Tuesday Tutorial With Our Guest Designer

Hello! Neela here, your guest designer for the month of February! When I looked at the colors of the February Main "Stories" Kit, I was immediately reminded of our parasailing trip in Big Island, Hawaii.  I pulled up the photo and I knew that I wanted it to be the focus of the layout, so it had to be a giant photo. That is where I started. I also knew that I wanted to use the cork shapes and do some stitching, so I got all of my supplies together.

I cut a white cardstock down to 9x12 inches as all my layouts from this trip are of that size. I poked holes and did some stitching at both ends of the layout. It is a simple backstitch. I used blue and yellow threads to go with the color scheme.

I wrote the word "ADVENTURE" for my title in Impact font in Silhouette Software and cut it out at the bottom of the photo.

Here is how it looks. I also liked what was left on the mat after cutting. Maybe I could use those letters for another project!

I then cut strips of the patterned paper from the kit.

Initially, I backed the title with these strips, but it made the title unreadable. Instead, I changed how I used the strips and added them at the top and bottom of the layout.  I knew that I wanted to make a visual triangle with the cork shapes. They were such a perfect accent for this page and exactly what the layout needed. I then printed out my journaling on a strip of white paper and glued everything together. For the final touch, I added some enamel stars and dots to the title and the page was done. I am really happy with how it came together. I went through a few design changes along the way, but that is a part of my creative process.  I am not scared to change along the way and that's what makes everything more fun! Here is the final layout:

 I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial today!

Neela