some texture. For a few really tactile bits, cut some random  strips of ribbon  to add  over and under your photo for a soft border, and  a few bits of rub-ons to throw down wherever you please. I am going with some numbers from Maya Road that are supposed to be dates. I’m just going to use them ALL, because this page is about living “out on a limb,” and I want to do that EVERY day! 

Step 9: Channel your inner child. Once my photo  is adhered  over and under my ribbon strips with some foam  squares to help it have a bit of “pop” off  the page,  I am going to draw a symbol of my message right over all of my layers. My choice is a tree, not only because I want to live “out on a limb,” but also because it is a symbol of growth.  No careful thought here, either, friends. This is not going in the art gallery—it’s just like kindergarten! Grab a colored pencil, be free and  slap it right on that page doodley-doo!

Step 10: Get wired, if desired. I have a little love for messing up things like string and wire all curvy and crazy and sticking them on my pages to create a little bit of movement. I can’t help it, I just like a bit of kooky, crazy fun! On this page I am using dollar store jewelry wire and hubby’s wire snips. Just cut a nice long piece and just start bending it with your fingers and twisting it around. Some people like to do the shaping with pliers, but I find that I have a bit more control with my hands. I just bend away until I kind of like the curves, and I stick it down by either tucking a few bits behind the page, or by using some Tacky Glue to hold it down in a few places. ( It dries clear.)  Step 11: Create tape leaves. For my final little touch I am going to make some tape leaves. Tape a few pieces around your wire and then cut them into leaf shapes and color with your pencil crayons. You can try using a few different tones of tape for a cool mixed look and tuck a few larger “leaves” behind the photo, too. This little cluster will add some dimension to the page and a bit of cute character as well.

That’s it! Our one hour “scrap therapy”  is all complete, and hopefully it was as much  fun  for  you as it was for  me. Here is my finished layout called ” On a Lovely Limb“: 

Thanks for hangin’ out with me and taking a peek into my crazy creating. Please come and leave me a note on my blog sometime, and definitely share a link to your layouts if this was an inspiration for you to get creative or try something new!

Have a great weekend,

CD

 Written Lesson and photos © Copyright CD Muckosky  2009