Stashbusting Shimelle!
I’ve had the gorgeous Shimelle collection sitting on my desk for a few months now, just waiting for something special, but I can be guilty of waiting a little too long sometimes for the perfect photos, and then I end up never using those wonderful papers and accessories. The Shimelle collection was becomming increasingly in danger of not getting used so I decided just to go for it, and find some photos that would work with the papers, even if they weren’t perfect.
I had one each of all of the papers, as well as the Cork Stickers, Photo Overlays, Wood Veneer Shapes, Sticker Book and the Die Cut Shapes – oh soooooo much to use!
For my first layout I used a large photo – 8×12″ which took up most of the page. I kept the layers and embellishments quite small because they would have easily overcrowded the page given the photo was so large. Some of the photo overlays had gold foil on them and were super gorgeous (I rarely actually put my photo overlays on photos, I usually just use them as additional paper layers), and that coupled with a few of the stickers also with gold foil was just perfect for this photo.
For my second layout I needed boy colours. Now I’m not saying that you can’t use pink on layouts of boys, I do so quite regularly, but in this instance I wanted to pick out the shades of blue and green in the collection and use them with another enlargement photo. This photo wasn’t quite as big as the first photo so I could add a bit more too the layout.
My next three layouts use regular sized photos. I’ve added a few scraps from my stash to compliment the papers and I’ve gone mad with the Shimelle cut apart sheets and the embellishments.
My final two layouts use photos from a particular event: some friends and I are taking part in a couples Come Dine With Me competiton, just for fun, not for the television (!) and these photos are from the night my husband and I hosted: a 1950s American Diner themed evening. The retro Die Cut Shapes and stickers from the Sticker Book were completely perfect for this event and they really add a lot to the feel of the layouts.
I really loved working with this collection and I’m so pleased I finally used it – it wasn’t doing much just sat on my desk! Now it has brought my stories to life and I totally love all the layouts!
Products Used:
Sticker Book
Die Cut Shapes
