Hello Sunshine | CSI Case File No. 388

I made this layout last month for CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, featuring a picture of my friend's daughter. 

Here are the Case File and Clues that inspired this layout:

The beautiful Scene was found on Pinterest.

I was inspired by all the florals and greenery in The Scene, as well as the wreath. In addition to using the colors, I used the following Evidence clues: stripes, flowers, greenery, layers, wood, paint, jars (in the photo), hearts, wreath, circles, lemons, cursive, flair.

Here are some details. I started with a free cut file from Paper Issues called Bud Wreath. I love white on white, but the cut file was getting lost on the background, so I added some yellow ink with a blending brush and some paint splatters, and it still wasn't standing out enough, so I cut it a second time in green and mounted the white on top of that, and that did the trick. 

I looked through my stash for yellow floral paper but couldn't find any, so I decided to use some Vicki Boutin flower stamps to add to my wreath. I used alcohol markers to color them in. The title is from a Simple Stories foam sticker pack. I always add a heart (or more) to the layouts I give to my friends, and I found a perfect flair badge to add, which met the heart and circle clue. And I found a paper in my stash with lemons for the lemon clue and fussy cut those to add to my floral clusters. In retrospect, I wish I had flipped the design because it looks a little top heavy, but I don't always see these things until they're on the computer screen and it's too late.

Once I had all the flowers arranged, I added some more details, like the branches made with a die from Simply Graphic, some phrase stickers, and some rub-on phrases. I tried to add dimension to the stamped flowers and leaves by adding some folds in them. I stitched the white page onto a green background--that paper is really old, by K&Co. Some wooden hearts and enamel dots finished off my page.

Even though this challenge is over tomorrow, we've got new challenges every month at CSI, so I hope you'll come play with us!

Fall Dream | CSI Case File No.336 and Paper Issues Free-File Challenge

I made this page back in November for CSI's Case File No. 336.  I also played along with Paper Issues' Free File Free-for-All challenge.

Here are the Case File and clues that inspired my page:

As you can see, I used the color scheme and lots of the Evidence clues--stripes, wood background, floral pattern, frames, puffy stickers, punctuation, leaves, stars, metal, fabric brads, something transparent, cursive fonts, and a metal die.

Here are some details. Almost everything on this page is super old. I used Paper Issues' Patchwork Pumpkin FREE cut file and backed it with old papers from my paper scraps drawers in colors to match the palette. The leaves are from the October Daily Dex FREE cut file.

Old little odds and ends from my stash to meet the clues: fabric brad, punctuation, old Crate Paper chipboard frame, Evalicious puffy sticker, metal BasicGrey brad.

That cool diecut behind the photo is by Bramble Fox. I always add a heart or two to the pages I give away as gifts. Nuvo drops are a great way to add some extra detail and texture.

The title was made from super old Heidi Swapp rub-ons that I rubbed onto white paper and fussy-cut. When I say old, I'm not lying. The package said 2003. That's almost 18 years old, people, and they still rubbed off like butter!

Another oldie--remember these transparent swirly embellishments from My Mind's Eye? I was glad to get this one out of the drawer and onto a page.

Fabulous Together | Paper Issues Free File Free for All Challenge

I had a little extra time last weekend, so I took advantage and played in a couple of Paper Issues challenges. Here's one I made for the Free File Free for All Challenge.

Here's the awesome cut file I used, called Wonky Pie Charts:

Here are some details. I used Simple Stories, Oh Happy Day!, which I've had for a while but never cracked open. Such a delightful collection that I thought was perfect for this photo of my friend and her beautiful daughters. I always like to add brads and found some fun ones in my stash to match my page.

Love the whimsy of these Florence alphabets by Bella Blvd. 

And the pink polka dot letters are also by Bella Blvd, from the Illustrated Faith collection. So cute!

How cute is that owl brad?

Ready for School | CSI Case File No. 331+ Paper Issues Free File Free for All Challenge

The second September Case File at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration reminded me of a perfect FREE cut file from Paper Issues, one of our sponsors this month. And I had the perfect picture of my friend's daughter to use for this challenge.

Here are the Case File and clues for this challenge:

I used the color scheme and as always, I challenged myself to use as many Evidence clues as I could. I managed to use dots, text pattern, stars, planet (globe), light bulb, school-related elements, alphabet as a design element, stacked books, transparent elements, dangle elements, punch, string, and decorative borders.

Here's the awesome FREE cut file I used from Paper Issues.

I always enjoy digging through my stash to find the perfect elements for my CSI pages. All of the papers I used to back the book cut files were from my paper scraps drawers. Most are pretty ancient.

That little schoolhouse was cut out of a paper. I found that pencil on a scrap of paper, but I didn't have any full-length pencils on the scrap, so I pieced two halves together and covered it up with some old Jenni Bowlin school-themed letter stickers. The pink ledger chipboard alphabet are old Making Memories Noteworthy. The black chipboard letters are from BasicGrey. When all else fails, add a Tweet wood veneer from Studio Calico.

These transparent light bulbs are by Maya Road. The stars were cut out of the same paper as the little schoolhouse in the above picture. Those scattered letters in the background are a stamp by Carabelle Studio. The cool black heart globe is a piece by Bramble Fox.

I found this old Studio Calico wood veneer school  days speech bubble in my stash, which was a perfect touch.

I hope you'll come play along with CSI. As always, we have loads of sponsors donating prizes each month.

I Love My Daddy | ACOT Guest Designer

I was delighted to be invited as a guest designer at A Cherry on Top.

As a part of guesting, they gave me $50 to spend in the shop and asked that I create three layouts and blog posts. Here is my first blog post, which will be published on the ACOT blog soon:



Something Old, Something New
by Debbi Tehrani

I’ve been scrapping since 2000, which means I’ve been collecting supplies for 20 years! The thing about this hobby, is they come out with fantastic supplies faster that I can use them, so I’ve got a range of stash that spans those two decades. I love using the latest and greatest products, but I have a fondness for my older stuff too, so I usually try to include both on my pages.

As a guest designer, I was invited to choose some new supplies from A Cherry on Top. For my first layout, I used Crate Paper’s lovely new collection, Fresh Bouquet.

I scrap 8 x 8, so I like to order the 6 x 8 pads, which I used on this layout. I also got a few sheets of 12 x 12 paper to serve as backgrounds, since the 6 x 8 pages aren’t quite big enough. Once I chose the Fern Paper for my background, I tore the edge of the top and added strips of the floral Heartfelt Paper from the 6 x 8 pad at the top and bottom. I always add hearts to the pages I give away, and I added some hearts from the Fresh Bouquet Sticker Sheet to one of the tags tucked behind the photo.

I think different textures add so much interest to my layouts, and I found a piece of pretty lace to tuck behind the torn paper. That “together” element is made of glass, and it’s an old embellishment from my stash. Believe it or not, the package said it was from 2003! I don’t think it looks too old! The ribbon I tied to the tag is also pretty old. I saved it from a gift I had received a few years ago. I save all kinds of things that I might find useful for my scrapping!

I love to layer elements, and I started off with a Paper Issues free cut file and then layered some tags and other ephemera and stickers from the Fresh Bouquet Ephemera pack and the Fresh Bouquet Sticker Sheet. I layered my photo on top of two papers from the 6 x 8 pad (the patterns called Cherish and Keepsake).

The Fresh Bouquet Puffy Alpha Thickers make such a pretty cursive title! The hummingbird and a sweet little heart and flower, all from the Fresh Bouquet Sticker Sheet were perfect to add to the open space in my title. I needed some flowers for the left side of my page, so I fussy cut some from the Flora Paper in the 6 x 8 pad. This paper has beautiful gold foiling on it which adds a lovely shimmer.

As a finishing touch, I added some Nuvo Vintage Drops in coordinating colors. I love adding enamel dots to my page, and Nuvo Drops, which come in a variety of colors and textures, are a great alternative. I especially love that you can control the size of the dots, which is especially important on my 8 x 8 pages.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas for using this beautiful new collection by Crate Paper, and I hope you’ve inspired you to mix old and new stash on your page!

Love You | Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday

I love Paper Issues' Scraplift Sunday challenge because it lets me try out other scrappers' styles. Here's my most recent page for this challenge:

Here is Kelly's gorgeous layout we got to lift:

I've been wanting to use this cut file, and now was the perfect chance. I loved the way the stripes looked behind the cut file. I almost wanted to use the same paper but I didn't want to totally copy, so I dug through my stash and found Dear Lizzy's Lovely Day collection that had some colorful stripes. I found an old raw chipboard frame which I colored with a gray Pitt Pen.

The title words are by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. They're the same ones Kelly used. I didn't have any stickers from the Dear Lizzy collection, so I fussy cut the flowers and houses. I outlined the inside of the cut file with a black pen, which is something I've been doing a lot lately. It really makes the cut file stand out, I think.

I really wanted to use a ticket like Kelly did because I have a gazillion tickets, but they just looked too large here for my 8 x 8 page.

The cut file is a FREE one at Paper Issues called Heart Waterfall. While you're over at Paper Issues checking out all the hundreds of awesome FREE cut files, be sure to look at all the awesome new goodies in the shop. 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! And be sure to play along with this or one of the many challenges over at Paper issues because you may just win a gift certificate to the shop!

Love | CSI Case File No. 322 + Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday

I created this layout for Case File No. 322 at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration and also for Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday challenge.

Here are the Case File and Clues for the CSI challenge. I loved the color scheme so much, I decided to make another layout for this Case File. This time, I omitted the pink, but the peach and navy reminded me of the Twilight Collection by One Canoe Two.

I used the following evidence clues: solid cardstock, patterns with plants, fruit, foliage, paint, labels, cut something, phrase stickers, and the same font with different colors.

Paper Issues is one of our sponsors this month, so I played along with one of the Scraplift Sunday challenges. Here is Kat's amazing layout I scraplifted.

I used a Paper Issues FREE cut file called Rainbow Corners.

I went through my paper scraps to find some solid-ish or painted-looking papers that matched the Twilight papers to back the rainbow, and I found tons of old papers that matched--Cosmo Cricket, old My Mind's Eye, Chatterbox... Love being able to combine old and newer stuff. Not sure what brad that collection belongs to, but I thought it went well with this collection.

Fruit was a clue, and I found a pinky-peach strawberry in another OneCanoeTwo collection. The stickers and labels are all from the Twilight collection.

One of the clue was to use a font in different colors, and I have a couple of different alphas that meet that description, but the BasicGrey letters matched the colors pretty well. I added some watercolor splashes to the background, and I always add hearts to layouts I give away.

I hope you'll come play along with CSI and with Paper Issues. You could win a gift card from both the CSI challenge or the Paper Issues challenge because Paper Issues is sponsoring us this month!

And please use my discount code, Debbi (no e on the end), when you shop at Paper Issues, and you'll get 20% off your entire order, all the time!