Can't Touch This

Lily Bee Design use to be one of those manufactures that I would enjoy looking at, but could never get to work in my favor.  Well, not anymore.  Over the past two years something has changed about them, and I just love their designs, and their expanded lines of product.  I can't tell you how happy I was when I opened my pizza box a  few weeks ago to see the brand spanking new Double Dutch Collection staring back at me.  It is so pretty, even more so in real life.  (Not to mention the super cute way Tanya packages everything up with pretty pink tissue, it's like getting a birthday gift in the mail).  The line is bright but not too bright, with a touch of distressing to it.  Both sides are so great, I actually had a tough time deciding which one to use. 

I have three girls, all of whom dance competitively.  This photo is of my middle daughter Théa (pronounced T-eh-ah), and her friend after their last Hip Hop performance rehearsal before the big day (she's the one on the right).  Théa is  such a happy, smiley kid, that she actually has to work hard at keeping that 'serious, full of angst, hip-hop' face during the dance.  She's got it nailed here.

Click on the photo to enlarge

As you can tell I did some stitching on this layout (under the title, and on the banner).  It's one of my go-to techniques.  So often a layout just doesn't feel complete to me without a little stitching on it.

Here, I stitched the banner stickers directly to the photo.  I know many who struggle to sew or even write over top of their photos, not this girl.  The way I see it, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to achieve the looks she's after.  The only tricky part about stitching through stickers is that your needle will get a little sticky too.  A quick wipe with some Un-du, or any of those sticky removal products is all your needle will need to be good as new again.  If you don't have any of those, a baby wipe will also do the trick, it just requires a few more swipes than the others.

Here is a peek into my creative process. 

I began this layout wanting to weave the paper strips.  I cut a bunch of coordinating strips, and went to town.  In the end the design I ended up liking best, wanting the place the title on a curve, meant that I ended up covering most of the weave.  Oh well, no harm done, there's still a little poking out from behind the photo, and most importantly, I like the end result.  A girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do to achieve the look she's after right?!

You may not be able to tell, but there is actually a lot of layering going on here.  I really wanted the banner to have a 3-D look to it, which meant that I had to use some 3-D foam squares underneath the bulk of the photo/journal card cluster to achieve the right look.  

Here is a side view of the cluster.

See lots of depth and layering to get just the right look

There you have it.  A look at the more colorful side of the Lily Bee Design - Double Dutch Collection, as well as a peek into my creative process.  Hope you feel inspired to go and create something beautiful today.  If I've convinced you to give stitching on your photos a try for the first time, be sure to link us up, we'd love to come have a peek, and leave you some love.  But, before you go please take a sec to pop by the store you can see all the items I used on my layout here, and snag some for yourself while you're at it.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!