Some sewing, some stamping, some smearing

And some of these things were deliberate and some... not so!
None of which is the fault of the rather wonderful Writing to reach you kit. Rather, I am impatient, I try out new ideas which don't always work and I am left handed which means that my hand sometimes ends up on top of bits it shouldn't and I end up with a dirty hand and a smeary page (is my excuse)
However on the whole I am pretty pleased with the page - and the story it tells.

 I've been saving these photos for a few years ready for the right papers. Actually my fascinator is pink but looks red in the photos which is handy! I decided that I wanted a sprinkled background so flicked some sprays over the cream cardstock. Then wanted some bigger splats so used a Studio Calico dropper to add these. Then didn't wait and they started to run down the page. So added a few more for balance which I wish I had started further to the top. You could say they are there to recreate the tears of happiness that we shed watching the royal wedding ...

I wanted to add some stamping down the side and knew I had the perfect and underused set - Artistic Outpost Grunge London. They are red rubber which I hardly use these days which meant that I had to add extra features to hide the times I stamped upside down! I used a very dark brown and a lighter brown chalk ink pad to stamp with.

Then I picked out papers etc from the kit. Actually there is more "etc" than paper here - most of the photo mat is made up of the large airmail envelope and the material - both chosen because they are red, white and blue. I also used one of the cute Shinzi Katoh notelets as a journalling spot. 

Once everything was adhered down I punched holes and hand stitched the material using tapestry wool. A few prima stickers, thickers title and punched hearts later and I was almost done. I reached for my 50p in the sale Wilkinsons stick on gems to add some bling for the special occasion.