The March page of my mixed media book is a little late.. but here it is.
I am trying to use a different paper doll each month, so for this month I chose to use one of the primitive paper dolls from the “Dressing Up Dolly Divas Volume 4” CD by My Craft Studio.
First I covered the 2-page spread with some pretty purple paper from my stash. I added a little Picked Raspberry Distress Ink around the edge.
I used a stencil of an old postcard and a Distress Marker, again in Picked Raspberry, to add a bit of interest to the background. It looks a little bright here, but in real life it is more subtle.
Next I cut out the pieces of March ephemera from the Graphics 45 pad and laid them on the page to try some layout ideas. I printed out the Serif doll, it is one of the “ready to use” ones on the disk. She looks a bit flat compared to the vintage style of the rest of the page, so….
I stamped some small feathers on to her dress using the Picked Raspberry distress ink again. Then I used more Distress Markers to colour over the doll and add some basic details. I kept it very simple as I quite liked her primitive look.I found some pretty purple woven “stuff” in my stash and glued a little scrap to each corner of the layout with matte medium gel. It stuck fine, I used an acrylic stamping block to hold it flat whilst it dried, which only took a couple of minutes.
I laid the doll in place and drew a very light pencil line around her. Then I added a very light wash of gesso around this area to help her stand out from the background a little more. Then I glued her and the other ephemera in place with the matte medium, including the green, square buttons which I spotted in my button jar. As they are also a bright green they helped make her bright dress look more like it belongs on the layout.
The little piece of ivy dangling from the March title was cut with a Tattered Lace die. I had cut this ages ago, from bright green paper, so I daubed it all over with Peeled Paint Distress Ink to make it look less dramatic.
Next I used my “Purple Violet” Faber Castell Pitt brush marker to outline the various elements. Before the ink could dry I quickly smudged each line with my finger to make a shadow look. This is quite subtle but really improves the overall look of the page, in my opinion. I also used a Zig Micron black pen to enhance the outlines of some of the ephemera, where they cross over each other. I added a little more detail to the paper doll with it too. Finally I used a violet coloured pencil and shaded a little around the edges of the pages.
Useful links to some of the products used in this project. These links will take you to the Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk store. If you buy them from these links then I will get a small commission for sending custom to Amazon. This is at no extra cost to yourself. Thank you.
The January Page of the mixed media yearbook
The February Page of the mixed media yearbook
I stopped work on the mixed media year book due to a family bereveament. I intend to continue this series at a later date though.