Life is Good

It's all about the perfect recipe to kick of a creative start in the new year! Scrap Soup is on the blog today at Paper Issues.  

For this recipe, I used Cocoa Vanilla Studio's Bohemian Dream.  I loved the burst of color and thought a heart would be a good focal point for my photos of our catamaran snorkel cruise.

I used Shimmerz Blue Lagoon for the chipboard title stickers.  Those are my "three of the same embellishment" and one of the fonts.  The cut file is floral sweetheart and is in the free files at Paper Issues.

I also used three tabs-two on top of the photos and one for the date.  The chipboard hearts in a group of three across the design as well.

I used more than one font as seen here.  Yes, the acrylic paint drops were still not dry when I took the photos.  It's winter and daylight is fleeting!

I can't wait to see your take on Scrap Soup. I hope you are inspired to play along.  The more you post your work in our challenges--the more chances to win now through Feb. 4th.

Paper Issues has everything you need and with my code it's always on sale!

Meeting Kariel: Mermaids Have More Fun

It's such a fun day! It's Try it Tuesday hosted by Amanda-Jayne.  

She's got a great challenge for October.  

Get your mixed media on your paper and then punch it out, 

cut it out, or use your scissors to create your page elements. 

Go check out the Paper Issues blog for all of the details.  

For my take, I used Shimmerz paints on cardstock and after it dried I ran the paper through the Silhouette with a free PI cut file for my mermaid scallops background.

Here are a few more views:

Bella Blvd Secrets of the Sea and Fancy Pants Hello Sunshine --that citron paper!!

Don't be afraid to paint, splatter, and get messy on your paper and then use a cutting machine when it's dry!  You may want to flatten the paper overnight before cutting it. Machine stitching or foam adhesive behind the cut file make it easier to deal with warping or uneven surfaces.

We hope you'll play along!

Free File Friday titles: Sun & Fun

I am up on the Paper Issues blog with a new installment of Free File Friday!  

We are focusing on using a cut file title this month!  

I used the Sun & Fun title from the Geo Tropical Palms cut file and converted into stitching dots.  See this blog post for the details on how to get the perfect-sized hand stitching holes by converting the cut file--it's so easy! 

Bella Blvd Secrets of the Sea was perfect for documenting my little fish!

After you convert the cut file lines to stitching marks, I usually cut the cut file out as a solid shape.  This helps when it's a scripty title or other intricate shape so you can lay the shape on top to see where the stitches go as well as spots you might want to add a stitch hole to make the stitching more rounded.

I adore this printed quote paper from Bella Blvd Secrets of the Sea.  I had wanted the quote to show--and voila--I realized by showing only the border of it the top and bottom of the paper display the entire quote.  So very sweet! The ephemera pack and sticker sheet worked well together for layering and adding details.

 I just played with Shimmerz brand watercolors for this layout. I love how it worked on the paper and the way it dried is so pretty.  Some colors were shimmery and all colors played off the color scheme of the Secrets of the Seas papers. I got paint into the stitching area in some spots but the twine just soaks it up.

More stitching and Shimmerz paint close ups on the cut file title. So, here's my "secret of the seas"--I started this stitching layout in June and just completed it in August!!!  Anyone else have page designs that you start and don't finish or take you forever to finish?!

One last view of the title in full. I added lots of splatters as you can see he was all splashed by the waves in the photo. I love the look of the ombre colors in the letters. The Bella Blvd fish were so cute with this design.

 

I hope you are inspired to use a cut file title in your projects this month.  

Paper Issues has so many words, titles, alphabets, and quotes to use to help you with your page designs. 

Create a title and submit your project in the August Challenge thread in PIFF (Paper Issues Friends and Fans on Facebook.)  

Who knows, you might be the lucky one to win a PI store gift card?!

Grab some cut files to download and get ready to create. 

Bonus if you create a title that you converted to a stitching file.

I love seeing what you create.  Tag us on social media so we can share some love!

Save 20% on all of your purchases at Paper Issues.

Summer Adventure

Today's new challenge at Paper Issues is hosted by Amanda and she is challenging us to work our title!  This month she wants us to use the word SUMMER in our title along with other words!  This was so much fun to look over my stash and the free cut files in the store to create a vertical and horizontal mix title.

A closer look at the mixed media using Shimmerz paints and the beautiful Fancy Pants summer collection, Hello Sunshine to go with my Caribbean cruise pic. The cut file words are found in two different cut file sets.

 Loving the gold details on the Fancy Pants Hello Sunshine ephemera pieces.