Who can resist the appeal of different textures on a page? Not me? I used to be quite content with glueing flat paper to a page in different shapes and places and then think my page was done. Then I started looking at other pages in all of the on line galleries and pondered on why other's pages turned out so much better than mine. After all we were all using paper....right? In fact, we were. As I delved further into my study of galleries, I found texture was what made them so different and that there are all sorts of ways to create texture on a page.
This week's
Stuck on U Sketches Challenge has a Project Life challenge. We are to make a card using texture. Here is my overall project...
Now you may be saying, Holly, where is your fabric, your ribbon, your corrugated paper etc. Yes those are definitely things that make a great textured page. However, with project life, you have the challenge of creating textured elements while still keeping the book flat so it will close. Ad 52 pages of that stuff and you will have a circle for a book at the end of the year, not to mention torn pockets. So these are ideas that I use to create dimension and texture without adding more than a centimeter or two on the cards.
Paints and Inks
I used a little mist and a lot of water to give that background its mottled effect. I used an embossing folder, then brushed the tag lightly with my ink pad to color the raised surface so it would show better. The flower is flat, but stacked and with interesting textured elements to it like the stamen and leaf....all flat.
Embossing Folders, Strings, Edgy Punches
I like to use these sparingly in project life because they do plump up the pockets. Sometimes you just gotta! This flower would look rather stark if left in its mere two dimensions. I left it monotone to highlight the background texture of painted Gesso better. I also could have just used a round punch, but I found the Stamping up Scalloped 1" circle gave the card more texture than a plain circle/ String is another way to add texture while keeping your pages thin. There are a lot of deals out there on twine and in my opinion, for PL the thinner the better. You can wrap it around a card, or an element as I have done here and it sort of ties the design together in a nice little bow. (Couldn't resist the pun) if you need a certain something something, to create balance,.string can be a great help. It also makes great textured, but flat flowers.
Letter Press or Fake Letter Press
I love Letter Pressed stationary. There is something that just makes it so much more special than just stamped wording and images. There are a lot of gadgets out there that will allow you to do this and even some made for personal and non-professional use. When I started adding up the costs of the inks, the special dies and tools, I saw this is really another hobby altogether. So I started watching some U Tubes and found videos on how to use an embossing folder as a letter press. Granted it may not be as pristine as the tools that are built for it, but for my purposes I think that is a great idea. What you do is ink the folder itself on the raised design of the folder then run it through your Sizzix, Cuttlebug or what ever manual die cut machine you have. This was my first attempt at it. You can see I used too much ink and the wrong kind of ink. I think an alcohol based ink may work better than the pigment based I used. But what I liked about it is that got a dimensional journal card to highlight my favorite pic of the week on the overall page. A friend of my daughters posted a pic from when they were in Middle School. It was a nice treat to run across a photo that I have never seen, 15 years later.
So the net/net of what I learned while going through the galleries is that texture and dimension are what give a design interest. Sometimes it is raised, impressed or painted and sometimes it is glossy, slick and golden. It is definitely something to consider as you scrap. I know my pages are done when I put them in my folder and I want to run my hand across all of the pockets. What...is it just me that does that?
I have had a few sneak peaks. you may want to head over to the
SOU site and look how the other designers added texture to their pages. There are even more ideas for you to see.
To photograph this, I left the pages out of the pockets, so the glitter would show better. With the exception of a Studio Calico and Becky Higgins PL card, I made all of the others using digital stamps from Studio Calico. I am really liking the creativity and flexibility they give me in design, color choice and placement of where I want to journal.
