Swoosh

This month's design team challenged was to use stitching on a layout. My reply: YAY! I love to use faux-stitching and/or hand stitching on layouts. For more information about stitching and products, you can check my product review from April 2012.

Here is a picture of the layout I submitted for this month's challenge:

The paper line used is This & That Charming by Echo Park. It's no secret: I love Echo Park paper! I have a 3-year old, so their more juvenile themes are right up my alley. This layout features my little guy playing with his new basketball set in our newly finished basement.

I started off with a piece of cardstock and layered two different pattern papers from the collection, leaving about 3.5 inches of the cardstock showing at the bottom. At the seam of the two pattern papers, I used a piece of green rickrack ribbon. I added the velvet brown brads and the end of each side of the ribbon. I love these velvet covered brads!

I then used a third pattern paper to create a mat for my pictures. On the right side, I used a border punch to add detail. On the left side, I use the Sew Easy to create two lines that crisscross. I then hand stitched using brown floss from We R Memory Keepers. I slightly layered my pictures on top of each other and added the cute clothespins at the top of each one.

Next, I created a journalling box using one of the die cuts from the line. I also added a chipboard piece that I painted with Glimmer Glam. Glimmer Glam by Tattered Angels is one of my favourite products to use on chipboard.

I added another die cut from the line as another embellishment. I added the Tim Holtz pins, which I love because it's so hard to find embellishments that are more boyish.

Last but not least, I added the buttons at the bottom left of the page and the title at the top right. For the title, I used Basic Grey chipboard letter and I traced them using a brown pen. I again painted the chipboard brackets with Glimmer Glam.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I love Echo Park! I'm so happy that they continue to come out with great lines that I can use to scrapbook my little man. Check out the This & That Charming line at Auntie Em's!


Happy scrappin'!

The April Mission

Auntie Em's design team mission for April (if I chose to accept it) was to add dimension to a layout based on the April sketch from the 2012 PageMaps calendar. Dimension is one of the many many MANY things I love about scrapbooking. Dimension, whether it be through the use of embellishments like flowers, brads, chipboard, etc., or the simple use of pop-up tape, makes a layout come alive.

Just like my fellow design team members, I used Basic Grey's Hello Luscious collection. You should check out the other ladies' blog entries because their layouts are fantastic! It still amazes me that the four of us can take the same collection and sketch and end up with completely different results.

Here is what I came up with:

These pictures were taken on Canada Day 2011. My husband Matt and I hosted a barbeque attended by some of our best friends. Matt barbequed A LOT of food!

I added dimension to the layout by using pop-up tape. I used it on the title piece (at the top of the page) and at the bottom of the page (paper border). I also used rope to add dimension:

I also clustered and layered embellishments on the side of a picture to add dimension:

Other techniques used:

- Two different border punches;

- Glimmer Glam (love this product!) in Espresso on two paper borders;

- Bazzill's In Stitch'z and We R Memory Keepers twine for the title;

- Sanding the edge of the pictures. 

I have to say that I wasn't a huge Basic Grey fan before this month's challenge. Seeing this layout come together has gone a long way to changing my mind! I even ended up getting more of this line to created additional pages!

Happy scrappin'!

~Sarah~

Product Review - Hand Sewing

Hello everyone! It's my turn to do a product review this month! Lorena did such a great job last month...I have big shoes to fill.

This month's products are related to sewing. First off, when I say sewing, I mean hand sewing. There are people who use their sewing machines to embellish their pages. I am not one of these people! The products reviewed are: Bazzill Basics In Stitch'z, the Sew Stamper and the Sew Easy by We R Memory Keepers.

I have to say that I'm surprised that I'm doing this review. I remember saying that I would never ever sew on my pages. I just thought it was too time-consuming. Oops...never say never I guess!

Sew Stamper by We R Memory Keepers

The Sew Stamper allows you to add the look of stitching on your layout without actually sewing. I had done this in the past but by free hand. It was a long process. That's why I was really excited to try this product...and then I realized that the Sew Stamper only comes in black. I didn't realize that it was self-inking. My brilliant plan had been to use VersaMark and embossing powder.

Oh well, I had to regroup and modify my plan. I used the Sew Stamper on a layout I made featuring my little guy Sam and his friend Caleb. Here is the layout:

And here is a close-up of the result:

I really like the effect! Another positive is that it is SUPER easy to use. You simply open the cap and use. I just wish it came in more colours.

A few tips:
1) You can control the thickness of the lines using more or less pressure.
2) Use your craft heater and/or give the ink plenty of time to dry. I ended up smudging mine a little bit.

I used the straight stitch but there are many more. You can see all the different designs here.


Sew Easy by We R Memory Keepers

Sew Easy is a rotary stitch piercer that creates holes in lots of different designs...or so We R Memory Keepers says. It is true that there are lots of designs. What's not so true is that it a piercer that creates holes through cardstock. It's more like it creates the markings and you have to go back over it with a piercing tool. I'm a pretty strong girl and I doesn't seem to matter how hard I pressed, holes just aren't created. To be fair, I didn't try using it on regular paper.

That being said, I have no problem going over the markings. It makes the hand-stitching easier. Here is a picture of a layout I embellished using the Sew Easy:



Here is a close-up:

I used the Zig Zag piercer on this layout. Just in case you didn't notice, after all the holes are made, you actually have to use twine and STITCH. Thread works but doesn't look as good. A warning: hand-stitching is time-consuming. But to me, the end result is totally worth it.

Here is another example of a layout where I used the Sew Easy:

(By the way, this layout isn't finished...it still needs a title and possibly some shiny stuff.)

I like that the Sew Easy can be used to add a border and a frame around a picture. I also like that the twine comes in so many colours now.


In Stitch'z by Bazzill Basics

In Stitch'z is an easy to use template that allows you to create a design by stitching. When I say easy to use, I mean it! I loved using this product. There are many different kinds of templates: letters, designs, themes (like birthday or baby) and borders. You can buy a foam-like backing that allows you easily pierce holes in your paper. The stitching is still time-consuming but I found the variety of templates appealing.

I decided to use the letter template to create a title for my page. Here is the layout:

Here is a close-up of the stitching:

I never would have thought to create a title using stitching if it hadn't been for the templates. I love the look!

To end this review, I would like to say that, if you like the look of stitching on your scrapbook layouts and/or cards, you can't go wrong with any of these products. Before writing this review I only personally owned a few Sew Easy designs. I will definitely be expanding my stash of stitching products to include the Sew Stamper and some In Stitch'z templates.