I quite often talk about giving my layouts texture but this week's scrap factor challenge got me thinking. Do I know what the word 'texture' really means. A quick look in the dictionary helped me:tex·ture
noun
1. the visual and especially tactile quality of a surface: rough texture.
2. the characteristic structure of the interwoven or intertwined threads, strands, or the like, that make up a textile fabric: coarse texture.
3. the characteristic physical structure given to a material, an object, etc., by the size, shape, arrangement, and proportions of its parts: soil of a sandy texture; a cake with a heavy texture.
So basically I have the right idea. When it comes to adding texture to my layouts I start at the very bottom with my choice of background paper. In this case I used a pizza box because you can peel the top layer off to reveal the wonderfully textured corrugated card underneath. I left the paper I'd peeled off a little to add extra texture.
Then I used some glimmer mist to add a layer on top of the pizza box (to look a bit like a nightsky to match the 'Rocket Age' papers I'd used). (Btw- The misting was too heavy so I peeled a very thin layer off the pizza box to remove some of the mist). For me texture is all about different fabrics, different depths and different materials. I decided to use a lot of different papers, but all from the same range, some different fabrics (denim and burlap) and some different materials (buttons, chipboard, transparency, ribbons and staples). I also used foam squares to layer all the components up and give them depth and texture. Finally I used three different alphas with different textures. I hope that the photos show the texture to the LO :)
Supplies:
Pizza box lid
October Afternoon 'Rocket Age- All systems go'
October Afternoon 'Rocket Age- Docking maneuver'
October Afternoon 'Rocket Age- Black hole'
October Afternoon 'Rocket Age- Captain's Log'
October Afternoon 'Rocket Age- Sticker shapes'
American Crafts Thickers 'Honey' & 'Sprinkles'
Glitz 'Peekaboo- Scarlett'
Buttons from stash
Brown ink
Denim fabric
Burlap
Coloured staples
Ticket
Sewing machine
Embroidery thread
so I decided to use that as a basis for my LO this week. Back in September whilst I was doing Shimelle's 'Learn Something New Every day' class I took some photos of Connor to illustrate the lesson I'd learnt ('Sunday nights have become movie night without me noticing. I love the change to cuddle up') and made a layout using some of them, but I never liked it. I don't often do it, but this week I decided to start again and use the movie night photos and create a new LO. 
Using the test screen as my inspiration I decided to go with a circle focal point. I layered papers, ribbons and burlap on the page before using a bowl to mask out a circle and misting around the edges. I used my sewing machine to stitch circles around the area to really highlight it too.
For my class 'Life Lesson's Learnt' I wanted to focus on making paper embellishments. I think I might have initially frightened the class by demonstrating the flowers but once they got down to it I think everyone liked the end product (so much so infact that they were literally stuck on them ;)).
The Week 8 Gallery has opened on
The sketch was a bit too overcrowded for me and Like a bit more white space than it allowed for so I used just one column of circles, which are cut from burlap. I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch to add some butterflies to the circles and hand stiched a swirl. 
To emulate the shaded area on the sketch I used acrylic paint with a really big brush to get some nice wide strokes. 
And rather than using three embellishments I made five bluebells, which I hung from some rolled paper to look like a stem. 
All the elements are there, just in different numbers and a slightly different arrangement. 
Week 7 on Scrap Factor was a sketch challenge. The