Cousins are the Best | No Limits collection | Mandy Melville

Hello everyone!

Mandy here today to share a new layout using the fabulous No Limits collection! For this layout I wanted to document the sweet friendship between my youngest daughter Eleanor and her cousin Charlie, and I knew that this one had to fun and playful to match their personalities! The bright colours, as well as the multitude of stars throughout this collection, were perfect!

I really wanted to use the Big Bang patterned paper as the background for this layout. I think the design of that paper is so fun and I’ve loved seeing the different ways that the design team have been using it! I trimmed about 1cm off each side of the paper and then created a border around the page using various patterned papers from the collection. I also added black machine stitching around the edge of the layout to frame it.

Next I matted my photo using two papers from the A5 Paper Stack. I added a layer of craft foam between the two patterned papers to give the photo some nice dimension. I then adhered the photo just to the left of the large star on the background in order to draw the viewer’s eye to that focal area on the page.

For my title I pulled out my old Cuttlebug manual die cutting machine. Who else still has one of these in their craft room?! I’ve been enjoying creating  titles using metal alphabet dies lately. I love the custom look that you can create with these, plus if you use patterned papers from the same collection, your title matches your page perfectly! On this layout I used two different alphabet dies from Scrapbook.com to cut the letters for the first three words of the title, and then completed it with the word ‘best’ from the Chipboard Stickers. I love the way a mixed font title adds lots of interest to a layout!

Once my photo and title were in place, I was ready to embellish! First I created a cluster on the bottom left hand corner of the photo. I tucked some elements under the edge of the photo, such as the die cut and chipboard frames, and others I added on top, like the ‘Unlimited’ die cut and the wood epoxy button. Layering embellishments together like this gives a layout lots of interest and dimension.

In order to create a visual triangle, I cut another die cut frame in half, and added one piece to the top right hand corner of the page, and the other piece to the bottom left. I then added a cascade of stars flowing from that bottom left hand corner up to the top top right. As all of the elements on the page sit along that diagonal line, it once again helps to draw the viewer’s eye to the important elements on the page rather than wandering. I included stars from the Die Cut Ephemera pack, as well as others that I fussy cut out of the Nebula paper, a few that I die cut out of the A5 Papers, and of course I had to include a scattering of the tiny little stars from the Puffy Sticker pack. I finished the page off with some typed journaling strips.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog! I hope that you’ve been inspired by something you’ve seen here today!

Mandy x