A Few Tips On The September Challenge Layout

The sketch

Materials:
2 sheets of  double sided patterned paper
1 or 2 sheets black cardsock
1 Sheet white eyelet cardstock
Black embroidery thread and a needle
Double Sided Tape (DST)
Chalk ink
Foam 3D sticky pads
Card Candy

Tools:
Flower punches
Paper piercing tool
Alphabet dies
Stitching templates (optional)

I used two sheets of double sided patterned paper from Fancy Pants Rusted Sun collection, giving me four different patterns to play with. These were purchased from Paper Maze.

First of all I gutted the black Bazzill so I only needed one sheet to complete my layout. I cut a frame 1" wide giving me a 10" square to use for letters and to mat my photo.  However, you can cut this step out completely and use two sheets of cardstock instead. 

Stick the eyelet cardstock centrally over the black cardstock.  Cut the patterned papers into the wavy shapes. You can use the template if you wish to follow the same shapes. Place the two shapes onto your layout and stick down leaving a small gap between the two.

Now for the fun part -stitching the two shapes together!  I made holes up and down both shapes where they face each other.  You can make more or less holes, I got a bit carried away but love stitching on layouts. You could make fewer holes and have the stitches wider apart and the lace up effect more open. If you don't want to stitch by hand you could use the sewing machine, like Jill did. Alternatively you could use faux stitches in the form of rubons like Jakey, or hand drawn stitches as Linda did on one of her pages. You could also punch larger holes (maybe even use eyelets) and lace the sides up like shoes!

The pleated circle was made by cutting strips of patterned paper about 2cm wide. I worked out where my photo would sit, and made light pencil marks. Then I drew a circle and laid double sided tape down over the circle lines which would show after the photo was put in place. I pleated the paper as I worked my way round the circle sticking it down as I went along. Alison said she cut her strips into small pieces and stuck them down overlapping one another which gave the same effect, much more easily, and much less lumpily! Alternatively you could cut a circle or a ring from the patterned paper as shown in several of the examples.

Mat the photo with a narrow border of black showing around all four sides.  Stick this in place on the layout.

Next I decorated with a few more different stitches here and there.

Ising left over papers and cardstock, I added some die cut flowers with card candy centres (from Craftwork Cards).

My die cut title was cut using the Big Shot and black cardstock, but you could use any die cutting machine or letter stickers.

I challenge you to make a card with the scraps from your layout - just for fun.

Here is mine (for more details of this card see here):

Have fun and don't forget to show us what you create.

Lynn