Hello everyone, thanks for having me here today!
I have a step by step tutorial for you of how this layout came together. I always like to see how other designers go about creating a layout so I thought I'd share my usual process with you.
Step 1: Before I start any layout I always go through my stash (in this case my kit) and pick our any supplies and embellishments I think I might like to use, and I gather it all into a tray. Even though I may not necessarily use it all in the end, I like to have it there for me in case something doesn't pan out and I need to try something else.
Step 2: Next I like to start moving my patterned paper around my cardstock deciding how I want to layer them all up. At this stage I also usually start to make a mental note of where my stitching will eventually go.
Step3: If I haven't already chosen a picture or pictures for my layout now is where I would do so. For this layout I was stuck between two pictures and had a hard time deciding, but in the end I opted to go with the color one since my top matched the patterned paper. In this step I had also decided to add some of the gold ribbon from the kit along the bottom, I really like that stuff!
Step4: Next I started trying out different layers for underneath my picture. I knew I wanted to use the gold frame for sure but it still needed more. I ended up layering a piece of patterned paper and white cardstock underneath it then went back and added the large gold doily as the bottom layer.
Step 5: I really liked the gold ribbon along the bottom of my page but felt it also needed some along the top to pull it together. There I also decided to add a strip of the same patterned paper I used along the bottom and layered under my photo and really liked the contrast it provided.
Step 6: Now that I had everything where I wanted it to be I decided my title would go on the left in the empty space underneath the piece of gold ribbon. Before I added my title on though I decided to go ahead and do all the outer stitching along the top and bottom of the page. When I use doilies on layouts I usually like to sew them down so the weight of the top layers don't pull it off the page, I just went ahead and sewed a small line down it's center.
Step 7: After I got all my layers stitched in place I start to dress my page up a bit. Here I used two of the pink photo corners from the kit on my picture layers, I tried 4 but it looked too boxed in to me.
Step 8: This is when I decided on my title. I cut the word "hello" from my cameo (you can buy it in the silhouette store) and used the thickers from the kit to spell out "Happy Day" right under it. Once I got my title exactly where I wanted it I used washi tape to hold it in place while I ran it through the sewing machine.
Step 9: After my title was sewn in place my page was almost done (yay!). It really would have been fine had I left it this way but it still seemed a little empty to me. I really liked the gold foil hearts from the vellum shapes pack so I stuck them down with some very light adhesive, used two of the word stickers and ran my sewing machine down the center of the biggest one to hold them in place. I added two sequins from my stash and finished it off by adding some of the gold enamel dots from the kit. Done!
Because everything in the kit went so well together it really helped this layout come together quickly. If your life is anything like mine lately, quick is good. I hope you'll give it a try!
