Hey friends, it’s Kimberly here, and I am so excited to share this gorgeous layout from one of our incredibly talented design team members, Jessica Michaels. Jessica grabbed the April 2026 Hip Kits and ran with one of her signature looks, a grungy, textured, hexagon-packed background that is honestly just so good.
Want to create layouts like this? Our monthly kits include coordinated papers, embellishments, and supplies to bring your scrapbook pages to life.
She started with a solid sheet from the April 2026 Cardstock Kit as her base, then die-cut a whole pile of little one inch hexagons from the patterned papers in the April 2026 Main Kit and a few of the coordinating solids.
The whole thing centers around a sweet photo of Jessica and her son from a recent second grade field trip to a state park, and let me tell you, the moody April colors with that midnight blue could not be more perfect for an outdoorsy, adventure-themed page.
What I love about Jessica’s process is how she layers texture on texture. She crinkles every single hexagon for that distressed feel, runs the whole cluster through her sewing machine for stitched detail, and adds watered down white paint splatters to break it all up.
Then she builds out the storytelling with bits from the April 2026 Pocket Life Kit, stamps from the April 2026 Pocket Life Stamp Set, and a handful of puffy and foam embellishments from the April 2026 Embellishment Kit. She even worked in an acrylic adventure title and a fun mix of clouds, trees, and arrows. It is grungy, it is dimensional, and it is absolutely brimming with personality.
Let’s walk through exactly how she made it.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Die Cut Your Hexagon Background Pieces
Start by choosing a solid sheet from the April 2026 Cardstock Kit for your background. Then grab a few patterned papers from the April 2026 Main Kit and a couple of coordinating solids, trim them into strips, and die cut a big pile of one inch hexagons using your metal dies. Jessica notes these hexagons are on the small side, so cut plenty because you will want quite a few to fill your scene.
Step 2: Crinkle the Hexagons for Distressed Texture
Take each die cut hexagon in your fingers and crinkle it up to add that grungy, distressed look. This is one of Jessica‘s signature moves and it instantly gives the pieces a worn, textured feel. Do not be shy here, scrunch them up well because you will smooth them back out slightly in the next step.
Step 3: Glue Down and Machine Stitch the Hexagons
Arrange your crinkled hexagons across the page around where your photo will sit, leaving little gaps between some of them, and glue them in place with Deluxe Nuvo liquid adhesive, which goes on white but dries clear. Once they are down, run the whole layout through your sewing machine and stitch across the hexagon shapes. Quick tip from Jessica: paper dulls your needle fast, so always swap in a fresh needle before you go back to sewing fabric.
Step 4: Add Watered Down White Paint Splatters
To break up all that texture, mix a little plain water into white acrylic paint until it reaches a thin, splatterable consistency. Straight from the bottle the paint is too thick to splatter, so the water makes all the difference. Load a paintbrush and flick light white splatters across the hexagons for an extra layer of grunge.
Step 5: Stamp and Layer Your Journaling Tag
Cut a label piece from the patterned paper in the 12 by 12 pack and start building a tag. Stamp your date at the top with black ink, then layer up images from the April 2026 Pocket Life Stamp Set using colored inks that coordinate with the collection, adding little arrows and a pop of orange. Jessica loves to build dimension by layering these adventure and vacation themed stamps right on top of each other.
Step 6: Rough Up the Tag Edges
Before placing your tag, distress the edges to match the grungy feel of the rest of the layout. Jessica simply uses her fingernails to rough up and fray the edges a bit. This little step ties the tag into the overall texture and keeps everything feeling cohesive.
Step 7: Place the Photo, Title, and Camera Accent
Position your photo and tuck your acrylic adventure title right beside it. Jessica‘s title here is from Colorcast Designs and does not come in the kits, so feel free to use any title that fits your theme. Add a small foam camera sticker near the photo for a fun travel touch.
Step 8: Finish with Dimensional Clouds, Trees, and Arrows
Bring the scene to life with clouds, little trees, puffy heart stickers, and arrows from the April 2026 Embellishment Kit. Pop a cloud up on 3D foam squares for dimension while gluing another one down flat behind it, and tuck a bit of loose thread behind the scenic embellishment at the bottom right of your photo. Finish it all off with one last little arrow and your adventurous, texture packed layout is complete.
Products Used in This Tutorial
About the Designer
Jessica Michaels
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