Christmas Magic

For Try It Tuesday at Paper Issues today,

Amanda is challenging us to use party products in our design. 

I used a paper treat bag in the layers and a Christmas glittery gift tag is tucked inside

 to document my 5 year old Ryan and his list for the year.

Here's a close up of my "party or holiday party items" that I added to my layers.  I love that I can keep his list tucked into the page for reminding us years from now what he was interested in!

I loved working with Pinkfresh December Days.  The chipboard, puffy stickers, ephemera and wooden buttons were the perfect little bits I needed to layer this festive design.

The sequins were included in the Swag Bag kit for December.  Make sure you grab a PI swag bag kit when Cassie releases them as they are the perfect layout finishers!  I mean--it's the go to stash of items to add to those spots you need just a little something!! The epoxy black stars were included in Heidi Swapp mini packs of stickers.The PI store has the Heidi Swapp scripty stickers all in stock and they are adorable to add to pages!

We hope you will join us on all of the January challenges at Paper Issues.  They are open now through Feb 4th.  Don't forget to grab items from the Paper Issues store--it's always on sale and the shipping is fast. Cassie adds the best detailing with each order! Don't miss out!

Try It Tuesday: Paper Strips

Today on the blog at Paper Issues it is Try It Tuesday! I love all of the fun ideas Amanda has to get us creating! For the month of December, Amanda wants us to create a design with strips of paper.

 I grabbed the Dear Lizzy Star Gazer collection and cut off a stack of paper branding strips/tear away strips to use with this brush stroke chevron background. I grabbed the Nuvo white glue and started sticking down paper strips in random placement! 

This is my littlest posing in Hawaii this summer. He loved trying to master the "shaka" hand in all of his pictures. He truly captured the spirit of ALOHA!  He is my little light and this colorful page captures his spunky heart of gold!

Close ups of this fun brush strokes chevron background so you can "try it" too!

I love the copper/rose gold detailing on the Star Gazer Thickers and Star Gazer ephemera.

 The flair included in the Star Gazer collection are so cute! The 6x12 stickers, ephemera, and Thickers are so easy to cluster and stick together.

Stitch around the border and add the finishing touches! I hope you are inspired to grab this brush strokes chevron cut file and use your branding/tear strips off of the paper from each collection. No trimming necessary (besides the length of the stripe) this cut file is the perfect width of branding strips to layer them!

I hope to see your amazing work online or in our PIFF Facebook group! Please tag us if you create with a Paper Issues cut file. #picutfile #paperissues #Paperissuesfreefile will help me find your creative work!

Join this challenge or any of the many challenges that are offered weekly on Facebook!

Shop Paper Issues now for all of the Dear Lizzy items you see here. 

It is a beautiful collection to create with!

Your Smile is Magic

Happy Tuesday!  I hope you are having a fabulous week and are ready to Try It Tuesday with all of us at Paper Issues.  Amanda Jayne has a fun challenge this month to try out making your own embellishments.
This was easy to play along with as there are always ways to DIY and create fun embellishments for your projects.  Think: tags, rosettes, flowers, layering cut files, etc...

I am using Shimelle Glitter Girl for my design.  I love the pinks and teal for this fun beach photo from West Palm Beach last March.


I used the Tropic Like It's Hot palm leaves cut file from Paper Issues for the base of my DIY embellies. I layered the ribbon flowers (loops of ribbon stapled in layers with my Tim Holtz tiny attacher) More cut file leaves from the Tropical Palms cut file.  Shimelle wood buttons and enamel dots for the finishing touches. I got the Shimelle mixed embellishment pack in my October PI swag bag!

Thickers with wood grain and glitter?! Yes, please! I love this set paired with the teal foam glitter words!

 Machine stitching on the borders of the patterned papers for a finished look.  Love the Shimelle patterned papers: especially the wood grain stripes and the pink text word paper.  The sparkly stars paper is oh, so magical, too.

Play along with the fun at Paper Issues now through December 3rd! Save 20% on all of the Shimelle products I used as well as all of the rest of the items in stock at Paper Issues.

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!

Fall's Finest Moments

Today it's all about the circles for Try It Tuesday at Paper Issues. 

I wanted the look of coffee rings/coffee stains on a napkin for my background. 

 I dipped a circle cup into watered-down tan Mr. Huey's mist.

I used Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper.  I love her new Carousel line. 

The colors worked with the fall feel I was going for. 

The puffy Thicker phrases, chipboard pieces, and stickers all add details and dimension to the design.

I love the Kraft Chipboard Thickers for a page all about coffee and fall!

A close up at the "cup rings" for a coffee background minus the caffeine!  I added the Maggie Holmes Carousel woodgrain background paper edge to balance the brown touches. The gold plaid paper is a total fave. It just pops with fall tones!

Splatters and banners.  Coffee is totally worth celebrating in my book! 

I wanted my stitching to stand out a bit more, so I kept in white thread, but added a bobbin of black thread which makes the stitch have just a point of color showing through.

Repeated colors and journaling to finish it off. Don't forget a bow!

Go grab Carousel in the shop and start creating some fun projects! 

 It doesn't have to just be used for fair pages or adventure parks with zoo animals!

Try out this month's Try It Out with a fun circle theme.  

Post your new projects in Paper Issues Facebook group.

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

Get your shop on soon--new things have been arriving!!

Try It Tuesday: Washi Tape

Happy August!  We are back with a new month full of challenges to try out. Check out the PI blog--Try It Tuesday is all about fun ways to use washi tape to add texture to your projects!  I had so much fun using my neglected washi tape on this challenge!

A few close ups of the torn washi and stitching with mixed media.

I love the Amy Tangerine On A Whim collection washi tape that had multiple tapes included.  It worked perfectly to match with the colorful paper and the mixed media water colors and gelatos I used.

I popped up the Paper Issues free files title that I used.  I also cut out the You Fill my heart full of Love  cut file for all of the hearts in the border. The AT chipboard Thickers were the perfect addition under my title.

 Clear stickers are the perfect addition to photos or background paper. Find some of AT On A Whim and her new collection: Hustle and Heart in the store.

Have a wonderful first day of August!  Summer is scooting by too quickly.  I hope you will join us on the new challenges that pop up throughout the month. This one is a definite must.  Washi is always a good idea to play with!

Save 20% on all the things at Paper Issues.

Code:: Stacie 

Try It Tues: Summer Best Day Ever

It's Try It Tuesday at Paper Issues and Amanda has a fun technique to try out!  Get out your acrylic paints and a scraper to blend the dots of paint to create a custom background or layer for your photo!

I went with fun blues and created a larger background to mimic the water for my summer picture at the lake.

First I started with dots of acrylic paint in varying shades. Then I used an old gift card to do my scraping.

Messy threads on a water design is all kinds of texture and fun.  I love the stitching border I used.  I was going to frame it with patterned paper, but the background is so bold and colorful it was better to create texture and lines with multiple rows of machine stitching.

I love the watery and movement this background creates with the paint scraping technique.  I hope you will give it a try and show us your creative take.

Try It Tuesday

Today we have a new challenge for you called Try It Tuesday.  Find out all about it on the Paper Issues blog. For the challenge of mixing something with water--I went with watercolor crayons similar to gelatos under the cut file.

I used the NSD free cut file which included a diagonal flower chain.  I played with watercolor crayons under the openings to add colors to coordinate with Paige Taylor Evan's Pink Paislee collection Oh My Heart.

The free cut file I used is from NSD 2017 cut file.  Find it and all the others in the Free File section of the PI store.

I cut the cut file out of the patterned paper as well, to get the cut out area to add the gelatos and align the cut file back. I cut pieces of foam tape to pop it up against the white background.

 I layered several kinds of Paige Evans Oh My Heart papers for the photo mat. The ephemera worked great for layers and I added chipboard flowers as well.

We can't wait to see what you mix with water for your Try It Tuesday.  Will it be markers, gelatos, or paints?  Save 20% at Paper Issues on all Oh My Heart items or so many more things!