Creating Chalk Squares on Patterned Paper

Hi, this is Marlene here sharing a do-it-yourself tutorial with you.  

The paper was an on line purchase. The picture did not come close to showing how BRIGHT the colors are, way too bright for me to be usable even with the tropical pictures I have been working with. But I bought it so I was determined to use it. To tame this background while retaining some of the brightness, I used a 12 x 12 grid stencil and chalked the squares which dulls most of the paper but lets a reduced amount of bright shine through which goes well with the bright colors in the photos.

It orginally looked like this. 

This is what my modification process looked like.

The final product. 

My finished layout.