TIPsy Tuesday - Take photos early

Last year we spent a week visiting our friends in California.  Because of their work schedules and other traveling we did, we were not all four together all the time.  There were though opportunities to get a group photo but I missed them all and came home without a photo of all of us together.

So this month, when they came to visit us, I made sure we did a group photo on their first day.  Self timers are a wonderful thing.  So my tip for today is to get your group photos done early in your holiday visiting.  It is easy to get busy or to have someone leave early and miss that chance.  We did an entire holiday party at my house one year where I left my camera sitting on the mantle the whole night and didn't remember to take one photo!

The layout is for the Products You Love class at Two Peas.  This month Shannon has us using chipboard.  I used to paint raw chipboard for almost every layout.  Lately I've been forgetting about it and that is the point of the class to get out those favorite products and perhaps use them in new ways.

Well I tried to use this in a new way.  I started by tracing the chipboard on designer paper, cutting it out, and gluing onto the top.  I planned to sand the edges and add some paint over the sanded area. I have done this before, I think, but it must have been a simpler image. Sadly, I didn't do a very good job of trimming.  No matter I thought, I'll be sanding.  Then when that didn't look so hot, I started painting.  The paint didn't cover all my mistakes so for some reason I thought a layer of glossy accents would help. That only made things worse.

One of the great things about chipboard is that if you mess up the top layer, just peel it off and start over which is what I did.  On the second try, I painted, stamped and distressed for a much better - and faster - effect.

Since the background paper was so busy, I just did some stitching and added a little ribbon for the remaining embellishment.  The date is made up of stickers in a Fancy Pants book plate I sponged with Staz-on brown ink to tone down the color.

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you have a happy holiday with family and friends - don't forget those photos!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Circles and Dots by Inkadinkado
Chipboard:  Oriental Trading
DSP:  Indian Summer from Basic Grey
Bookplate:  Fancy Pants Delight
Stickers:  Jillibean Soup