Little by Little: Shimelle

Today on the Paper Issues blog, we are spotlighting Shimelle's new collection Little by Little.  I loved the mix of brights and pastels for a fun and playful layout about my son wearing his crown pretending he was the king.

I loved the details on this B side of the feather paper for my background. I wanted to fussy cut the triangles from this Higgledy Piggledy paper into bunting/banners and the diagonal lines make a perfect spot to place them.

The papers work so well together and the colors pop from the matching collection embellishments! The mini polka dots that are on the papers are picked up in the wooden button embellies and on the alpha Thickers.  I love the polka dots on the Magic tag!  The foam phrase Thickers are so versatile and come in black and white!

 I hope you'll try cutting up the triangle paper or another pattern in Shimelle's gorgeous collection. There are so many papers that are perfect for some fussy cutting action!  I love to do projects like that while I am watching a tv show!

One more peek!  I love dimension and the shadows it creates on my pages.

Have an amazing day! Thanks so much for stopping by.  

I hope you get out your Shimelle collection and start cutting into it to create something fun!

If you need Shimelle's new collection, Little by Little, check it out in the store and grab it all.  The colors and patterns make this a perfect spring addition to your projects!

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Swag Bag February

I am always excited to get a monthly Paper Issues Swag Bag in the mail!  Cassie jam packs the kits full of page making bliss!  Of course, these are perfect for so many other types of projects- Project Life, card making, off the page, and planner spreads!

Check out the amazing February Swag Bag:

I used the January Swag Bag kit to make this banner layout.  I was inspired by the sweet banners, ephemera, and stickers included in the kit!  It made this design come together so quickly.  I cut several more banners and flags from other cards and layered the heart day cards with paper scraps and my 2 x 2 photos.

I love starting with gesso and the packaging technique with watercolors for random fun! 

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 This is how it started:

I layered the pieces and bits from the January kit to make the two strands of banners. The title is You & Me which is a free PI cut file included with the Poppy flowers cut file.  This worked perfect as it is all about our summer date nights. Several papers and ephemera pieces are from Crate Paper Heart Day and others from Pebbles My Funny Valentine!  Those glitter heart stickers added a fun look and texture.  I also glued on a smattering of the sequin hearts included in this kit!

When in doubt--machine stitch it out!  If I get sloppy on the first pass through--I make it part of the design to go over the stitching multiple times! Also, fringe scissor love--I added texture and style to the bottom of several tags by cutting the tags with the fringe scissors.  Love the Simple Stories clear stickers that were included in two of the recent monthly swag bag kits.  These added fun sentiments and helped add interest to papers that were plain!

Thanks for taking a peek today at all things Swag Bag from Paper Issues!  Get your hands on the 6 month subscription to never miss out on the bliss that comes your way-- don't forget that you can use code: Stacie to get 20% off of your subscription to swag bag bliss!

There are always a limited amount of single month to month swag bag kits that are released.  Check in the store today to see if there are any February swag bag kits available! You will love the fun things that are included each month.  I love sneaking them onto so many of my projects!

Simple Life by Pebbles Spotlight

Today we are up on the Paper Issues blog with a spotlight on Pebbles Simple Life by Jen Hadfield.

This picture of my daughter this past fall worked perfectly with the Simple Life collection.  This is definitely an earthy and monochromatic type of layout, but it is always fun to mix it up from the norm!  The woodgrain Thickers are a fave of mine with this collection!

I love the wood veneer set and the butterflies were a must to go with the patterned paper.  I love to add stitching to add a bit of texture and interest!

Have a wonderful day!  I hope you get a chance to check out the design team on the Paper Issues blog and get more ideas and inspiration on how to use Simple Life in your projects!

Save 20% in the store with so many new things to check out!

Roll the Dice February: State Fair Time

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you are off to a sweet start on your day!  We are Rolling the Dice at Paper Issues today and Rachel rolled 5 photos and 3 circles.

I went with Sweet Nothings by Fancy Pants Designs to celebrate this day of LOVE!  This page documents a trip to the MN State Fair.  We love the fair food and the Super Slide!

I went with a banner style layout design to incorporate 5 little pictures in a way different than I normally do--use a photo collage print!  The scraps and strips of Fancy Pants Sweet Nothings paper came in handy to cut at a diagonal and layer!  I added pop dots under them to add dimension above the bold stripe FP paper!

 I played by the original roll and only used three circles!  The rest were the awesome puffy sticker hearts that I absolutely love!  They are so much fun to sprinkle all over!  The black puffy alpha stickers are a classic font that is so pretty!

I added a few bits of ephemera and sprinkled India ink all around the background.  It's the fair--it better have  a fun vibe to it!

We are looking forward to your creative ways to sneak in 5 photos and 3 or more circles.  I hope you play along with Rachel and Roll the Dice!  Post your new projects between now and March 5th to have an entry at the PI gift cards.

 Don't forget Friday, Feb 17th is another edition of Scrap n Chat on Facebook!  We are excited to see you online!  Make plans to chat it up, play the game and complete the challenge!

Have you checked out all of the new bliss in the PI store?  I am loving all of the new things that Cassie has in stock!

Save 20% with my code:

Stacie

Happy Valentine's Day!  Happy Galentine's Day!  Happy Friendship Day!  Enjoy!

Mix It Up Monday- XOXO Arrows

Today we are up on the Paper Issues blog for Mix It Up Monday.  This month Orange is challenging us to try embossing with mixed media!
I gathered up my stash of arrow stamps and embossed them before adding watercolors. I also had some floral stamps that I embossed and painted as well!  Love a good watercolor resist project!

The Simple Stories Love & Adore collection is so easy to work with!  I love the colors in it and that pop of yellow is just my favorite! See the embossed arrows peeking in the top corner? They were so much fun to create a pattern with on the top and bottom of the page.

I added watercolor to the chipboard Love in my title.  I love the mix of ephemera, 4x6 stickers, chipboard, and cardstock stickers included in the Love & Adore collection that worked perfectly with this page.

I added the embossed florals at the top corner of the LO and lower corner of my photo.  See the shine of the embossed arrows at the top edge?!  I love the black, shiny glitter embossing with this collection.  I love the paper elements patterned paper for quick strips of paper to add to a LO.  The polka dots paper add that pop of bold color to draw the eye to the photo.

I hope you will mix it up this month and join us on PIFF for a chance to win a PI giftcard.  Embossing on a project is so much fun to try out.  I have used this technique a few times and it is always fun (think crayon resist art as a child!!)  I love the look it creates.

Save 20% on all the things at Paper Issues.  There are soooo many new things calling your name.

Cut It Up February

It's a new Cut It Up Saturday at Paper Issues!  I think you will find lots of ideas and be inspired from the design team on the PI blog today!
  Go to the Paper Issues store and download this free background Heart Tracks file and it includes titles, too!

For my take with this fun cut file, I used Pink Paislee's Oh My Heart by Paige Evans.  It has so many bright fun colors that I tied into my background.

I used the cut file as a stencil to watercolor my background.  It wasn't perfect, but that is part of the imperfect look of mixed media!  You just go with it!

I love the copper foil that this collection has!  The ephemera pieces and stickers were perfect for this page of my son and I after I had presented my thesis and was approved for graduate school graduation.  Books, clipboard, phone, hearts and 'mom life' pieces worked into this design easily!

I double cut the title words in white and black cardstock to offset them slightly and add dimension to the words against a colorful background.

I skipped spaces in the background watercoloring to add the layer of white hearts and stitching.

I loved the little saying from Dear Lizzy's new Lovely Day collection "make the days count".  I started grad school before I was pregnant with my littlest, so this was a total culmination to have us both in this picture.  It was such a big moment to be done with the stress of grad school and to have more time to play and spend time with my Ry!

The Oh My Heart chipboard books were so on point with this LO topic!  Enamel dots, messy threads, and splatters of India ink show a few of my faves to add to my pages.

I hope you are inspired to download this cut file and play along with Cut It Up for February.  You have through March 5th to play along and post your projects in the challenge thread at PIFF on Facebook.

Just as a reminder use any of the 100+ cut files that are free in the Paper Issues store on a new project and post them in Cut It Up for a chance at a Paper Issues giftcard!  Tag Paper Issues on social media so we can send you some love when you use exclusive PI cut files!

Save 20% off of all the things you need and can't live without in the Paper Issues store. 

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Pawsitively Pets: Zoo Friends

Today up on the Paper Issues blog we are all about pets--or animals--or stuffed animals and why they are so very loved.  Take your pick and join us!
My take uses the new Jen Hadfield's Simple Life for Pebbles collection.  I love the woodgrain paper designs she always includes in her collections.  It worked so well with the zoo pic! The background is the new interlocking hearts cut file included in the free files at PI.  I love how it looks layered!

The wood veneer pack includes words and images.  I love their detailed look and they work so well layered.  The word and phrase strip stickers are embossed and have fun sayings that I scattered throughout the background.

Brooklyn was so excited to get so close to a gorgeous giraffe.  The lettuce was grabbed right out of her hands by this hungry friend.

The woodgrain thickers are a new fave of mine. I love how you can mix the different tones and patterns and it is still subtle for a busy background.  

I can't wait to see how you document your "pets" or friendly animals in your life!   

Get this gorgeous Pebbles collection or anything else that strikes your fancy!

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Dear Lizzy Spotlight

New Collections are so much fun to use and today we are spotlighting Dear Lizzy at Paper Issues. Hopefully you started at the Paper Issues blog for lots of inspiration from the design team.

I loved starting with the ombré background paper with the littlest tone on tone hearts!
The foiled Thickers with color blocking to tie in the colors of the collection are so pretty to work with!

At each port this summer I tried to capture the cruise ship from different vantage points and this was one through the gorgeous pink flowers. 

The phrase Thickers work as a secondary title and anchor the photo and embellies.

A few more close ups:  The gold foil elements throughout the page add to the small clusters in this layout.  Lots of pops of blue and pink in the patterned papers to layer the photo!

 Layering ephemera and stickers with a bit of foam dots can be a great way to use up your stash and create dimension.

Thanks for taking a peek at this beautiful Dear Lizzy collection, I hope to see your creative work soon in PIFF and on Instagram!

Take 5 Tuesday: February Edition

It's one of my fave days to play along with at Paper Issues! Take 5 Tuesday on the PI Blog is back with all new prompts to kick start your design!

Here's my take using Crate Paper Heart Day. 

I went with these items off of the list: 4. paper clip 5. stitching 6. heart 10. cardstock 11. xoxo 13. arrow  

I used a PI free cut file as my background and added hand stitching to the solid hearts on this beautiful striped paper.

Crate Paper's Heart Day fringe paper always begs to be fringe cut at the bottom edge!  Layers of torn tissue paper and paper under my photo collage.  Chipboard pieces to add depth and draw the eye around the page away from the black cardstock..  Pops of gold from the fringe stickers, chipboard and acetate pieces for layering.  Loving the look of the white stitching on the hearts. 

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Layers of paper and chipboard around the photo collage of my older three and their photos for their dad's valentine photo gift for his office.  

I can't believe these pictures are 7 years old already!  Time flies when you are not watching the minutes tick by!  The brush script chipboard XOXO pieces are so much fun.  I hope you bought all of the Heart Day things earlier in the season!

Have so much fun playing along with Take 5 Tuesday!  We can't wait to see what you create with the list of prompts! 

 Check out the PI Store for all things new!!  

SO much to love...  Just sayin' and yes, you need it!  Save 20% with code: Stacie

New Issue: Let's Play Post Office-Happy Mail

It's a new issue at Paper Issues called "Let's Play Post Office!"  I have had this sweet picture of Evan and his sweet letter that he received from Wilson Sports after sending a letter for a 5th grade project.  It was so awesome that the president of the company responded and sent him an awesome basketball.I used Fancy Pants Designs Sweet Nothings for this issue--how perfect is the letter paper and the ephemera that says Happy Mail?!  The stamps, the letters, the mailbox--all begging to be part of this project!

A few close ups to show the details:

The puffy stickers and ephemera are faves! This journaling card was part of a cut apart page and it was perfect for telling this story.

The puffy alpha are glossy and the perfect font! Love the look of the tone on tone.

 The puffy stickers set has many images, icons, and words to use.  The puffy heart stickers were a favorite of mine.

The patterned papers in Sweet Nothings can be used for so much more than just Valentine's Day. I hope this design helped to show it can work for many things and even to document a boy getting some amazing mail!

Have a great day!  I hope you will play along this month with this new issue at PI.  We'd love to see how you interpret the new theme and ideas!  If you haven't looked at the Paper Issues store, go check out all that is new!  Save 20% with my code.