I spent much of my long weekend crafting. I enjoyed using Making Memories' new Noteworthy collection on the Coffee Talk layout below. Like what you see? Tomorrow, you'll have a chance to enter a contest to win your own set of Noteworthy supplies. I love all of the scalloped shapes, acrylic accents and bright colors, and everything coordinates so well. Layout tip: Use acrylic paint to add texture to pages. Using a foam make-up sponge, I quickly swiped white acyrlic paint on the Noteworthy patterned paper. A few quick swipes set the stage for my title, and the paint was a great contrast to the glitter title letters.



Supplies: Acrylic embellishments, letter stickers, patterned paper, metal accent (Making Memories) • Journaling spots (Every Jot and Tittle) • Word stickers (KI Memories) • Misc.: acrylic paint, date stamp, staples





How-to: Make Your Own Painted Paper Accent

On the Collage layout above, I created a painted paper accent to anchor my photos and embellishments to the page. We used this technique in my collage class to create a variety of layers for our collages.

Here's how:

1. Tear or cut a piece of watercolor paper to the size and shape you want.
2. Coat the paper in gesso (I used Liquitex Basics). To create texture, use a liberal amount of gesso and spread it around the paper with a paint brush or your fingers to create ridges, circular shapes, lines, etc. (You also can use a pen to draw shapes in the wet gesso, or use other objects, such as the lid of a jar, to create shapes and textures.)
3. Let the paper dry completely.
4. Paint the gessoed paper with the acrylic paint of your choice.
5. Let dry.
6. Place your painted paper accent on the page.

I created the text cards (Grow, Inspire, Create) at Moo.com. I enjoyed being able to personalize the cards, using words, phrases, colors and fonts of my choice. They have a variety of colors and fonts to choose from on the site, and you also can create mini-cards using photos. You can check both products out at Moo.com.

supplies: Bird accents (me & my BiG ideas) • Epoxy stickers (KI Memories) • Patterned paper (October Afternoon) • Journaling spot (Luxe Designs) • Letter stickers (Li'l Davis) • Text cards (Moo.com) • Word stickers (K&Co.) • Misc.: acrylic paint, gesso, watercolor paper, staples

How did you spend your weekend? Did you create anything? Let me know!

—Katie