Inspiration from your photos

Jul 16 2012

Inspiration from Your Photos

Posted by: Kristen Swain · Edit

Hello Circlets! Kristen here with you today to talk to you about where I get my inspirations from. This week’s theme is About Me, and I’ll be honest with you, the first thoughts through my head were ACK, YIKES, EEP, and BLEGH! I don’t like to chat too much about myself, I don’t think I’m very interesting, and personally, I’d rather spotlight anyone else in my family then me. But, I pulled up my big girl pants and sat down to create with determination.
When I am trying to create, my inspiration comes from so many places. But this time, I thought, how about I just take one specific moment, and focus on that. Sitting on the beach two weeks ago, enjoying myself while I was taking a break from the water, watching my kids and hubby boogie board and play, and I looked at my sandy feet- with my girly glitter pink polish, my single ( and only) tattoo on my foot, and the hemp anklet I had braided while we were driving to the beach, and I took a photo of my feet, in that perfect, happy moment.
That is the moment I chose to scrap today.

Inspired to create something that looked ‘sandy’, I started out looking at sand castles, as I pulled them up in Cricut Craft Room, I saw this beautiful sand dollar image as well and the beach border. I cut them all on the same sheet of paper and before I pulled them off the mat, I layered on gold, brown, and black spray ink, to look more like sand. You can have fun playing with spray ink this way because sand can have many colors in it. You can unscrew the cap and drop droplets of ink on your paper, and mist lightly as well.

I also inked all the edges of the sand shapes to separate them when I layered them. Popping them up with foam tape also added dimension and separation of the shapes. While on the beach, the girls and hubby chased little sand crabs and I wanted to add one in as well, so I found this little one, cut him in red and then dropped a gold spray on him to blend him in more with the sand.
For the background blue, I cut one cloud then laid it on my layout while I sprayed the blue mist, then moved it down the paper spraying around the cloud to create cloud shapes. I also used two bright blues that blended well.
After I layered on my photo and sand cuts, I added a bit of cheesecloth, pulled and adhered with a dot adhesive. It looks like netting and I love the look on the beach page. I added some small real shells and a starfish across my netting with diamond glaze.

I was left with a space to add my title and journaling, but wasn’t sure how to creatively put them . I took my cue from the flags on the sand castle, and created two more to ‘stick’ in the castle. I thought of my title, and added it to the end of my journaling to create a smoother transition for the reader.
I hope this gives you a little insight on how my creative process works!
Have a great summer!


Designed by: Kristen Swain
Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Expression Electronic Cutting Machine
Cricut Cartridges Used: Creative Memories This and That, Creative Memories Traveler, Paper Dolls for Everyday, Sesame Street Elmo & Friends
Other Supplies: Cardstock (American Crafts), Bamboo Skewers, Spray Ink (Tattered Angels), Sea Shells, Starfish, Cheesecloth, Foam Tape, Diamond Glaze, Ink (Close to My Heart), Distress Tool (Heidi Swapp), Adhesives