Sweet | Paper Issues Keep It Sketchy - Sketch #3

I'm super excited that Paper Issues decided to go with weekly sketches instead of just one each month. Here's a page I made for the Sketch #3:

Here's the sketch. I used the same basic design, but I substituted a chipboard embellishment for one of the pictures, I didn't angle the photos, and I added some more stuff.

I used Fancy Pants Cherry on Top chipboard pieces as my starting point and then used papers and some other elements from my stash to build my page. Those little birds were in a drawer I have with other bird embellishments. I had printed them out. I think they were probably from when we had "CSI Coordinates" many moons ago. The colors were perfect for this page and add a bit of whimsy. I added soem googly eyes for fun.

I had this already tied red ribbon in my red ribbon jar and decided it would be the perfect touch to this sundae bowl, along with the chipboard heart because I always add a heart to the pages I give away. I found some fun phrase stickers in my stash that were dessert-related. The gingham one was perfect and led me to use the gingham brads.

I found some tiny tags in my stash and tied one onto one of the brads. Those labels are ancient Martha Stewart labels. It's actually one label that I cut in half.

At the very last minute, I added that spoon because that empty space was bugging me. I really liked the addition of this and tied on a charm that's been in my stash for eons. I just love combining old and new stash!

I hope you'll come play along. This was a fun sketch to play with! Be sure you enter your layout in the Facebook group for your chance to win a gift certificate to the shop. Speaking of the shop, there are all sorts of new goodies, and lots of pieces of this Cherry on Top collection in stock. And whenever you shop at Paper Issues, please use my discount code Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, including kits, every single day!

2 Cuties | Paper Issues 30 Days of Sketches - Day 28

I finally finished all 30 sketches in Paper Issues 30 Days of Sketches! However, I'm SO behind on posting them, so I'm doing some quick blog posts to catch up. Here's my page for Sketch 28:

Here's the sketch.

And some details. I used the Fancy Pants Happy Place collection from a couple of years back because the colors matched the kids' clothes. There weren't any cutesy elements, so I stamped some Tim Holtz crazy birds on coordinating cardstock. In retrospect, I wish I had stamped on white paper and painted the birds. Next time... The speech bubbles were fussy cut from an old Studio Calico paper.

How fun are these birds? I love how this one looks like he's looking up at the kids. I used the awesome Bella Blvd Florence alphas for my title. Such an playful, fun font, and it comes in every color of the rainbow.

This 30 Days of Sketches challenge is now over, but Paper Issues has a sketch every month, plus scads of other challenges, and there's a fun Alphabet Soup challenge that will run across 26 days, with a new challenge for each letter of the alphabet. Whenever you shop at Paper Issues, please use my discount code Debbi (no e on the end) and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, including kits, every single day!

4th Grade All-Star | Paper Issues Spring Crop - Spring Fling

Hey, scrappy friends! I hope you come join our Spring Crop at Paper Issues for all the fun challenge we have going on this weekend. We've got a musical theme, and all of our challenges are named after a song. Here's the challenge I created and the page I made.

I made another page for one of my 29 students. I scraplifted myself from this layout I made in 2018.

I used the awesome Star Background free cut file from Paper Issues.

Here are some details. I backed the stars with papers from the  Fancy Pants Be Different 6 x 6 paper pad.

I love mixing fonts for titles. The 4th is super old Doodlebug letters, the black chipboard are by BasicGrey, and the red felt letters are really old Thickers. I ran out of A's so I turned d's into As by trimming off the leg, and I was out of R's so I made one from an M. I snuck a wood veneer heart in place of a hyphen. I always put a heart somewhere on my pages I give as gifts.

Those old Studio Calico wood veneer hearts were so perfect to go with this paper and fit perfectly on top of the solid stars. The speech bubble is also an old Studio Calico wood veneer. Enamel dots finished off my page.

I hope you'll come join our challenges. We have SCADS of them--you're sure to find a few that strike your fancy. AND there's a $50 gift certificate up for grabs!

There are so many beautiful cut files over at Paper Issues for free. While you're at the store, check out all the new goodies, and please use my code, Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off your entire order!

Comfort and Joy | Bramble Fox

I never got a chance to share this layout I made for Bramble Fox. I was up on their blog. Someone from Bramble Fox posted it for me on Instagram, but I never got a chance to share on my blog because I was at the hospital with Farzad for so many weeks.

These little houses are so beautiful and versatile. They're perfect for this layout of my friend's daughter making a gingerbread house, but I could see them added to a wonderful wintry scene. The colors of these little houses aren't necessarily traditional Christmas colors, so don't be limited to holiday layouts. I could see using them for layouts about home, travel, and more.

I paired the Little Houses with the Fancy Pants Home for Christmas collection. The lovely frosted, translucent houses look so sweet next to the gingerbread houses.

A few sprigs of foliage, some stamped snowflakes, and some iridescent white sequins created a wintry scene.



I loved working with these Perspextives, and I hope I've given you some ideas for how you might use them.

 

Ho Ho Ho | Bramble Fox + CSI

It's my turn over at the Bramble Fox Instagram page, and I used the fabulous sparkly HoHoHo Perspextive to create this page, which I also combined with our current challenge over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration to create a page for my friend using this adorable photo of her sweet kids:

Here are the Case File and clues for the CSI challenge. I used a lot of the traditional clues: stripes, plaid, text pattern, Christmas elements, frames, metal, cup, snowflakes, food, something fuzzy, fringe, ribbons, wood, trim, die cuts with printed text, and a tag. For the Testimony, I documented a Christmas moment. And I used the Basic color scheme.

Here are some details. I used Fancy Pants Home for Christmas collection, along with some odds and ends from my stash. I also used some Bramble Fox Hearts. I made my own fringed border using some scissors I bought for cutting herbs. I added some stars to my background with a stencil and some texture paste.

How awesome is that sparkly Perspextive title? I tucked some old sparkly brads and a fuzzy one too in with the Fancy Pants die cuts. And I always love the opportunity to use some of my old fancy fibers I have from when they were all the rage.

Don't you love all the cute gnomes that are in so many of the winter collections this year? I added a fun sparkly bow that I recently bought at Hobby Lobby. It matched the sparkly Perspextive perfectly. 

I found some more sparkly stuff in my stash. That green tree is super old, by Making Memories, and the sparkly poinsettias were another item I scored at Hobby Lobby.

I hope you'll come play with us at CSI. We've got a bunch of awesome sponsors donating prizes and gift certificates.

Awesome {Paper Issues Take 5 Challenge}

I finally finished making pages to give to each of my students. This is my last one, which I made for Paper Issues Take 5 challenge:

The Take 5 Challenge is really fun. Just pick 5 (or more) items from the list and include them on your layout. I used the color red, the color blue, hand journaling, large title, layers, something metal, circles, and fussy cutting.

Here are some details. If you know my work, you know I adore monsters on scrapbook pages, and whenever I see them, I buy them. These monsters are from Fancy Pants Be Different collection from several years ago. The speech bubbles were cut out of a Studio Calico paper.

Large title was one of the Take 5 items, which isn't hard for me to do. Since I scrap 8 x 8, "regular" sized stuff is often big for my pages. These are old Heidi Swapp chipboard letters that have been in my stash forever.

Some more shots of the Fancy Pants monsters. Adding googly eyes made them even cuter.

I thought I'd add a bit of spiral border punch for added interest.

I hope you'll come join this or one of the other challenges (there are about 20 each month) over at Paper Issues. Add your layout to the Paper Issues Facebook group for a chance to win a gift certificate to the shop. Use my code Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off your entire order! How cool is that! 

Side Street Dining Adventure {Paper Issues What's Brewing Challenge}

It's my turn on the Paper Issues blog. Here's my post:

Hi, Paper Issues Friends! When the What's Brewin' challenge came up, I jumped at the assignment because my husband and I are total foodies and go on dining adventures every Sunday after church! The challenge is to share something about your favorite drink, coffee shop or place to get a bite to eat.

I searched for a cut file in the Paper Issues store and found the perfect one! The Wonky Chevron free cut file reminded me of going up and down the side streets of Frederick. And I the "Adventure" in my title came from the Dragon Tails & Adventures free cut file.

              

I love the way Rachel Lowe used half of the cut file and covered up the rest of the paper. I lifted that idea, but flipped the page around. I used Fancy Pants Golden Days papers. Although it's an autumn collection, the colors are nice and neutral and went well with my photos.

Whatever page you can imagine, you can find a free cut file in the Paper Issues Store! Go check them out, and while you're there, check out all the cool new stuff in the store. Use my code Debbi (no e on the end) for 20% off your entire purchase.

I hope you'll play along with this or one of the many other fun challenges for a chance to win a gift card to the Paper Issues store!