What About Wednesday: Using the negative of a cut file

Aloha My Scrappy Friends!! How is everyone’s winter/summer going? I live in Washington State and this year has had some really crazy weather for this area. Usually rain is the norm, but we have actually had snow quite a few times already this winter.

A bit of it is pretty nice, since it has been seven years since we have seen more than a dusting of snow covering the ground. Though I am not gonna lie though that I have been thinking about Hawaii quite a bit when my fingers and toes are freezing from the cold.

Just this past weekend we got about a foot of snow. Which is a lot for our area. It literally snowed for 24 hours. It was quite beautiful for a while, though my heart still cried out to another time just last year where I sat on the beach enjoying and taking in the waves from the North Shore. The sand warms your toes, the sun kisses your cheeks and the breeze has this special smell of tropical flowers and salt mixed together.

That is what this layout is all about. I used a picture from this weekend and a picture from last February. I printed them off at 3X4 because I knew I was making a 9X12 layout. I really wanted my background to be visible.

I used a cut file that was designed by Laura for January. If you check out the cut file section you should be able to get it on the blog.  it reminded me of shells so I really wanted to use it.

I decided to cut it out of striped colored pattern paper, I do this from time to time. especially with a paper like this bright colored from Cute Girl. It’s super fun but not knowing how to use it can throw you off. Using it with a cute file allows you to get all the colors on a layout but in smaller amounts.

When I pulled it off the mat I really was inspired by the negative space of the cut file, or the inside of the cut file. I used liquid glue to attach the negative pieces down to some modeling paste mixed with Shimmerz Dazzlerz in Licorice Stick.

At this point I didn’t know if I was just plain crazy for spending twenty minutes glueing down the cut file until I pulled off the main part. It looked so cool.  It definitely reminded me of tropical Hawaii. I knew my pictures would be perfect.

I backed the white card stock with modeling paste and the negative cut file onto a dark gray patterned of stars. I really wanted the color to pop. I outlined with black pen around the white card stock. 

I tucked in a shipping tag with blue baker’s twine at the top of the layout. Later I ended up sticking a feltie cloud and small clothespin at the top too. The first current picture I held onto with the clothes pin. I also added a frame and some cloud puffy stickers.

I added the date in pen on the photo at the bottom. I also used a flair bottom that we got last month from our collab from Cuts 2 Luv that said Baby it’s cold outside. It was perfect for that photo, because it was cold this weekend.  I splinted some sequins from Let’s Be Mermaids and My Clementine sequin mixes.

I added a couple of other clothespins at the bottom of my layout. I really love the way this adds interest and dimension to the layout.

 

To better see the cut file I put the second photo one the left side as far over as I could. 

I layered behind the photo a white doily spritzed with Shimmerz Vibez Eggnoggin’ and Razzleberry . I wanted a bit of color that you might see in the sand and sun on the doily. I layered some ephemera with hearts on it above the picture. The wood chips used to be in the store and were from Studio Calico. They are super fun to layer with, and have a natural feel.

I also added a feltie cloud to mirror what I did to the top photo. I added more sprinkles of My Clementine and Let’s Be Mermaids sequins. I love how these colors really play off of the bright colors in the Cute Girl Collection from Crate Paper.

The colors are so bright and inviting. They worked perfectly with my ocean photo. The waves are so inviting too. Especially with a day filled with snow.

To match the brightness I used some really old Thickers from an old Dear Lizzy Collection. This made for a title. Mixed with the puffy stickers of the Cute Girl Collection and the sequins scattered around it really tied together the feeling I wanted to share.

Even though my feelings about the snow and the beach are shining through on this layout, I still added a few sentences and tucked them behind the tag, in-between the white card stock and the patterned paper. I didn’t want to write on the negative cut file, I really wanted that to be the focal point. I did however want a few words somewhere about how I felt. Hidden journaling is a good way to do that.

Here is a look at the whole layout.

Look below and you can watch my process video from Youtube.

I hope you are inspired to try to use the negative of a cut file. I know I save them on occasion,  (I have a drawer full of them actually). This kind of layout is perfect way to use them up and tell a fun story. Because times and things change. You move, the weather patterns change, our routines change and the things of last year my be so different from this year! It was fun to see this difference side by side.

Have an inspired week!! Don’t forget to share with us the layouts you are making with your SpiegelMom Scraps products in our Facebook Group.

Hannah