love...The Crafter's Workshop Stencils & Hand Stitching

Hi there friends!  This is a project I shared on The Crafter's Workshop recently.

I love Fall and very anxious for the changing season, although since I live in the South, it still feels like summer, though starting to change!   I have a stack of photos to be documented and this is one of the special ones waiting for a memorable layout.  I am a bit obsessed with hand stitching at the moment, so I used a stencil to create a border for this page.

{  To keep a little anonymity for this sweet boy, I covered his face with a heart!  }

The Crafter’s Workshop provided me with some product to create this project.  The opinions I share are solely my own.

Using the stencils shown below, I used one as a template for hand stitching and the other for a large inked title.

                      

 

I took this wavy water stencil and drew pencil lines following the curves.  I actually ended up simplifying the wavy lines after I realized there would be stitches too close together, threatening to tear the paper.

After the waves were sketched in, I used this punch to add holes along the pencil lines.  I used two different embroidery threads, both in multi-colored ombre patterns of blue.

I used some washi tape to secure a few of the looser threads at the back of the cardstock.  I wanted to create a loose watercolor background for the photo.  I used a couple Distress Ink colors and an acetate sheet to “smush” the diluted paint onto the background.

I added more paint to make it darker in places and add some splotches around the edges.

Wanting to keep the page clean and simple, I decided to ink the stencil below with a dauber and this “love” paint splattered pattern.

I used a couple different inks in the end, but the title was still a dark navy.  I adhered the photo with dimensional adhesive onto a couple layers of torn tracing paper.

I am so pleased with the way this layout turned out.  I wanted it to be whimsical, yet simple and powerful and not overly embellished.

I have been sifting through all my stencils for the ones that will be perfect stitching templates.  I hope this inspires you to explore this possibility too!

Thanks so much for stopping by the Blog today!

STENCILS Used:

TCW2149 – 6x9 The Sea

TCW567 – 12×12 Complicated Hearts

Scrapbook Circle July DT Choice

Last week I shared my favorite layout, like the name, made with the July ‘You Are My Favorite’ kit on the Scrapbook Circle Blog.  It has the most amazing collection of papers in the kit.

This was the one of the last pages I made and honestly my mojo was waning, but I started by watercoloring different flowers on this Craft Market paper by Crate Paper.  The paper is just cream with the flowers outlined so I decided to play and see what happened.  I had the Paper Add-On because there are so many amazing patterns in the July kit, so I thought if I didn’t like it I would still have an extra.

The paper actually warped a bit from all the water so I decided to fussy cut out the flowers.  I really couldn’t bear to cut this other paper from Crate with the all the text in rainbow order.  It actually inspired the way everything else came together.  I didn’t want to take away from the colors in the paper so I re-printed this photo in black and white and made it really large.  I aligned all the colored flowers and leaves with the text and added a couple other embellishments, puffy stickers and wood veneers from the ‘That Was Fun’ Add-On.

I really love the way this page turn out!  I didn’t have to cut up that beautiful paper, I got to play with my watercolors and the photo is still the focus.  Sometimes, I think the best way to get out of a crafting slump is just to work thru it and let the products speak to you!  Thanks for stopping by the Blog today and I hope my struggle has helped inspire you.

Have an amazing day!

A Mini Album + New Video series - #tbt

Hi everyone!  I am excited to share a new idea for a video series I am going to do called #tbt!
I will focus on products way, WAY back in my stash and combine them with newer
products from the same manufacturer or designer.

While filing away the giant stack of scrapbook layouts after Christmas, I started sifting through lots of old idea books and looking through a lot of my all time fav inspiring scrappers.  When I first began scrapping, vellum and acetate were pretty popular as well as script stamps and titles.  They have come full circle and back into popularity.  It made me look back at some of my products and tools that I have hoarded since then, and happy I did!  With all that in my head, I decided to finally finish this mini album I started for my daughter.

Click on the link below to see my process video or click HERE to see it on my YouTube channel.

My first focus for this series is Heidi Swapp.  I love her style, always have!  She had word phrase roller stamps 9+ years ago and her new collections are so innovative and amazing.

This is the opening page in the album and a hidden journaling card that starts to describe the premise of the book.  I pulled about 5 different patterns of paper from September Skies and Mixed Company, white cardstock, her Project Life set with watercolor and color magic die cut tags, some of her mistable and die cut embellishments, vellum, doilies, and 2 rolls of washi.  I wanted to keep it simple and stick to a color palette of white, pink, turquoise, yellow and gold.  I printed all my photos in black and white, to make them pop against all these colors.

I misted on the 4x6 color magic cards and watercolored the 2x3 die cut cards.

I used plain white shipping tags and used a variety of older stamps, newer stencils

and just paint to add a little background pattern to my journaling.

I painted the edges of all the tags with gold paint to make them stand out a bit

and backed at least one page with a layer of dry embossed vellum.

I thought the vellum was a great way to tone down the color in the teal but still be able to read the words.

A few of the journaling ideas came from a couple blogs I found on Pinterest, advice for your girls.
http://www.thankyourbody.com/31-life-lessons-want-daughter-know/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lindsey-mead-russell/ten-things-ten-years-olds-should-know_b_1553134.html

I used a few of Heidi's mini stamps here and there.  I also rounded most
of the corners, since her Project Life kit has all rounded corners.

I used a gold doily on this last page and wrote directly on the page.

The cover of the album was done about 9 months or so ago and the process video of it is below!

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my album!  Hopefully I'll have a new #tbt
video every week as part of this series!  Happy February and have an amazing week!