All Grown Up Layout & Process Video featuring a Chain Link Stitch

Hey there scrappy friends! How is your day going? Today I'm sharing a brand new layout featuring a chain link stitch! Up until a couple weeks ago I'd never done anything on my layouts except a backstitch so this was a super fun change of pace and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the texture this type of stitch adds! I will most definitely be doing lots more chain link stitching in my future :) Scroll to the bottom of this post to find the link to the FREE cut files for re-creating this layout!

First, here is a process video so you can see how this layout was made from start-to-finish including how to make a chain link stitch!

To begin I modified my Overlapping Heart Background cut file and had the machine draw the dots instead of cutting out the hearts. Then I used a paper piercer to poke holes around the hearts about every 1/4" or so. I chose colors of thread that match my Turn the Page collection with Pink Paislee and stitched a chain link through all of the holes.

I'll be honest, the stitching took about 12 hours to complete, but I didn't have any other scrappy assignments due at the time and I was itching for a stitching project - they're my favorite! If you don't like to handstitch or don't have the patience (hey, I completely understand!) you could just use a sewing machine to stitch the hearts.

Once the stitching was finished I punched little patterned paper hearts to go inside each stitched heart and tried to match them color-on-color. I used my Cameo once again, this time to cut photos into the exact same shape as the hearts. I have a tutorial showing how to do this on my YouTube channel. Then I placed an even smaller heart sticker from my new 30-page sticker book with American Crafts on the patterned paper hearts. To finish I wrote journaling with a pencil and then splashed some coordinating watercolors across the middle. I love the texture and color the chain link stitching adds and hope you are inspired to give it a try!

BONUS! Here is a link to a dropbox folder where you can download the overlapping hearts stitching template and the inner heart pieces I used for die cutting the photos! Enjoy and pretty please if you use them your finished project with me on Facebook or tag me on instagram! Thank you!!

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#evansfamilyeuropeanadventures Photo Wall

I started a project back in October and finished it up recently! It's a family adventures photo wall :)

I printed all my favorite family travel photos from our 4 years living in Germany in a Polaroid style and spent awhile typing and printing the date and location on each and every photo, 361 in total. I really wanted to put them in a more permanent frame that's easily movable to our next house, but I couldn't figure out how to make something so big with the supplies I have. Instead, I washi taped them to the wall!

First I taped a row of 19 photos across the bottom, then I taped 19 photos up the left edge, and then worked my up row by row. It took a few hours. Some of the tapes are more sticky than others so a few have fallen down, but I'm really impressed with how well they've stayed put the past couple months!

There was an 18" gap up at the top that I noodled what to do with for awhile. In the end I decided to search for a shop on etsy that could make a metal sign that I designed myself and found The Metal Word. They were very easy to work with, very fast at responding, and I got exactly what I wanted and was hoping for!

I wonder if in a few years or generations people will question what the "pound sign" in front means? Hahaha.

I'll have to take it all down and re-install it next summer, but hopefully I can come up with a more permanent display solution between now and then! I'm thinking maybe of cutting a piece of plexiglas and taping or gluing the photos on it. I'm open to suggestions! :)

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Meeting Astronaut Scott Kelly

We got to meet a real life astronaut - Scott Kelly! I was walking into the PX on Friday the 17th and saw this sign on display up front:

I texted my dad, the space enthusiast, and asked if he was interested. TOTES! But traffic in Seattle is a beast - 7th worst in the country, just sayin' ;) Anyway, instead, I thought it'd be fun to go ourselves and get my dad a signed book for Christmas and meet someone who has been in space! A concept so foreign and out of reach to me! Who goes into space?!?! This guy does!

While we were waiting in line we asked the kids if they had anything they wanted to ask him. When it was our turn I nudged Jane, "Jane, do you have anything you want to ask?" Jane said enthusiastically, "How was space?!" Scott Kelly replied, ever as enthusiastic, "Space was COOL!" :)

We got ourselves and my dad a signed copy of Endurance. 

 "A stunning, personal memoir from the astronaut and modern-day hero who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station - a message of hope for the future that will inspire for generations to come. The veteran of four spaceflights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he takes us inside a sphere utterly hostile to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both life-threatening and mundane: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the catastrophic risks of colliding with space junk; and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home - an agonizing situation Kelly faced when, on a previous mission, his twin brother's wife, American Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot while he still had two months in space. Kelly's humanity, compassion, humor, and determination resonate throughout, as he recalls his rough-and-tumble New Jersey childhood and the youthful inspiration that sparked his astounding career, and as he makes clear his belief that Mars will be the next, ultimately challenging, step in spaceflight. In Endurance, we see the triumph of the human imagination, the strength of the human will, and the infinite wonder of the galaxy."

After the book signing we went to dinner at a new Thai place called Chang Thai for the first time in Lakewood. It's only been opened two months and has "stellar" (get it?) reviews, so we gave it a whirl and oh.my.goodness it's so good! We will definitely be going back as much as as often as we can!

Two family photos in one night?! Fun!

Basically a winner of a day!

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The Cabin & Leavenworth, Washington

The first weekend in November we packed our bags and headed up to my family's cabin in the mountains, near the faux-Bavarian town of Leavenworth.

My family bought this little decrepit cabin right after I left for college and they spent the next few years renovating and restoring it by the sweat of their own brows to become a quaint and cozy home away from home. If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you may have seen a post here and there throughout the years about our visits to this cute cabin!

The more people we can cram in, the better! Now I'm married with a couple kids, Eric is married with a kid and another on the way, Allie is married with a kid - so fun to have grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews all under one roof!

While the heaters were warming up the cabin, we decided to make some heat of our own by going on a hike up the mountain in the backyard. My dad was always several yards ahead of us (and Gypsy the dog several yards ahead of him, leading the way!) chucking fallen branches off the path and making a way for us to get through the debris.

We made it to the top! Fox and Jane did great.

Cousin time!

On the way to dinner we stopped at Plain Hardware to check out all the cute things there then drove a bit further into the heart of Leavenworth.

We have especially been looking forward to this visit, knowing full-well it would be bittersweet. It is literally built to look like a Bavarian village, or the same kinds of towns we would visit most weekends during our four years living in Germany!

Complete with a Maypole and wrought-iron signs, it really felt like we were transported back into Bayern. I even heard a couple families speaking German. WE MISS GERMANY! 

It was a chilly fall day, with leaves scattered on the ground, making for a picturesque background setting.

Chain stores like McDonalds, Coldstone Creamery, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Subway, 76, and the like, are all altered to fit the Bavarian theme. So cute.

Except for the large American SUV vehicles lining the streets giving it away, you would never know this is a town in the USA!

Horse-drawn carriage ride anyone? You know, I don't think I have ever been on one! Bucketlist.

It's PINK!

We ate dinner at Leavenworth Pizza Company then splurged on caramel apples. We'll have to come back in a few more weeks once all of the Christmas lights are set up!

The next morning we woke up to legit snow! Winter is coming here!

A short little montage of our time at the cabin and Leavenworth:

We can't wait to go back!

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Silhouette Design Team Projects #6

I always LOVE seeing what my Silhouette Design Team is up to using my cut files and I'm so excited to share this next batch of projects with you today!

How CUTE is this layout by Lorilei Murphy?! Here's what she has to say about it, "I was excited to see the Geometric Bear in Paige’s Silhouette shop! I love bears (from a distance) and I also cut some Dipped Leaves and Labels for my page! My original plan was to cover up all the journaling but my daughter said she would like to be able to read it in years to come so I decided to make a pocket that looks like a file folder to tuck in the journaling tags and photo. I used Oh My Heart Paper 07 for a nice contrast in the background and the rest of the page is made with Turn the Page! I had typed all my journaling and done paint puddles and splattering for a background so instead I turned them into tags! The Turn the Page Thickers are so perfect with the Geometric Bear! I love it!"

With Thanksgiving over it's time to print your photos and document your day! Here is a stunning idea for just such a layout by Bea Valint, "This layout is so easy to make and it has a lot of colors that make my heart so happy! First I cut the Thanksgiving Subway Art from white cardstock and adhered the wide striped Turn the Page Paper 22 behind it. I attached a photo of me holding my daughter with foam tape and layered tags behind. Then I fussy cut some pretty flowers from Paper 02 and arranged them under my photo along with some Ephemera Die Cuts, Chipboard Stickers, Puffy Stickers, and Wood Veneer. To finish I trimmed the edges of the white cardstock and added a frame using Paper 13."

I just love these two photos that Audrey Yeager scrapped - they give me all the feels. Family is what it's all about! "I cut the Give Thanks and Leaf Background from kraft cardstock because I wanted to bring in a shade of brown for my Thanksgiving page. I cut apart the leaves to get individual leaves and backed them with Turn the Page patterned papers. On the title, I painted it with Gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine to make it shimmer a bit."

Hope you had a perfect Thanksgiving filled with food, family, fun, and laughter, and now you're gearing up for Christmas!! :)

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Thankful Layout by Missy Whidden

Hope you had an amazing and special Thanksgiving! While on the subject, Missy Whidden has a layout today all about what, or who, she is thankful for. It's so sweet and endearing.

Hey there, friends! Missy here, and I have a layout to share today focusing on this week’s theme of Thankful. I scrapped a photo of me and my husband because I am forever grateful for him and everything he does for our little family. I combined a few of Paige’s collections to create this and I also used two of her cut files: the Scalloped Heart Background and Thankful. I began with a light mint ombre paper from the Fancy Free 12x12 Paper Pad. I cut the Scalloped Heart Background using it and then I went over the majority of the paper with some white gesso. Once it dried, I peeled it off my cutting mat and backed it with another colorful paper from the same pad. I love adding watercolor to my projects so I used some pink, gold, yellow, and aqua ink sprays to create a colorful and artsy background over the cut file. I cut Thankful on Turn the Page Paper 24 B-side and I added lots of fun embellishments from the Turn the Page and Oh My Heart collections.

I love how this pretty blue paper pops off the page. I went simple with my title and used the cut file. I’ve been on a gold kick lately so I love how the gold ink spray shimmers on the page. To add a bit more shine, I machine stitched around the inside of the heart with gold metallic thread. I pulled a lot of stickers from Paige’s new 30-page #StickerBook and used them as embellishments. The flowers I layered under the photo are stickers and so is the ticket piece above the title. I stuck it to some cardstock first and cut it out.

I used a few pieces from the Turn the Page Journaling Spots as layers. I cut the yellow scalloped circle in half and used the other half on the right side of the photo. To add some interest to the background, I fussy cut some heart outlines I had left over from the #StickerBook. I used the actual hearts on another layout, so all I had left was the outlines. They make really cool embellishments! I tucked in some tangled thread, and also used a few fussy cut flowers from Oh My Heart Paper 06.

I love how this rich aqua color turned out here. To embellish the top of the photo, I added in a piece from a Turn the Page Journaling Spot and a transparent sticker from the #StickerBook. I layered in a floral frame from the Turn the Page Ephemera Die Cuts. I also used a few Turn the Page Wood Veneer Hearts.

This was a lot of fun to make, and mixing and matching collections is a great way to create new color schemes. I hope this inspires you to create a layout about something you’re thankful for! Thanks so much for stopping by!

 SUPPLIES: TURN THE PAGE: Paper 24, Journaling Spots, Ephemera Die Cuts, Wood Veneer; OH MY HEART: Paper 06; #StickerBook: Paige Evans + American Crafts; FANCY FREE: 12x12 Paper Pad

Blog: littlenuggetcreations.blogspot.com  Instagram: @missywhidden  Pinterest: @missywhidden

Facebook: missy.whidden  YouTube: Missy Whidden

What are you thankful for? It's always a fun idea to attempt to write it all down! Have a wonderful weekend!

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Thanksgiving 2017

It was our first Thanksgiving spent with family in over 4 years! And it was a good one!

Chris' parents flew in from Denver, Great Grandma Doris flew in from St. George, Eric & Tanya & Zoe drove over from their house, and Bethany and her family drove up from Salem and we all convened at my parent's house in Redmond. Grandpa got straight to work building a gingerbread house with Fox & Jane.

I think all the candy got picked off and devoured by the time Thanksgiving was over haha!

I made a slow cooked sweet potato casserole from scratch! I was super proud of myself, even if only 4 of the 20 people or whatever like sweet potatoes, hahaha :) Thanksgiving feast!

The kids' table. It feels like only yesterday I was sitting at the little table!

Nana and Jane snuggling Phoebe. On Black Friday, Chris' brother Nick drove down from Vancouver where he is working on the new Hotel Transylvania 3 movie, and we all went to see the new Coco movie which was super cute. Memories ARE important!

Thanks to my dad for snapping a few family photos of us!

Thankful. Grateful. Blessed.

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