Little Cutie Floral Wreath Scrapbooking Layout

Hi friends! I am here today with a labor of love with this floral wreath scrapbooking layout.  If you like fussy cutting and if you like mixing and matching die cuts and flowers, this is a layout for you.  Take a look at the project and then check back next week for the process video I created for this project.



All those flowers came from one gorgeous piece of patterned paper from the Patio Party collection. That's a lot of fussy cutting, don't you think? Want to know a little secret??? I didn't actually fussy cut all those flowers. I used my Silhouette CAMEO and Pixscan to trace and cut all those flowers.  I can't say it really saved that much time since I had to set it up and trace it, clean it up, cut and weed it but it sure did save my hands from getting tired.



To create this floral wreath layout, I used two pieces of patterned paper for the base, cutting an 8" circle from the middle of the top sheet and layering it over the 2nd paper.  Then, I applied gesso and spray mists to give the background a bit of texture and color. Once dried, I stitched around the circle 3 times.



I also used a cute file from Paige Evans. It's an adorable floral / leaf bundle, which I cut out of white cardstock and backed the leaves with green patterned paper while keeping the flowers plain.  I did that because I knew I was going to stack the fussy cut flowers over the top. I like the mix of materials here.  I also added a few fussy cut gold butterflies to the mix.



I left plenty of room to add a title and journaling and then sprinkled a few gold hearts around the openly stitched areas so they wouldn't feel lonely. Please check back next week for my follow up blog post, which will include the process video, showing how I scanned the flowers all the way through the finishing touches.

Thanks for stopping by today.
xoxo, Heather
YouTube | Instagram  |  Pinterest

You can shop these product using my affiliate links below:

Pebble Patio Party paper and embellishments at Scrapbook.com http://shrsl.com/szbx (full list below)

Thickers Foil Foam Letter Stickers (Pebbles - Night Night Collection) http://shrsl.com/szck

Sticky Thumb Adhesive Foam Dots http://shrsl.com/szcb

Textured Cardstock White (71081)

Silhouette CAMEO 3 http://amzn.to/2HJhjjX
Cricut Maker  http://amzn.to/2ooYvhL
Cricut Explore Air 2 http://amzn.to/2GIjtyO

*You don't pay extra for using these links, but I get a percentage of your sale. Thanks for your support!

Hello, You!

Hi everyone.  I have a new Pattern Play that's being featured on the Gossamer Blue blog today and it's one of my recent favorites.

For this Pattern Play, I'm revisiting the concept of repetition.

I absolutely love the Pink Paislee / Paige Evans bows in this month's kit.  I was trying to think of how I could use them on a page and was desperately wishing I had 27 of them.  I wasn't sure how I'd use them yet so I starting looking through the pattern papers and noticed the gorgeous ombre one and of course since it was from the same collection, it had all the colors of the bows. After a little thought, I decided I align the bows on the layout and fill in the remaining area with hand stitched bows, coordinating my embroidery floss with the pattern paper.

I knew hand stitching in great detail would take longer than I wanted so chose to use full bow length stitching, which saved lots of time and I think it helps match the bows a little better.

Next I added my photo, backing it with frames and flowers and a small tag title.  Then I tucked a little journaling tag under the photo.

Normally I would add additional embellishments on the opposite side of the page somewhere and maybe even a large title but I think these bows deserve to stand on their own.  As my daughter said to me when she saw it, "I don't like it. I LOVE IT!" and I hope you do too.

"Fabulous & Lovely" Flower Scrapbook Layout by Heather Leopard

Backgrounds are some of my most favorite things to design with. You can use them over and over again with vastly different looks depending on what you use to back them. Sometimes I like to cut it out of white cardstock and layer white on white, other times, I cut it out of white cardstock and lay it over pattern paper but mostly I do what I did today - white background cut over white cardstock filled with various patterns that coordinate. The possibilities really are endless and the results look completely different each time.

I used the Spirograph Background 1 cut file for this layout. I liked that it resembled flowers. My process included cutting the background file out of white cardstock. Then I released the compound path / ungrouped everything and cut the inside petals and leaves out of pattern paper. This made it super easy to get the perfect cut. I glued them in place and then stitched circles over the center of the spirograph flowers.



I mixed & Matched Pink Paislee Paige Evans Take Me Away collection pattern papers and for the inside petals, I created an ombre effect, starting light at the top and darker at the bottom.  I just felt like it needed more solids in the middle to help ground the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by today.

So Many Reasons To Be Happy | Scrapbook & Cards Today Guest Designer

Hello, hello, today is an especially HAPPY day.  Not only am I showcasing 3 reasons I am happy on a layout but I just ecstatic to be guesting over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog with a project I made using this month's cut file, designed by Nicole Nowosad, plus the new Paige Evans Fancy Free collection via my Scrapbook Circle May kit.  So lots of reasons to be happy.

Here's the file I used. You can download this file for FREE from the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog.

I chose to cut the file and hand stitch around the words.  I have to admit, it took WAY too long and I was telling myself I was crazy the whole time but I love how it turned out in the end so I'd say it was all worth it.

How to:

• Supersize the cut file so that it leaves approximately 1" on each side of the paper.  
• Add stitching dots or lines around the words and cut the file. Altnertively, you can manually poke the holes.

Here's where the "fun" begins.....

• Hand stitch around the words using your favorite embroidery thread. 
• Layer the stitched paper over a pattern paper, careful not to use a super busy paper.  I chose a design that had a white background but when I placed the stitched paper over it, it was somewhat washed out.
• To fix this, I watercolored over it in a complimentary blue color. 

• Once dry, adhere the paper overlay on top.  You could also add this before stitching but since I used my Silhouette to poke the holes, I adding this after.

I added my precious children as my reasons to be happy, adding them to the page in birth order.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Please head over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog to download the file.  LEAVE ME SOME LOVE WHILE YOU'RE THERE!

Fancy Free by Paige Evans + Win it before you can buy it GIVEAWAY

This has been one of the hardest secrets to keep for the last several months but I'm a woman of my word and my lips were sealed. I'm so excited that  I can share the news that my dear friend Paige Evans has her own scrapbook line with Pink Paislee!

Check out some of the collection below and more of it on her blog and then hop over to my Instagram (@heatherleopard) for a chance to win some puffy stickers and layered stickers she offered me to giveaway.

You guys!!! Patterned papers are my most favorite thing to work with. You have to see the whole line over on Paige's blog.  If you are anything like me, you will go bonkers over it all!  And the colors!  I'm not sure why I get so excited about the colors but I LOVE, love, love it!  It feels like a good mix for boys and girls but you know I'll be going the more girly route probably, maybe. The alphas and ephemera and......oh my, I could go on for days!

Look at the texture on those fun buttons! 

And those glittered wood veneer are SWOON worthy.

I absolutely love multi-color, multi-patterned Thickers so THIS is ah-mazing!

I am so honored that Paige asked me to help spread the word.  Paige and I have worked together on several collaborations, including 3+ years on the American Crafts design team under her leadership, online class collaborations, guesting gigs, and more.

I can't wait to work with this amazing new collection. My mind is already filled with so many amazing ideas.

So who wants to win it before you can buy it?  Head over to my Instagram (@heatherleopard) for details on how you can win a set of these gorgeous layered stickers and puffy stickers.

 

Paige, congratulations again!  Thanks for including me in today's festivities and I especially thank you for your friendship and advice. xoxo