Tuesday Tutorial with Kelly

Hello friends! Today I am going to be sharing with you how I determine which papers to use when I back my silhouette cut files. For this layout I used the gorgeous  November "Stories" kit. The cut file that I used is from the Silhouette store and was designed by Paige Evans.

Stitching has always been something that I have loved to add to my pages, whether it be by hand or machine. It really helps to make the cut file the stand out and adds a bit of whimsy. Fussy cutting the scalloped blue paper by Maggie Holmes further adds to the whimsy of the page by repeating elements and shapes found elsewhere on the page. 

The gorgeous exclusive orange floral was my jumping off point in choosing the patterns. After choosing that paper, I then chose the aqua triangle and the yellow and white diagonal striped papers to go on either side. Both the aqua and yellow are in the floral paper, so it ties the papers together seamlessly. Finally, the pink-ish coral paper finishes off the edge of the pumpkin and gives it an overall balanced look, plus it pulls in colors found in the photo. 

One of the wonderful things about kits is that you know the colors will work well with one another. The Thicker title Smile is just gorgeous, and I love how it looks on top of my photo. The embellishments in this cluster are perfect for this photo. Anyone that has tried to get a picture of two toddlers looking at the camera at the same time recognizes the struggle...for real!

Thanks so much for joining me today. I've included a link to my process video if you'd like to take a peek at just how this layout came together. Have a wonderful day!

Tuesday Tutorial with Brenda

Good morning everyone.  Today I am sharing with you one of my favorite techniques for my simple pages.

Often I want to add more interest to my page but still want to keep things from being too over cluttered.  Plus the colors and patterns in the May kit are amazing.  I really wanted to use every paper for this first page.  Adding a cut file to the background and filling it with pretty papers usually does the trick.

Start with the cut file.  You can cut this on any size of paper and it doesn't have to be white.  White backgrounds are just my favorite.

I created this file in Illustrator just for this page,  If you want to use it, I have the PNG for you HERE.
Once you open it in your silhouette software all you need to do is resize, trace and cut.  Be sure to select "trace" or the inside of the letters won't cut out.

The hardest part was choosing the patterns I wanted to use.

Then I just hand cut a few pieces and laid them on the back of the background page.

 There wasn't enough room to glue them down so I just grabbed an old roll of washi and taped it all down.

See how pretty that is!

And here is the finished page.  Colorful, fun and still true to my simple style,

Happy scrapping all!

Brenda