Getting from A to X, Y, and Z - CSI Case File #4

[Tina Walker]

Welcome to Case File#4.  Can you believe a month has flown by?  I can’t.  It seems like January just started. 

During January, members of the Design Team have shared their Design Process and have given you insight and tips on how they create their amazing layouts.  I have been sharing short videos of my design process and how I create my layouts and use the challenge prompts to find inspiration. 

This week, I will be sharing how I get from this…..

To this...

 

I would love to say I have a consistent process, week to week, but I don’t.  I really just ‘go with the flow’ and find inspiration from each challenge in different ways.

 

When a new Case File is published, I read through the prompts, look at the inspiration photo, and just stare in amazement at the color palette. J Depending on what ‘pops off the page’ at me and what sparks my interest, I may start my creative journey down different paths.
Sometimes, the Case File sparks a specific photo and that photo starts the creative process. I use that photo as my starting point and build on it by incorporating the color palette, design elements, and journaling prompts. At other times, a design element or journaling prompt may trigger an idea, and the rest of the process falls in place.

In many instances, I am inspired by the color palette and start by digging through my stash for any product that would ‘work’ for the challenge. Sometimes I even pull out product that doesn’t match the color palette, but may work for other prompts knowing that I can change the color with inks, paints, and sprays.

This was how I approached my creative process for Case File#4.

I started by digging through my stash. Yes, this can turn into a big project if you have an abundance of stuff, but can be fun too. It’s like going shopping in your own scrapbook store. (It has also caused a sudden obsession with a stash purge at 1am in the morning. J)
Here are some pictures of what my archeological dig found for Case File #4. (I told you it would uncover a lot of stuff)

As you can see, so many options exist at this stage, the possibilities are endless, and almost unmanageable.

At this point, I usually find the photo I want to use on the layout and use it as a starting point to narrow my product choices. For Case File #4, my photo choice came from the inspiration photo. I was drawn toward the water and searched through my photos for one that was based on water, a beach, travel childhood play, etc. When I found this vintage photo of my mom, my sister, and I, I thought it would be a perfect match for the challenge. Now that I had my photo, I started narrowing my product choice for items that coordinated with the photo.

To continue narrowing down my stash options, I used the design element of frames and stripes to find paper that reflected these elements. This awesome Studio Calico paper was the base for my frame and stripe layout, but I really wanted to build on this theme. I ‘framed’ my photo with circles cut from various patterned papers, then placed this ‘framed’ center piece on a larger square of patterned paper. I stitched around the outside of this, thus ‘framing’ the entire piece, but didn’t stop there. I wanted more ‘framing’ so I stitched a frame around the outside of the background paper and placed that paper on another piece of patterned paper. All of these layers were placed on top a piece of coordinating cardstock. Framing at the MAX! :)

Here are some more pictures of what my desk looks like during this process.

 

To finish the layout, I added butterflies, rub-on’s, journaling words (in a series of steps), and a quote that was inspired by the Inspiration words. (Quote reads: ‘I think I’ve discovered the secret of life – you just hang around till you get used to it’ by Charles M Shultz)

I wanted to show you that during this creative process, I may also try different designs and move stuff around on my page until I find a design I am happy with. During the design process, I will frequently take pictures with my phone (that’s why the quality is poor), to document different design layouts. This has come in handy in cases where I want to ‘go back’ to a previous design. Here are a couple different designs I tried before settling on the finished project.

Here is a picture of the finished layout again, and some close-ups.

 

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my ‘crazy, crafty mind’!  If I could provide one piece of creative advice – ‘JUST GO WITH IT’.  Try out new techniques, cut up paper, move it around, spray it, paint it, ink it.   If it doesn’t work, try again.  Have fun with it

 

Take care,

Tina

[Debbi Tehrani]

I just loved the peek at your "crazy, crafty mind!" Really awesome article, Tina. Love that you included all these different photos to really shine light on your creative process. Thank you so much for sharing!