Paper Issues and a Pocket Full of Sunshine!

hey there, chickens! 

new issue today at Paper Issues, and i am DELIGHTED to share something slightly out of character!  i don't get tired of making cards, i assure you, but i got this set of photos from my Instagram feed, and i couldn't resist some of the new pretties i got with my last Paper Issues order.  i made a SCRAPBOOK PAGE!  yep.  craziness!

our theme for the next two weeks is A Pocket Full of Sunshine, and there are SO many fun things you can do with this!  sun.  son!  pockets.  pictures of pockets.  something that's FULL.  anything bright and happy.  whatever!

our sponsor?  the very fun Panda Eight Designs - specializing in some of the most AWESOME flair ever!  (go LIKE their Facebook page!)

here's my page...

LOVE the gradient chevron paper from Chic Tags, and you might not be able to tell, but that pink and white polka dotted panel is actually the new Doodlebug Sprinkles Vellum in white over a piece of plain blush cardstock.  i'm in LOVE with the vellum.  i bought it in EVERY. SINGLE. COLOR.  and some multiples.  those cute little chevron stickers are also new from Doodlebug (get 'em here!). 

zoom!

used some goodies from the inimitable Swag Bag (random pieces appear on random projects), and the alphas are from Jillibean Soup (the title is in Grapefruit Pink, and so is the date, layered over Blueberry Teal), little Amy Tangerine stickers, giant Selfie title from some super old Cosmo Cricket stash, and that gold foil paper behind the sun rays cuts is new from Fancy Pants (and it's fabulous)...

zoom again!

loving the Panda Eight Flair!  (and my Dymo label buddy is always within reach)

AND not only is the lovely Panda Eight Designs offering up FIVE flair packs of the winner's choice (she even made one specifically for this issue!), but we have a DISCOUNT CODE for you, too!  use SUNSHINE20 at checkout for 20% off your order!

CLICK HERE to check out the rest of the Paper Issues Creative Team's creations for this issue and to get in on the action!  i'm still kind of in shock over the fact that i SCRAPPED.  :)

OH, and here's a little something for you!

...lastly, i combined the sketch AND the color inspiration challenge at Unity's {be inspired} challenge, because, seriously, how awesome is the sketch?! (i was pretty true to it, which is a first for me!)  and how perfect are the colors?!  the stamps i used are We Click (camera) and Could I Be Any Cuter? (rainbow) - and this is the first time i've used stamps on a scrappy page, too! 

can't go wrong with a cute elephant

hey there, chickens!  back again on a late Saturday night/early Sunday morning because i can't sleep.  i've been sorting and organizing and purging and when i went through one of my stamp drawers, Unity called to me.  this "written in the clouds" stamp leapt out of the drawer and begged to be used.  on something.  anything.  i HAD to have it, and i love it, but i've never inked the thing up...  until tonight!

card #2 for this month's Unity challenge!  i did the card sketch already, so now i'm using the color combo...

the first thing i did was layer up a piece of vellum and a square of washi over a piece of an upcycled envelope (from a bill!) and stamped the clouds in StazOn (Hydrangea Blue).  i stamped the elephant and sentiment from "could i be any cuter?" on some LilyKate paper from BasicGrey using Memento (London Fog), then doodled a cloud and outlined the elephant with a black Sharpie.  cut them out, cut a couple of green mounds and snipped 'em into grass, pop dotted them up and assembled everything, adding enamel dots and hearts:

usually i struggle with colour challenges that use more than, say, 3 different colours (i can do it on my own, i just have a really hard time when the colours are pre-determined), but i found this one much easier (despite the periwinkle!)...  there were scraps of everything lying on my table, and they were perfect!  here's the colour palette (one of the three challenge options!):

and that's gonna do it for tonight!  trying NOT to stay up too late tonight, since tomorrow i'm at Barre-Fusion in the morning, then i have to shower and get ready for a day on the road with hubbin.  i see some WaWa coffee in my near future!  :D

sketchy goodness at Unity!

happy MONDAY, chickens!  yep, i'm a little excited to have a 3-day weekend, so last night i was up VERY late and totally got my craft on.  lemme tell ya - it felt GOOD and i'm inspired to keep going today!

i decided to join in the fun at Unity for their challenge this month...  there are THREE to choose from - a colour challenge, a card sketch and a scrapbook page sketch.  i may actually dig through some papers to try the colour challenge, too, since i have all this fab natural light to enjoy today and no place to go until dinner time!

i used my favourite tree from the Eco Chic set (an oldie but a goodie!), and paired it up with a sentiment and the bird from Birdie Inspiration:

picked out some earthy looking patterned paper and sprayed with Heidi Swapp's Color Shine in Navy using a dotty little stencil/mask...  coloured the image with my Prismacolor pencils, added a tag for my sentiment, a smidge of twine and popped up the birds...  LOVE this tree.  LOVE this birdie set.  i have used the simple greetings for SO many cards.  wish you could see the fun shimmer on this card - Heidi does good work!  ;)

here's the sketch on which my card is based:

annnnnnnd with that, OFF TO THE CRAFT CAVE!  :)  hope you're all having a fabulous day.  the sun is shining here, there's a kitty snoozing behind me, and Sondre Lerche music playing to inspire me.  life is good!

(added to the Paper Issues link party for the Mix Tape issue - mixed media is fun and i need to do it more!)

isn't she PRETTY IN PINK?! come and play at Charisma!

hi there, folks! SUPER busy over here getting ready for CHA and wrapping up a lot of loose ends with work, plus i'm taking a new class that's eating up a bunch of my time, and i'm pleased to say that i've re-joined the gym!

yeah, BUSY! i ain't lyin'!

but it's time to share another fabulous CHARISMA challenge with you, at Team Carly is at bat and we have some amazing sponsors again this time around! wanna play? JOIN US!

our theme this week.... PRETTY IN PINK! (great movie, no?)

yes, this means that we want to see PINK on your creations. but please, don't just submit any ol' project because it has SOME pink on it - the predominant colour must be pink, so we wanna see LOTS of it!

take this, for example...

nearly ALL pink, except for a hint of brown and purple. that's what i'm talkin' about!

check out this flower - don't you LOVE the pin? it's from Paperchase
(as i have a bit of an obsession with them, thanks to Lauren!).

a rather strange colour combination, even for ME, but i was really pleased at how this one came together. the stamp is from Unity, and i'm quite smitten with this set because there are some lovely quotes in it. :)

sponsoring this week are the lovely

and

so we wanna see you make something PRETTY with PINK! CLICK HERE and join the Charisma Galz by next Wednesday, February 1st and you might be one of our lucky winners or faves!

i'm also joining in the fun at:

Stampalot Challenge - they're looking for Monochromatic creations
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - "Anything Goes"
Papertake Weekly - "Happy Highlights" - i used the frame and the border punches