Clique Kits iNSD Challenge - Hand Cut Letters

Hi everyone, and happy iNSD!

Clique Kits are hosting two days of challenges this weekend over on their Facebook iNSD event page, and my challenge for you is to use hand cut letters!

I've created a pocket page spread and added a 3x8 insert for this project, and my hand cut letters are adhered and stitched to vellum in the insert.

I've used the limited edition iNSD kit (now sold out) from the Clique Kits shop that features Jillibean Soup's Bohemian Brew collection. 

There's a few different ways to make your own hand cut letters, including going completely freestyle.  But I wanted to have letters that were fairly close to the real thing, and just a little rustic.

I played with different fonts in Word until I found one I was happy with and then adjusted my title to the right size for my spread.  I finally settled on Impact in font size 190.   Once I was happy with the font and the size, I printed the document out on regular copy paper. 

Then I  trimmed each letter and some patterned paper out so that they were an easier size to work with.  I held them loosely together and followed the outline of the printed letters to trim each one to the right shape.  I didn't adhere the copy paper to the patterned paper at all because I was happy for some variance there so that the  letters did look a little rustic.  I also didn't trim the inside space of the 'r' or the 'a'.

And here's the finished letters!  I adhered them to a 3x8 sheet of vellum and stitched around each one with my sewing machine, then added one of the exclusive Clique Kits flair and some ephemera from the kit to finish off the insert.

I love these big bold letters for this spread!

The back of the insert was a little messy so I used the same printed letters to trim out more patterned paper for that side. It doesn't make any sense to read, because it's in reverse ha! But it still looks pretty, and sometimes that's all that matters.

I hope I've inspired you to try some hand cut letters in a project.  I'm lucky enough to have a Silhouette machine, but for anyone that doesn't this is a fantastic way to achieve the same results with your titles.  It's also great for those times when you might be after a slightly imperfect, rustic look to your letters.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Be sure to check back in with the Clique Kits iNSD Facebook event for more inspiration and challenges from the Clique Kits team.  Next up is Erica Thompson with a cut file challenge!