Retro Rubber Blog Challenge Lucky #13, Anything Goes--Runathon Layout

It is time for new challenge over at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog.  This time the theme is Anything Goes, which I really took to heart and stamped the embellishments and sub-title on this layout. 

    

I wanted to play along and use this great two-page sketch from Stick it Down to create a layout that chronicles the first Runathon my son participated in after arriving here from Russia. 

For both of my boys I consider their first year home as a baby book of sorts and have been scrapping many fun events for them.

 

Ever the hoarder of scrapbook supplies I stocked up on fun papers when they first came home.  All of the patterned paper in the layout is from My Minds Eye Academy paper stack. With three sheets of each design I can use a lot of paper and still have plenty for future layouts.

Close up

Shopping my stash I found Maya Road Office Shears and Fresh Chipboard (star shapes).  Forever in Time, a bargain brand of chipboard letters that have patterns printed on them are used for the main title.  They are easy to alter to match the layout, see below.  Deluxe Designs Plain Jane Arrows 1 completed the first stage of embellishment choices.  

Second closeup

 The sub-title on the Maya Road Office Shear was stamped with Tsukineko StazOn in Jet Black with Scrappy Cat's Playful Serie.  I have owned these stamps for 2 or 3 years.  Using polymer alphabet stamps make for easy alignment, plus the grid design didn't hurt either!  The journaling was done with a Sharpie Ultra Fine Point black pen; about the only thing that will write on the Office Shears.

Third Closeup

 Next I pulled out my swatch tags to select the color and medium to alter the chipboard.  I have sheets that show all my color choices by color families (see this post); but I knew only certain media would be a good choice for chipboard.  I placed the embellishments in the places on the layout to decide what color to make each embellishment.  I choose Making Memories Scrapbook Colors, (remember those?) in Celery.  I will have to add water before some of them totally dry out; they've been in my stash for at least 10 years!  Ranger Alcohol Inks in Sunset Orange and Stream were applied using the blender tool, giving a very close match to the paper colors on the chipboard.  The first time I spritzed the embellishments with Tattered Angels Sun Sisters Glimmer Mist but there just wasn’t enough coverage.   So I used Memories Scrapbook Colors in Banana and then spritzed them again, thankfully chipboard is a forgiving base. 

Supplies and tools used to customize embellishments

 

 The circle embellishments were distracting when I first layered them on the layout, so I backed them with paper scraps from other sections layout.  The plain embellishments still needed a little something to finish them off, so I dug out a texture stamp by neato stamps dated 1991!  With a little Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink and the small-scattered dots image, the different colored chipboard embellishments and title were customized and looked more cohesive to each other and the layout. 

Rather than add another arrow to the layout under the title to convey the circular path of the Runathon, I went with chevrons punched from a paper scrap from the opposite page.  Paper Shaper’s corner punch makes a great chevron shape! To add a little more balance to the layout I used ribbon from my stash to add a bit more interest to the visual triangle.  Plus with these additions I could play along with Rochelle Spear’s April Tic Tac Toe Challenge.     

Although this layout has been on my craft table for most of the week I had a blast putting it together.  My son even helped out with names by getting out his yearbook from the year!

I would like to enter this layout in the following challenges:

Stick It Down April Double Layout Sketch Challenge

Rochelle Spears Tic Tac Toe (Chevrons, Ribbon, Mist)

Penny’sPaper Crafty Challenge #224 Use Spooled Items-Ribbon

Love to Scrap Anything Goes with Stamping