Build A Snowman Layout – Working with Dark Photos

(This post is part of my Frosty Festivities 2015 Blog Event – see a list of all the posts HERE)

I have another layout to share with you today. I have had these dark photos sitting in a drawer for over 5 years, but couldn’t work out how to use them because they were so black…

I think I pulled it off okay in the end! I took some photos of my process, so you can see how I figured out a way to use the photos.

First I pulled a bunch of stuff from my Christmas stash. I looked for things with a hint of black to start with – I didn’t want things that were all black because the whole page would be too dark, but I wanted a hint so the photos didn’t look too lost or contrast too much with the rest of the page. Once I’d found a few things with a bit of black I noticed my scarf was blue in the photo, so I looked for items of that hue. Then as I was rummaging I came across the My Mind’s Eye Christmas On Market Street gold ephemera and gold glitter sticker pieces, and decided that would make the page feel more special. Kraft and wood went quite well to match the gold too.

Here’s my pile of supplies:

I pulled out the ‘Ready, Set, Snow’ stamp set at the last minute, because I realised none of the supplies had any snowmen on them!

The first thing I did was to cut down the photos to lose some of the black and make it easier to fit them all on one page.

Next I chose which piece to use for my background. I tried it on a plain mint blue piece, but that was too boring. Then I tried it on a Pinkfresh Studio paper with mountains and houses on, but I figured I’d be covering most of the paper up so it seemed a shame to waste it, and the paper was too white – it made the snowman appear yellow! The final piece, again from Christmas On Market Street, was just right – the base colour was off-white and the black trees helped to echo the colours in the photos without being too overwhelming:

I really wanted to use this old Crate Paper journal card on the layout, as the words fitted so well. But it would take up most of the page:

Then I noticed the words that were important to me – ‘Build A Snowman’ and ‘Bundle Up’ – were at the top, so I could just use those at the top of the page:

It was all pretty easy from there. I planned out where the larger elements of the page were going to go:

At this point I knew I wouldn’t bother trying to squeeze on a title – the journal card and the word ‘joy’ were enough for me!

I got them all stuck down, flat on the background:

Then I just needed to finish it off with my usual scattering of pretty bits and pieces, including buttons, little wood hearts, and enamel dots:

I added one of the Happy Scatter ‘Watercolour Words’ flair badges above the big photo:

And I managed to add a stamped snowman next to my journaling:

The journaling says:

‘I am blessed with a sister as childlike as me! Of course we had to bundle up and build a snowman. The biggest I’ve ever built. We were so excited!! 09/01/2010’

Be Inspired:

Cluster everything in the middle of your page or project

Use a word sticker or alpha stickers so they overlap a photo or image

Use a black, mint, teal, and gold colour scheme

Do you have any photos sitting around in a drawer that you’re scared to use because of the colours in them?

Remember that commenting on this post, and any post that goes live during November 2015, will count as another entry into the Grand Giveaway {NOW CLOSED}, but only if you’ve registered your interest in winning that prize right HERE!

I’ll see you again tomorrow!

Jennifer x