Valentine’s Day Layout with a Stitched Grid Design

Hi Pebbles friends – it’s Wendy Sue here with you today and just in case you didn’t already know, I wanted to tell you that I am a compulsive photo-taker. If I don’t have my big clunky camera over my shoulder, I at least have my cell phone ready to snap a photo and preserve a memory. I wouldn’t even be able to begin counting the number of photos I have of my kids. Unfortunately, the same does not hold true for photos of my sweet husband and me together. It’s not a conscious decision, to not have photos of the two of us – it just seems to work out that way. And, unfortunately, I could probably count on two hands ALL of the photos of just to the two of us together since we’ve had children…and our oldest daughter is 17 1/2! That’s nothing to be proud of – for sure. I guess I’m going to have to join all of the teens and kids out there, and start snapping selfies with Brad – just to prove that we really do spend time together! All kidding aside, I really do want to make an effort to make sure our time together is better documented through photos. That being said, I thought it would be fun to gather a handful of photos of just the two of us and create a fun little layout featuring the “We Go Together” collection. Here’s the result:

I love this guy SO much – I can’t imagine my life without him. So these silly little “we go together” images just seem 100% natural and perfect to sum up our relationship. I wanted to keep my layout pretty simple, so I created a stitched grid design to start with. It’s really easy! Here’s how to do it:

First, decide how many boxes you want in your grid. If you’re working with a 12″x12″ background, this is pretty easy – 8 1/2″ x 11″ layouts are a little trickier – but if I can figure it out, so can you! lol.

I decided to make my grid with three across and four down. They are approximately 2 1/2″ squares. Start by measuring and marking where you want your lines to be. Use a ruler to draw lines – really lightly with a pencil.

Next, choose a thread color and get your sewing machine loaded and ready to go. I chose red thread and added a long, straight stitch over each line:

Now, this might be the trickiest part for all of my perfectionist friends – you’ve got to LET GO of the need for perfection. The back side of your layout might look messy (in fact, it will very likely look messy), but that is totally fine. Pull the threads through the paper to the back and use good old scotch tape to secure them so they won’t pull through.

Trim off the excess thread and forget about the back altogether. If it really really bothers you, go ahead and adhere a second piece of cardstock right over the back to hide all of the stitching. But remember, when you pop this in your album, there’s going to be another layout right behind it, so it’ll be hidden anyway. 🙂

Now grab the sheet with the fun little “we go together” valentines. Cut some of the images into squares and place them in some of the grid openings.

Add a few of the accordion hearts for interest and dimension – and just plain fun!

Now print some of your photos out into 2 1/2″ squares. Hopefully you’ll have more to choose from than I did. In my defense, the top photo and the one on the second row with the red Christmas lights were both taken within the last couple of months – luckily, our daughter likes to take photos when she’s with us. 🙂

I added the “I love you” sticker (on foam adhesive squares) and some additional epoxy heart stickers to add some interest and shine!

So now, even though I only have a few photos, they are all living together on one page in our scrapbooks – and that makes me happy. I neglected to add a date to my layout, but I’ll likely add some journaling and date information on the back of my page…sometimes I like to do that so it’s hidden, but still included. 🙂

I hope you’ll be inspired to take more photos with your significant other AND try out this stitched grid technique on a layout very soon.
Happy Valentine’s Day!

Supplies:
We Go Together “We Go Together” Patterned Paper
We Go Together Icons & Phrases Cardstock Stickers
We Go Together Epoxy Heart Stickers
We Go Together Accordion Fold Paper Hearts
White Cardstock
Red Thread
Foam Adhesive Squares