Modifying Older Embellishments for a New Look by Alex

Hello Flair Enthusiasts!

Alex here and I do apologise for my belated post, but I do bring you a video as promised.

I'm not sure whether it's worth the wait, but you can be the judge of that.  Would you believe me that I had actually finished the filming and the layout a couple of weeks ago?  I think we're all getting the hang of having a semi-permanent recording set-up, but we're always making improvements along the way.

This layout brings together all-the-things!  What do I mean by that?  Sorta kinda killing two (or in this case more) proverbial birds with one stone!

Firstly, I used supplies from my "Counterfeit Kit" to make this layout.  You can read more about those on my blog.  The process video for today's layout is below.  You can can either watch now or after reading the post!

The next thing I manged to incorporate into the layout was the use of a sketch.  September's Product Focus in the Rediscover Your Stash group is sketches, so I tried to include them when possible.

The sketch came from Shimelle's free 4x6 Photo Love class from Two Peas days.  I stumbled across the sketch on Pinterest and upon recognizing it as one of the lessons, I had a look on her blog and there it was!  Shimelle didn't post the sketch, but she shared photos of the two layouts she made and posted them on them on her blog.  Here is Shimelle's blog post and it contains a video of this lesson.

The reason I chose this sketch is somewhat lengthy and I do go into more details on my video and my version of this blog post, but in a nutshell I thought it suited my photos except it didn't and I had to make some changes and actually ended up following the sketch more closely than I planned! 🤷

My original choice of photos didn't work out either.  Butterflies were Plan B (more about in the video)!, but it ended up for the best, because who makes butterfly flair better than EWF?  I was spoiled for choice and I don't even have all of them! 😮

I tell you, sitting down to a layout frequently takes you down a rabbit hole and it tells you what it needs.

So...back to the important bit.  Hands up if you have plenty of "vintage" stash that you can't part with.

Yeah I thought so.  I have a lot.  Today I'm reporting that I successfully got them (OK OK THREE of them) on a layout after languishing in my stash for...I don't know...maybe 6-8 years?  I have maybe 4 different packets of these rosettes.  I know I manged to use up almost a full pack some years ago, so it IS possible. 🤔

Regardless of WHAT type of item it is that you're hoarding, the important reason is to ask yourself WHY.  This will be different for everybody and may include a combination of factors.

Is it the fact that you paid money for it and don't want to feel like you're throwing money away if you get rid if it?  You don't have to throw them out.  Ask around at local schools, preschools, childcare and community centres...and hospitals too.  They often have arts and crafts type programs and are grateful for the donations.  You can feel good knowing your stuff will be enjoyed by sick kids.

Not you?  Still clutching your preciousssssesss? 🤣 (Don't worry, clearly I am too!)
hoarding it for a sentimental reason?  Are you waiting for the PERFECT project.  Larger, pre-made embellishments tend to be expensive so I can understand that.
If that's you, then I encourage you to read this article by Shimelle on what COULD happen to "special" supplies if you hold onto them too long. Gives you something to think about for sure.

What if you WANT to use them...TRY to use them, but they just look wrong every time.

That's me, BTW.  🙋🙋🙋 (Actually they're all me, but mostly the last one.)

The first tip aI have t getting something to work is to go back to the same collection.  Collections are designed to go together,  They're made so you really just need to add photos, a pen and glue.  I usually mix my collections so this is a step back and chance to refocus for me.

Chances are, if they're older supplies, you likely don't have much (if anything) left from the original collection.  So go back to manufacturer if they are still in business.  The rosettes I had were all brands under the American Crafts umbrella (I have two packs by American Crafts, one by Pebbles and one I can't remember now). Usually the colours have a certain familiarity about them.

You can also try and pull in motifs similar to those in the original collection, paying close attention to the colours.

For my part, in this particular case, I often felt they were too big...as are many supplies I LIKE, but just struggle to use (often due to size).  In this particular instance, spreading them over a two-page layout seemed like a logical way to start.  It was going to still take a bit of work since the photos took up a fair bit of space.  What I DID like about using these rosettes is that they make a perfect nest for a flair badge! 🙌

They're so old the foam pads on the back just fell off!  🤣
Many are topped with a button and the button is almost always without thread. 😱 Naked buttons make me twitchy!

As you saw in the video, I chose the colours carefully to co-ordinate with both the flair and layout itself.  The Pebbles ones had white circles with tiny "happy birthday" text that I never noticed before.  Since I don't celebrate them and it's irrelevant to the story anyway, I pulled them off.

This is where you can start to bring the supplies into the modern era by replacing the various layers with punched circles of papers from your layout.  Suddenly they don't stick out as much!

Since I was trying to draw attention to the flair badges,  I chose not to replace the circles.  The white flair against the blue/aqua looked really good. Flair, rather than buttons, gave them a fresh new look and I'm really pleased how they turned out.  I can't say the same for all the other parts, but overall pretty satisfied given  don't two page layouts

I think what I'm going to do is place all my "too hard" supplies in one basket nearby, so I'm looking at them and through them more often and don't miss opportunities to use them.  An actual "too hard" basket! 🤣🤣🤣

Oh you probably want to see the rest of the layout, right?

OK here is the title and journaling (yes I added the butterfly and black faceted gems after I stopped filming!):



And the whole spread:

The Butterfly House

BTW, here are all (or almost all) the BUTTERFLY flairs in the EWF store.  I picked some from two different sets.   Click on "Insects Birds and Animals" on the right hand side of the page.





 
 
I hope I've addressed most of the reasons why you might be holding on to supplies and how to get past this road block.  I'll see you sooner than later to get back into the swing of my blog schedule!
Leave me a comment or email if you have any questions.  I'll be happy to have a chat about it.

Love and Embellish With Flair,

--Alex xxx