You've Got a Friend in Me Layout with Process Video

 Hi!

Hope you are having a wonderful week. A few days ago, I finished this layout I'm sharing today titled "You've Got a Friend in Me" using an SVG cut file I found on Etsy from a seller named Scrap4DayzDesigns. When I saw this design, I fell in love with it because it is perfect for those Toy Story photos I have from our Disney vacations, so I cut it in white cardstock, made a background using mixed media, and here is the finished page. I have good news, if you like this layout, you can see how I made it in the video at the end of this post, so stay with me while I tell you how I made it and show you some close up photos.

Let's start with the products used. The papers and embellishments in this layout are from an old Carta Bella collection named Toy Box. I bought this collection a few years ago thinking about making some Toy Story layouts, but I never took the time to make them. Now that I purchased this cut file, though, I remembered the collection and paired them together to create this layout. One thing I didn't like about the collection is the cream shade it has. The papers have a cream tone instead of white, which makes it hard for me, who loves to use white, specially when using cut files. This is the reason, I decided to used the patterned papers only to back the title and as photo mats, and created the background matching the colors in the photos to balance the page.

I started the background by preparing the white cardstock with clear gesso. This will help the paper hold the water and colors without breaking. Once the gesso was dried, I used Vicki Boutin Gel Crayons in light blue, dark blue, purple, and yellow diluted in water and applied them to the background using a brush. Then, when the paint was dry, I used a stencil with stars from Delta. I bought it a few years ago in the painting section of Michael's or Joann, I can't remember which one. It came in a set of six stencils with space/astronauts theme. The paste I used is from Nuvo, is called winter white Glacier Paste. I love how it looks when it dries, is like silver/white with lots of glitter, you can see it in the next photos. I added a few paint splatters to the background using the gel crayons, but also white acrylic paint diluted in water and gold using Shimmerz Miner, Miner 49er. Sadly, the splatters process was not recorded because I forgot to turn the camera on, sorry for that!

Now that the background is ready and dry, let's talk about the cut file. I backed it using papers from the collection with colors that appear in the photos like yellow, blue, and red. For the boot, I used a piece of brown cardstock to make it look like Woody's boot.

Now, it is time to add the photos to the page, but first, let's mat them using white cardstock, some of the 3" x 4" cards from the collection, and some of the big cards in the die cut package.

I added the title to the page using foam tape to give it more dimension and help me accommodate the photos.

Then, using the stickers and chipboards from the collection, I created three small clusters near the title and photos. I used foam tape behind some of them so they don't all look the same height/level in the page.

I forgot to tell you that I distressed the edges of the papers behind the photos to give the layout more texture and help the photos stand out and capture the viewer's attention.

I love how this layout turned out. It has mixed media, but doesn't look overwhelmingly busy. You can see the colors, textures, stars, glitter, but the focus is the photos and the title. If you want to see me doing the layout, check the video here and don't forget to give it a like if you enjoy it and/or learn something. 

Thanks for staying with me during this post, I hope you like this layout too and it inspires you to craft!