Authentique Frosted Memories Winter Layout: It’s a Wonderful Life
Hello, Friends! The inspiration for this Authentique Frosted Memories Winter Layout started with a photo of the home I grew up in. My parents bought this home on the hill in Central Vermont in 1956, 10 days before I was born. To call it a “fixer upper” is to be an optimist. The yard was nothing but dirt, the wrap around porch was rotting and falling apart and the interior plaster walls were cracked with age. But Mom had a vision, a strong work ethic, and incredible creative skills. By the time I was old enough to recognize the house as “home” it was easily the prettiest one on the hill. It was surrounded by a white picket fence, the porch (repaired by my dad) was a wonderful place to play on a rainy day, and flower gardens filled every corner of the yard. The walls had been beautified with paint and wallpaper. Windows sparkled. It was a wonderful life.
Many years have gone by since I lived in that humble home. Imagine my surprise when I spotted this photo in my Facebook feed. One of my childhood friends had posted it…and there was no caption…but my heart immediately recognized that bend in the road and that frosted home perched on the top of the hill. I could instantly smell the freshness of the snow and the pines, feel the bite of the icy winter air on my cheeks, hear the squeak of the snow beneath my boots and remember the joy of walking through that door to smell Mom’s bread coming out of the oven. Although I rarely create 12″ x 12″ layouts, I knew I had to scrap this photo to display in my studio to remind me that it really is a wonderful life.
Authentique Frosted Memories Winter Layout: A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words
Lucky for me, I had Authentique Paper’s gorgeous Frosted Collection Kit in the house. I can’t think of any papers that would work better for this photo. So here’s how I created this layout, layer by layer.
This is the original photo, and while it looks great online, it printed out very dark and blurry. So I began this project by cleaning up the photo in my editing program. I decided to remove the telephone poles, streetlight and wires because these things were not installed when I was growing up “on the hill.” Once I had the photo cleaned up, I got down to the fun part of creating this 12″ x 12″ layout.
Authentique Frosted Memories Winter Layout: Layer by Layer
- First, mat a 11 3/4″ x 11 3/4″ square of Light Blue Linen Cardstock on a 12″ x 12″ piece of Blue Denim Linen Cardstock.
- Next, trim Frosted Three to measure 11 5/8″ and stitch the three layers together on a sewing machine. (All the edges are lightly distressed and inked with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.) Leave the threads long in the upper left hand corner so you can tie a little silver charm there.
- Now cut an 11 1/4″ x 9 1/4″ panel of Frosted Two and mat on slightly larger panels of the same Light Blue and Blue Denim Linen Cardstock. Stitch around the edges once again. Center and adhere to the main panel.
- The next step is to cut an 11″ x 3 1/2″ panel of Frosted Five. Mat this as before. Before you adhere this to the page, die cut 4 sets of white snowflakes using Tim Holtz “Snow Flurries” On the Edge Die. Adhere the snowflake borders above and below the panel, then adhere to the page.
- Now cut a 5 1/2″ x 11″ panel of Frosted One and mat as before. Adhere as seen in the photo.
- My photo is printed 4 3/4″ x 5 1/2″. For stability, I backed it with a layer of chipboard, then adhere it to the snowflake panel.
Authentique Frosted Memories Winter Layout: Adding the Details
- Create embellishments by fussy cutting images and sentiments from Frosted Six. Back these with dimensionals to make them pop. Add sentiments from Frosted “Elements” Die Cuts.
- Die cut mittens from Frosted Three and Four. with a Spellbinders Smitten Mitten Steel Contour Die. To create the contrasting cuffs, cut along the cuff line of the die and adhere as seen in the photo. Join the mittens together with an eyelet and bit of ribbon. Place dimensionals between the mittens and adhere as seen in the photo.
- Die cut custom flowers from Frosted Four and One using Tammy Tutterow’s Shabby Posy Dies. Add vintage buttons or purple stamens to the centers and adhere in the corners of the photo.
Cheerio,
kathy
Supply List:
My mom was the most fun mom in the history of mom-dom. She loved to play in the snow as much as we kids did. Some of my fondest memories are of zipping down our great big hill on a sled with mom holding me firmly between her knees. She would whoop and holler just as loudly as we did as the wind nipped our noses and the sled sent the snow flying all around us. The faster we went, the better she liked it! So it makes perfect sense to me to see this innovative box sled that was rigged up for Dougie, her first born, so that they could play in the snow together.
This image of the mom and her child was the inspiration for my Alpine Bundled Up With Love layout. The image is fussy cut from Alpine Eight, and backed with waste chipboard to give it extra dimension. My mom always wore a kerchief just like the one depicted here. So nostalgic!
I created lots of distressed layers for this layout. Here’s what that looks like:
Stickers from the 12×12 Collection kit make great embellishments. I simply backed them with cardstock, added foam tape or waste chipboard to the backs and tucked them in and around the layout.
