Laura Vegas

i have another layout share today, as part of our challenge week, over on the bella blvd blog. our week-long guest designer, shannon tidwell, has done a great job this week, leading our challenges. and today's is all about using punched circles on your projects.

this is actually one of my CHA layouts. when we were starting to put this challenge week together, i realized that a bunch of the CHA designers has used punched circles on their projects. so it seemed perfect for a challenge. one of the patterned papers in the baby girl collection, has all of those big, colorful polkadots on the backside. i knew i had to punch them out and use them in a fun way. i started the layout, by trimming down my pink cloud paper, and matting it to the center of my white cardstock background.

i left plenty of room around the edges, since i knew the punched circles would need some room to groove. i worked on one side at a time, and tucked the circles under the cloud paper, slightly overlapping them as i went. i made sure to spread out the colors, and make sure i had some polka dot circles in there too.

once they were all arranged around the four edges of the layout, i machine stitched around the cloud paper. first off, because i love the look of machine stitching. and secondly, it's a great way to add some extra support to your page. i try and use great adhesive, but you just never know how well things will stick over time. with the machine stitching, those papers aren't going anywhere.

for my title piece, i used the purple journaling block from the cute cuts paper. i simply cut it in half, and adhered them side by side, making sure my title letters would fit. to give the tops of the journaling cards a more finished look, i added the chipboard measuring tape along the top.

make sure and stop by the bella blvd blog, to check out what the other designers did with this challenge. and you can also go back to earlier in the week, for anything you missed. we also want YOU to join in on our challenges too. we're inviting you to play along, and then upload your projects showing your take on any or all of the challenges. you can link your layout at the end of each post this week. we're giving one lucky participate a prize package worth $100! but to be entered in the random drawing, you have to participate. for each project you create and link on our posts, your name will be entered in the drawing. so the more you create, the more chances you have to win. have fun, and good luck!