Swag Bag Sunday: You're 10

It's Swag Bag Sunday at Paper Issues!
Here's my take on this month's swag bag goodness!

 I absolutely love all of the bits and cards that are included in the bag.  This is not even all of it.  I saved some (lots!!) pieces for upcoming layouts and projects.  Yes, I hoarded the fun tassel from Cute Girl and mini tassel from Gather (and more...) Cassie makes the bags plump and full of surprises!

I added gesso to my cardstock after moving cards and pieces and layers around to balance colors and elements across the page.  Here's a photo to show you the process of moving it all around and using other sides, adding stitching, etc...
 I added watercolor to my background based on the colors in the cards.  The Amy Tangerine watercolor resist card that was in the swag bag was fun to work with!  I added yellow to bring in the emoji pillows from the photo! I also loved using the Amy Tangerine washi tape on the photo, on some of the grid cards, and to cover the wood veneer number!  Yes, a whole roll was in the swag bag!

It is always fun to get ideas from the design team and other PIFF members on Facebook with their takes on using up the Swag bag items!  Join us and check it out on the blog and link up your creation on Facebook.
If you want your own swag bag, don't forget to use my code: Stacie for 20% off your purchase.  If you spend over $60 then you score free shipping!

Never Stop Loving Learning

It is great to use the negative space that remains on the cardstock after using a diecut machine.  In this case, I had cut out speech bubbles and thought it would be a perfect way to document the first day of school.  The speech bubbles created a perfect grid format for this layout.  A 6 x 6 paper pad is a great way to group elements similar to what I did on this page.  This LO was all from Amy Tangerine's Stitched Collection from American Crafts.  The small paper pieces were easy to stack and stitch together and provide bits of advice for my three students!  Having the three children's photos from the first day created a strong visual triangle.  I also added to the triangle by using Amy Tangerine Thicker numbers for their new grade level and bursts of mist near their photo.  The mini alphabet stickers are my favorite Kelly Purkey stickers from Simon Says Stamp.  The date stamp I have been using in many layouts is the Heidi Swapp stamp from Michael's.