A Girl and Her Chicken | CSI Cold Case No. 338 + Paper Issues Sketch

I made this for our November Cold Case and also for Paper Issues sketch challenge.

Here are the Case File and clues that inspired my page:

I used these clues: Product clues - older papers in the color scheme, fabric, something distressed, older metal items, an unopened package of something; design clues: distress your papers, use a stencil and texture paste in the background, fussy cut elements from patterned paper to use as accents, use as many different textures as you can, add old metal brads.

Here's the sketch I used:

Here are some details. This was the perfect Case file for this picture of my friend's daughter holding one of their chickens! I used a chicken wire stencil for the background. I found this frayed fabric trim to use with the tags that was the perfect color and matched the fabric clue, and how perfect is the fabric word tag! See, this is why I don't get rid of my old stash. You just never know when you'll have the perfect opportunity to use it! That old brad was the perfect color too.

An old metal frame was perfect to frame this fun wooden chicken I found in my stash, and I had some perfect plain brads to go with the colors.

I always add a heart to the pages I give away and I found a perfect wooden one to go with my page. Note to self. Do not sit a page upright until AFTER the Nuvo Drops are dry!

I knew I had this old paper by Daisy D's with chickens on it. I fussy cut the chicken to use as an embellishment. After choosing the chickens, I went through my paper stash to find papers to go with it and found other Daisy D's papers and also some BasicGrey.

I had these ginormous chipboard letters in my stash, and I'm trying to use them up. I coated them with gesso and then ran some Distress inks over them. The other letters are by BasicGrey, and the tile letters are by Bo Bunny, I think.

It just delights me to no end to find phrase stickers that are perfect for my pages!

Fly | CSI Cold Case No. 329

I always love making pages for our stash-busting Cold Case Files at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. I also used a sketch from Paper Issues. Here's what I created.

Here are the Case File and Clues:

Here's the Paper Issues sketch:

I just love using my older stash! I looked through my papers in search of a photorealistic paper and found this cloud paper, which was my starting point, and then I found a giant hot-air balloon sticker and matching paper with hot-air balloons that I fussy-cut.

I found the perfect photo to go with these two elements. I found some older patterns with dots and stripes and florals, which I fussy cut. 

You can also see that I used, from the list of clues: clouds, white rub-ons, older labels, hearts, butterflies, a banner, and I used magic number 20--those blingy elements (the flowers and insects) are from the 20th embellishment drawer. The chipboard pieces (except for the alphabet) are 2crafty pieces, from when I was on their design team a while back. They're one of our prime sponsors.

I found a mutli-color banner in my stash, by KaiserCraft, that I've had for a while, but I never seem to be able to use because of all the different colors. And that circle thing is ancient--by K&Co. A the end, I added the yellow Nuvo drops for added texture and interest.

If you're like me and delight in using up some of your older stash, come play along with us! You can make room for new stash that you might win from one of our sponsors this month:

Sweet | Paper Issues Keep It Sketchy - Sketch #3

I'm super excited that Paper Issues decided to go with weekly sketches instead of just one each month. Here's a page I made for the Sketch #3:

Here's the sketch. I used the same basic design, but I substituted a chipboard embellishment for one of the pictures, I didn't angle the photos, and I added some more stuff.

I used Fancy Pants Cherry on Top chipboard pieces as my starting point and then used papers and some other elements from my stash to build my page. Those little birds were in a drawer I have with other bird embellishments. I had printed them out. I think they were probably from when we had "CSI Coordinates" many moons ago. The colors were perfect for this page and add a bit of whimsy. I added soem googly eyes for fun.

I had this already tied red ribbon in my red ribbon jar and decided it would be the perfect touch to this sundae bowl, along with the chipboard heart because I always add a heart to the pages I give away. I found some fun phrase stickers in my stash that were dessert-related. The gingham one was perfect and led me to use the gingham brads.

I found some tiny tags in my stash and tied one onto one of the brads. Those labels are ancient Martha Stewart labels. It's actually one label that I cut in half.

At the very last minute, I added that spoon because that empty space was bugging me. I really liked the addition of this and tied on a charm that's been in my stash for eons. I just love combining old and new stash!

I hope you'll come play along. This was a fun sketch to play with! Be sure you enter your layout in the Facebook group for your chance to win a gift certificate to the shop. Speaking of the shop, there are all sorts of new goodies, and lots of pieces of this Cherry on Top collection in stock. And whenever you shop at Paper Issues, please use my discount code Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, including kits, every single day!

Wonder | Paper Issues Keep It Sketchy Challenge.

I made this layout for the June 1 sketch over at Paper Issues.

Here's the sketch. I stayed pretty true to it.

In looking for papers to go with my friend's daughter's dress, I came across the pink cloud paper from Shimelle's Never Grow Up collection, and decided I had to use that. The butterflies were cut out of one of the papers from this collection. The green strips were scraps from some old papers by Sassafras Lass and Prima. I rescued these pretty word stickers by K&Co that were perfect with the colors.

The title is also from this collection. That flowery trim is old Doodlebug Frills. I love to mix older and newer stash. And of course I used some Nuvo Drops. The fuchsia trim at the bottom is some leftover scraps from an old Ki Memories diecut paper that I came across in my scraps drawer when I was looking for some other pink paper. 

I found these fuchsia flowers in my stash that were perfect, and I trimmed them with some leaves cut from a Shimelle paper from the collection.

I hope you'll come play along. This was a fun sketch to work with. Make sure you enter your layout in the Facebook group for your chance to win a gift certificate to the shop. Speaking of the shop, there are all sorts of new goodies. And whenever you shop at Paper Issues, please use my discount code Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, including kits, every single day!

Plant & Grow | CSI Case File No. 321 and Paper Issues 30 Days of Sketches - Day 30

Our June challenges have opened at CSI: Color, Stories Inspiration. Here's what I made:

Here are the Case File and clues for this challenge:

I used all of the Evidence clues except for buttons and jewels and fringe.

Paper Issues was having a 30 Sketches for 30 Days. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to finish all of them by the end of May, so I decided I'd use the last sketch for my CSI page. Here's the sketch.

And here are some details. The green paper I used for the frame is old Sassafras Lass paper. I cut out large squares with my silhouette and then cut out a bit to accommodate my title, which was made from old Heidi Swapp chipboard letters. One of the clues was summer themed elements, and I found this sun sticker from a Simple Stories summer collection which I used as an O. I always add hearts to the pages I give away, so I added an enamel heart to the center. Texture paste and water colors were clues, so I made a mixed media background with those. Another clue said anything with interesting texture, and I felt that wood fit the bill, so I used some wood veneer accents.

I also found a wood veneer person icon, which was another clue. This cluster needed some yellow, so I added a little smiley face sticker to it. Plants were a clue. I had some metal dies with pot plants that were perfect to go with the pictures I was scrapping. Flair badges were another clue, and I found one to match my color scheme. 

I'm always happy to use enamel dots on my pages, plus they were a clue, so I had to add them! And I founds some glasses in the Simple Stories sticker sheet to meet that clue. All of the papers behind my pictures were from my scrap drawers, which delight me to no end!

I hope you'll come play with us at CSI and at Paper Issues. Paper Issues is one of our sponsors this month, so you could either with a gift certificate by playing with Paper Issues or with CSI! Plus CSI has six more sponsors, so lots of chances to win!

If you do shop at Paper Issues, please use my discount code--Debbi (no e on the end)--and you'll get 20% off everything in the store!

2 Cuties | Paper Issues 30 Days of Sketches - Day 28

I finally finished all 30 sketches in Paper Issues 30 Days of Sketches! However, I'm SO behind on posting them, so I'm doing some quick blog posts to catch up. Here's my page for Sketch 28:

Here's the sketch.

And some details. I used the Fancy Pants Happy Place collection from a couple of years back because the colors matched the kids' clothes. There weren't any cutesy elements, so I stamped some Tim Holtz crazy birds on coordinating cardstock. In retrospect, I wish I had stamped on white paper and painted the birds. Next time... The speech bubbles were fussy cut from an old Studio Calico paper.

How fun are these birds? I love how this one looks like he's looking up at the kids. I used the awesome Bella Blvd Florence alphas for my title. Such an playful, fun font, and it comes in every color of the rainbow.

This 30 Days of Sketches challenge is now over, but Paper Issues has a sketch every month, plus scads of other challenges, and there's a fun Alphabet Soup challenge that will run across 26 days, with a new challenge for each letter of the alphabet. Whenever you shop at Paper Issues, please use my discount code Debbi (no e on the end) and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, including kits, every single day!