Oh What Fun - Simple Stories - Jingle All The Way Collection

Hello, Rebecca back with you today with another festive layout using the 'Jingle All The Way' collection by Simple Stories. I'm really enjoying the build-up to Christmas this year - and we've certainly started our festivities a lot earlier than in previous years so I'm making the most of it and documenting the fun we've been getting up to!

This layout documents my little boy receiving his very own felt Christmas Tree from his Nanny. He opened it straight up and stuck all the decorations on and was so proud of it. 

I started with a selection of the patterned papers - I've used the 3x4 Elements (B Side), both sides of  Happy Ho Ho Ho, both sides of My Christmas Wish, Santa Squad (B Side), and Tree Trimming and cut them into 1 inch squares. I distressed all the edges and arranged them into the shape of a Christmas tree onto a sheet of Premium White Cardstock. I put a tiny dot of glue on the back of each square to hold them in position, and then added a line of stitching through each row using a metallic gold thread. I attempted to do this on my sewing machine, but it really didn't like the thread so I had to resort to stitching by hand! It took a while but I really think it was worth it as I love the finished look. I've given my tree a stump using some brown textured bazzill cardstock to ground it on the page and make it look less like my tree was floating.

I've only used one 3x4 inch photo on this layout, and I positioned it to the right of the christmas tree. I matted it onto white cardstock, with a layer of red Bazzill cardstock behind it. I then added another layer of the Santa Squad (B side) patterned paper underneath and distressed all the edges. 

One of the 3x4 element cards had caught my eye when I was flicking through the papers prior to starting this layout - it had the words 'Oh What Fun' written on it and I knew that would make a great title for this layout. I fussy cut the words out, leaving a thin border all the way around each word to help it pop of the page against the busy patterns of my squares. I also fussy cut a Christmas tree from the 'Tags' patterned paper, and a banner which said 'FaLaLa' from the Journal Bits & Pieces pack. 

I built up the area around my photo by adding a large Santa and a banner from the Bits & Pieces ephemera pack, and a journal piece which also reads 'oh what fun'. From the Cardstock Combo Stickers I added a candy cane, a couple of word stickers and a small sticker which says 'holiday cheer', 

I added in a couple of gold thread tangles and two Puffy Stickers as they matched the christmas tree decorations in the photo really well!

I used the 'My Christmas Wish' patterned paper to add a border to my page to frame the layout, and I also added a line of hand-stitching around the edge to add just a little bit more gold! 

I finished my layout by adding a gold glitter acrylic star to the top of my tree (from my stash) and some gold Heidi Swapp color shine.

This layout came together really quickly - I think if I forget the time I spent hand-stitching, this layout only took about 30-40 minutes to create which is probably a record for me! I'm absolutely loving this collection and I think I'll be quite upset when I've used it all!!

If you'd like to watch how the layout came together, there is a process video on my YouTube channel which you can find here.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about my layout - I know everybody is probably really busy in the lead up to Christmas but I hope you all manage to get some scrappy down-time over the festive period!

I'll be back later in the month with a final layout (or two) with this collection, but in the meantime I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. 

Take care, and stay safe.

Rebecca x