Merry Christmas Layout by Paige Evans

I have a layout to share with you today which I created for the American Crafts blog, featuring my Go the Scenic Route collection and fringe!

I started by trimming 3/4" strips from all of the mostly solid patterned papers and then snipping them with fringe scissors. I placed them in a rainbow order and "ooohed" and "aaaahed" over their formation because rainbow anything makes me happy :)

Next I die cut a large Christmas tree from a robin's egg blue textured cardstock. I layered the fringe strips up on the inner tree piece and then did some mixed media work on the outer tree background.

I used white gesso around the edges of the tree and blended it with my fingers to create soft edges. Once the gesso dried I came in with Pastel Dreams and Tropicals watercolors and splashed them on top in the same order as the colors of the fringe.

Next I adhered the background over the fringe tree and machine stitched around the edge to create a border. Time for a photo and embellishments!

I found a photo of Jane from last year and printed it to 3x4, trimming it out to leave a white border for contrast. I adhered the photo onto the right side of the tree and then layered flowers from the Chipboard Stickers and Cardstock Stickers underneath the right edge. I topped the photo with a birdie Chipboard Sticker because even after all these years, Jane still loves birds.

The title is made from the colorful Foam Thickers and then I wrote a bit of journaling underneath it with a blue pen. To finish, I used the colorful dots and hearts from the Chipboard Stickers to embellish the tree tone-on-tone to create faux ornaments.

I hope you are inspired to create a similar layout using my Go the Scenic Route collection! It's not a Christmas-themed collection, but I love non-traditional colors for my holiday pages and the fringe totally reminds me of a Christmas tree! See you soon!

SUPPLIES: Patterned papers, stickers, Thickers: GO THE SCENIC ROUTE; Christmas tree cut file: Paige Evans; Die cut machine: Silhouette Cameo; Watercolors: Pastel Dreams and Tropicals; gesso; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark