Perfect Finishes...Always

How to Make WOTG's Your Own featuring "Stella"

As soon as I got my box of goodies unpacked I dug into this Workshop on the Go and had to create a special page commemorating my reunion with my wonderful niece and her growing family. The cool thing about this particular layout is that Stella is my mom's name so this makes this creation a truly family piece.

The wonderful thing about creating a WOTG layout is that there are no rules. If you need to change elements to make certain pictures fit go right ahead! Here is the picture of the original layout that you get with your WOTG instruction sheet.

I needed to make some changes to use all the pictures that I wanted in my own layout. I needed to add an extra picture so I switched the Lagoon B&T  and Sunset CS around then mounted the photo on top of the Sunset CS. This allowed me to add an extra picture without changing the layout composition

The next change was switching a 4x6 photo for the 2 smaller photos on the top right hand corner. The challenge was to place that size in that space without changing the composition size of the original. I adhered the rest of the elements first so I  could see how much space I had to work with. I sliced the 4x6 photo into strips, making sure that I didn't cut through any faces! The slices of the photo were then adhered with small spaces in between to fill in the space. VIOLA!

This little trick allowed me to use the photo I wanted while still maintaining the original composition. Don't be afraid to cut apart your photos to make them work in your layouts.

The last change I made was to use a different alphabet and make the word fit on the layout. The alphabet change was because I didn't have the set used in the WOTG. Don't panic if this happens to you! I looked through the sets I had on hand and found one that was around the same size. Since mine didn't have the circle around the outside like the original, I added Sunset around the edges using the direct-to-paper method**. This produced a vibrant color around the outside edge mimicking the original design.

Because I had placed a picture in the spot where the original letter placement started, I had to rearrange where I placed my letters.

The last thing I have to do is add my journalling.Normally, I don't use my own handwriting but because this layout is about a momentous event in my life I want to include it for future generations to see.

Remember, the WOTG layout is just a starting point for your creativity. Make changes where you need to make these "one-size-fits-all" instructions truly your own.

** Direct-to Paper Method:  Use your inkpad directly on the paper. For the round letters above, I ran the circles right on top of the inkpad to transfer the ink to the edge. Moving the paper instead of the inkpad allowed me to make an even edge. The more times you make contact, the more vibrant the color will be.