'Angel' Scrapbook Layout, Using Bisous PDQ Paper

on February 2, 2009

I have to admit that at the start I really struggled with the PDQ patterned paper from Bisous. As mentioned in my previous blog, the papers come with a pre-designed pattern printed onto them, which takes the design mind-block moments out of making layouts. I knew that it was a great idea on behalf of the manufacturer and these products definitely have their place in the craft market, but when I picked out a piece to make a layout with, I stared at it and suddenly felt quite restricted by the design. After a short while, I realised the reason behind this feeling. These papers meant that I had to totally rethink the way I scrapbook, and reconfigure my scrapping process.

For me, I find that the best way to scrap is to pick a photo, think of a title or story to accompany it, and then I choose papers and styles which correspond with them. I know that many others may follow a different procedure, but this is the process that comes naturally to me. Starting with patterned paper and a pre-styled design was completely alien to me, and in truth I found making this first layout frustrating from a psychological point of view. But hey, its always good to challenge yourself, and after making this layout, I was able to overcome those feelings of resistance to scrapping using this new method. After spending ages working on this layout, I am happy to say that the other layouts I have made using these PDQ papers from Bisous were a delight to make. Don’t worry – I will be posting photos of these on the website soon.

Also, I was wrong to think that the pre-printed designs would be limitating and restricting. The more I looked at the designs, turned the paper, lay items on top – it became apparent that there are limitless ways of adapting the design to make it work for you.

Angel
The first thing that jumped out at me in this paper was the faint print of wings in the pink rectangle. I knew that I wanted to accent this and make this a key feature of my page. Taking my Stickles glitter glue I carefully traced the wings and left this to dry over night. I also added a few spots to highlight the stars on the paper.

Because the papers were so bright and funky, I chose to print my photo in black and white, as too much colour can be overwhelming. As I wanted to add a touch of colour to the photo, I printed onto matte card instead of the usual glossy photo paper which I tend to use. This meant that I could use watercolour pencils to tint the flowers in Bethany’s basket. This also gave me the freedom to colour the flowers to match my page, rather than use the colours in the photo which may have clashed with the colour theme I was using. Once I had lightly coloured the flowers using the watercolour pencils, I used a blender pen from marvy to smudge and blend the colours, giving it a more paint-like effect. I used this method to also add extra colour to the design. Purple in the heart shape and some green around the outer edges.

In honesty, there isn’t much else to this layout, except a little chipboard heart also from the PDQ Crave line. These papers really do revolutionize crafting into a quick way of making art. I hope you like this layout, and keep your eyes out for the next few layouts using this range of papers, as I will be putting these up real soon.

Journaling reads:
“It was so exciting bringing you shopping to pick your dress – you knew exactly what you wanted and what you didn’t. It was easy to see the excitment in your eyes, it was like a dream come true for you to play the princess for the day. With your white dress and innocent smile, you looked just like a little angel sent from Heaven to make my wedding day perfect.”