You Color Our Life with Love {Paper Issues You Are So Bow-tiful Challenge}

Yesterday was my turn on the Paper Issues blog. Here's my post:

Hey, Paper Issues Friends! I'm here to share a layout for our challenge called "You Are so Bow-tiful." (Now you too will have that song stuck in your head! You're welcome.) Naturally the challenge is to use bows!

When I signed up for this challenge, I had imagined I'd use up some of my loads of ribbon in my stash, but when I sat down to scrap, my messy scrap table had other plans. My layout came together as a result of stuff that just happened to be sitting on my table--the Maggie Holmes Thread Bows, the rainbow letters, a black and white photo, and a cut file that I had cut out a while back and never used.

I initially thought of using the title "You Color Our World," but I've seen that a million times, and the hearts called for something else. The paintbrush icons in Pink Paislee's Whimsical collection were the perfect things to use, and I fussy cut some elements from one of the papers in the Whimsical collection and used a few Whimsical die cuts too. Several of the elements on my page are from the gorgeous Paper Issues January kit called "She's a Rainbow."

I just love Paper Issues free cut file Interlocking Hearts Background, and I've used it several times, backed with different patterns, but for the idea I had with this page, I decided to just leave the cut file unbacked, white on white.

I hope you'll give this challenge a try! Make sure you share your creation with us at our Facebook group for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Issues store.

While you're poking around looking at all the free cut files, check out all the new stuff that's been coming in. Use my code Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off your entire order!

All Gathered Together {Paper Issues Pinspire Me Challenge}

I created this layout for Paper Issues' Pinspire Me challenge:

Here's the inspiration board for the challenge. For my page, I drew the inspiration of the earthy colors, the florals and foliage, the gold acorns translated to the gold bow, the wood planks under the acorns made me choose a wood background, and the mortar in the brick wall inspired the texture paste on my page.

Here are a couple of details. I used Pink Paislee's Auburn Lane for my page, along with a couple of odds and ends from my stash, like the brads and the gold ribbon.

The word sticker are really old, by K&Co. They're embossed with gold lettering, which I used because of the gold acorns in the mood board.

I used a KaiserCraft stencil and texture paste in the background. I'm in love with that dog.

In addition to the Pinspire Me challenge, there are loads of other fun challenges to join. Upload your creation by December 1 for a chance to win one of two gift certificates to the Paper Issues store.

Speaking of the store, this lovely Auburn Lane collection is in the shop--so perfect for Thanksgiving and fall subjects. Use my code Debbi (no e on the end), and you can get 20% off your entire order of not just the Auburn Lane collection, but everything in the store.

Sleep in a Pineapple {Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday}

I'm up on the Paper Issues blog today. Here's my post:

Happy Friday the 13th! An unusual day for Scraplift Sunday, but heck, SLS is fun any day of the week!

And to my surprise, I was given the assignment to scraplift myself! This was a little bit of a challenge because I'm not a very "out of the box" scrapper, and I was all set to copy my layout using a different set of photos, but I decided to challenge myself to not be so literal. Instead of the alphas, I used a cut file. The basic composition is the same except I flipped it.

So, I had this selfie of me with my hair in a pineapple, and I decided I'd document all my hair routines I've recently learned for taking care of my curls, and I decided I needed a pineapple cut file, and Paper Issues actually has two! I used the National Scrapbook Day 2017 Free Cut File.

I used the pineapple, flower corner, and leaves from this cut file set and backed them with a Pink Paislee paper by Paige Evans.  A flamingo sticker from last summer's Simple Stories summer collection was a perfect tropical accent to go with the pineapple.

A few enamel dots and an epoxy sticker from Elle's Studio. My journaling tucked behind the frame tells the details of my quirky hair routine.

Whether you're a "literal scrapper" like me or a more out of the box scrapper, I can't wait to see how you lift my layout! Be sure to share it at the Paper Issues Friends & Fans page for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Issues store!

And while you're checking out all the awesome free cut files, 

don't forget to stop by the Paper Issues store to pick up some cool new supplies, and remember to 

use the code Debbi (no e at the end) 

to get 20% off your total purchase.

You Shine {Paper Issues Free File Free-for-All Challenge}

I made another page for one of my students:

I used one of the beautiful free cut files from Paper Issues to play in their challenge called Free File Free-for-All.

Here are some details. This cut file is called "Better Together." The leafy bits to the right of the blue butterfly were actually on the other side, but they were covered up by the photo, so I cut them off and tucked them under the big flower. I adhered the die cut to the background with adhesive foam.The papers are all from Paige Evans' Turn the Page collection. The butterflies were cut from one of the papers. 

I adhered the butterflies with glue dots in the middle and then just folded up the wings. The pages aren't likely going in albums because I'm giving the pages to the kids with a little wooden easel.

I added the butterfly to this paper clip embellishment.

Here's a last look at the lower right side of the page. I chose to use the gold Thickers in my title because of the gold accenting in some of the papers and the gold paper clip.

Out of This World {Stuck?! Sketches March 15 Challenge + Paper Issues Pinspire Me Challenge}

We've got a new sketch for you at Stuck?! Sketches! Here's what I made with the sketch:

And here's the awesome sketch Laura created for us. As you can see, I followed the sketch pretty closely, with a few changes. Instead of matting the whole layout, I added some patterned paper to the top and bottom of the layout, and I substituted the notebook paper with that astronaut image and moved it to the right.

So, I'm making pages for my students again this year, and sometimes, I just draw a blank. I turned to Paper Issues to see if I could find some inspiration there to give me a jumpstart, and I found this mood board on their Pinspire Me challenge. The space images on the mood board reminded me of the rockets in the Pink Paislee Wild Child collection. I haven't been doing as much mixed media lately, but the image in the top center of the mood board reminded me that I should bring my water colors and stamps back out.

Here are some details. All the papers on this layout are from the Pink Paislee Wild Child 6 x 6 pad, and the rockets and planets are from that collection as well. The grid stamp in the background is an old Studio Calico stamp. Gotta love the old BasicGrey letter stickers. I'm quite sure I've got every set they ever made, and I can always find a set in just the color I need.

Here's a shot of the other side. I think the astronaut was cut out of one of the Wild Child papers.

I had a piece of notebook paper from an old Creative Imaginations journaling pad that I had tried out where the notebook paper is in the sketch, but I couldn't make it work, and that's when I decided I'd just go ahead an make a cluster at the top. 

I hope you'll come play with us at Stuck?! Sketches. We've got two awesome sponsors donating gift certificates to to lucky participants!

A Dreamy, Creamy Palette at CCG

Challenge 201 is live at Color Combos Galore and the colors this week are absolutely dreamy! Our Designer's Challenge this week is a new focus--a recipe of sorts. So fun!

As I always do, I pulled the color swatch onto my computer screen and looked for pictures to use, and I came up with these pictures of my gram and sister with Farzad, and immediately, I thought, "Everybody loves Farzad" and I knew I wanted hearts on my page. I instantly thought of the Object of My Affection kit by Noel Mignon, and to my delight, the colors were perfect. The main papers I used were from Pink Paislee's Cupid collection, which had the pink, aqua, and brown. I used an embossed swiss dot paper by Bazill as my backdrop for the white and the polka dot part of the Designer's Challenge. I used Creative Scrappers Sketch 151 as inspiration for my page design.

Here's my page. In case you're wondering why the two blocks of blue hearts are a little different, it's because they came from two different sheets. I had two sheets of this paper, and the first one better matched up with the palette so I used that, and when I went to cut the smaller piece, I accidentally used the different sheet. And then I went and accidentally stitched it on sideways. I wondered why I was having a hard time fitting my title on there when I had planned it all out--and then I realized I had stitched the darn thing on sideways. Oh well, no turning back when you've stitched something down!

This page is going into my book called "Reasons" (reasons I love Farzad so much). I was going to add white journaling strips with pink writing in the white space at the top, but then I decided I didn't want to cover up the pretty embossed Swiss dots, so I went with journaling on the back of the page, which reads: Everybody loves Farzad. It was love at first sight when my family met him, even though they were apprehensive, considering I was 17 and he was 28. But his warm smile, charm, generosity, and sense of humor instantly won them over. Everyone he meets falls in love with him. He just has this way about him that puts people at ease.He's always positive and cheerful, rarely gets mad.  He's outgoing and easy-going and just that all-around nice guy that everyone likes to be around. Yes, everybody loves Farzad. Especially me.

Here are some details. The center of this flower was a greenish-yellow, which didn't go with the palette, so I grabbed some pink paint and brushed over it. Part of the Designer's Challenge was to use fabric, and as luck would have it, there was some pink fabric in the kit I was using. Another ingredient of the Designer's Challenge "recipe" was to use leaves, and again, my luck was running high because one of the papers in the kit had these dark brown leafy shapes.

Here's a closeup of my title. I had to really squeeze it on there because of my dumb mistake of sewing on that piece sideways. I plopped that big pink bling heart over the O and then decided I didn't like it, but the darn thing wouldn't come off, so there it stays! My foam adhesive squares were the perfect size for these tiny letter stickers.

I had used lots of brads for the metal part of the Designer's Challenge, but then I decided that was a cop-out because I always use brads on my layout, so I looked for some "real" metal to use, and I remembered these old Making Memories clips in my stash, and I was delighted to find a pink one with a heart. That striped paper had some bold red stripes in it, and I almost didn't use it because there was no red in the palette, but instead, I trimmed the spots where there was red and pieced the strip back together, overlapping another color on top of the red. Problem solved!

I noticed one of the tear strips said "coordinating pattern on the back" and thought I should use the "on the back" part to indicate my hidden journaling, and this little die-cut tag in the kit was the perfect size to hold that. For the three circle part of the Designer's Challenge, I decided to mount some of the cut-out flowers on a punched brown circle, but I didn't have quite the right size circle to go with the flowers--there was all this extra space, so I added some glitter around the edges. Doesn't show up as pretty in the pictures.

I added some rub-ons to my page. I have TONS of rub-ons, and I always forget to use them, so lately, I've been making a conscious effort to use them more. I love this pink crown that came on a Pink Paislee sheet in the kit. All the rub-ons on this page are from that same sheet.

The reveal this week is especially gorgeous, so you should go check out what the rest of the team made. And I hope you'll play along with us! These challenges are so fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!

It's Official! It's Summer!

I just got home from closing my classroom. It's official--I'm on summer break! Yay!

Speaking of summer, our next challenge is up at Color Combos Galore, and we're continuing our theme with a delightful palette and Inspiration Board.

But first, here's some music to get you in the summery mood--we're playing it over at the CCG reveal...



So here's the challenge:

And here's my page. I dug out a ton of older stash for this layout. The ledger paper in the background is pretty old Collage Press paper, and the big cream on pink polka dot paper is by K&Co.

And here are some closeups. The rolled papers are my attempt at making birthday candles. I used some ancient Chatterbox paper (stripes), some October Afternoon (black polka dot) and Die Cuts With a View (red polka dot). I used pearl-topped stickpins for the candle flames. That red gingham ribbon was sitting my desk, leftover from a recent layout. The pearl brad is by Recollections from Michael's.

I used some other stuff that happened to be sitting on my desk--the Prima flower, which I layered over an old black cork flower. The fabric brad is by SEI. That scrolly bit holding my title was also sitting on my desk, a reject from a previous layout. The red cut-out designs are from a Pink Paislee paper. I added a snippet of red mesh behind all of this.

These pink elements are cut out of an American Crafts Letterbox paper. For the Designer's Challenge, I found some digital frame stamps at Designer Digitals. I just pasted them on top of my picture and changed them to white.

That strip of circles is by BasicGrey and also happened to be sitting on my desk leftover from the last layout I made. All these bits and pieces were easy to collect together because they were just sitting there staring at me (good thing I don't always clean my desk after finishing a page!). The journaling tag is also by Collage Press. As always, I added some word stickers. They always seem to do the trick when something seems "missing" when I look at my page the next day.

I hope you'll come play with us at CCG! You should definitely go take a peek at the fantastic pages by our design team, guest designer, and featured member. It's always so fun to see all the different takes on the same challenge!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!