You Fill Up My Heart | Paper Issues InstaParade

We're kicking off March with an Insta-Parade at Paper Issues today!

Here's what I've added to the parade. I'm making layouts for my students again this year, and school policy has changed, so I can't post student pictures, even with parent permission, so I've just superimposed a picture of me as a kid on top of my student, which is why my picture looks so funny. But it looks better than blurring out the faces, don't you think?

I used  the aptly named FREE cut file called You Fill Up My Heart and backed it with all super-old scraps. 

After backing the heart, I mounted it on black cardstock to add further contrast to the background, a I outlined the hearts to give them more definition. I did some stamping in the background and then went in search of green and neutral accents in my stash.

I've had that scalloped Doodlebug border in my stash for eons. I'm always so happy to use older stash.

This stamped bird was sitting on my table, a reject from a layout I made a couple of months ago. So perfect that it was stamped on green paper!

I hope you'll come visit the parade on Instagram. And I hope that you will please use my discount code Debbi (no e on the end) when you shop at the Paper Issues store because you will get 20% off everything in the store. No expiration date!

Holiday Traditions | Paper Issues Free Cut File

I made this back in November for Paper Issues with a free cut file, but never got a chance to post it on my blog when Farzad went to the hospital.

I used the Holiday Titles free cut file.

Here are some details. I used Crate Paper's Snow and Cocoa collection. I love that collection so much! Those tassels are huge for my 8 x 8 pages, but I just couldn't resist putting one on my page.

I love fussy cutting!

How fun are those little birds! 

I hope you will please use my discount code--Debbi (no e on the end)--when you shop at Paper Issues. You'll get 20% off every single thing in the store--every single day!

Deck the Halls | Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday

I'm super-excited that I got to do all four Scraplift Sunday challenges over at Paper Issues this month. Here's what I made:

And here's Sindi's awesome page that we scraplifted.

I used lots of old stash on my page. The trees were cut out of an old Daisy D's paper. I added some poinsettias cut out of an old Girls Paperie paper.

The label behind the photo was cut out of an old Teresa Collins paper. I topped it with a layered poinsettia sticker I recently bought from Hobby Lobby.

This label was also from that same Teresa Collins paper. The layered Christmas tree sticker is also from Hobby Lobby.

The sparkly red Thickers are also quite old, but perfect for a Christmas layout. The striped paper I used is old Collage Press paper. I found that red scallop-y border in my stash, and the sewn-on ric-rac is a nod to Sindi's stitching.

I hope you'll come play in this or one of the many other challenges at Paper Issues. You could win a gift certificate! And if you shop at the store, please use my code, Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off your entire purchase!

Happy Birthday | CSI Cold Case File No. 308 + Paper Issues Free File Challenge

Have you played with our stash-busting Cold Cases at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration? It's a great way to use up some of your old stuff! As a Paper Issues design team member, I always like to combine my CSI challenges with Paper Issues' challenges. They have so many FUN challenges.

Here are the Case File and clues for the CSI challenge:

Image credit: Oh Happy Day

Product clues I used: older bright, colorful papers; buttons, bling, a never-used stencil with texture paste, a birthday-themed title by 2Crafty, one of our prime sponsors this year--I painted it white and then added glittery Stickles.

Design clues: Pie chart, tone-on-tone, papers in rainbow order, fringe.

The Paper Issues Free File challenge is to use one of their hundreds of FREE cut files. There's seriously a FREE cut file available for any layout you can imagine! I used the cut file called Slices of Life.

Here are some details from my page.

I love the inspiration image and wanted to try to recreate that rainbow donut element. I had in mind something similar to what Lynette Jacobs created, with buttons behind the cut file, but she beat me to it, so instead I backed the circular pie chart cut file with a bunch of old patterned papers in rainbow order, meeting several of the clues (old bright, colorful papers; old papers with the colors from The Scene; create a pie chart, use papers in rainbow order).

You can see I used bling in the form of the old Heidi Swapp crown, and another clue was the fringe. The birthday element I used was the chipboard title piece by 2Crafty, from when I was on their design team. I painted it white and then coated it with Stickles. They're a sponsor this month!

The pie chart sort of looks to me like a cut birthday cake from a bird's eye view. And I can never pass up the opportunity to use up some of my millions of buttons, so I added them on top of the patterned paper. I also added Stickles to the clouds, which I fussy-cut from an old My Little Shoebox paper.

The stencil is by Echo Park, and this was the first time I used it, which is another clue. That chipboard frame is by 2Crafty. The crown and the glittery elements I added were a nod to the caption my friend had written on Facebook, with this picture of her daughter's birthday.

I hope you'll come play along with us at CSI and at Paper Issues. You could win a prize from one of our sponsors at CSI:

And if you play along at Paper Issues, you could win a gift certificate! While you're over at Paper Issues perusing all the free cut files, be sure to stop in the store and check out all the cool scrappy stuff for sale! Please use my code, Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off your entire purchase!

Rollin' With My Gnomies | Paper Issues Vintage Scraplift

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

Hey, everybody! I'm sharing a layout I made for a new challenge called Vintage Lift. For this challenge, you'll want to choose a layout you've made from when you first started scrapping and scraplift yourself and then post them both to see how your style and products have changed. Here's what I created:

I've been scrapping for nearly 20 years, but I decided to choose a layout from 10 years ago:

I used PhotoPlay's Kringle and Company collection for my layout, as well as two of Paper Issues' awesome free cut files, Gnomies and Freeze Frame Snowflakes

            

When I lifted myself, I decided to go with the same basic composition. I substituted that scalloped circular element with a more updated background cut file. I used vellum as the strip in the center of the design so as not to cover up all those beautiful snowflakes.

How stinkin' cute are these gnomes? And the title "Rollin' with my Gnomies," which is a title in the cutfile set was the perfect title for this picture of my friend's adorable kids posing in the snow for our local news station's #snowstick photo challenge. I just used the "Rollin'" part of the cut file and used some rub-on letters and Thickers for the rest of the title. 

I love combining older supplies with newer, so I added those fabric brads, and of course the vellum is an older supply.

I know I sort of cheated by choosing a layout from 10 years ago, but if you saw my first layouts, you'd realize there's nothing at all scraplift-worthy. Here's a peek at the first layout I ever posted over at Two Peas in a Bucket, back in 2003, when I scrapped 8.5 x 11 (I started out 12 x 12, and back in those days, we'd scan our layouts, which was nearly impossible to do). I now scrap 8 x 8.

I hope you'll give this challenge a try. Share your creation in our Facebook group for a chance to win a gift certificate to the shop. Speaking of the store, go check out all the latest and greatest scrappy stuff, and please use my code, Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off your entire purchase!

Christmas Joy | Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday

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

It's Sunday, and you know what that means! We have an awesome layout for you to scraplift, and here's what I made:

I was thrilled to be chosen to lift Mary-Ann's amazing page:

I was enamored with that circle and even though I have that paper, I scrap 8 x 8, and I wasn't sure it would work. Plus I had the idea of creating a Christmas ornament, and the brown wouldn't go with the Pebbles Merry Little Christmas collection I wanted to use. So I looked online and found a geneaology fan chart that I could download for free and printed it on white cardstock. I had to fiddle with it to get it right, adding circles over the image so I could cut them with my scissors easily.

I pretty much replicated Mary-Ann's layout because it was just perfect the way she made it. The beautiful script "Christmas" in the title is from the Paper Issues Free Cut File called Pines & Needles.

I loved Mary-Ann's tags and the loopy twine. Being a scrapper for almost 20 years means I have lots of stash, and I dug through my stash looking for tags that would match the colors and adorned them with stickers from the Merry Little Christmas collection.

I added a gold rectangle, some foliage, and some old ribbon from my stash to the top to make the circle look like an ornament.

I hope you'll come join this or one of the many other challenges at Paper Issues. Post your creation in our Facebook group, and you may win a gift card to the shop! Speaking of the shop, there's always lots of the latest and greatest. Please use my code, Debbi (no e on the end) and you'll get 20% off your entire purchase!