Remember December: SANTA

Merry Christmas, friends!

I am up on the Paper Issues blog with some Remember December inspiration.

A trip to the mall with Ryan to visit Santa was fitting for today's post!
He is always so excited to see Santa and tell him his Christmas list
and to talk about the Gopher football team. 
Santa sure seems to know a lot about MN sports!

I used the December scrapbook kit. The kit is sold out, but many items can be purchased separately in the store or found in the December Swag Bag kit. I love the background of the mall's snowflake cut outs behind Santa, and used the light blue as my first color to bring out in the watercolors. 
(Grab similar flair buttons here from Pretty Little Studio.)
I used glittery snowflakes from an older Pink Paislee collection,
but even a cut file of snowflakes could be used in your design!

The Elle's Studio puffy titles and mini label stickers were the perfect little touches to layer and add the pops of color I needed in the horizontal grouping.  The Pink Paislee Together for Christmas paper number 9 plaid made a beautiful background border!

I love that the Together for Christmas ephemera from Pink Paislee also coordinated with Elle's Studio stickers and Pretty Little Studio Glitter and Ice trees. With little bits of foam adhesive squares, the little bits were easy to layer against the watercolor background. The iridescent acrylic paint added little snowy dots that were scattered over the watercolor layer.

I hope you are inspired to carve out some creative time
 over the next few days to join in the December challenges at Paper Issues!!
Tag us on social media when you complete a challenge.

Post your creative additions to the December challenge album on Facebook
in the Friends and Fans group now through January 5th!

If you missed out on the Pink Paislee Together for Christmas or need a
December Swag Bag (with the Elle's Studio mini labels I used today),
be sure to grab yours today!

Save 20% with my code: Stacie

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Thanks for stopping by!

To the Moon and Back: Ad-spiration Challenge

I am up on the Paper Issues blog today to show you how this Ad-spiration challenge came together!

The dark background was a fun depature into space and away from the normal light or white cardstock base!

Here's the stunning ad for the October challenge:

I love that you could also be inspired by the books, 

stars, reading quote, night sky, latern light,  and colors!

 I took in the night sky vibe and went with it! 

 I layered mix media swirls on the background, splattered paints, and then topped it off with gold thread machine stitching!

So many swirls of stitching! 

 My machine did not like the tacky surface of the paint and

 I ended up re-threading the machine so many times! 

But, in the end, I think the effect of golden circles was worth the extra effort!

 If you haven't tried using a dark background recently, 

I challenge you to try this out-of-this-world background with an outer space vibe!

Thank you for stopping by the PI blog and playing along in the Facebook group with this month's challenges.  The Monster Bash Fall Crop is this week-- are you joining in on the fun?

Crop details here in the Facebook Group

Save 20% in the Paper Issues store on all.the.things!!

Use code: Stacie

Grab the new October kit while you are shopping!

This or That: Pretty Great Spring Break

I am blogging today with a fun choice challenge hosted at Paper Issues for March called This or That.

Check out the Paper Issues blog today to see more!

Check out the March challenge list on Facebook in PI Friends and Fans.

 Here's what I selected:

I started with the white cardstock background and added gesso. 

 I then used mist to layer using the packaging technique 

to bring out colors in the sunsets from the pictures.

The free PI cut file heart is from Stuck Like Glue and it was the perfect layer to add to the central focus sunset photos of the layout.

I brought my scrap supplies- (Hello, easy packing with Paper Issues monthly kits!!) along during Spring Break and this was the view when I was snapping pics!

I used ephemera, Pink Paislee alpha stickers, and papers from the Paper Issues January kit: She's a Rainbow.  I adore the colors and who doesn't love a good rainbow vibe?!  If you like to create with kits, be sure to grab them as soon as they are posted in the store each month.  They are amazing and include so much! It made this layout come together so quickly!

I doodled repeated lines for the border of the page for the last element of the this or that list.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.

Hope you have time to play along with the challenges this weekend

and are inspired to try THIS or THAT after seeing how easy it can be!

Have you seen all of the new items in the Paper Issues store this week?

Stop by and shop- while you save 20%

Use code: Stacie

 Post all of your completed March challenges in the Paper Issues Facebook group!

Don't forget to tag us online when you use PI Cut Files!

 #picutfile #paperissues

Thanks for stopping by today!

Together

Hi! I am up on the Paper Issues Blog today for the first scraplift Sunday challenge! 

 Stop by and check it out! 

 I was so inspired by Jen's colorful layered scallops design!

 Here's my take on the beautiful design:

Here's Jennifer's fabulous original design using Fancy Pants Yellow Door Collection:

I used lots of bits and pieces from Paper Issues Swag Bags and the January Scrapbook kit to embellish and create my titles.

I love adding stitching to my background to lift items up to create dimension in the layers. 

I went crazy with the acrylic paint splatters to bring in lots of the colors from the hearts. I mean why not make a party of paint splatters on your page every once in awhile?!

Happy heart month and happy scraplifting!! 

Post your challenge entries to our Friends & Fans Facebook group

 and tag Paper Issues on social media.

Grab the scrapbook kits each month in the store, 

just like I did to help your designs come together quickly! 

Save 20% your order with code: Stacie

Scraplift Sunday-The Ocean is Calling

Hey friends!  I am back sharing this week's Scraplift Sunday on the Paper Issues blog.  

We are lifting a super cool design by Devra (scroll to the bottom of this post.)

 I love the challenge of keeping the design focus to the sides of the paper.

Here's my take:

I was drawn to the wooden background paper by Pink Paislee Summer Lights as the photo I chose had such a strong horizontal line of the ocean in these similar aqua hues.

Love using up paper scraps and the branding strips from papers whenever I can!  This scraplift showed one strip but, you can also stack them up and use up more papers or patterns! 

Get out those mists or paint to splatter with this lift, too!

 I added white acrylic paint to add to the weathered beach vibe!

This scraplift was absolutely perfect for stashbusting a collection you have sitting around with lots of bits & pieces.  I was able to use lots of the stickers, ephemera, and chipboard that was included with Summer Lights! The light makes several of the stickers shimmer an iridescent rainbow of colors. 

Here's Devra's original project we are lifting for August Challenges at Paper Issues. 

 I sure hope this motivates you to check it out and play along! 

We love seeing all that you create each month! 

 Keep on posting to the challenge album for more chances to win each month!

Save in the Paper Issues store everyday with my code:Stacie

20% off each and everything you want and need!

Oh, Boy!

Playing along at Paper Issues!  I busted out the Pink Paislee Wild Child and was inspired to use this space paper for my son's silly outer space photo! I mean how perfect--a Star Wars shirt, the outer space window, and all of the Wild Child supplies I need to use!

A few close ups, here's my ham!  Space-loving, everything Star Wars, Ryan!

Love all of the pops of red and metallic red throughout the Wild Child ephemera and stickers. Cut file title from Paper Issues found within this set: Greatest Adventure.

Yes,  I wanted it showered in splatters of paint to add to the spacey feel and depth of the design. Find this cut file title on My Greatest Adventure cut file.  This is a bonus cut file that isn't shown on the store image.

Stop by and check out all of the challenges at Paper Issues.  

We hope you are inspired to play along.

Save 20% each time you shop in the Paper Issues store.  

Free shipping with orders over $75.

For the Love of Family

Take 5 Tuesday is up on the blog at Paper Issues and I am documenting our recent family photos from October. I love the golden glow and this burst paper from Turn the Page by Pink Paislee and Paige Taylor Evans layered with flowers seemed like the perfect way to draw focus to our photo.
This month's prompts are fun with a winter twist, but I made it work! 3. white (acrylic paint drops) 7. patterned paper 9. journal 11. layers 12. sticker (alpha & florals)

The Dear Lizzy big chipboard title words are so much fun to customize.  I added gesso and two colors of gelatos to match some of the floral colors and the golden leaves color from my picture.

The Turn the Page sticker book had the mini floral alphas for my secondary title words. Most florals were from the ephemera packs and sticker booklets. I also fussy cut many to tuck into spots or add to the depth of layers.

 I love the 6x6 paper pad for this collection as it had the mini prints with foil details. It was the perfect border for the main  family photo.

Thanks for taking a closer look at today's Take 5 Tuesday project.

 I hope you'll play along this month.

Grab all of the things you need to create your projects at Paper Issues.

Save 20% while you are loading your cart!

Home Sweet Home

It's time for round two of Home is Where the Heart Is at Paper Issues.  I am documenting how our neighborhood development looked from Google Earth when our neighborhood lots were being plotted and prepped for building.

A few close ups of the gorgeous Turn the Page by Paige Taylor Evans for Pink Paislee:

I love the bold tonal striped paper that I used in the background. It had such an earthy, home feel to it, I knew it was just the one to document my home-building story. Making a move to a new city and building a home from the dirt upwards, is a scary and exciting adventure. The Thickers/sticker quotes in Turn the Page worked so well with home building and moving with a family of six!

I used the free PI cut file: Heart of the Home for my title Home Sweet Home and the wood slice heart design. I used some of the ephemera from Carta Bella/Echo Park Welcome Home collection.

This design uses the Pink Paislee Turn the Page: patterned papers, ephemera, sticker booklet, chipboard stickers, and wood veneer.  Isn't it crazy how quickly things change?  This photo was taken in 2012 or early 2013.  Now 4+ years later, the houses are all filled in down the street and around the ponds.  This pictures are hard to believe when you see the current development.

Thanks for stopping by for our new issue "Home is Where the Heart Is".  

I hope you are inspired to try out a PI free cut file design or start documenting

 your move, new house, fresh start, or building project. 

 Don't forget to grab a Google Earth image to go along with

 your new neighborhood or old neighborhood story. 

Stop by the Paper Issues store to save 20% on all of the things from Pink Paislee or any of the collections in stock!

Free File Friday: Little Boo

It's time to check out some Fall Fun for November's new FFF at Paper Issues. 

 What fun things have you been up this autumn?  

 Any pictures from Halloween this year? Any trips to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard? 

We can't wait to see you document it with any of the free files at Paper Issues.

A few close ups of the details: I added the watercolor stems for the pumpkins after I stitched them. I then added more paint over the stitching to make it a layered, deeper green.  I love the Pebbles Midnight Haunting papers. The Pumpkin Patch background layered with the black EEK paper makes a  great "blackboard effect" to layer the pumpkins.

The swirly orange paper I layered with the cut file is Pink Paislee Spellcast.  

It's truly the perfect pumpkin color.

I hope you will share your Fall fun with us on the PI Friends and Fans Facebook group.  

Download the free files and start documenting your awesome autumn adventures.

Post your new projects between now and December 3rd.

Save 20% on all of your order at Paper Issues with code: Stacie