Study Hall: Be You

Hi everyone! Khristina here and I am SUPER excited today because I get to share one of my favorite techniques with you today. This month, we have an amazing free cut file available in the Clique Kits shop and it looks like this: 

I was really excited to play with this one because of all of the fun lines and geometric properties. I decided rather than backing it with patterned paper from the kit, I would use my favorite technique--hand-stitching. I simple cut this cut file out of black cardstock and used it as a template to punch holes for stitching. The bonus here is that I still have the cut file and can use it again! Then, I chose some embroidery thread in six of the colors that matched the January Rhapsody kit and those gorgeous Cocoa Vanilla papers. 

I printed my photo in black and white to really help it pop off the page and then I kept my embellishing fairly simply. I used dimensional adhesive foam to elevate my photo off of the background and used a thin white cardstock mat as well as a thin mat from the floral patterned paper in the 6x6 paper pad. Don't you just love that Cocoa Vanilla has 6x6 paper pads now?! I know that I do! The Celebrate Thickers included in the kit made a perfect title addition that I adhered right on top of the bottom edge of my photo. 

Last, but not least, I added a few butterflies from the ephemera pack and TN Sticker Tablet from Carpe Diem by Simple Stories. Creating these fun layers of embellishments around my photo really made my photo the star and the stitching detail the supporting role which is just how I like it. 

And, just like that, the layout was done! I know that hand-stitching can sometimes seem overwhelming and time consuming but it is a technique and look that I just adore. Have you tried hand-stitching on your pages yet? 

​​Here is the video version of how this layout came together. I would absolutely love it if you would stop by my channel and check it out! I would love to see you grab this free cut file from the shop and give it a try! As always, I would love to see what you create.