Stuck Ideas - The Polar Express

The next thing I worked on at the retreat was a layout I began in June while taking SDU at Joann's. If memory serves me correctly, we chose the pictures first and were then instructed to do a split complementary color scheme layout. As they are Christmas photos I was glad not to be doing the traditional red-green color combination. I chose blue-green cardstock for my background, and the split complementary colors for that are red and orange. I seem to remember having trouble weaving in the orange and changing my color scheme. I went with a red/yellow-green/blue-green combo which are also split complementary colors.

This layout sat for awhile because I had envisioned something totally different with respect to the title and embellishments, but couldn't translate what was in my head to my Gypsy and Cricut. I originally intended to have one letter per train car for the title, but size-wise it wasn't working for me. So the letters ended up by themselves on the train track. I also envisioned an entire Santa's Village scene on the right side of the page, but that didn't come together either so I settled for the gingerbread house. I hadn't brought anything to color my embellishments with and so borrowed my friend's Smooch inks to color in the different elements on the house. They never dried. When I came home, I had the bright idea to use my Stickles and what a difference they made.

So this is what I learned...if an idea gets stuck in your head and won't come out, it's okay to make a shift and try something else. Also, Smooch inks don't dry on DCWV glitter cardstock. I probably could have set it with a heat gun, but I didn't have one with me at the time. Chances are, they won't dry on any other kind of slick cardstock either. And now on to the layout! Thanks for looking!