Thanksgiving Layout by Paige Evans

 Hey there! Happy Monday! I have a new layout to share with you today featuring the Marigold collection by Maggie Holmes / Crate Paper and a couple of my cut files: Thanksgiving with Stitching Holes and Leaves with Stitching Holes.

To begin I die cut my Thanksgiving with Stitching Holes cut file from 12 Marigold patterned papers. I then went through my boxes of DMC embroidery threads and found colors to match:

I spent a few hours doing a chain stitch around each of the letters which was really easy with the holes for stitching already die cut for me. The spacing of all the holes is perfect which helps make everything neat and tidy - although you know I am an advocate for imperfections in scrapping :)

Then I chose a pink polka dot background paper, printed three 3" square photos from our Thanksgiving last year with both of my grandmas and grandma and parents in Utah. These are precious memories and photos because it was the last time I got to be with my beloved Grandma Doris. I arranged the title and photos at a slight angle on the background.

The layout then needed more embellishments and I decided to create my own. I die cut my Leaves with Stitching Holes cut file from textured white cardstock and coated the leaves with white gesso. Then I painted the leaves with various Prima watercolors - mostly Shimmering Lights (so pretty for autumn) and Vintage Pastels. Once they dried I splashed on white acrylic paint topped with a splashing of Liquid Gold for lots of sparkle.

I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying process of the leaves so that I could then machine stitch through them using gold thread. I originally back stitched through the holes of one leaf with white embroidery thread, but I took out the thread and decided to go with gold machine stitching instead. I will definitely be using my Leaves with Stitching Holes cut file with actual hand stitching soon!

Once all of the leaves were stitched I tucked them under the title and glued them in place. I added a few pieces of ephemera from Marigold here and there such as a "Together" Chipboard Sticker and a couple of flower Chipboard Stickers, as well as a bird Cardstock Sticker. I tucked in a few gold leaf stickers to emphasize all the shimmer & shine. To finish I wrote journaling on the right.

I hope you are inspired in some way by this layout! It combines a lot of my favorite techniques: hand stitching, machine stitching, lots of patterned papers, mixed media, and a large title. All in one! Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, stickers: MARIGOLD by Maggie Holmes / Crate Paper; Cut files: Thanksgiving with Stitching Holes and Leaves with Stitching Holes by Paige Evans; Thread: DMC; Watercolors: Shimmering Lights and Vintage Pastels; gesso; Liquid Gold