A scrappy start to 2012

I've been lucky enough to spend the last few months as a fresh face designer for Practical Scrappers.  We were challenged this week with the task of creating a layout to showcase a hot trend from 2011.  Far from a trendy person, I wasn't sure this was a task for me.  I decided to try to incorporate a few different techniques that I used over the course of the past year.  Here's what I came up with for my first layout of the new year:

My sewing machine had been out of commission for several months, and I recently had it repaired, so I started the layout by machine stitching a border.  My favorite thing about machine stitching is how quickly it adds a special touch to a project.  I did this step first (just in case), as I didn't want to risk ruining the whole layout if I didn't like how it came out.  Once I was satisfied with my stitching, I started making pinwheels out of some of my favorite papers.  I used pieces of the Lime Twist collection from My Mind's Eye.  I love the way the patterns and colors all compliment one another.  The pinwheels were super simple and are an easy way to make a quick embellishment.  The final trend I decided to showcase was baker's twine.  I broke out some coordinating colors of twine and started meandering, using micro glue dots every couple of inches to keep the twine in place.  For the swirly twine circles, I cut out a circle of cardstock and covered the circle with adhesive.  Starting in the center, I just started winding the twine around to fill the shape.  Overall, I was thrilled with this layout and was proud to see it featured on today's Practical Scrappers blog.  My term as a designer is about to come to an end, but I love the challenges and am thrilled to have been able to showcase my scrappy creations.