Brrr Snow Day

Snow and Cocoa from Crate Paper is definitely a favorite of mine for the winter season!  Check out the Paper Issues blog today as we spotlight this gorgeous collection!

Here are a few closeups of Snow and Cocoa by Crate Paper!  I hope you grabbed it early in the season as most of it is SOLD OUT!  You can still get our free cut files from the Paper Issues shop.

I added white gesso on the background to lighten and whiten the area.  I layered the cut files and photo mats on that area.

I added lots of stickers and ephemera from the collection.  The chipboard stickers are some of my favorites!

I love adding stitching to a layout and for this design I added pink machine stitching to the snowflakes and title.

Thanks for taking a look at my snowy girl design!  I hope you are inspired today and get a chance to check out the blog and Facebook post for more ideas!  Play along until December 5th for a chance to win a gift card to Paper Issues!

As always save 20% each time you shop with code: Stacie

Snow in Love

Today we are on the Paper Issues blog showing off the newest Bella Blvd and Illustrated Faith releases!  They are truly versatile and can be used for more than one theme!
I used two Illustrated Faith collections for my project: Bright and Brave and You Are Loved.

I love that I could make a winter page with products that were not winter specific! 

The You are Loved collection bits worked well with my title and I loved the banner bits/die cut pieces from the November swag bag and You Are Loved sticker sheet.

I loved all of the tabbies that were included in this month's swag bag.  The Bright and Brave tabbies had the snowflake looking one which matched the papers and I loved it for this snowy LO.

My fave alpha stamps are showing off way in the back of this photo.  Get these Homespun alphas for the handcut letter look.  I stamped these on cardstock and quickly fussy-cut them out.  I love how it turned out!

Layers of gorgeous prints!  I adore this Bright and Brave side B "Typed" paper that looks like colorful snowflakes. Get these pretty papers now in the shop!  They have the mixed media look on some of them like my background "The Heavens" paper.  It makes for a quick layout when you don't have to wait for paint splatters to dry!

Thanks for checking out our product spotlight on all of the new Bella Blvd & Illustrated Faith collections!

Save 20% with my code: Stacie

Get shopping at Paper Issues and link up your Bella projects that you create.  Tag us so we can see your work on Instagram.  Post your work on our Facebook group to be eligible for prizes!

Swag Bag Play

I love Swag Bag Sunday each month.  These gorgeous little bags stuffed full of bliss arrive each month and I love going through it all and dreaming up plans for the pieces and papers!

This layout was created with only part of my November Swag Bag.  Yes, there is so much that I saved for a few more pages!

Here's the background.  I first started with strips of the papers in a loose ombre design.I added just a bit of adhesive before stitching them in place.  I alternated the thread from pink and aqua. I love the subtle color it adds.

Once all the pieces were cut out and stitched in place, I started layering my daugther's picture with all of the leftover parts of the paper.

I love the look of water-downed white acrylic paint splatters on winter themed papers. It almost sparkles like snowflakes.  The fun sequins of all different shades of pink were made for this page!

This photo of my daughter at age 3 1/2 is so perfect for the moment it captured.  We lived in the desert of CA and snow didn't fall very often.  When there was snow, we stopped everything and headed outside for pictures and snowballs!  She was just in shock and awe of the beauty of it falling from the skies.  I love the snowflakes all over her hair and her little outstretched hand reaching up for more!  The Fancy Free glitter Thickers from Pink Paislee  goes perfect with this winter theme.  The Yay flair from Cocoa Vanilla Studio is so fitting for a winter day of play!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  I hope you are inspired to get out your swag bag bits and create a layout, pocket page, or planner spread!

Save 20% at Paper Issues with code: Stacie

Loved Today With You

Today I am on the Paper Issues blog sharing my autumn project using Gather by Maggie Holmes.  This Crate Paper line doesn't disappoint with stunning papers and so many fun embellishments.

I loved the two ephemera leaves that were included in the Gather ephemera pack.  I wanted to make a leaf wreath, so I used the beautiful text paper from Gather and started tracing the leaves onto the text paper.

After fussy cutting out each of the leaves, I used my gelatos to mix colors that mimicked the Gather ephemera leaves and painted parts of each leaf.  After they were dry, I used my black pen to trace around the edges.

I placed the leaves in a circular wreath shape and kept text in the upright position to keep it uniform in the background.  I loved that the aqua background Sunshine paper already had the mixed media vibe and saved me the time of creating one for this project!

I stitched around the leaves multiple times with my sewing machine to add texture to the leaves. I love how the gelatos curled up the leaves to create that freshly-collected leaf look! 

 I used a gold patterned vellum under our family photo.  I made our photo vintage looking with a filter to mute the bright colors for this layout.

I added chipboard pieces and ephemera from Gather to the top and lower corners of the wreath and photo.  I love the phrase Thickers that came with the collection.  The glittered elements prompted the splatters of gold mist, white acrylic paint, and leftover gelato colors.

I love the Gather  mini gold script puffy alphas.  They are so pretty for adding smaller title words or phrases.

I hope you are able to create something with this beautiful collection and join us on Facebook with a chance to win a monthly giftcard prize!

Save 20% off of everything you find at Paper Issues shopping!  Use my code: Stacie each time you visit!

Pinkfresh Oh Joy

It's beginning to look a lot like.... NOOOOOOOO!!  I am so not ready for snow or Christmas quite yet even though it is predicted here later this week, but it sure was fun to get out my photos from last winter and scrap them using the new Pinkfresh Studio, Oh Joy collection for this product spotlight at Paper Issues.

Ryan loved eating the fresh snow from his gloves last year as a three year old!  He was just mesmerized by the fluffy snow coming down. 

 The Oh Joy collection worked so well with fun winter photos. I added the puffy alphabet from last year's winter Pinkfresh collection to make my title.  I used puffy stickers from Oh Joy, but others in the collection such as the  mirror stickers  have similar designs.

The tree had the perfect spot for journaling!

I love the Pinkfresh Oh Joy stickers and washi tapeand the pretty gray starry paper.  I layered cardstock and vellum along with foam dots to pop up the photo.

Last season's Pinkfresh collection Christmas Wishes had the cutest puffy alphabet, and you are in luck(!!) these acrylic aqua star stickers are still available in the PI store.  They are super cute and come in several shapes and colors to work with many holiday collections!

I added black India ink splatters to the top half of the background to mimic the bottom section of the paper design.

I hope you are inspired by the team's product spotlight today on all things Pinkfresh. Grab more from the Paper Issues store with my code: Stacie to save 20%

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Beautiful Smile

Today it's all about getting messy at Paper Issues with a new Mix It Up Monday.
The challenge this month is stamping and using stamping in a variety of ways.

This process was fun and tiring all in one.  I would stamp a few images and then quickly add the embossing powder and run over to my heat wand.  A few times I had to emboss the circles a second time as they were too faint..  I added messy stripes of water color to match with colors in Amy Tangerine's collection.

I embossed two different circles stamps.  The Amy Tangerine stamp crosshatch circle and the other was from my stash.

I painted and mixed the gelatos over the letters on the white foam Thicker title.  I love the red polka dot paper (side B) of the Around Town paper from this collection.

I added ephemera and clear acetate pieces since haven't used many of them, I challenged myself to put them in the design.  I also used clear stickers from the sticker booklet for the rest of the design details.  Since the painted and stamped background is busy, I kept the rest at a minimum!

Isn't this the cutest?  The dragonfly landed on his shoulder and stayed there for the longest time!

I hope you are inspired to try some new techniques with your stamps and mixed media on your projects!  Share with us on Instagram or in our Facebook PIFF group!  We'd love to see what you create!

Cut It Up November

It's a new Cut It Up Challenge for the month of November at Paper Issues. Danielle created this awesome Triangle Puzzle. I used Fancy Pants Golden Days for my project.

This collection worked well with this photo of my parents with all of their grandchildren.  The special detail was we had these photos taken on their actual anniversary and the photo shoot was their gift.

I used the busy floral Forever With You print for the triangles and decided to keep the rest of the background clean.  Often I add watercolors or gelatos, but this helped keep the focus on the photo on center stage.

I stitched with gold thread around the cut file and then placed the photo and stitched into the cut file.

I used several of the puffy stickers.  I love that the angle/arrow stickers fit perfectly in the angles of the cut file.

I love the flair that is part of the collection.  It has sweet sentiments and images that make it all coordinate.  I fussy cut some of the florals and layered them.

I can't wait to see what you make with the free cut file.

Don't forget the Fall Crop is going on in the PIFF Facebook group  Nov 11-13 and we need you to get scrappy with us!  Complete one challenge or all of them!  The more you scrap the more chances for prizes.  See you there!

There's a special 30% store code: CROPSHOP  Shop for it all!  (code ends 11-13)  If you are too late,  the code: Stacie gets you 20% off at Paper issues.

Pinspire Me November

It's time to be Pinspired by the new mood board at Paper Issues. I love each month's inspiration by Mary-Ann.  Here's the new board for November:

I was inspired by all of the colors and the leaves.  We recently had our family pictures done in October and it was fun to use a picture from our feat!

I love this mega size leaf  paper and added all of the colors of stitching to it around the edge and inside each section.  It added more texture and depth to the parts of the leaf.

This started out as a fun idea, but after switching the thread at least 5 times to get all of the colors, I was ready to embellish and finish this design up!  Some sections I "messy stitched,"so I went around it a second time.

I added several layers of patterned paper and pop dots for dimension.  I would recommend the 6x6 paper pad for the photo mat layers as well!  I loved using the cardstock stickers for the sections of the leaves to add these fun sayings.

The FALL 6x12 chipboard pieces worked perfectly with the prints on the leaf and bold letters I needed to stand out against the huge leaf.  I added the text stickers to the FALL letters which were from the 4x6 sticker pack that includes 8 pages of various stickers!  I have used it so much already!

The bits and pieces pack includes this mini leaves that mimic the paper.  I also had to use the Bradz piece in the corner.  If you can't find these anymore, go for the metal clips with similar epoxy designs on top.  They are a fave of mine.  The cardstock sticker sheet has these awesome numbers.

Thanks for joining us as we look to Pinspire you for November!

Shop to your heart's content at Paper Issues.

Join us on Facebook for the online Fall Crop this Friday, Nov. 11-Nov. 13th!

Hello Fall PI Spotlight

Today we are on the Paper Issues blog and Facebook group with a Product Spotlight on Simple Stories Hello Fall.  I have used this collection several times in the past few weeks and it is still a favorite of mine!  This time I went with more mixed media in my background and kept the page more  minimalist.

I started out with clear gesso on my background and then added gelatos with a brush to get the wispy look on the edges.

I used bits and pieces of ephemera mainly around my photo mat. The 4x6 sticker pack has so many options for date stickers, smaller scale stickers to coordinate with the chipboard, cardstock sticker sheet, and ephemera.

I love dimension on my pages so I lifted up my photo of my husband and I at an October barn venue wedding. I mixed up the floral chipboard, stickers, and ephemera to create different levels and depth in the arrangements.

The Simple Stories bradz or metal clips are such a favorite detail to add.  I love the metal edges and added shine it gives the lower corner cluster.

I hope you will check out the rest of the team's gorgeous inspiration on the blog using this fabulous Simple Stories fall collection.

If you must shop, Paper Issues is the place to go!  Use my code: Stacie to save 20%.