Layout of the Week - Graphic 45's Fashionista & My Mom's Wedding Dress

When I came across these photos, in a stash my mom had given me when my grandmother died, I just knew I had to create a special layout for them.  While I'm not sure of the exact date of the photos, I am sure that I was in high school at the time.  My Grandma Muriel was visiting.  She and my mom had decided to pull my mom's wedding dress and veil out of the hope chest, where they'd been my whole life.  They thought it would be fun for me to try on the dress my mom made herself for her wedding.  It was a fun day and I remember thinking, "Wow, my mom was sure young when she got married!"  She was only 17 years old at the time, barely.  But it was the 60's and people were doing all sorts of things very young back then!  This year my parents will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary this year, so I guess everything worked out just as it was supposed to!

Looking through Graphic 45's beautiful Fashionista collection made me think of all the beautiful things my mom has sewn over the years, including a few of my prom dresses and most importantly, my wedding dress.  I thought these papers would help tell the story of her creations.  I love the idea of creating a fashion board, like the designers do, and set about creating one for my page.  I stayed with the blacks & ivories of the papers and combined them with white from the wedding dress.  I used odds & ends of ribbons that I felt had a retro feel.  With the neutral palette, I chose papers and ribbons with lot's of different textures.  I love the lacy-ness (not sure if that's a word, but I like it) of the black die cut paper from Creative Imaginations, mixed with the softness of the felt ribbon, combined with the distressed look I gave the papers, tearing and inking them before adhering them to the page.  The little "pop" of black glazed paper is from SEI and helps balance the layout when set opposite the satin ribbon across the bottom of the page.

I love how this layout turned out!  For a finishing touch, I used a 7 Gypsies journal card to tell a little bit about the time I tried on my mom's wedding dress.  I really like how Graphic 45 papers help me tell the stories from my past.  I find that the colors from their collections always combine with my photos and let them stand out.  I can't wait to share another Graphic 45 project with you next week.  I'll give you a little hint and be sure to check back next week, it's a doozy!  I completed my next project back in November and have been waiting for the perfect time to share it with you.  It also has to do with my Grandma Muriel, if you've been in the store, you've probably already seen it, but I've got quite a few photos of the process I used to create it, so see you back here next week for the big unveil....

Tips

Use my "fashion board" idea to create a layout of your wedding or prom dress.  You could also use this idea to document the process you used to redecorate a room, using the fabrics & embellishement pieces in your layout.

Don't be afraid to distress some of your papers, while keeping others crisp & fresh looking.

Not every layout has to be thought of as part of a double page spread, some pages just stand on their own when placed in your album.

Supplies

Patterned Papers - Graphic 45, SEI

Die Cut Paper - Creative Imaginations

Journal Card - 7 Gypsies

Ribbon - Various Manufacturers