CUT to YOU | Sew Loved Too & Cousin Squad | Cousin Squad Together |

Hey there Everyone!

I am back to share with you today the first of my projects for this month for the CUT to YOU Design Team. This project was definitely a labour of love, but boy did I love creating it and am so happy with the result. I decided to use two cut files to create this layout, cut files that maybe haven’t had a lot of exposure previously or haven’t been seen on our blog for a little while.  

This photo of all the cousins from my side of the family (my nieces and nephews) was taken at my son’s 18th birthday earlier this year. It is not often that we are able to get together so it is always nice to get an updated photo of the cousins all together. They grow up oh so quickly, so these photos are very special.

The first cut file I used was the Sew Loved Too cut file. I decided to cut this nearly 12x12 size so that I was able to use it as a background for the layout. This cut file, when cut, has a few parts ~ the centre of the heart (which I have used), the thin outline of the heart and the negative of the heart. This gives you a wonderful opportunity to use this cut file across several layouts, what a great idea and a bargain!

I have used the Cocoa Vanilla - Sunkissed collection for this layout. So bright and so fun, I just adore it. I wanted to emphasise the ‘sew’ in the cut file title as part of my layout. I decided to cut little square paper pieces to create a patchwork style background. I then used the pre cut holes to sew cross stitch style stitches over some of the squares. I then hand stitched around the patchwork squares in a white thread and around the heart in a blue…a labour of love - yes! But how great does it look?

The second cut file I used was the Cousin Squad title cut file. I cut this from the same patterned paper I have used for the border of my layout. I backed it in white cardstock. I then decided it wasn’t quite what I would like and needed to add something to take the plainness away from the cardstock. So I added some glitter gel to the letters which added a little bling to the layout. As you can see from some of the photos, it depends what light you are in as to the colour of this glitter gel…so so pretty! I also added some of the small heart die cuts from the collection to the centres of some of the letters.

Once I completed backing and creating with these cut files I continued on with the rest of the layout. I just love love love the woodgrain background. Next comes the next labour of love…I sewed the edge of the woodgrain background BY HAND!!!!!! My machine wasn’t cooperating and kept jamming. Who would have thought that it was easier to hand stitch….this is a first for me!!!!!

Finally, I created my three embellishment clusters using the floral ephemera from the Sunkissed collection, the cute little wood epoxy buttons, some tiny word phrases, Nuvo Drops ~ Simply White and splatters, using 13@RTS Acrylic Ink ~ White.

I just adore this layout as much as I adore the gorgeous kids in the photo…they are all so special to me.

Make sure you head over to the CUT to YOU Shop to pick up these two amazing cut files. They are both so easy to use and have multiple uses too…be sure to check by later this month to see how I use the next part of the Sew Loved Too cut file on my next project.
Hope you are having some creative time today.

Happy creating everyone,

Mel xo