My Own “Starry Skye”

Hi Y’all and Happy Friday! For those of you with kiddos, how is your summer going so far? Three weeks in, and my grocery bill has tripled, the electricity bill has doubled, and I forgot what it feels like to be alone! LOL I currently have FOUR teenage girls galavanting around my house at all hours of the night…while I am trying to sleep, and then they decide to SLEEP all day while I am at work! Remember that old Calgon commercial with the Mom taking a bubble bath….CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY! Yep. That Mom is ME!

With all these girls, you know they are binge watching Netflix while munching on Doritos and laying around being completely unproductive. Oh to be young again!! One of the movies that they watched was the inspiration for my layout that I am sharing today. “Stardust” is one of my All Time favorite movies. While it is a love story, it also has comedy, action, adventure and drama. You also “learn” a lot about stars and how and why they shine. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!
My layout is about my youngest daughter, Skye. Her whole life, I have told her…”I don’t need the sun or the moon or the stars. I have the WHOLE SKYE.” Yes, Cheesy I know, but it is true. She is my Skye. My bright and shining little girl. There are over 300 stars on this layout…and I still don’t think they come anywhere close to her beauty, but it is a start.

Yes, I said Over 300 Stars

They range in size from teeny tiny to pretty big and bulky. You have to look close, but there are layers and layers of stars and stardust in this celestial masterpiece! I used a few different silvers and golds for the stars, as well as a sheet Stardream Metallic Onyx 12×12 . The silvers that I used were CCS Silver Glitter, Curious Metallic Galvanized, Curious Metallic White Silver, and Curious Metallic Ionized. The gold cardstocks were Curious Metallic Golf Leaf and CCS Gold Glitter. These combined well with a sheet of patterned paper from the “Lucky Star” collection by Blue Fern Studios, some random blooms, and a bit of gold and silver paint. With a cut-file boasting lots of stars, I set out on my celestial journey!

Painting my Own “Starry Skye”

First, I started by cutting a set of 70 stars from the sheet of Stardream Metallic Onyx 12×12 , and then I used the negative space as a stencil for painting on my first layer of 70 stars right onto the background. To do this, I layered the onyx over the top of the patterned paper and taped it onto my cutting mat to keep it from sliding around. I like to use washi tape for this. Not only is it handy and I don’t have to get up to go look for something else, but I also have TONS to spare!

While the paint dried on that, I started cutting the rest of the components out using my Cricut. When I say components, I mean STARS. Lots and Lots of stars! As I was weeding all of these tiny stars, I had a random thought… “These sure would make GREAT confetti for the tables for Skye’s Graduation Party next year!” I added that to my ever growing “TO DO” list for her senior year. LOL!

Creating Stardust

I started placing my parts and pieces on the page, and it started taking form! I knew that I wanted to maintain the integrity of the original painted stardust pattern while cradling the photo amidst the stars, blooms and bling. Rather than leaving the photo unattached, I decided to stick it down permanently and work around that. Little by little, I added stars, florals, stickles, and nuvo drops, all to create the look of stardust. There was no real rhyme or reason to how I layered, I just put the stars wherever they looked good. I did start by placing the larger stars and florals first. Other than that, I just kept gluing down stars! I stopped halfway through and added in some Nuvo drops, stickles and perfect pearls, then I continued adding the stars. I used even the tiniest of the tiny stars! No star was left behind! LOL

A Celestial Masterpiece

By the time I had finished adding in all the paper stars, the actual stars were shining bright just outside my window. It was late and I was yawning, so I decided to let the paints dry and finish up with everything the next day. It was time to wrap it up for the night. I looked down at my desk, and either I was REALLY tired, or maybe even imagining things…but the way the lights were shining on my layout, it look like Skye was glowing. Seriously. Again…Watch the Movie Stardust!! LOL
She truly is My Sun, My Moon, and all of my Stars…She is my Whole Skye!

Once my layout was finished, I was able to sit back and admire my handiwork. My Starry Skye was complete. Isn’t it crazy what a little bit of cardstock can do when you put your mind to it! It created this visual Masterpiece! While it is definitely not a Van Goh, I think it came pretty dang close. (Ok, maybe just a little bit!!! LOL!) What Masterpiece will you create with cardstock this summer? Whether you draw your inspiration from a cheesy movie, a billboard, or a famous artist, I would love to see what you create! Head over to the CutCardStock Store to stock up on your favorite cardstock colors and start creating!