Using embroidery on your scrapbook layouts will add texture and dimension to your pages. And it
There are many types of embroidery and there are many types of embroidery stitches. This blog post focuses primarily on all the things you can do with a straight embroidery stitch. The possibilities with this basic stitch are already endless. It’s like you’re drawing with yarn: so much fun!
Another favorite embroidery stitch is the cross-stitch. I have written a whole other blog post on using that popular stitch on your scrapbook pages. If you’re looking for even more embroidery inspiration or if the cross-stitch happens to be your favorite embroidery stitch, head over there for a little look. You’ll be amazed what works of art can come from a simple piece of yarn and a needle. Truly awesome.
So let’s take a look at some awesome examples of straight stitch embroidery on scrapbook pages and get inspired to take out that needle and thread and add some gorgeous stitching to our own scrapbook layouts!
Let’s start simple: the embroidery on this layout consists of a basic stitch that is applied in two shapes: a line and a circle. Using a contrasting color, in this case a bright red, you can create some really cool embroidered page elements. The stitched red circle is the base of a whole collection of travel related embellishments around the featured photo. Notice how the circle is centered around the people in the photo and not around the photo itself. The red of the stitching is picked up in some of the red embellishments. My personal favorites are the pair of bright red sunglasses. Very cool!
This layout shows embroidery that is a lot more elaborate that the previous layout. The embroidered flowers are stitched onto a separate piece of cardstock and clustered together with paper flower cut-outs. And the large letters of the title “Family” have been stitched directly to the background paper and kept white against a watercolor paint splattered color extravaganza.
I love using these big letters on a layout, it is such a cool look. If you want to see more, head over to my blog post about using big letter titles on scrapbook pages.
The embroidery really gives this page another textural element. I love the combination of so many techniques: paper cut-outs, embroidery, watercolor painting and the art of making awesome clusters. Together they really create a rich, gorgeous looking, very bright and colorful layout!
I’m not sure what the title means exactly, but the use of embroidery on this page is stunning. The straight stitch combined with the loose hanging thread add so much color and texture to the layout! And the embroidery technique used is so simple, anyone could do it.
The colors of the embroidery floss are stacked from light to dark, directing the eye to the bottom of the page (helped, of course, by the dark arrow pointing at the photo) and the photo cluster.
The wooden letters add dimension and even more texture and I love the idea of a speech bubble as part of the title. There are so many fun elements and embellishments on this page. The longer you look, the more you discover!
Let’s write some more letters with embroidery. And let’s start with something simple and fun: “Love”. I love the ombre effect of the embroidery floss that is used, adding extra interest to the spelled words. I love the bright and happy colors of the embroidery, matching the bright and happy colors of the photo.
And how cute is that photo! It’s one of those everyday snapshots that really deserved to be celebrated and documented.
Again, a lot of different materials have been used in creating this layout: embroidery floss (yes!), paint, stamps, paper cut-out embellishments, sequins etc. And still there is a lot of lovely white space, helping to focus the eye on the cute featured photo.
Embroidery is also very cute to use on seasonal layouts. On this fall layout, the word “Pumpkin” has been spelled out using embroidery floss. I love that the letters are not just straight white, but some element of them have been embroidered in colors that match the season, and (even more importantly) the photo. Those pops of light blue really make this whole layout shine.
The embroidery adds texture, as does the wood structured background patterned paper. The combination of those two structural page elements is just perfect and gives the layout an earthy fall vibe.
I love the addition of those three white leaves “hanging” from the photo cluster. This creates three horizontal “zones” on the layout: the embroidered title, the photo cluster and the three leaves. Having an odd number of anything on your page will please the eye and this layout certainly is no exception!
Soft, serene and angelic are the words that I would use to describe this feather-light layout. The little ink (or paint?) circles are almost neon bright in color and really pop off the page. And yet this doesn’t disturb the
The large amount of white space makes the rather dark black and white photo really jump off the page. The black colors in the photos are repeated in the dark grey (or black?) polka dotted background paper.
And after being drawn to all of those previously mentioned elements, finally, you actually notice the little white embroidered triangles on the layout. These modest triangles add softness and texture to the page, as well as anchor the colorful circles to each other and to the photo cluster.
What an extraordinary page and what an awesome example and inspiration for using embroidery (and many other techniques!) on your scrapbook pages.
Another gorgeous and almost angelic layout. The balloon is stunning! Its surface is cobbled together from all different patterned papers with very pale and soft coloring. And the structure of the balloon is added with white embroidery. What a wonderful idea! And don’t you just love that little basket dangling under the balloon?
The balloon, even though it is very pale in color, draws the eye immediately. You almost don’t notice the black and white photo tucked discretely behind it. The little girl pops off the photo being the dark colored center amidst a sea of light colored balloons.
The finishing touches on this layout are also on pointe: the light colored title that adds a little dimension on it’s little clouds and the little doodled bird that helps with the feeling that this balloon is actually flying through the clouds, “Up & Away”!
This layout has a completely different vibe to the previous two. The page is filled with gorgeous colors and the whole layout radiates fun and happiness. I’m not sure what the “P.I.” stands for, but these “P.I. girls” sure look like they are having a lot of fun together! And that feeling really jumps off the page.
The embroidered arrow is one of the main page elements, together with the photo cluster. It is an interesting choice of shape, especially since it doesn’t seem to point at anything in particular. The painted background is an awesome mix of light and darker pinks, which seem to divide the background
Notice how the three cut-out paper flowers create a design triangle. The small embellishments, like the hearts, plusses and little paper word circles add a lovely playfulness to the page, as does the paint splattering.
This page not only contains some cute embroidery, but also a big lettered title: one of my favorite possible page elements! I love those unapologetically massive letters! And the rainbow colorss are such a good choice for the subject of the layout! Want to see more rainbow inspired scrapbook layouts? Head over to the blog post I wrote about them! Notice how the added embellishments match the color of the words.
If you have a stash of small embroidery threads, this is your chance to use it! I love that the letters are nice and chunky and have an actual serif! This little bit of extra effort really pays off in creating the total look of your layout.
How cute is that photo in the letter “O”! It immediately draws the eye and fits perfectly (quite literally) in the actual title of the layout. The little doily type photo frame is the perfect finishing touch.
This layout shows a completely different way to use embroidery. It is such a sweet page, documenting the little baby bump of the happily expecting parents. The page has a lovely nature vibe, with the wood structure background and the embroidered leaves.
Those embroidered leaves are a great addition to the two flower and leaf clusters that frame the photos. Stretching those embroidered branches out to the corners creates a diagonal across the page that helps to draw the eye to the middle where the photos are.
I love that the creator of this page has chosen a very simple leaf outline to embroider and to not fill it in or make it a more elaborate embroidery project in other ways. This keeps the flower clusters light and helps to keep the focus on the two featured photos.
Notice how the added wooden frame instantly makes the right photo the main one. Putting that little frame on an angle helps to extra emphasize that focus. Clever and cute!
No doubt the inspiration for the set of embroidered hearts came from the funky heart-shaped glasses. These “nesting” hearts are fun, colorful and have a modern vibe. What a great idea! You could use any shape you would like: squares, triangles, circles, flowers etc. Anything that would fit your subject.
I love the use of white space on this layout. Having lots of room in between the embroidered hearts gives a lot of “air” to a page and leaves room for adding those fun embellishments that have been added here. Notice how the little embellishments match the color of the heart’s embroidery thread. My personal favorite is the funky blue giraffe!
Another embroidered heart, and yet completely different! This layout features only one heart that is build up from embroidered lines in between sequin (or rhinestone?) anchor points on the heart’s edge. At least two embroidered lines “spring forth” from each anchor point in a way that covers most of the heart in stitches.
This array of lines creates a wonderful background for the photo of the cute girl. The rest of the page is kept fairly simple: with this gorgeous heart and photo the layout really doesn’t need a lot more embellishing. I’m glad to see that the creator of this page agrees! Notice the pops of yellow and green (both matching the colors in the photograph) that give a lively vibe to this otherwise very pink page.
This absolutely gorgeous page is filled with embroidery and color. I love the repeating pattern that creates this wonderful grid. Some of the lens shapes have been filled with scrapbook patterned paper matching the color of the embroidery thread. Leaving most of the created shapes empty (white) makes this layout feel very light, despite being filled up completely with page elements.
The featured photo fits perfectly in this massive page creation. I love how the photo’s colors match the embroidery thread. Especially the yellow of the little girl’s shirt (and matching yellow embroidery thread and patterned paper) really pop off the page.
Adding the buttons emphasizes the feeling of a grid. At the same time, adding all different colored buttons (notice how they match the embroidery color of the shape they are added to) gives a lovely sense of playfulness to the page.
The lovely girl’s “Sunny Disposition” really radiates off the page. This sunny subject is strongly supported by the choice of colors (hello happy yellow!) and page elements. The layout looks very tactile with the felt title letters, the floral embroidery
The embroidery part is kept simple, but is very effective: a floral motive and little floral “swirls” have been embroidered in the main colors of the layout and function as a frame to the main photo. The combination of this embroidery with the cluster of big flowers really draws the eye to this main photo.
Notice how not all the holes that were punched for the embroidery thread are filled in: the punctures for
Only a very small amount of embroidery has been used on this page, yet it add just that little bit of extra texture and interest. The embroidered balloon string has sweet little swirls in it and because of all the wonderful white space around it still really pops off the page. What a great idea to add a little something extra to your pages and still keep it very simple!
This adorable black and white photo has been embellished with some gorgeous patterned paper and creative stitching. The embroidered heart is created by punching out hole for a larger and smaller heart and stitching many different colors (matching those of the colorful flowers of the vertical strip of patterned paper) of embroidery floss from one to the other. The back of this heart must be an interesting sight for sure!
I love the additional stitching in white across the pages, both horizontally and vertically. Leaving the end threads of the embroidery floss visible creates extra texture. The white stitching, even though not easily spotted, connect the different page elements together and helps to create a unified look for this layout.
Embroidery on your layout is also for Christmas! How fun
I love the soft Christmas color palette with dark pinks instead of reds and subdued shades of green. The three types of trees create their own grid and the three grids are put together to create the background. Putting these different styles and colors of trees in a grid helps the eye cope with the multitude of page elements in an ordered and relaxed way.
This gorgeous layout
The setup of the page is fairly straightforward: Three paper flower clusters (hello design triangle!) form the base. The photo is stacked onto one of the flower clusters and the embroidered cardstock forms the upper layer. Little cut-out paper flowers are added as extra embellishment and help to give the page a truly unified look.
The “Take me away” title of this layout seems to be a request to the shoes to start walking! What a great idea to use the colorful prints of the shoe as inspiration for the rest of the layout! The gold title letters and the little gold banner placed on top of the featured photo draw the eye immediately to the photo.
The embroidery on this page is cross-stitch. Several lovely roses have been cross-stitched onto the cardstock in colors matching those of the shoes. Cross-stitch is a very easy stitch to learn and can be used in countless ways for flowers, letters and other shapes to embellish your scrapbooking. Curious about some other examples of the use of cross-stitching on scrapbook pages? Check out the blog post I dedicated to cross-stitching!
This layout bursts with originality and color. I love the stack of colorful blocks of pieces of cardstock (or patterned paper) that includes the two featured photos in a very subtle way. Embroidering the letters of thos inspirational quotes is brilliant. It adds texture and interest and it softens the square look of the block stack.
Even more texture is added to the layout by curling up the sides of the white cardstock, not only giving a three-dimensional look to the edges, but also allowing a little more of the colorful patterned paper behind it to show through.
