I created this sketch last fall for Kindred Creations 'County Fair' sketch competition. (It did win the competition). I really love the round picture it uses, but I confess I had never used a round picture on a layout. So I felt challenged to actually use this sketch... yes I actually sketch ideas, not layouts I've already created. I just had to create a layout using this sketch, and with all the craziness going on my life since then I just hadn't had a chance.
GIMP Tutorial
I was playing around with a photo of my DH and I in GIMP. (I am currently using 2.6.4) I totally love the look of pencil sketches however I have absolutely no skill when it comes to drawing. The FX-Foundry filter pack(I think this is a must download if you use GIMP) has a great filter called 'Quick sketch'. I used that on the picture (FX-Foundry>Artistic>Quick Sketch). I then flattened the results, and set the file back to RGB (IMAGE>MODE>RGB). I duplicated the layer, and removed the white background from the top layer (Colors>Color to alpha and make sure white (ffffff) is selected as your colour). I then inverted the colour on the top layer (Colors>Invert) so that I could colorify this layer a sepia colour (Colors>Colorify and choose a Sepia colour or colour of your choosing). I then applied a motion blur to weep the colour in the same direction as the shadows in my picture (Filters>Blur>Motion Blur... use a linear blur and play with the blur length and angle until you find something that suits your picture.. again follow the direction of any shadows in your picture for a natural look). I took this and printed it on cheap $store matte photo paper.
I chose to adapt my sketch for an 8 1/2x11 layout, which I do scrap most often. I started by cutting my circular picture from the sketch I printed. I then searched for a background paper that would highlight the sepia toning in the sketch and found this Basic Grey Bittersweet Belgian paper. I distressed it with Radiant Rain Pewter Shimmering Mist. I then cut a small strip off the top and bottom so I could add a trim. I chose to use a Fiskars border punch on white card stock. I then inked the card stock using Willow Adirondack and Olive CTMH inks. I also cut a scalloped photo mat for my picture and inked it with the same inks.
I glued the punched border trim between my background paper and hand stitched just below the trim with embroidery floss. I inked the edge of my photo paper with red ink and adhered it to the scallop mat, which I then centered on the layout. I took two Gem Art flourishes which I cut into smaller flourishes and rearranged around my picture. I then cut two different sized leaves using my Silhouette, and inked them with either the Willow Adirondack or the Olive CTMH ink. I also punched some Martha Stewart twigs and painted them with Olive Vine Twinkling H20's. I layered them between the two flourishes and added the red and white Craft flowers. I then added the journaling box and journaling using a silver gel pen. Lastly I added my title using foam stickers from Dollarama, which I scanned at 300DPI and grabbed the outline of in my ROBO Master software, and cut some shimmery red paper to line the letters with. I also cut the words 'in love' using Carpenter ICG font on white cardstock, which I adhered right over the paper covered foam stickers.
