Across Generations

Holy technique Batman! I went to town on this background page and created a mini work of art. The prompt for which came from this month's Paperclipping Community, Monthly Challenges. The challenge was to use heat embossing on a project.

Here are my design thoughts:

• I wanted to create something green and lush, much like my Grandpa's garden. I used a Tim Holtz stamp and 4 different green/gold/teal embossing powders to achieve the background effect.
• Then, seeing that the stamped images were a bit disjointed, I hit it with 2 shades of green Maya Mist, to create a more cohesive background.
• It's a busier background that what I traditionally use but I think that's ok. I really think it makes my Grandpa, in his blue shirt, and my nephew Urijah pop off the page.
• I went for a very linear, very simple photo arrangement because there was already a lot going on.
• In adding journaling, I wanted it to not carry as much visual weight and wanted it to blend into the background a bit more. So I printed it out on a transparency.
• Embellishing was the hardest part! I didn't want to add too much, but also knew it needed something more. The orange "tag" pieces are what I came up with. I stamped and hand wrote a few sentiments on orange cardstock, and using pinking shears, added a decorative border to the top. The bottom piece really conveyed "garden" to me, since I used Tim Holtz's metal memo pins like a plant marker (can't think of what they're called!!)
• The final touches were Martha Stewart's adhesive backed ribbon along the bottom edge and against the side of the focal photo.

I love these photos. I love seeing my grand parents with their great-grand baby. I love seeing them in their garden. It's my Popo's pride and joy. I can't not think of him in this garden.

I love seeing these two guys next to each other, in their matching cut off shirts. It makes me smile. That's 4 generations right there. How can you not love that?!

xxbesos