The Colours of Tuscany

You will all know that my beautiful daughter was married to the man of her dreams in Tuscany last September....they have featured in a couple of my projects since then, and I have found that while the colour of the wedding was blue, the muted colours of the Tuscan landscape also suit my projects to perfection.

The one I have just finished focuses on the warm terracotta and cream of the beautiful old buildings that dot the landscape - and a photo I just love.

I jumped out of my usual comfort zone for this one and started with a 12x12 piece of chipboard covered with a sheet of sticky-backed canvas. I layered on a few torn pieces of patterned paper (from 7 Dots Studio's Domestic Goddess range), sticking it down without worrying too much about the edges, and painted it all over with white gesso. When it had dried I pulled out a stencil and added random patterns all over - first with Gesso again, and then with Viva Decor Ferro Metal Effect textured paint. I used Gold.

Again, after it had dried thoroughly, I wet the page again where I wanted to add colour - I didn't spray - I used a paintbrush with yellow Jingle Bells and brown Suede Glimmermists. The colours run beautifully, and I prefer the control you get with a brush. I've never been a great sprayer!

My photo is mounted on two pieces of the same paper I used on the background - one sheet was enough for the whole layout. Then to add depth I used Dimensional Tape to stick it to the background.

There are also three layered strips of lace - 2 die-cut paper, and one fabric

Embellishing is easy with my2angels products and a few pieces of chipboard. I have used a lot of flowers - Large White Roses, White Sweetheart Blossoms, White 1cm Roses, White 7mm Rosebuds, Tangerine 1cm Roses, Tangerine 7mm Rosebuds and some tiny White 3mm Rosebuds.

Several Die Cut leaves fill out the clusters and I have also added a small bronze pair of glasses from Tracy's HUGE collection of Charms and a pretty Charming Pin.

Right down in the bottom corner is a beautiful hand made felt heart & key embellishment from the Antique Wings & Things kit and I finished the layout off with a scattering of Gold Micro Beads and Golden Crunch Sugar Beads in several places. These I stuck on with a combination of Ranger Matt Gel Medium and Glossy Accents, so they're really not going to fall off :)