Bond Story Kit

I was a little nervous about this month's Story Kit theme. I knew that so close after losing mom, those would be the only stories that I would simultaneously want, and not want, to tell. Of course, I ended up telling one of her stories, our stories, but by the last word of journaling, it felt so good to get it down on paper, that I felt so grateful for the nudge to get it told. Some times the smallest stories are the ones we most need to get out, and this was no exception.  

I was spurred by the stitched style heart in the kit, so using the digital file, I printed these and added them to my hybrid page with a little hand stitching, using some of mom's old thread to make it even more meaningful.

By using my photo as the background, it allowed me to tie the journaling and the image together across the two pages, tucking the digital stamps, one on each page, into the layout and letting them more subtly encourage the narrative instead of being big, bold titles.

Because to much of my layout was digital, keeping it very flat in a lot of ways, popping up some of those stitched hearts with foam dots called a little bit more attention to them, and I love that bit of character, wonky though they may be, added to this story.

I also wanted to share these photos I added some of the digital stamps to for my Project Life, not because they're earth shatteringly creative, but because it's a good reminder sometimes how a simple, well designed digital stamp, in just basic black or white, can make a photo tell a story before the journaling is even complete.  I love that.  

Don't forget to pick up your kit for this month and tell those stories of the bonds in your life - I promise you, it's worth it.