A Layout Tutorial from Start to Finish

*** WARNING*** this is an extremely long photo heavy post!  I have had a few people ask me how I make my layouts...from the embellishments I use to the layering effect, so I decided to do another layout tutorial from start to finish.....I did one a while back HERE. The first few photos are of the finished project, then the tutorial starts after that. Ok, grab a coffee and sit back and enjoy! (also excuse some of the photos, as they were taken on my phone)

Here is the finished layout

A Close up of the finished project

Close up of the left side

Ok, lets start from the beginning 

I started with my January Studio Calico Kit & Add Ons

and then added some of my own bits to it

I chose 4 papers to work with
 from left to right Basic Grey designed for Studio Calico,
AC Funny Valentine B-side, the grey is the B-side of the 1st one..
and last another Basic Grey designed for Studio Calico

I grabbed my Studio Calico date stamp, and Prima Chalk Ink

Here is a before and after of the Pink Paislee Artisan Chipboard.
I sprayed them with Mister Huey's Water Color Ink
then blotted them with paper towels

I chose a doily, sequins, shipping tag, brads and a star to use

I grabbed 3 washi tapes...the first one is by October Afternoon - Farm Fresh
and the other 2 are from Freckled Fawn

I have also chosen to heat emboss some wood veneer.
The arrows are from Freckled Fawn, and the Heart from Studio Calico.
I love AC Zing embossing powder, and chose Silver Metallic.
Barbara Picinic taught me to use a glue dot on a piece of cardstock to
hold the veneer down when embossing! Smart cookie!!!!

Next I grabbed some October Afternoon Label stickers, Basic Grey Mini Alphas
and My Minds Eye Enamel Dots (my personal fav!!!)

I also chose Basic Grey True Love Stitched Labels and Alphas
and Pink Paislee Secret Crush Paper Goods

I added some washi tape to the top and bottom of the paper

Next I grabbed my Mister Hueys 

I took the caps off them
and splattered drops on my background paper

Here I cut the paper to the sizes I wanted

Next I added the papers and a doily

Then I put the picture on

Then I added some papers to the left side
(I always try to balance it out, and use the same papers in
different places on my layouts)

I added the Heart next...and because I don't trust chipboard to stay
stuck, I always add some glue to the back...I like a few, Aleenes Tacky Glue,
Tombow, and Glossy Accents

I then cut the shipping tag..I didn't want to waste the whole thing
when I really only wanted the top to show...(at this point I should note, I
never glue my stuff down at the edges, always in the middle, so that
if I want to tuck something in I can)

I then added a few foam dots to the back, to pop it off
the page and give some dimension 

Notice how it pops up...

I then add 1 foam dot to the top of this ticket embellishment.
This will add some dimension

See how it lifts up here?.....

I then put the arrow and sequin down with a glue dot.
The chipboard heart I added a bit of glue behind (even though
its sticky...just my OCD kicking in)

Next I want to add a sequin, and i want to put a tiny brad
through it.  In order to do this, I will need to poke a hole through
the paper and picture. 

Adding the hole

Sorry for the blurry shot...but this is the sequin with the brad through it

And here it is!  I also put the tiny star and the heart veneer down with a glue dot

Here I am adding some foam dots to the top of another ticket

Here is a close up of the embellishments on the left side of the page.
I used Aleenes Tacky glue to hold the arrow veneer down, and again, some glue on
the back of the heart chipboard...and I repeated the process with the sequin and brad

I then added some of the Heart Washi...and because I didn't glue my papers at the edges
it was simple to tuck it under...I also added a pink enamel dot from My Minds Eye

Next I cut out one of the October Afternoon labels, and grab
my date stamp and ink

Here is the finished product

Next I grabbed my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher...(must have product)
and used it to staple down the Basic Grey Stitched Labels.
(notice how I could lift the edge of my paper..because I did not glue
around the edges...)

Close Up

Here I started working on my title...
I put the stickers right on the photo

Here you can see that I put the Basic Grey True Love Alphas part on the photo (I also
added some glue to the back....they were not sticky enough for my liking)
and I also added one of the My Minds Eye Enamel Dots..
You can also see I decided to use the Star Washi here.
It was easy to tuck under,  because I did not glue to the edges

I added the date with my Micron 05 black pen

And once again, here is the finished project

another thing I wanted to point out is that I never stick anything down right away...I layer things, and set things on the page...when I get it where I like, 

I usually take a picture with my phone, and then 

take everything off and start glueing it all down...and if I forget, I have the photo on

my phone to refer back to!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I will respond back to everyone!