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!

Top 13 @13

Having a teenager in the house was big news in January. It was fun to show him things we love about him right now!

The Chickaniddy numbers 1-12 were actually for a page with the Twelve Days of Christmas, so I punched them out and stitched them  in place. I used their labels for Jolly Good to journal his bright qualities and strengths! 

I loved the look of Amy Tangerine's Stitched Thickers, so I used the "Today" to create my title word "Top". Just a flip of the d to a p!  The jumbo sized 13 was easy to cut electronically and I just may use the negative piece to scrap his birthday photos.

This fits the number theme link up at Paper Issues.  Painting By Numbers

You Are...

To celebrate this guy's third birthday today, here's a flashback to 8 months!

The cut file is free in the Paper Issues store. I love doing ABC pages or mini books for my kids to celebrate all the goodness that they are!

I used lots of Amy Tangerine Stitched papers. The striped paper is by Hello Forever Paper Co. for Studio Calico. It matched perfect with the Stitched papers.

I loved using lots of enamel dots from My Mind's Eye and from the Stitched collection.

I love the new roller stamp with the Dear Lizzy Serendipity collection. You are... and I love you because...  are stamped around a few letters.

I sewed around my son's initials RMD and around the L for his nickname, Littles! The photos of him were only placed in those letters! Thanks for looking! Sorry the photos are not bright, it's snowing here!

Chickaniddy Projects

Today, March 1st, I am the Spotlight Crafter on Chickaniddy Crafts blog. Check it out here. 

Hello Family

See this layout using The Cut Shoppe words negative space.  Get the cut file here: Word Art  This worked to incorporate several photos of our kids and a family picture.  I added the watercolor splatters to match the background paper Autumn Haze from Chickaniddy.  These photos were from 2012 after Ryan was born and were taken by Kate Becker Photography from the Minneapolis, MN area.

I have also done additional pages using their products that I am highlighting today.  Here's our oldest as he celebrated a recent birthday.  It was fun to document the day with things we love about him.  These photos of Ethan were captured by Photography by Monique located in Centerville, MN.

Top 13 @13 uses Jolly Good numbers from the Twelve Days of Christmas that I punched out and the label stickers from the Jolly Good Collection. The Chickaniddy enamel stars along with Jillibean Soup stars worked well to add interest to the numbers and special qualities of our son at age 13! I used the Amy Tangerine Stitched Thickers to create the word Top (Today) cut apart with the d flipped as a p!

Away in a Manger uses cut files from The Cut Shoppe Gift Tags and You've been Punc'd. The Chickaniddy papers are Caroling and the stars from Scrumptious Nutmeg paper side B. The label stickers are from Jolly Good.  Ethan sang this as a solo on Christmas Eve so this was perfect for this page.

Oh Christmas Tree    Loved this Holly Jolly paper for documenting the Christmas tree and Christmas Eve with our daughter. The pocket style card was fun to stitch and brought out the triangle paper strips in the background. The enamel stars worked well with The Cut Shoppe tree.

Time Well Spent

Loved this cut file from my favorite Etsy shop, The Cut Shoppe: Squared Away cut file
See The Cut Shoppe blog post here

I took Shimelle's online class, Inspired By, and the title piece was included in the class downloads from script expert Jen Kinkade. Check out the Shimelle Inspired By Workshop here: Inspired By

I used the patterned paper from a Studio Calico Kit: Far Far Away and the little bits are from Heidi Swapp September Skies. 

Check out my layout on Paper Issues: Fan Feature Friday: It's Hip to be...

Here's my layout in my Instagram feed.

Have a great weekend!