Hello, SCT friends! It’s Erica here with you today sharing a 12 x 12-inch scrapbook layout using my favorite techniques! If you follow me on my Instagram or YouTube you know I love to use cut files on just about all my layouts! I stick with what I love and I love cut files! I also love to play with my ink pads to add color to my backgrounds!

Supplies | Summer 2022 Issue cut file; Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned paper, stickers, ephemera: Vicki Boutin Color Study; Stickers & die cuts: Echo Park Endless Summer collection; Ink: LDRS Creative; Adhesive: Close to My Heart, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Sponge: Close to My Heart

The cut file I used on my layout is one of the bonus files from the Summer 2022 Issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine. To start I like to back my cut file first. I took the cut file and the patterned paper I wanted to use and turned them both over. I placed the cut file on top of the patterned paper and traced the inside of the cut file. When I go to cut out the shape or letter, I make sure to cut around my trace line, leaving a bit of a border.

Once all my letters and shapes were cut out, I adhered them using a liquid adhesive from Close to My Heart that has a very fine tip so I do not get glue all over. After all the pieces have been backed, I like to use foam adhesive all over the back of my cut file so it will add dimension to my page.

For the base of my layout, I tend to go with white textured cardstock, but I do like to add a little bit of color using inks or mist. For this layout, I used an ink pad from LDRS Creative in the color Marina Madness. I took the ink pad and smooshed it onto a clear acrylic block or a piece of clear packaging. I spritzed water onto the ink and used a thin paintbrush to mix it up. I took my round sponge from Close to my Heart, dapped it into the ink, and smooshed it around my page.

I added ink in a circle since my cut file was going in the center of my page. Next, I added ink splatters using the thin paintbrush all around the ink I just sponged onto the page. This technique is quick and easy and dries fast!

Once everything was dry, I adhered the cut file to my base and add my photos. I matted my photos on patterned paper from the Vicki Boutin Color Study collection and placed them to the left of the cut file. I used foam adhesive from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L to pop them up.

Next, I added die cuts and stickers from Color Study and the Echo Park Endless Summer collection. This cut file already had my title in it so I did not have to add any alpha stickers, but I did add phrase stickers from the Color Study collection.

To add another texture, I sprinkled Echo Park Endless Summer enamel dots around the page. To finish off my layout I added my typed journaling under the cut file!

This cut file was so fun to create with and was the perfect starting-off piece to get my layout going! Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you will give one of these techniques a try! If you have a ton of ink pads in your stash pull out your favorite color combination and get a little inky with some splatters!

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