Auntie Loves Me {Paper Issues Keep It Sketchy Challenge}

So, my husband is going to France for his niece's wedding. Unfortunately, I cannot go because the wedding coincides with school starting back up for me, but I'm making some pages for the bride's sister who has the most adorable son. I've been wanting to make some pages for her, and this is the perfect opportunity. I'm trying to make as many pages as possible before he leaves in two weeks, and Paper Issues' challenges are the perfect thing to give me inspiration. I made this one for the Keep It Sketchy challenge:

Here's the sketch we had to use for this challenge. I flipped it horizontally.

I have so many supplies, and oftentimes, I sit there catatonic trying to decide what I should use. For this layout, I challenged myself to use a 6 x 6 paper pad and chose a random number to decide which bin to choose from and then to pick the first pad that would work with these photos, and My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste Presh won.

I think my layout looks a little old school and flat, but I did lift up the fussy-cut jar with pop dots and added some puffy stickers. I mentioned this in another post, but I'm adding a heart to each of the layouts so the little guy can have fun looking for them.

I hope you'll come play with us and add your layout to our Facebook group for a chance to win a gift certificate at the Paper Issues store. Speaking of the store, make sure you add my code when shopping, Debbi (no e on the end), and get 20% off your entire purchase!

Lovely {Paper Issues Getting Chippy Challenge}

Paper Issues has SO many fun challenges, and having extra time to scrap during the summer, I naturally want to play in all of them! I was indecisive, so I asked Kelly and Devra during their live scrap & chat yesterday morning to assign me a challenge, and they told me to play in the "Getting Chippy" challenge, which asks us to stop hoarding our chipboard and use it!

I came across a full sheet of My Mind's Eye On Trend chipboard, and the colors perfectly matched a photo I had sitting on my desk, so here's what I created:

Here are some details. I have a 6 x 6 pad of this On Trend collection, which is where that "Today is the Best..." cut-apart came from. I added those rhinestones, which are super old, at the last minute. The flowers, tag, and heart in the image below are all from the  On Trend chipboard sheet. 

For the background, I applied Heidi Swapp Colorshine in peach and mint using the packaging technique. I then used a Kaisercraft stencil and texture paste to add some dimension.

The leaves are die cut from a die by Simply Graphic, a Fench company. I added the flower brads at the last minute to give those chipboard flowers a little more interest. The "lovely" title is also from the On Trend chipboard set. I stamped the punched butterflies with a scripty text font.

I hope you'll come play along with some of our wonderful challenges at Paper Issues, and be sure to share them in the Paper Issues Friends & Fans Facebook group for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Issues shop, and while you're there getting some of the latest and greatest products, you can get 20% off your entire order by using my code, Debbi (no e on the end).

Sparkle {Clique Kits December Challenge}

I'm on winter break, and it's so nice to have a bit of extra time to create layouts just for the fun of it (not that creating layouts for DT commitments aren't fun, but I mean I'm not under any kind of time pressure). Anyway, Tracee and I were looking for a fun challenge to try, and we came across the December Challenge at Clique Kits, which features this sketch:

Here's my interpretation of this challenge. I was looking at that diamond shape in the background and thought, why not make it a gem diamond? And I found that I already owned a cut file for my Silhouette Cameo, so that was perfect. I sort of flipped the sketch, but hopefully you can see the sketch in my page.

Here are some details. I used papers from My Mind's Eye On Trend 2 collection to back the facets of the diamond. You can't tell from the photo (it's so hard photographing shiny things), but that little clear sticker is gold foiled. The enamel dots are also sparkly gold. I also found some glittery gold Heidi Swapp reinforcements in my stash. I used watercolor paints and the packaging technique to add splashes to the background.

This shiny chipboard title is from Simple Story's Posh collection. The little glittery arrow is by MAMBI. I blended out my student's name, in case you're wondering. I'm making scrapbook pages for each of my students.

Here are two more gold-foiled chipboard pieces from the Posh Collection and a glittery MAMBI heart.

Finally, a glittery gold Heidi Swapp frame.

2Crafty September DT Work

It's my turn to share my design team work on the 2Crafty blog today. Here's my post.
"Live It Up"

Every summer, my sister and brother-in-law splurge on season tickets 

to a local concert venue, and this is a picture they took from a recent concert. 

The "Live It Up" title was a perfect starting point to celebrate this summer event.

For the "Live It Up" title and "2015's" date, I first applied gesso to the chipboard. 

Then I colored the pieces with teal stamp ink and added texture by stamping on top of them 

with darker ink using a Kaiser Craft texture stamp. 

Finally, I used a white gel pen to outline the letters and numbers. 

The curvy arrow is from the "Crazy Arrow" set. 

I used silver Zing glitter embossing powder to give the page some sparkle. 

I used black ink to color the "Small Film Strip" and yellow ink on the "Handdrawn Stars."

I covered a small frame from the "Polaroid Assortment" with patterned paper.  The "Music Notes" were a perfect addition to this page,  and I used the silver embossing powder to match the curvy arrow. 2Crafty products used on this layout:
Live It Up 2015's Handdrawn Stars Polaroid Assortment Crazy arrows Small Film Strips Music Notes

"Adore You"

Meet my sweet Miss Maisey. Here she is posing with her pretty pink toenails  which we bought to prevent her from scratching the furniture.  Alas, she wasn't having any of that and chewed them off in a matter of days.  Fortunately I got this sweet picture before they were gone. I found lots of wonderful chipboard to adorn my layout.

How awesome is that great big "Doodled Heart?" 

It's wonderful for serving as both a background layer 

and a canvas for holding your title and adding bits to decorate your page. 

I swiped various shades of pink ink on the heart to give it a mottled texture 

and match the various pinks on my page.

The "Adore You" was the perfect title to express my feelings about this picture. 

I used white paint to color the title.

Oh, how I love those little hearts from the "ATC Tiny Hearts and Stars" sheet. 

They are just perfect for adding a sweet little extra. 

I colored them with pink stamp ink and then added some Stickles for sparkle.

The Chevron Bits, which I colored first with gesso  and then with various shades of stamp ink to match my papers,  were perfect to point to the subject of my layout. 2Crafty products used on this layout:
Doodled Heart ATC Tiny Hearts and Stars Adore You Chevron Bits

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a peek at my pages. 

I hope I gave you some ideas for using the beautiful 2Crafty chipboard. 

And remember, to find a 2Crafty stockist near you, drop an email to...
salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au

Please Stay Thin {CSI Case File No. 144}

 File No. 144 is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration:

I used this prompt from "Thought Questions"

Here's my page. Clues I used...Evidence: Paint/watercolor (sort of), polka dots, stripes, triangles, lightbulbs, tickets, clips, clouds, ampersand, phrase stickers, and metal. Testimony: Thought Questions.

Here are some details: I used scraps from a variety of manufacturers, including Pebbles (yellow clouds), My Mind's Eye (and the stripe and the ampersands). That awesome lightbulb is by 2Crafty. I used gelatos and mist to create a watercolor-ish look on my background. I used a variety of stamps. *The Truth is by  Amy Tangerine, the triangles are by Glitz Design, and the ledger is by Marion Smith Designs. The pointing finger is a Heidi Swapp stamp and directs you to my hidden journaling on the back, which is a longer letter to my younger self pleading with her to stay fit and thin because I have forever struggled with my weight. My weight problem seriously plagues me.

I added a little Magic Mesh for texture. The label is by Fontwerks, and the brad is by My Mind's Eye.

I tucked a My Mind's Eye ticket and a journaling card by My Mind's Eye behind the layers. You can't tell how thin I really was because of the ginormous shadow behind me, but I was thin once upon a time. I even had a collarbone, LOL. I think I was fifteen in that picture.

Anyway, you must stop by and see all the fabulous pages by our design team and guest designers.

P is for Philotherian {CSI Case File No. 89}

Case File No. 89 just opened last night at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. It's a fun Case File with an interesting mix of colors. When I was brainstorming for September themes, my birthday came to mind--September is my birthday month, so I thought it would be fun to have a little hodgepodge of themes that tell a little bit about me. I have a quirky affinity for  the alphabet. I love to alphabetize things. I love typography and the way letters look. I collect alphabet books--I have almost 600! 

I always love the second week at CSI because we have a Page Drafts sketch created just for us by the lovely and talented Em Stafrace. 

I'm back this week with another installment of Tracee and Debbi's Excellent Adventures.

Clues I used...Evidence: animal accents, polka dots, stripes, brackets, two alphabets, dotted lines, scallops, triangles; Testimony: use the alphabet to journal.

Here are some details. I knew I wanted to do an alphabet thing for my journaling, and with that big monogram in the sketch, that's what I went with. I wanted to find a word that meant word lover so I looked up the greek root phile and found this word that means "someone who has a special love for animals," which perfectly describes Tracee--and me, which is why we're kindred spirits. This picture shows Tracee with my kitties. Little Brent is incredibly shy and scared of EVERYONE. Whenever we have company, he hides. He'll hide for a whole week when we have house guests, but he came out of hiding for Tracee and even let her pet him!

The little cats adorning my page were cut from a BasicGrey Max and Whiskers paper. I was so lucky that the colors on that paper were close enough to go with the palette. The brad is by K&Co. I bought a ton of those things and hardly ever use them.

The alphabets I used are vinyl Thickers and some really old letters that I think I got in a QVC kit years ago--they were the perfect letters. That speech bubble is from an Amy Tangerine paper.

Here's my Little Brent (black and white) and Freckle Face (the calico). The papers I used are by My Mind's Eye, from different collections. The brads are by Making Memories and Crate Paper. 

The triangles in the background were made with texture paste and a Crafter's Workshop stencil. The frames were cut out of an old Chatterbox paper with my Silhouette Cameo. I made dotted lines by punching really small circles. You can see I outlined a few of the dots just for fun on that blue polka dot paper.

Come on by and check out the awesome work created by our design team and guest designers. We have prizes from our sponsor, Flying Unicorn, for each week this month, so I hope you'll play with us!

Playful {CSI Case File No. 87}

I love the colors on our current Case File at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

I almost didn't post this because I hate how my layout turned out. But it's another chapter of Tracee & Debbi's Excellent Adventures, so I had to post it on my blog. As you can see, it's a hot mess. I worked on it for a whole week. I stitched the main thing on crooked. I kept adding stuff because it just didn't look right, and I should've quit while was ahead. I'm really disappointed because, as I said, I loved the colors. And I love this picture of Tracee.

Clues I used... Evidence: map print, butterflies, stitching, mist, arrows, rub-ons, word stickers. Testimony: Write about a trip (Tracee's trip here) and make your journaling wander across the page.

I used a sketch from ScrapFriends.

Here are some details. The background paper is by BasicGrey. The other papers are by My Mind's Eye and Echo Park. That hello button is from 2Peas. When I discovered my layout was crooked, I decided I'd add something to the bottom left of my cluster. I accidentally stuck that Spirit sticker and it STUCK. I tried to get it off, but it was ripping the picture, so there it stayed.

In the background, I used a Crafter's Workshop stencil with stamp ink, Heidi Swapp mist, and the pink flowers are old Fancy Pants rub-ons. That HELLO speech bubble is cut out of a My Mind's Eye paper, from the new Cut and Paste collection.

My title letters are glittery--they're by Sassafras Lass. I wanted to add arrows, and found a little stamp. YOu can see on the top of the layout I screwed that up too. They came out okay on the bottom. What a goober.

These butterflies are in the Coordinates this week. I cut the map print out of the Case File image--thank you, Tracee, for that idea. The "adore" bit is really old--a Heidi Swapp journaling spot.

If you want to see some real loveliness, go check out what the rest of the team and guest designers made with this Case File.