Tuesday Tutorial with Brandi

I knew I wanted my post as a guest to be a little different than the rest, and when I pulled out the remainder of my kit, I realized right away what it would be.  So far this month, I’ve used the main Pocket Life kit and the Sprinkles add on to make five spreads and one full layout, which means I’d used so many of my supplies already, that what was left were those special pieces I was fighting the urge to hoard.  The best way to beat the draw to keep something forever is to use it as the show piece on your cards/layout.  In this spread, I’m using a bit of hand stitching and pops of dimension to tie all of my favorite bits together.

I always start by laying out my photos and cards, as well as any white cardstock I am using as bases for cards. 

I adored the sunny acrylics in the kit, and one of my favorite ways to attache acrylic words is by a few simple stitches of a coordinating thread color.  I pulled a green embroidery floss out of my tin to use on all the stitching for this spread.

A few simple stitches are all you need to secure the word!  I used this same technique on another card, this time stitching two words together. Hint: if the edges of the acrylic pieces are too long for your card, wire/jewelry clippers work perfectly to cut down the words.

The acrylic ampersand was the perfect fit on my plant photo, and again was secured with a couple simple stitches.

Of course, the stitching didn’t have to end with the acrylic words. Using the thread with the puffy stickers helped tie in these embellishments with the rest of the page as well as making the cards a bit more fun. I added just one stitch to secure the good/bad sticker to the ampersand die cut, but paired with raising the piece off the card, it has a lot of character next to simple journaling.

A few more stitches to turn the individual tenant stickers into a banner, and tie on the woodgrain tag, and the embellishments that I thought I couldn’t bear to use are now front and center on a spread I love.