Decorate your layout backgound with gesso!

Happy Wednesday everyone,

This week we are going to get our fingers messy – with gesso!


Here’s a list of materials I used:

• Big Shot Machine (655268)
• Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die - Regal Edging (657747)
• Sizzix Framelits Die Set 4PK - Frame, Heart w/Crown (657555)
• Two white 12”x12” cardstock sheets
• Two small pieces of red cardstock
• White gesso
• Patterned paper from DCWV Old World Stack
• B&W photos
• Alpha stickers: AC Thickers – Rainboots
• Text stamp
• Stamping inks
  Distress Inks: Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Fired Brick
  StazOn: Saddle Brown
• White lace
• White and pink beads
• White gel pen
• Baby wipes, bonus card
• Two-sided tape, glue (Tacky Glue, Glossy Accents)

I started with creating the page background: I wanted to make the decorated center panel slightly smaller than the dark patterned paper background so I trimmed 10 cm off from the edge of one white cardstock sheet. Then I took my jar of gesso and using an old bonus card I wiped the entire cardstock panel with white gesso. This layer of gesso would glue my decorative strips on the background.

 

Using my favourite decorative strip die 'Regal Edging' I die-cut five strips of white cardstock and placed them on the gesso layer. Then I wiped them over with another layer of gesso, covering the entire panel. I wanted the beautiful details to show perfectly so I rubbed the strips with my fingers removing excessive gesso from the images.

 

 

 

When the panel was completely dry I inked the panel with three different red shades of Distress Ink. A layer of gesso does not absorb water-soluble inks so I lightened and mixed the colours by wiping them with a baby wipe. At that point I still felt that something was missing so I finished the panel with stamping text spots with brown StazOn ink. Note: If you want to stamp detailed images like text on a gesso layer remember to use non-soluble inks like StazOn. Water-soluble inks will not give a perfect result!

 

 

 

 

The lovely photo frames were cut with Framelits die ‘Heart w/Crown’ and I used the same die to cut my black and white photos, too. I adhered the decorated panel in the middle of the dark patterned paper and wrote the journal with white gel pen on the background. I finished the page with writing the title (6 vuotta - 6 years) with alpha stickers, attaching two strips of lace on the sides of the panel (Tacky Glue worked great for this) and gluing a few small beads with Glossy Accents on the page.

 

Finished!

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this tutorial inspires you to take out our favourite Sizzix dies and to create your own decorated page backgrounds.

 

Have a nice week!