If You’ve Got a Dream, Chase it…

’cause a Dream won’t Chase you back!
This is a line from one of my favorite country songs of all time, written and performed by Cody Johnson. Cody grew up in Huntsville Texas on a farm just about 30 miles north of my hometown. He chased his dream, and today, he is one of the biggest stars in Country music, following in the footsteps of his heros. He is also one of the blessed few who have chased their dream and caught it.

We all have dreams, but sometimes we are afraid to chase them. Some of us dream of fame and fortune, while others dream of true love. No matter what your dream, it is always worth chasing. MY dream is simple. I dream of Happiness. I just want to be happy for the rest of my days, and this layout is about the goofy guy that I married that helps to make my dream a reality.

Materials Used in my Project:

Here is a list of the materials from the Cut Card Stock store that I used for this project:
Basis Black 12×12
DCS White Glitter Heavyweight 12×12
CCS Silver Glitter
CCS Gold Glitter
DCS Pearlized Textrued Arrowhead Gray
Curious Metallic PEACOCK Teal
Curious Metallic Violette Purple

I started with DCS White Glitter Heavyweight 12×12 as my base. Since I have never painted on glitter cardstock, I had no idea how it would turn out. After pondering it for about half a second, I decided What the Heck…WHY NOT, It’s only paper! I went out on a limb in hopes that it would turn out well and not ruin the project before it really began. (Mostly, I really just didn’t want to have to start over!! LOL)
Based on the final results after everything was put together, I am so glad that I took that chance!

I will admit, I am just a little bit lazy, so I look for easier ways to do things and still achieve good results. Since I didn’t want to mix up a bunch of watercolors to get the various shades that I was wanting, I decided to use shimmer mists. I poured small amounts of each into a paint tray, resulting in instant color. BAM!! NO measuring or mixing!! Since I wanted to create a soft painted watercolor effect , spraying them onto the page would not serve my purpose today. I would need to gently paint this color onto the cardstock, so I found my handy dandy paint brush and set to work.
Over the course of this project I learned a few things that I will share with you.

What I learned:

1. The DCS White Glitter Heavyweight 12×12 took longer to dry than a regular weight cardstock and my wait time was almost doubled.
2. After it dried, it had absorbed quite a bit of the color leaving the coloring quite a bit lighter than I had anticipated.
3. I had to apply a 2nd layer to acheive the deep colors that I wanted and I even applied a 3rd layer of color in a few areas in order to get deeper hues.
4. You would think that with all the liquid applied to this paper, it would warp and curl up, but IT DID NOT! I left it flat on my desk in between each layer of color to dry naturally. Each time, it remained fully in tact, flat as it started, no bends, bows, or curls.
5. After all the layers of paint, I was amazed that the glitter was STILL GLITTERY! It shone through the layers of color and it is spectacular! This picture does not even do it justice!

The Parts and Pieces:

As the paint dried on the cardstock, I went ahead and started cutting out all the parts and pieces that I would need to create my layout.
I cut long filigree leaves from CCS Gold Glitter, I cut various sizes of feathers using CCS Silver Glitter , Curious Metallic PEACOCK Teal , and Curious Metallic Violette Purple, and I cut out an 11 inch arrow using DCS Pearlized Textured Arrowhead Gray
I used Basis Black 12×12 to create the title and a 6 inch medallion that will serve as the woven base/photo holder on my dream catcher.

When it comes to my embellishments, I prefer to have too many as opposed to not enough. It is a pain to have to prep everything for the Cricut for only two leaves! At the end of a project, any extras that I have left over go into a little box that I will pull from on other projects. Sometimes I will make cards and use up the extras.

Adding the Details:

As I have stated previously, I am a little quirky and I like to get a visual of what everything will look like assembled. I placed all of the pieces that I had just cut onto the painted cardstock. Oh My Goodness! It looked fantastic! Now it is time to add the details. I started with the arrow, adding the filigree leaves, hemp cord, a couple of feathers and a single purple flower from my stash.

Next, I assembled the feathers that would hang from the dream catcher, adding hemp cord and pearls to a few, while leaving the rest just as they were. I knew that I would want a full layered look, so these would be the ones I use for that. I mounted my photo using Curious Metallic PEACOCK Teal and glued the outer part of the medallion on top. Next, I did something that I haven’t done in a very long time! I broke out my OLD decorative scissors and trimmed around the edges of the photo, leaving a small teal border. Once the photo was trimmed, I added more pearls to the outer edge of the photo for a finished look.

Assembly Time!

Once everything was assembled, it was time to start putting the embellishments on the page. I secured the arrow at the top, and from that point, everything just fell into place.

My layout today puts a spin on chasing dreams, and adds a lot of glitter and a touch of sparkle! Every little girl has a dream of meeting their “Knight in Shining Armor”, right? I know, I’m not little anymore, but who says that those dreams can only belong to little girls? HA HA!! Even though I am “old”, I did manage to meet mine, and in the oddest place at the oddest time! I guess that’s kinda how love works, though, huh?
What are your dreams? Have you caught your dream, or are you still chasing it? Whatever your dream is, you can find everything you need to create your own layout at the Cut Card Stock Store. All of the glitter Cardstocks that I used in my project are still on sale for just a few more days! Head on over to the store and get yours before that sale ends!