Getting messy

This is the January mood board challenge at Inkido:

I was inspired by the whites and natural muted colours, and I also loved the soft blue with a splash of red.

I don't have any Inkido products so I just used some older papers from my stash and whitewashed over the top.   I'm not very confident with "messy" techniques but I've been inspired by so many amazing scrapbookers who use paint and texture so masterfully.
 
Scrapbook Fantasies Challenge #04/2014 is to create a layout with a textured background so that was another incentive to try it for this layout.  I took photographs of each step so I'll remember what I did and maybe learn from the process.

First I chose some really old papers (so I wouldn't feel too devastated if I had to bin the lot!) and some chipboard swirls (I wasn't sure yet if I would use them).   Then I painted everything with gesso to get a whitewash effect:



 

So far, so good.  But I still didn't know if I would like it when it dried!

While it was drying I made a heart and journalling strips from a gesso'd book page and offcuts of the patterned paper.  I trimmed my photo, wrote my journalling and selected a title.  I used the sketch from Anna's Craft Cupboard to arrange my page, then put everything together and finished off with machine stitching:



I'm really happy with the result and I think I'll be trying some messy stuff again. 


Materials:
Bella! Happy Holiday patterned paper
Cherry Arte East of India - Sari Dreams patterned paper
Black Market Paper Society Vintage Romance - Appledore patterned paper
Martha Stewart Garden Trellis border punch
Tattered Angels Glimmermist - Denim Blue
Bazzill Basics Primula - Slate Blue paper flowers
Maya Road chipboard scrolls
A2Z Scraplets lasercut word - Beautiful