You are My Person

Today on the Paper Issues blog,  we are spotlighting Cocoa Vanilla Studio's collection, Love Always! Here's my take on this gorgeous line:

I found the floral cut file on Bea Valint's blog! It worked perfectly with this sweet soft collection. I watercolored the cut file to pick up the peachy pinks on some of the papers. 

I added layers of paper for the background and stitched them with pale pink. I move page elements around a ton before committing to gluing it down.

Sometimes I even leave it for a day before finishing it  just to be sure I still like it!  Do you ever have to mull over your design decisions?  It kind of drives you crazy until you just go with it!

I found my cut file title in the Silhouette store from Studio Calico's designer Jasmine Jones. I love that saying!  Since it was busy floral paper, I backed it in black to shadow it and pop it off the page.

I hope you will check out the Paper Issues Design Team's beautiful work with this collection on the PI blog today.

Thanks for taking a peek at my layout process! Check out this gorgeous Cocoa Vanilla collection and so much more in the Paper Issues store. Use code: Stacie for 20% off.

Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday: My Layout!

I am so excited that my mixed media layout that I shared for September's Mix It Up Monday was selected to inspire our feed today at Paper Issues.  Here's my first layout using Crate Paper Cute Girl:

I played along today and used Crate Paper Cute Girl once again for this scraplift.

I busted out the fringe scissors to create these two strips of striped Rainbows paper.  I gessoed the background cardstock ahead of time to let it dry.  I then used the mixed media packaging technique with a scrap of plastic packaging.  I added the watercolors in layers to recreate the colors on the Cute Girl paper.

I stitched them on and added the additional CP Cute Girl ephemera, rubber shapes (I had similar stickers), and chipboard. I kept it simple as the background has a lot of color and all of the texture from the fringe!

Cousins are best friends!  These two are so imaginative and think of fun things to fill their days.  With American Girl dolls and a Grandma that custom sews for them, they get to have lots of matchy-matchy moments like this!  Of course since the photo session, they now have exact dress replicas for their dolls.  Grandma makes it all coordinate perfectly!!
Check out Paper Issues for all things cute and trendy.  Save 20% with my code: Stacie

Swag Bag Sunday: You're 10

It's Swag Bag Sunday at Paper Issues!
Here's my take on this month's swag bag goodness!

 I absolutely love all of the bits and cards that are included in the bag.  This is not even all of it.  I saved some (lots!!) pieces for upcoming layouts and projects.  Yes, I hoarded the fun tassel from Cute Girl and mini tassel from Gather (and more...) Cassie makes the bags plump and full of surprises!

I added gesso to my cardstock after moving cards and pieces and layers around to balance colors and elements across the page.  Here's a photo to show you the process of moving it all around and using other sides, adding stitching, etc...
 I added watercolor to my background based on the colors in the cards.  The Amy Tangerine watercolor resist card that was in the swag bag was fun to work with!  I added yellow to bring in the emoji pillows from the photo! I also loved using the Amy Tangerine washi tape on the photo, on some of the grid cards, and to cover the wood veneer number!  Yes, a whole roll was in the swag bag!

It is always fun to get ideas from the design team and other PIFF members on Facebook with their takes on using up the Swag bag items!  Join us and check it out on the blog and link up your creation on Facebook.
If you want your own swag bag, don't forget to use my code: Stacie for 20% off your purchase.  If you spend over $60 then you score free shipping!

You are my Happy

Today's Product Spotlight at Paper Issues is on Amy Tangerine's new Oh Happy Life.  I wanted to use the super cute thin washi to create a background.

I started out with the cropped 11x11 sheet of white cardstock and added the plus signs washi pieces.  I wasn't too specific on spacing and washi is forgiving, so tear it up and move it up if you need to!

Next, I added my photo layers.  For the title I added ephemera pieces to the Thickers.  I popped up some parts of the title with pop dots for dimension.  I used the clear stickers on the photo and ephemera tag. My last step was adding the stitching on the photo mat, edge of the cardstock border, and finished with India ink splats.  I love how her patterned paper draws the eye to all the colors in the border area of the LO.

Pretty much I just want to focus on his cutest baby thighs in the picture.  I mean, really!  They grow up so fast.  

Have fun trying all of the new products in Amy Tangerine's new collection. You will not be disappointed. When you shop, don't forget to use my code: Stacie for 20% off your order.

Paper Issues: Unbeleaf-able Outdoors

I am up on the Paper Issues blog with round 2 of the current issue: Unbe-leafable Great Outdoors.

I used Jen Hadfield for Pebbles' new collection called Warm & Cozy.  I love her collection of leaf papers, wood grains, and these chipboard leaf die cuts are gorgeous!

I stitched the upper and lower paper strips and added the ephemera pieces with stitching.  I added messy threads throughout the die cut chipboard leaf "pile up" on the bottom of my photos to add movement and texture.  My youngest two loved hiking around in the forest at their grandparents' house.  It was magical to hear them being so imaginative and listening to the echo of their voices.  They had such a sweet autumn adventure that day!  Happy photo collecting and memory making this gorgeous time of year!

Personalize Your Pages

Hello!  I am excited to have my first blog post up today on the Paper Issues blog.  I love to find new ways to use the things I buy and today I am sharing how to personalize your projects with title details and background ideas!

It is sometimes hard to use up all of the ephemera pieces that come with a collection.  I wanted to use several pieces from the new Amy Tangerine Oh Happy Life collection to add details and interest throughout my layout.  Since my daughter was looking over the top of her glasses at the newly fallen hail after a summer storm, I put the glasses from the ephemera in the word 'Look'.  I also used the acetate word crazy as it still allows you to see the hand stitched cloud below it.

I bought the Amy Tangerine stamps and wanted to use the cloud as a background paper design.  I used her 11AM patterned paper as a guide to picking my ink colors and making the white on white stitched clouds as a texture and fun design element to mix up the stamping.  I stamped a cloud on a scrap and cut it out to create my template for where to poke holes for stitching.  I use the Amy Tangerine Embroidery kit to poke the holes and love the foam pad that goes under the paper I am working on.

Stitching is great to do while catching up on your favorite tv series or movie!  It does take a bit of time, but I love the added look they give a layout.

I used the die cut tag as a layer under my photo as a pop of white to draw the eye into the photo detail of the hail.  I added several clear stickers throughout the page from the sticker booklet. I also added a little bitty puffy cloud sticker up at the top to draw attention to the top of the title.  Using a mix of fonts, textures, and alpha stickers can bring colors from the layout together and create a unique look.

Thanks for taking a peek today at how I add to my pages and use my supplies to personalize my page to my photos!  Get all of these Amy Tangerine products and more at Paper Issues with my 20% off code: Stacie

Paper Issues:Spotight on Doodlebug Design

Welcome!  Today on the Paper Issues blog, we are showcasing the newest collections from Doodlebug Design in the Paper Issues store.  I chose to focus on Fun in the Sun for this project.  I love the beachy vibe from this striped paper!

For the title, Life is Good in Summer, I wanted it to be anchored at the bottom of the page.  I added white gesso all around the photo area and around the word summer.  Next, I used the packaging technique and aqua watercolors/blue gelatos to add the drops of water and splashing effect around the page.  The cut apart section, "Life is Good" is from this awesome paper, perfect for card making as well!  I added Doodlebug stickers to the Summer cut file from The Cut Shoppe.  These are the Open Letters alphabet cut file set.

 

I added the Doodlebug Fun in the Sun stickers in groups around the page and messy threads.  To add more blue to the white gesso area, I stamped hearts from the Amy Tangerine's Oh Happy Life roller stamp.  I loved these pictures of the two cousins jumping in over and over on a hot July day at the lake!  I hope you are still documenting all of your summer adventures!  

As always, check out the Paper Issues blog and follow up with a look at the store.  If you HAVE to have new paper pretties in your stash and haven't ordered from Paper Issues, try the store out!  I promise you will love unwrapping your extra fancy Paper Issues paper goods.  If you'd like to save 20% in the store use my code: Stacie

Paper Issues: Roll the Dice

 Hello, here's a summer title with pictures from December!  What??? Yes, it's all about the "summer" weather when it's 90 degrees for Christmas vacation!  Read below for details on the newest challenge at Paper Issues: Roll the Dice.

  Roll the Dice is on the Paper Issues blog with this month's dice roll being 2 pictures and 5 patterned papers.  I used Carta Bella Beach Day for my layout.  I LOVE how textured and heavy the Carta Bella paper is.  It is perfect for summer and vacation photos you have laying around after a busy summer!

This mega title cut file was from Ashley Horton's class in Big Picture Classes.  It was meant for a mini book, but I was all about hand stitching on it and making it larger for this challenge!

To keep the photos the focus along with the fun title, I kept the 5 patterned papers as a minimalist design element.  See how I snuck in the paper's tear strips?  It worked in well to the layout design without overwhelming it!

Thanks for checking out the details on the PI blog Roll the Dice for September at Paper Issues.  I hope you will try it out and join us by posting your creation in Paper Issues Fans and Friends (PIFF) on Facebook. As always, if you want to shop (you know you do!!) use code: Stacie to save 20% on your purchase.

Mix It Up Monday

It's Mix it Up Monday on the Paper Issues blog.  Orange always has a great idea to spark the mixed media challenge.  This month it's all about using scraps or creating mixed media and then punching shapes or borders out from it to add texture and depth to your pages or background!  

Here's the process I used for this project.  I started with two 12x12 white cardstock papers.  I added gesso all over one and on the second one, I just added gesso to the middle of the page.

  I used the packaging technique to layer the watercolors and added splats.  Next, I started the background page.  I did the straw blowing on opposite sides of the paper to ensure that most was dry before adding more watercolors nearby. That keeps it from getting muddy looking with too many colors blending.  I kept working inward to the yellow and green.  As it dried, I layered more paint and used the straw to add more lines of paint in both directions.

My preschooler loves dressing up or being silly. He modeled these star glasses this summer.  He definitely knows how to make me smile!  Who says Crate Paper's Cute Girl has to be just for girls??  I had fun making it work for a boy page! The last step was punching out all of the stars grouping them by color, and sewing them down!

 As always get your hands on all the cute things at Paper Issues store.  If you use my code: Stacie you will get 20% off your order.  Thanks for looking!

Scraplift Sunday

Today we are on the PIFF group scraplifting Elodie's beautiful stitched heart and fussy cut heart layout.  I decided to cut into my Amy Tangerine Oh Happy Life stash and created this version.

I used the embroidery kit from Amy Tangerine to poke the holes in a flower shape similar to the paper.  I then stitched the flowers with white thread.  I love the white on white look!   I filled it with flower and leaf cut outs from the Good Morning patterned paper.  

I added the Oh Happy Life clear sticker title and Amy Tangerine paper tag die cut.

I added drops of India ink, stamped the date, and called this layout done.

Thanks for checking it out!  Don't forget to add your creation to the Facebook group:  Paper Issues Friends & Fans or tag Paper Issues on Instagram or Twitter.  If you are shopping at Paper Issues don't forget to go for 20% off with code: Stacie

Paper Issues: Cut It Up Saturday

It's time for September's Cut It Up challenge at Paper Issues.  I love this new free cut file offered at the Paper Issues store.  Here's my layout using the chevron banners and Crate Paper's Cool Kid.

I added some of the Cool Kid 6x6 papers directly behind the Cool Kid Awesome background paper and other chevrons I popped up using foam pop dots to add dimension.

I added lots of layers to the photo and puffy Thickers from the Cool Kid collection.  I also sprinkled puffy stars and chipboard pieces throughout the layout.  I like to place them tone-on-tone to make it interesting, but not distracting as there is so much pattern going on throughout the background!

Check out the rest of the design team's creative takes on using the cut file from Danielle.  I love that it can be used as a stencil for mixed media, a large background or that you can personalize it by changing it up to work for your photos!

Get out your cutting machine or print and cut this out by hand!  It's a great one to try out this month.

Pawsitively Pets at Paper Issues

Thank you for stopping by to check out Pawsitively Pets at Paper Issues. For anyone that knows me, you know we do not have pets! However, we have many family and friends who give us plenty of animal loving time so we aren't left out!  For this challenge, I stuck with our giraffe pictures from the Naples, FL Zoo.  We loved watching the kids feed the giraffes their lettuce!

For this challenge, you are to use something you've been hoarding in your stash, and something new to you!  I used the new Amy Tangerine Oh Happy Life collection for the paper elements and the coordinating stamp to do an embossing technique with a gold watercolor wash.  This enabled me to create my own patterned paper to mimic the look of giraffe spots.

After stamping and embossing the giraffes on the white cardstock, I flipped over the cardstock and added gesso in the area of the stamped giraffes.  *Important this is added on the backside of the paper not over the top of your stamped images! This helps to create a barrier for the paper and decreases the warping of the paper.  Next, was adding the watercoloring:  

I love how the water beads up over the embossed image giving the giraffe spots!  I stitched down the bold chevron/angled paper next.

I also added the foam Thickers, ephemera, stickers, and even the packaging flap for the sticker booklet became a layer for my picture.  The "Remember" is from an Amy Tangerine Better Together transparency that I finally cut into and used!  Also, the roller stamp is the cutest with the rows of hearts!

I hope you'll check out the Paper Issues blog post and play along at Paper Issues Fans and Friends on Facebook.  We would love to see your pet or animal inspired layouts mixed with the challenge details!

If you want to try a project using Amy Tangerine's new collection Oh Happy Life, Cassie has it in the Paper Issues store.  You can get it for 20% off using my code: Stacie

Product Spotlight: Dear Lizzy Saturday

Today we are creating projects with Dear Lizzy Saturday from American Crafts.  Here's my non-people focus layout--Shake Shack in Chicago!

I loved that the tables were from Brooklyn, NY (my daughter's name!) and repurposed from bowling lanes.  Plus, hello, coolest wood grain color!  This collection from Dear Lizzy has the coolest word Thickers that are brush script style.  Hopefully you got your hands on them when they were released!  Also, loving the bold navy in this collection and that kelly green/emerald green. Here's some of the paper!

I also used Dear Lizzy Saturday ephemera and even the wood stick from the cheese fries from Shake Shack.  A little bit of green watercolor drops around the ephemera and photos, I added stitching to the top details and called this travel layout done!

I hope you are having a great week! While shopping at Paper Issues, don't forget to check out with my shopping discount code: Stacie  This saves you 20% off of your items!