I’m so excited to work with Authentique. I absolutely love their paper collections and the fact that they have coordinating tags and journal strips as well as alphabets and mini words. I journal with mini words all the time and these are probably my favorite.
I chose to use the Journey Collection for this layout. It was not only the perfect color, but had some great tags and journaling strips that were perfectly made for my subject. My hubby competes in the North American Strongman Competitions and this was a great picture I took of his trainer, Tony Montgomery. I love this picture because I happened to catch it at the perfect time and in the perfect light. You can see the determination in his face. This was part of the Atlas Stones lift. This concrete stone weighted 390 lb and yes, he did lift this and place it on the stone loader. I love watching these guys give it their all at the competitions.
When I saw this lovely brushed swirl on this paper, I knew right away that I wanted to play with Helmar Textured Effects on this. I used a fan brush and bushed this directly on the paper and then let it dry.
I love how it maintains each brush stroke. You can also mix this with another paint, ink, glitter, mist, etc, but I kept it plain. I only wanted a slight sheen and the look of brush strokes on the paper without changing anything of the design itself.
I tried to take the picture so that you could see all the bush strokes. It really adds that extra something to the whole layout when you can see it in person.
I used Helmar Acid Free Glue along with various sizes and shapes of Helmar Zap Dots to put this whole page together and give layers of dimension. They come in round and square at 1/4” and 1/2”, and in white, black, or even clear. I used all on this layout. Finally, the layout was finished off with a little Black Soot distress ink around the entire page edge.
PS. Here’s a little tip that many of you know, but it might be a light bulb moment for some of you. Don’t discard the punch-out waste from your ZapDots. Save them and cut them with scissors and use the pieces. They are usually hidden anyway and no one would know. Here you can see I cut off a strip to use on the edges and a piece in the middle. If you use dimensional adhesive behind a larger piece, don’t forget to add some to the center too, if now, your piece might sag just a bit in the center sometimes.
If you haven’t worked with any of the papers from Authentique, you really should see the gorgeous papers and color collections they have. The Helmar USA Team has some amazing projects ready for you this week. And, if you haven’t tried, Helmar Textured Effects, you truly should. It is a fun medium to play with.
Love the way you used the Textured Effects! TFS
Posted by: Doris Widder | January 21, 2012 at 01:03 PM
Ooh I need to get me some Helmar Textured Effects!! That looks awesome Cheryl! Holy crap your husband must be strong! Great masculine page.
Posted by: Renee Aslette | January 17, 2012 at 11:32 PM
Great page--love that photo and love your tip on the zapdots!
Posted by: Carolyn King | January 17, 2012 at 06:17 PM
The layout is fabulous! I love all the details and the texture effects.
Posted by: jpscraps | January 17, 2012 at 05:48 PM
I second all of these comments. Great composition on the photo as well as the layout. Love the colors you choose. From your greatest fan.
Posted by: Susan Garman | January 17, 2012 at 05:16 PM
Can't wait to try the Helmar Textured Effects. It reminds me of hand painting.
Posted by: Chris Taylor | January 17, 2012 at 12:52 PM
Great layout and thanks for sharing the story behind the photo - amazing!
Thanks for showing off Authentique Paper's amazing Journey collection so well!
Posted by: Tifany DeGough | January 17, 2012 at 12:22 PM
I can only imagine what it would be like to lift that much weight...
And you did good in capturing the moment.
Posted by: leslie | January 17, 2012 at 11:05 AM
amazing layout.. what a great photo.. love the texture you added!!
Posted by: angie blom | January 17, 2012 at 10:38 AM
Fabulous!!! I just love this!
Posted by: Katie | January 17, 2012 at 09:42 AM
Great LO...what a picture!
Posted by: Martha Richardson | January 17, 2012 at 09:25 AM
OH MY, he is a STRONGMAN!! LOVE the layout and The Helmar Textured Effects looks AWESOME! Have a GREAT Day,
Me-Ma Kim
kimnsammy at gmail dot com
Posted by: Kim Martin | January 17, 2012 at 09:12 AM