The Ties That Bind: Zip It!

 Hello friends, Stacie here and I am on the Paper Issues blog today with the challenge The Ties That Bind.  When I thought of the challenge, the zipper cut file seemed to fit the connection of binding together! Check it out:

The zipper  Zip It cut file is free from the store and the pretty plaid paper is new Pretty Little Studio Christmas Cheer paper called Licorice. The cut file snowflakes I cut from several winter or snow-themed cut files free in the Paper Issues shop! I wanted to create the feeling that we could zip out the snow for a bit longer as this was a photo from Thanksgiving last year. 

Next up, Ranger Distress Oxides for a light color wash on each snowflake to have a bit more dimension on the page.  I popped up the top layer of the zipper pull with some foam dots to create dimension. I also placed foam squares under the plaid paper to scatter the snowflakes under the edges.

It was easy to cut away the center piece of the plaid paper to create a bit of space for the zipper and allowed for the Pink Paislee greenish-teal paper to peek through.   I also tucked the zipper into the rolled up distressed edges of the plaid PLS paper.  

I hope you are dreaming up what you might bind together with this zipper cut file! 

Fall leaves, flowers, snowflakes, or a rainbow?! So many fun ideas to explore!

Happy creating with the new November challenges.

 There is also 30 Days of Thankful happening this month at Paper Issues.

  I sure hope to see what creative ideas you have this month!

If you use this cut file tag #picutfile so we can find your pages!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

I have not been on here in almost a year...and what a year it's been!

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Traveler's Notebook Summer Travels

Hello!  It's my parent's 50th Anniversary today and we just got back

 from celebrating on vacation with them! 

It was definitely a must to document and I am sharing two TN pages

 for 52 Favorites on the Paper Issues blog today-scroll down to see both!

It's so easy to pack a few supplies and document as you go!

This is week 31! Post on social media with #52favorites

I absolutely love the Pinkfresh mini puffy alpha and they are always my go-to for titles in my TN spreads!

I used the Kaisecraft little dots stamp that was included in the PI July Flyover States Scrapbook kit! 

 I love the subtle look it adds to the background! 

Added to the dots was an Amy Tangerine heart stamp to the background.

I took apart the Pinkfresh layered hearts embellishments to add the word together. 

The cut file connected  hearts are from the TN pages free cut file coming soon to the shop. 

Here's the second using a map that I grabbed from a travel brochure 

and the free PI cut file TN Pages Let's Talk about Love!

  

The best part of documenting as you travel??  You can photograph your pages right in the place you are visiting! That's right- set it right on the beach like I did, hold it up to the sun, capture the foliage around you, it's a fun way to remember the actual details you are journaling about!

 The tiny Pretty Little Studio star stickers are from July's Flyover States scrapbook kit! Perfect for noting details and places on a map. The background papers are from PI Kits as well, get the trend here??--all things that come in the kits get used!! 

Did you see that Paper Issues now offers a "Tell Your Story" TN kit as well?  If you are in need of an amazing kit that is ready to go for travels as I used mine or to document your life at home!  It is a perfect thing to try for bite-size memory keeping!! Check the new traveler's notebook kit out here!

I hope you are inspired to play along with all of the new August challenges posted in our Facebook group!  Check out the August fun on FB here!

Need a few things? The store now offers Sezzle for payment plans! Shop now and make payments!
Save 20% on alllllllll the things in the Paper Issues store--including all of the kits!
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Thanks for visiting today. Make today great! Create a life you LOVE!

Super Sundae Player of the Game

Hello! Stacie here with the new June challenge, Super Sundae!

 Go check out more details on the Paper Issues blog.  

I couldn't wait to use the beautiful, new June kit: Pontoon.

The May swag bag for added ephemera and layers. 

I was inspired to create the look of sprinkles on top of the sundae!

The PI free cut file baseball heart is from the set called  Homerun Heart. 

I backed the cut file baseball with vellum for a cool opague layer. 

It created a nice title grouping in the solid "dish" part of the sundae.  My son loves the team huddle after each game to hear the coach talk and award the Dairy Queen sundae player of the game! 

We all play for ice cream!

The photo mat layers are from the June kit or the PI  Swag Bag from May. I love the pops of color that are stacked and lead your eye into the sprinkle toppings (polka dot).  The cool Bella Blvd. red Florence alpha for the title was such a fun pop of color on the layered title. 

I hope you are inspired to try a new June challenge including Super Sundae in the Paper Issues Friends and Fans Facebook group.  All June challenges are open until July 1st.

Have you tried a Paper Issues monthly kit?  If not, go grab the scrapbook  kit or swag bag kit-you'll be so happy that you did!  They are seriously full of amazing products each month!

Don't forget to save 20% on your whole purchase at Paper Issues.  Code: Stacie

Free File Friday:Sailing

Hello!  Happy Memorial Day long weekend for those of you celebrating! It's almost summer vacay here, so naturally my focus was past summer trips!  I am up on the Paper Issues blog today with a fun way to layer your cut files as a texture and design element!

The Vicki Boutin Color Kaleidoscope paper pad had this

 blue toned water color background that was perfect for my base.

  I added more watercolor drops and splatters from other colors

 to add more splashes in the background. 

I sewed on the free cut file:

 Sailing into Summer waves and splattered some more!

My little dude showing his shaka sign- hang loose, especially when you're sailing in Hawaii!

Add sewing machine to stitching lines for more movement and texture to the background.

I can't wait for you to try a cut file in a new way. 

Maybe it is taking a smaller cut file like these waves

 and altering them by welding them together to create a longer strip of waves.

  Another idea would be to use a cut file in a repetitive way

in your background. Try painting or stenciling a background

 with a cut file or altering it with mixed media. 

Cut the cut file out of colored cardstock.

Try backing it or paper piecing a cut file!

Hope you are playing along with the May challenges 

that are posted in Paper Issues Friends and Fans!  

Save 20% on all the things you need from the Paper Issues store!  

There are so many new collections, free cut files,  and PI kits to try out!

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!

Puppy Pals: Kali and Ryan

Hello! I'm on the Paper Issues blog with the Secret Life of Pets
 is always a fun challenge to capture the cuteness!

My seven year old absolutely adores spending time with our friend's

 mini-petite golden doodle.  They definitely enjoy

 each other's company and all the extra attention that comes along with it!

The Carta Bella Our House woodgrain heart paper was the perfect color to coordinate with the focal point of a pet page--the puppy!  I also love that Carta Bella is such a thick textured paper that I could rough up the edges because what puppy doesn't like to tear stuff up! The rough stitched layered edges also bring in more texture and dimension to the page besides the heart cut file in the center!

If you haven't gotten a Paper Issues swag bag, be sure to check them out each month.

Be warned- they sell out quickly once they hit the shop!

  It made coordinating this page design come together soooo quickly. 

 I adore these monthly kits that are so full of items to use immediately! 

I used the February swag bag kit for the photo paper layers and the embellishments. 

The hearts in the Love You Hearts cut file were watercolored

 to match the variated striped Heidi Swapp Color Fresh paper border.

 I add watercolor, dry it with a heat tool, then reapply lighter

 and darker colors in various spots immediately drying

 to minimize warping. The final step was flicking water onto the paint

 and letting that do its magic of taking away color in those spots.

Have you tried it?  If not, get out those paints and play!!

  It adds such cool colorations and subtle design within the cut file. 

 Next, I used white cardstock that was painted using the packaging technique

 and then backed the cut file with it. I popped the whole cut file with foam dots.

I adore that I could tuck two 3x4 pics on this page and they fit right into the cut file hearts!

I love that the sweet wooden Pinkfresh alphas that are in the

  December Hard Candy PI scrapbook kit, and how they worked so well

 with this design.  I added some white acrylic paint splatters to

 the background and called this design done! 

I think it speaks to the sweetness of these two!

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you're inspired to get creating!

Stop by the Paper Issues Facebook group to play along with the

 Secret Life of Pets and all of the other March challenges!

While you are browsing the Paper Issues store, 

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Free File Friday Together

Hello, I am on the Paper Issues blog today with a new cut file design! 

I grabbed the new February PI kit and the Love You Hearts cut file to create this lovey-design! 
 I love that this cut file can stand out, but it isn't the entire background!

For this cut file, I wanted the mixed media colors to peek through the vellum layer on the cut file and be a splatter of colors around the edges.  I found acrylic paints that matched the Crate Paper background colors and watered them down to use the packaging technique. I couldn't resist and also added some gold Heidi Shine mist drops!  Gold makes everything sparkly and fun!

Hello, rose gold mini Pink Paislee alpha included in the February kit!!  I love how these can be used in small spaces such as on top of a cut file as a fun mini title or added dimension to your project!

Pop up your cut file off your background with foam dots.  This helps it to standout from a patterned paper background and adds a shadow effect that adds interest to a simple design! 

Have you checked out all of the new free downloads at Paper Issues??

 This new free PI cut file is Love You Hearts.

Grab this free cut file or any of the 100s of other ones from the Paper Issues store

 and hopefully you have this amazing February kit!! 

It is so easy to pull together a layout or project when you have all you need

 gathered up in one package!

 If you haven't tried a PI scrapbook kit or swag bag, you need them in your craft room!

 I can't wait for March's kit--it is going to be a beautiful blast of color! 

Have an amazing weekend! 

 Share what you create in our Paper Issues Facebook group or on social media!

 Tag our cut files with #PIcutfile and #PaperIssues so we can find you!!

As a thank you for stopping by the blog---

save when you shop!!

Oh Snow Happy

Today I am up on the Paper Issues blog with their January Sketch and I absolutely LOVE this sketch.  I stayed pretty true to the sketch, but added the patterned Carta Bella woodgrain snow border because it was too good of a paper not to use more of it!
Here's my take on the sketch:

I started off with big drops of white pearl acrylic paint and let that dry while

 I was cutting snowflakes from several Paper Issues free cut files. (Drop Down Stitching, Winter Wisdom, Very Merry Holiday, and Snowflake Grid.)

The beautiful January sketch from Paper Issues:

Have you cut apart Thicker words to create your own?  For this title, if you look closely, I cut the word snow from three different words and it saved me from finding alpha stickers to coordinate!

I love capturing fresh snowfall pictures and printing them in black and white.  

This lended itself to being a neutral monochromatic design.  

The white on white background was a fun change from using lots of color.

 By slightly lifting/lightly gluing the snowflakes, 

they provide depth and texture behind the focus of the photos!

Also, be sure to grab the 3-dimensional snowflakes from Crate Paper FaLaLa collection

 from the PI store, I adore the pop it adds to the snowflakes on the page!

I can't wait to see your take on this month's sketch!  

Swap out the snowflakes for hearts, circles...what else can you add to your background?

Join in on the fun in the PI Facebook group.

The January challenges are sure to spark your creative juices.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Now, onto shopping!!

Stop by the Paper Issues store to check out

 all of the new collections and download free cut files, too!

The best part--everything you purchase is 20% with 

code: Stacie 

Happy New Year! Get in Motion!

Happy New Year!
I am up on the Paper Issues blog with a new challenge.

This January Challenge is all about things in motion.

I don't know about you, but coffee is what signites me into motion each day!

Motion or movement on the page could also be interpreted as the repeated circles and patterns on the page. The Joyful cut file includes circles that I cut in varying sizes and cut the coffee cups and sleeves into circles to layer around the photo.  For this design, I used two large coffee cups.

I started with white gesso on the red patterned paper to soften the edges around the circles.

 Next, I added  the splatters. 

I dry them with a hair dryer after each color of splatters so they don't smear/blend.

 The paint is watered down acrylic paint in red, black, and green.

Yes, total advertisment for Starbucks.  This is my third yearly design using their special cups.

This year, I had to document trying a new flavor: Juniper Latte. 

Also, I love that it shows I was drinking more coffee at 4 pm!! 

Tis' the Season to need

more hours in the day to do all the things!

 Yes, I agree--coffee=magic!

Love these Christmas Thickers in a wood tone color from Crate Paper Merry Days.  The mini foam alpha from Pink Paislee are perfect for secondary title words!

Make the 1st day of the new year a great one with

time to create and play along with the new

  January Challenges in the Facebook Group.

*********

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