It's a Water-loving day

I had already decided to submit a mosaic I did several years ago which fit the first August challenge of "Summer Stuff."  It turns out that I couldn't possibly have created something new, because we had a toilet stool overflow in our master bath and leak down into my craft area in the basement.  Of course, the water all dripped onto a large table on which I had about 150 completed pages--including mosaics.  You cannot imagine how much damage a little water can do in a short period of time, and we didn't discover it until about 15 hours after it happened.  I didn't cry, but I really wanted to. It will be a while before I recover from losing all that hard work and some pictures I won't be able to replace!

  The double layout "It's a Water-loving day" features five of our grandchildren playing on a slip n' slide in our yard several years ago. This layout has traditionally been the one I have used as an example in my classes and is the favorite of most of my  friends.  They have been anxious for me to "show it off" on Journella.

  I used 19 different photos and pieced them together to look like one large picture.  However, if you look closely, you will see that each child appears at least five times.  When I create this type of mosaic, I take great care not to cut through any body parts of the people in the pictures.  That is just a personal preference.  I always start at the bottom with close-ups, then as I move up the page, I use pictures that are gradually further and further away.  I am sure most of you also use this simple technique.  It gives the picture depth.  I especially use this plan on pictures such as scenery and water fun, because it is so much more interesting than just putting many similar shots on several pages.

   This layout was the most difficult I have ever done, because I wanted to make the slide go across both pages, and I hadn't taken the pictures with the idea of doing a mosaic.  The large glittery title resulted, because I didn't have quite enough pictures at a distance to fill the page on the right.

  I am also submitting a 1-page layout I created recently of an afternoon go-kart race between our family members at a track in Branson, MO.  My family really liked this one, and it fits the category of "Summer Stuff."  It also illustrates the technique of giving depth to the overall look.  There were other people there that day, but only my family appear in the pictures.  This one consisted of about 12 shots.

  The two projects give you an idea of what my "mosaic specialty" has been the last few years.  However, I really enjoy our challenges, because they force me to branch out and learn some new ideas.  Of course, I always get new concepts from all of you.  Thanks for being willing to share some of your creativeness!