Friends are the family we choose | Storyteller collection | Mandy Melville

Hello everyone!

Mandy here with you today to share a new layout featuring the fabulous new Storyteller collection! Over the month of August, our design team will be sharing projects that focus on story telling, and I’m up first with my project today. I wanted to tell the story of a friendship that my eldest daughter Abi has with one of our closest family friends. These girls have grown up together and have been friends their entire lives, and I think that that is a great story to document! We have many photos of them together of the years, but I decided to include just three – one from when they were very young (Abi was two years old, and Karla was one); another from Abi’s 7th birthday party; and a very recent one taken at her 18th.

I started my layout off with a sheet of the yellow Little Love paper as my background. I tore a strip off the bottom of the patterned paper and layered it over the top of the Ditsy Daisy paper. I also tucked a torn strip of the blue side of the Little Love paper under the edge of the yellow paper to provide some contrast. I then added some machine stitching around the edge of the page to bring it all together and add some more texture.

Next I cut my title using a cut file from the Silhouette Design Store. I wanted a long title that added to the story telling, and the quote “Friends are the Family we Choose” perfectly summed up the story that I wanted to tell on this layout. I cut the title first from the blue Little Love paper, and then I offset it and cut it again from white cardstock to create a border. I adhered the title using foam tape to help it to really pop off the page.

I printed the more recent photo at 4×6″ and the older photos at 3×4″. I matted all of them with the green Fly Away patterned paper as well as a paper from the A5 Paper Stack. I adhered the larger photo underneath the title, and the two smaller ones at the top of the page.

To the left of the larger photo I added a floral cluster that I fussy cut out of the beautiful Spring Fling patterned paper. I also added a cute Die Cut banner on the top left hand corner of the photo that says ‘This is Our Story’.

To balance out the cluster in the bottom left hand corner of the page, I created a smaller one in the top right. This one includes a Chipboard floral sticker as well as another small fussy cut flower. Around the floral clusters I added a sprinkling of hearts using Chipboard and Puffy Stickers.

To finish the layout off I of course had to add some journaling! I typed my journaling onto white cardstock, which I then cut up into strips and adhered to the right of the larger photo. This is my favourite way of adding journaling to my layouts.

I really enjoyed focusing on the ‘story telling’ aspect of this layout, which I think I achieved through the use of multiple photos, journaling, and a long title. And most importantly, I’m so glad that I got this story documented!

Mandy x