PILES OF SMILES -Adding hand stitching to a layout

November 12, 2016 by tachita55 10 Comments

Hello!,  I am back today with a new layout featuring the beautiful Swan Lake Kit.  I love all the papers, die cuts and extras included in the kit, but mostly i am amazed at how versatile it is.

 

One of my favorite techniques to use, when creating a layout, is hand stitching.   There are many ways to create a “stitching guide/pattern” on  a layout, but when there is a lot of stitches to add, I use the Silhouette Cameo to do a big part of the work for me.

Here is the cut lines  of the leaf being used in the layout; note how they show as full lines as they are ready to be  cut

 

The key to creating a stitching guide with your Silhouette Cameo is to use the “PERFORATE EDGE” function when setting your cut style for your project.  As you can see in the picture below, the machine will not cut a solid line across the edges of the image; instead, the blade will  make small indentations/holes along the edges of the cut-lines which can be used to hand-stitch the design.

 

Once the image (Geometric Autum Leaf cut file from the Silhouette store) was perforated on the card stock (i am using water color paper for this layout), I used the Prima watercolor palettes to  fill the inside of the leaf image ( i tried to match the colors of the paper, “Beautiful” from the Swan Lake kit).  As soon as the watercolor dried, I used embroidery floss to hand stitched the perforated edges of the image.

 

 

The starting point for the stitching (it is easier to appreciate the perforations of the image once the paint has dried)

 

A close up to the finished stitching on the layout

 

To complement the colors of the leaf, the edges of the layout were trimmed, and the layout was then attached to the “Beautiful” paper from Maggie Holmes’ Gather collection  which is featured in this month’s Swan Lake kit.

My choice of a black and white picture for this layout was made mostly to highlight both the background, and my little niece and nephew on our Thanksgiving walk.  I used papers from the kit as layers behind the picture, as well as the Gather collection chipboard stickers, and exclusives to create a cluster around the picture.   Also, I picked the die cut pieces from Simple Stories Posh collection from the Clique Store, and used some of the pieces in the picture’s cluster.

To create the title, I cut the “Piles of Smiles” card from this month’s exclusive printables, and attached the small chipboard sticker frame (from the Swan Lake Kit add ons) to it.  I cut the small  top left corner of the chipboard, and placed a small chipboard heart from last month’s Sapphire kit.

To finish the layout, I scattered some of the sequin around the page, added my journal lines and a few black ink splatters.  Here is the final layout:

I really love the texture the stitching adds to this layout.  Trust me, the Silhouette Cameo is a great help when creating a stitching pattern, and the beautiful and soft papers in this month’s Swan Lake kit are perfect for  a bit of stitching.

Thank you for visiting today!  I look forward to seeing a bit of  hand stitching on your layouts.

See you all soon!