Free File Friday: Winter Wonderland or Winter Woes?

I am up on the PI blog today with a look at winter from a few perspectives!  I hope you are inspired to grab your cutting machines and download all of the free files that you need to get some memories documented this weekend!
I love this black text paper from American Crafts Sweater Weather and it was the perfect base for my wintery skiing pictures from last year!

Grab this winter title from the Very Merry Holiday file and the snowflakes from the Circles and Snowflakes cut file. Both in the Free File section in the Paper Issues store.

 I added stitching to all of the snowflakes scattered throughout the page as I love the white on white look! The added texture it brings the design is perfect.

I love adding mixed media to the background.  This is a mix of white acrylic paint and water to give a light transparent snowy look along with the more opaque drops for variation and depth.

Join us on Paper Issues Friends and Fans to share all of your latest creations.  

Enter your projects in the January Challenges for more chances to win the monthly gift card.

 I hope you'll play along with Paper Issues free files and add to our post full of projects. 

Tag us on social media so we can see your creative takes using free files!

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Smiles 4 Snowflake Season

It's time for a new Take 5 Tuesday at Paper Issues.  Mary Ann has a fun list of prompts to choose from for January.

I la la love Sweater Weather by American Crafts. It has bright and bold colors, but also ties in soft muted pastels to create some beautiful winter designs.

I love this font and the Paper Issues free cut file title using the winter weather words. It ties in the ephemera phrase and the words create a snowy cascade down the page.

I just want to hold on to these moments of our littlest before he is too big to be carried. No longer saying, "Do you want me to 'carry you up'?" as we have called it ever since our kids have been little. It's the little things I want to remember and cherish. The look of being content in his daddy's arms and the look of love back at me. The tassels on his cute winter hat.

I softened the look of the b & w photo with a layer of vellum. It gives that wintery white look that I was going for. Stickers, Thickers, and ephemera from Sweater Weather all made this design come together quickly.

GetGet  

Get all of the new collections being released this month or scroll through for remaining items that you need to complete your projects. Get your winter or holiday pictures printed and play along at Paper Issues.

Take 5 January

We are always inspired to create with Mary Ann's Take 5 monthly prompts. The new look at Paper Issues is still wowing me!

 

Here's January's blog post link up. I love to see all of the various ways the design team interprets the prompts.

Here's my take this month:  This is a free cut file in the Paper Issues store.  I backed it with vellum and foam dots to raise it up.  I scattered silver sequin snowflakes all over to work the winter vibe.  They are not easy to photograph!!

I used  1. Pink 6. Silver 8. Patterned Paper 9. Foam Dots 10. stars 12.chipboard 13. layers 15. Winter in my title or journaling

I have had Pink Paislee's Moonstruck collection and this cut file all cut out and waiting for weeks to use it!  This month's Take 5 prompts had me at PINK!  I went right to work using this collection-

 
Do you need a swag bag from Paper Issues? Yes, you do!  I have collected up sequins from several months and they add so much fun bling to a LO when you need it!

 
The detailing on the Moonstruck Thickers is so beautiful!  Yes, I totally mixed gold and silver for this page!  I love the ephemera pack for small details to add to layers.

Thanks for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create with this month's Take 5 prompts for January.  

Get all of what you need from Paper Issues for 20% off with my code: Stacie

Photo Play Snowball Fight

Today we are showcasing the fun Photo Play collections on the Paper Issues blog.  The newest lines are so full of color and fun prints!  I went with Snowball Fight for my layout today.  The green color is beautiful to work with and it's close to the new Pantone color of the year for design!  Also, grab this free cut file from Paper Issues.  It is great for snowy pictures or so many other ideas as shown on the Cut It Up challenge this month.

I chose Snowball Fight for this fun winter memory of my daughter just wanting enough snow to build a snowman.  Instead, there wasn't enough so we snapped pictures and she headed out to play on the pond.  Isn't life always about the photo op?

Here are some close ups:

  I used vellum and some pop dots to lift the picture off of the patterned paper and messy circles free cut file background.  It gives it a softer edge and makes it feel like the snow is carried right off of the picture. Also, hello punny stickers from Photo Play!

   I wanted a bit of color on the white background cut file, so I scattered blue watercolor splatters all over it to coordinate with the snowmen paper peeking through the openings.

I love watercolor droplets and enamel dots/puffy stickers.  These are from Fancy Pants Designs and they coordinate so well with Photo Play!

I hope you stocked up during the last few sales and have Photo Play in your stash to create with this winter!  This collection makes winter and snow pictures come to life with all of the bright colors!

Thanks so much for looking!  I hope you are having an amazing week.

If you'd like to shop at Paper Issues--my code is always a great one to use:  Stacie

Brrr Snow Day

Snow and Cocoa from Crate Paper is definitely a favorite of mine for the winter season!  Check out the Paper Issues blog today as we spotlight this gorgeous collection!

Here are a few closeups of Snow and Cocoa by Crate Paper!  I hope you grabbed it early in the season as most of it is SOLD OUT!  You can still get our free cut files from the Paper Issues shop.

I added white gesso on the background to lighten and whiten the area.  I layered the cut files and photo mats on that area.

I added lots of stickers and ephemera from the collection.  The chipboard stickers are some of my favorites!

I love adding stitching to a layout and for this design I added pink machine stitching to the snowflakes and title.

Thanks for taking a look at my snowy girl design!  I hope you are inspired today and get a chance to check out the blog and Facebook post for more ideas!  Play along until December 5th for a chance to win a gift card to Paper Issues!

As always save 20% each time you shop with code: Stacie

Pinkfresh Oh Joy

It's beginning to look a lot like.... NOOOOOOOO!!  I am so not ready for snow or Christmas quite yet even though it is predicted here later this week, but it sure was fun to get out my photos from last winter and scrap them using the new Pinkfresh Studio, Oh Joy collection for this product spotlight at Paper Issues.

Ryan loved eating the fresh snow from his gloves last year as a three year old!  He was just mesmerized by the fluffy snow coming down. 

 The Oh Joy collection worked so well with fun winter photos. I added the puffy alphabet from last year's winter Pinkfresh collection to make my title.  I used puffy stickers from Oh Joy, but others in the collection such as the  mirror stickers  have similar designs.

The tree had the perfect spot for journaling!

I love the Pinkfresh Oh Joy stickers and washi tapeand the pretty gray starry paper.  I layered cardstock and vellum along with foam dots to pop up the photo.

Last season's Pinkfresh collection Christmas Wishes had the cutest puffy alphabet, and you are in luck(!!) these acrylic aqua star stickers are still available in the PI store.  They are super cute and come in several shapes and colors to work with many holiday collections!

I added black India ink splatters to the top half of the background to mimic the bottom section of the paper design.

I hope you are inspired by the team's product spotlight today on all things Pinkfresh. Grab more from the Paper Issues store with my code: Stacie to save 20%

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by my blog today!