The Cutest Pirate | Paper Issues Walk the Plank Challenge

Paper Issues is having pirate-themed challenges in June, and I just happen to have several pictures of friends' kids that are pirate themed, so I knew I had to play along. You don't have to use the theme, just the idea behind the challenge. This one is for the "Walk the Plank" challenge, which challenges us to use woodgrain paper.

How cute is this picture of my friend's little girl? I scoured my stash for pirate-y odds and ends and found the "ahoy there" sticker, which was actually a circle sticker, but I cut it out because it just looked weird as a circle. The stamps on this page (the seagulls and the compass) are by Les Ateliers de Karine, a French company. I found a red frame in my to match the colors in my layout and then die-cut another slide frame using a Bramble Fox die set. That gave me a few interesting layers behind my picture.

How adorable is this little pirate kid under the palm tree? It's an old October Afternoon sticker. I added a little heart to his hat because I always put hearts on the layouts I give away. I added a few more bits--a starfish cut with a Bramble Fox die, an old shell brad from my stash, a tweet and another heart to bring some red to this little cluster. The palm tree looked awkard just sitting there on that white plank paper, so I tore a kraft grid paper scrap from my brown scraps drawer and created a little island.

This cute pirate ship was on the same sheet of stickers as the pirate. I added a little anchor die cut from a Bramble Fox die and some ocean water cut from a paper scrap.

About a year ago, I was reorganizing some of my stash and came upon this sheet of giant raw chipboard letters. They're especially large because I scrap 8 x 8. I've been determined to use them up. I'm getting close. I had enough letters to spell out pirate except for the r. There are never enough r's in letter packs. So I decided to make my own out of an n. I also lost the dot for the i and remembered I had a bunch of little chipboard hearts from when  was on the 2crafty team. I painted the raw chipboard with a black Pitt marker. Those awesome sunrays are from a stencil by Bramble Fox. I used some Tim Holtz distress ink and then outlined them with a fineline marker.

My Little Pumpkin | Paper Issues Woodn't You Know It Challenge

I made this layout for a fun Paper Issues challenge that challenged us to use wood.

I used Simple Stories Cozy Days plus a few odds and ends from my stash. The white elements were cut with dies by Bramble Fox. I have a bazillion Heidi Swapp chipboard letters from long, long ago, and I like to use them whenever I get a chance.

Besides the wood background, I found some wood veneer elements in my stash that worked well in the embellishment clusters. I wanted to add lots of layers to this page, and I used one of my old border punches to add some extra orange.

I'm always happy when I can use one of these old Studio Calico wood veneer tweets (I think I bought like 4 packages when I saw them on sale once).

When I was trimming the bit from the border-punched orange paper, there was a little piece left that reminded me of some old clips I used to have and I stapled it onto the photo.

Best Day Ever | Paper Issues Take 5 Challenge

Today's my turn to share a layout on the Paper Issues blog. Here's my post:

Hey, everyone! I'm here with a layout I created for the Take 5 challenge.

If you've never played in the Take 5 challenge, it's simple. Take a minimum of 5 items from the provided list or take more! Here, there is no limit! I chose 7 items: black, white, stamping, twine, enamel dots, stars, ephemera.

I wanted the black and white from the list to be prominent, so I looked through my photos and found these darling pictures of our great-niece's birthday party. When I looked back at the list and saw that twine and ephemera were items, I thought of using them to make a banner, which would make a perfectly festive page. I have some containers where I keep my miscellaneous ephemera pieces stored by color and just picked out pieces to work with the color scheme, set them with eyelets, and threaded the baker's twine to create my banner. Stars were an item on the list, and the Thickers I used had stars to match on the sheet.

That great big red bow was in the red ephemera container, and I knew I had to use it because it reminded me of the big bow Minnie mouse wears, and my great-niece is wearing a red bow.

I found a second bow in my black ephemera container. I had already added some stars that went with my title, but when I saw stamping as an item, I looked through my stamp inventory to find some stars and found this fun stamp with tiny stars that reminded me of confetti. Of course, I rounded out the layout with enamel dots, another item from the Take 5 list.

I had loads of fun digging through my ephemera to make this banner. I hope you'll join me in this challenge and share it in our Facebook group. You might even win a gift certificate to the Paper Issues store. Speaking of the store, please use my discount code, Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, every time you shop!

You Shine Bright | Paper Issues Monochromatic Fanatic Challenge

I'm up on the Paper Issues blog today. Here's my post:

Hey, everyone! I'm so excited to share a layout I made for the Monochromatic Fanatic challenge. I've been making layouts to give to each of my 29 fourth grade students.

Besides the yellow on the Monochromatic moodboard, I also drew inspiration from the bees, the flowers, the twine, and the lemon slices.

When I saw that the challenge was yellow,  I immediately thought of the Sunburst Background free cut file. I love this kind of cut file because I can use up some of my paper scraps. All of the patterned papers on my layout came from my scrap drawers.

I love this challenge because it gets me digging through my stash to discover things I might have forgotten about, like these little bee stickers I've had in my stash forever. I might never have thought of using them if it hadn't been for the moodboard!

I added some lemon slices cut from an old Jillibean Soup patterned paper, inspired by the moodboard.

To add some more interest to the sun rays, I applied Nuvo Drops. I just love those things! So much fun and so much cheaper than enamel dots, and you can make them in any size you want!

I hope you'll give this challenge a try. The yellow is so bright and cheery, and creating this layout made me so happy! As I said, a cut file is a great way to use a bunch of scraps, and Paper Issues has HUNDREDS of FREE cut files. You're sure to find the perfect one for any topic you want to scrap. While you're checking out the cut files, stop by the shop and see all the new goodies. Please use my discount code, Debbi (no e on the end), and you'll get 20% off everything, no expiration date!

Love You | Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday

It's Sunday, and that means it's Scraplift Sunday at Paper Issues! One of my favorite challenges and perfect for when you are just stuck. I'm making layouts for each of my 29 students, and at the time I'm writing this blog post, I've completed 28, and have one more to go.

Here's Lou's awesome page I scraplifted.

Here are some details. I was saving this fun thumbs-up hand for this sweet girl's page, so I primarily used Dear Lizzy's It's All good collection, plus a few bits from my stash. I love that sparkly yellow alpha. It's so fun and playful, and perfect for kid pages. It's an older pack of Thickers. Lucky for me, I bought two packs.

Most of the things I used to fill the rectangles are from the Dear Lizzy collection. I added a wood veneer bird and a fabric brad.

Most of my pages have lots of detail filling up the page, and my page was looking a little plain compared to the others I made for my students, so I decided to add borders to the top and bottom. The yellow floral piece is an old Doodlebug Frills. I added Nuvo Drops at the end. They're such a fun touch!

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

You should stop by the Paper Issues shop, 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!

You Mean the World to Me | Paper Issues Spring Crop

Last weekend, Paper Issues held their spring crop. Challenges are open until midnight April 5, so you still have this weekend to play. Here is my layout and the challenge I played in:

When I saw the circle theme, I thought of this awesome free Paper Issues globe cut file called It's a Beautiful World.

Here are some details. My starting point was the globe, and I decided I'd back it with a map print.  The muted colors of the map I chose led me to use a cream background I found in an October Afternoon travel collection 8 x 8 pad. The title was a natural one to use. I love mixing up different alphabets in my titles. The red felt ones have been in my stash forever. I decided a wood veneer geotag would be the perfect thing to add to the O.

I keep my travel-themed embellishments in a drawer together and found this cute chipboard airplane from Simple Stories Travel Notes collection. It wasn't showing up very well on the cream-colored background, so I backed it with red. I added some clouds I fussy cut out of a pattterned paper by My Little Shoebox. I lifted all of these elements up on pop dots. The globe is also mounted on pop dots for added dimension.

I found a few flair badges that worked with the colors. That red paper behind the grid paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Joy Ride collection that's been hanging out  in my travel paper folder for far too long.

Before I stuck everything down, I did some stamping and splattering with watercolors in the background.The chipboard Vespa and passport are from the same sheet as the airplane. I added a few more odds and ends and called my layout done!

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!

You should stop by the Paper Issues shop, 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!

So Sweet | Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday

So I've been making layouts to give to each of my students, and I made another one, this time for Paper Issues Scraplift Sunday, one of my favorite challenges.

My page doesn't do justice to Kelly's amazing layout:

Here are some details. I used Cocoa Vanilla's Happiness collection for this, plus an old Basic Paper (the blue) and some word stickers and enamel dots.

I lifted my elements up with pop dots to give my layout extra dimension.

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!

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!