A Bit Shabby Chic: Berry 71 Bleu

Supplies: butterfly & doily stickers by Cosmo Cricket; chipboard button, button cards, & text print paper by October Afternoon; silver paisley patterned paper by Lily Bee; all other patterned paper by Echo Park; key charm by Zeus & Zoe; acrylic paint by Deco Art; Distress Stain & Distress Marker by Ranger; tulle ribbon by Wyla; upcycled items: vintage children's book illustration, postage stamp, French wire ribbon (from gift packaging), ribbon rosebud (from hand cream packaging).

I rarely venture into shabby chic territory, but it just felt right for this layout, which is for the January 2013 Berry 71 Bleu challenge.  Just below, you can see the inspiration image for the challenge.  It has a color palette of pastels, white, and silvery-grey; and it has a decadent French vibe, with images of clothing and home fashions, macaron cookies, and Marie Antoinette herself.  The thematic prompt for the challenge is to create a project about yourself.  That is, be the "queen of your page." 

image source: http://berry71bleu.blogspot.com/2013/01/january-challengecelebrate-me.html

Well, I don't have much in common with Marie Antoinette; instead, I'm calling myself the "Queen of Quiet."   My crown was fussy-cut from an Echo Park journaling card.

The painted-over journaling is symbolic--it represents my "quietness."  But I re-wrote the journaling in white pen on the pink background paper, so there is really no secret or hidden journaling on the page.

I was excited to use one of the Zeus and Zoe keys that I recently won via Once upon a...Sketch.  The "About Me" photo scrap is from a screen shot of my blog.  The chalky-looking title work and journaling were achieved with a "Picket Fence" Distress Marker.

This illustration has been a favorite of mine since childhood.  It comes from an old Bobbsey Twins book.  (If you are wondering why I would cut up an old book that I once loved, see this post from a 2011 entry in my blog.)

For a supposedly quiet person, I sure had a lot to say on this layout, LOL!  I journaled in the margins of the vintage book illustration, and I also filled up most of the "white space" on my page with additional journaling.  It reads:

"From my early years of coloring with Crayolas with neighborhood friends...to teenage years of making friendship bracelets with BFF's...to adulthood crop nights...I love joining my friends in 'companionable silence.'

"A lot of women love gossip and constant chatter, but I'm not like that.  It's not that I'm totally silent...it's just that I'm comfortable with pauses in conversation.  I call it 'companionable silence.'

"I think gossip is just plain cruel, and I strive to be drama-free.

"I've always been called 'quiet,' and I enjoy calm activities with my friends...like craft nights!"  


Now, I said before that I used a shabby chic style on this page, but it isn't 100% shabby chic.  The turned-up edges, the rough-cut border strips at the top of the page, and the triangle in the corner (see photo below) come from another style...I don't really know what you call this style, but it's popular right now...I think you know what I mean.  I kept it sweet, with pastel colors and a tiny tulle bow tied through the button, but I think that this messy-on-purpose style gives my layout a little bit of modern edginess.  Maybe it's shabby chic for the twenty-first century, LOL!

Below you can see a flower embellishment that I made myself.  My mother-in-law is just as into green living as I am, and she always uses real, reusable ribbon to wrap gifts.  This pink ribbon came from one such gift.  I cut a matching length from a spool of lavender tulle ribbon, then I twisted the two ribbons together.  Because the pink ribbon is French wire ribbon (that is, it has a thin wire hidden inside it), the twists held their shape.  I then coiled the twisted ribbons into the shape of a rose, and I attached the flower to my page with glue dots.  I hand-cut two leaf shapes from scraps of mint green paper, added some details and shading with Distress Stain, and tucked the leaves under the rose.  It was a simple embellishment to create, but it makes a big impact.

And, that's about it for this page.  Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  Now I'm off to visit lots of blogs and catch up on what everyone else has been making.