For the Love of Family

Take 5 Tuesday is up on the blog at Paper Issues and I am documenting our recent family photos from October. I love the golden glow and this burst paper from Turn the Page by Pink Paislee and Paige Taylor Evans layered with flowers seemed like the perfect way to draw focus to our photo.
This month's prompts are fun with a winter twist, but I made it work! 3. white (acrylic paint drops) 7. patterned paper 9. journal 11. layers 12. sticker (alpha & florals)

The Dear Lizzy big chipboard title words are so much fun to customize.  I added gesso and two colors of gelatos to match some of the floral colors and the golden leaves color from my picture.

The Turn the Page sticker book had the mini floral alphas for my secondary title words. Most florals were from the ephemera packs and sticker booklets. I also fussy cut many to tuck into spots or add to the depth of layers.

 I love the 6x6 paper pad for this collection as it had the mini prints with foil details. It was the perfect border for the main  family photo.

Thanks for taking a closer look at today's Take 5 Tuesday project.

 I hope you'll play along this month.

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Swag Bag November

Yay!  It's a new swag bag day at Paper Issues!  I love the PI Swag Bag monthly kits that Cassie ships out. They seriously have the best bits in them to create so many projects.  I used only a 1/3 of the swag bag (if that) to create my project. There is so much left to use in other projects which is always a fun go-to stash to have out on my table to use on current layouts that I am working on!

I started with gesso and mixed media colors to go along with the items I pulled out.  I stuck with several ephemera pieces from Echo Park's I'd Rather be Crafting collection and mixed in other swag bag items to create a horizontal design with the larger quote and tag as anchors alongside the photo.

To make the bunting, I cut apart a 3x4 card of chevron that was made with the triangles. The swag bag included enamel dots, so it was an easy embellishment to add dimension and interest along the lower edge!

  I attended this fun crafting workshop in Minneapolis two years ago that was hosted by Amanda Rydell and Maggie Holmes. Two other of my crafty besties also attended and we had so much fun sewing, painting, re-purposing old books into planners, and more. It was such an inspiring day in the arts district of the city!

So there you go! I hope you hop over to the Paper Issues store to grab a new November swag bag or be so smart and grab a 6 month subscription so you don't miss a kit! I love the variety each month and I am always inspired to create when I open these fun swag bags!

Don't delay! Save 20% to try one out!

So Sweet: My Girl

Today at Paper Issues for Free File Friday we are focused on Thankful.  Allllllllll the people, things, and places that we are thankful for. I love the leaves and glow that autumn brings.  My daughter was captured in this perfect sun flare and it was perfect for some Maggie Holmes Carousel!

I love the leaf from the November Grateful Leaves cut file.  This is one of the original cut files that Paper Issues offered. Grab it for yourself!  I welded the leaves together in groups of two and three.

I kept it quite monochromatic and added gold gelatos to the roses in the paper as well as the chipboard. I am always a fan of black and white! 

The Maggie Holmes' bows are a fave of mine

 (psst--grab some they are still in the shop!)

I added a second project to my post since it was just Thanksgiving!  Here's my little guy with his colorful turkey.  I was nostalgic as this was our favorite thing to do as kids back in the day waiting for Thanksgiving dinner. 

Cocoa Vanilla Studio Bohemian Dream and the Fall is my Favorite cut file brought this design together.  I added watercolors to the background and to some of the cut file words.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by the blog today. 

Don't forget to shop small at Paper Issues this weekend.

Home Sweet Home

It's time for round two of Home is Where the Heart Is at Paper Issues.  I am documenting how our neighborhood development looked from Google Earth when our neighborhood lots were being plotted and prepped for building.

A few close ups of the gorgeous Turn the Page by Paige Taylor Evans for Pink Paislee:

I love the bold tonal striped paper that I used in the background. It had such an earthy, home feel to it, I knew it was just the one to document my home-building story. Making a move to a new city and building a home from the dirt upwards, is a scary and exciting adventure. The Thickers/sticker quotes in Turn the Page worked so well with home building and moving with a family of six!

I used the free PI cut file: Heart of the Home for my title Home Sweet Home and the wood slice heart design. I used some of the ephemera from Carta Bella/Echo Park Welcome Home collection.

This design uses the Pink Paislee Turn the Page: patterned papers, ephemera, sticker booklet, chipboard stickers, and wood veneer.  Isn't it crazy how quickly things change?  This photo was taken in 2012 or early 2013.  Now 4+ years later, the houses are all filled in down the street and around the ponds.  This pictures are hard to believe when you see the current development.

Thanks for stopping by for our new issue "Home is Where the Heart Is".  

I hope you are inspired to try out a PI free cut file design or start documenting

 your move, new house, fresh start, or building project. 

 Don't forget to grab a Google Earth image to go along with

 your new neighborhood or old neighborhood story. 

Stop by the Paper Issues store to save 20% on all of the things from Pink Paislee or any of the collections in stock!

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.