Flying Unicorn Solace For The Heart - part 1

Today I'd like to share with you a layout I made with Flying Unicorn's November "Solace For The Heart" kit. This layout may be my favorite layout I've made so far.

I'll admit, when I first opened this kit I was a little tentative - the papers were gorgeous, and had a beautiful feel and weight in my hands, but they were not at all the colors and patterns I was used to working with.  I stared at them for a couple of days, and started really noticing the nuances.  The gorgeous green undertones of the Authentique papers.  The bursts of color in the Cosmo Cricket papers, and the wonderful coordinating chipboard stickers (I've recently worked with another Cosmo Cricket line and its chipboard stickers, and they are quickly becoming a favorite of mine) and the gorgeous patterns of the Teresa Collins papers.  Those couple of days of ruminating over the kit were just what I needed to wrap my mind around the kit and run with it.  And having a kit that wasn't me really made me stretch myself and I am so happy with the layouts I produced.

I Fight Dirty

 

I edited my photo in PicMonkey first to tone down the colors so they would fit the gritty tone I was aiming for.  This is a photo of my youngest, Colby, at the beach this summer; the smudge around his eye is sand, but I love that it looks like a black eye and he looks like a little brawler. 

 

I loved the distressed look of the Authentique papers, with their green- and sand-colored smudges, and wanted to build on that, so I tore my papers into strips, layered in some burlap I'd saved when I cut apart my stretched burlap canvas and added some splatters of Olive Green Glimmer Mist. 

To achieve the splatter look, I drew the Glimmer Mist up into a syringe I had left over from some oral medication for one of my kids, held it a couple of inches above the paper and rapidly depressed the plunger, and I'm happy with how they turned out. 

 

The sweet little chickadees just begged to be fussy cut, and I added some to the Prima canvas banner and My Mind's Eye trim from the kit.  And how perfect, the Authentique "Peaceful" Elements sheet had stickers for the words "I" and "fight" that I combined with the Thickers for my "I Fight Dirty" title.

Drop by the Flying Unicorn store to pick your kit up before they are all gone - like all Flying Unicorn kits it is incredibly versatile and will lead you in so many different directions.  And be sure to stop by the Kit Of The Month Group for more inspiration from me and the rest of the fantastic Flying Unicorn Creative Team.