Sketchy Saturday at Paper Issues!

hey there, chickens!  it's SATURDAY!  i'm in Canada right now, taking care of business (there's still SO much to do for my Dad's estate and getting the house ready to sell), but welcome to a Sketchy Saturday, on the Paper Issues blog!

we've got awesome sketches for both scrappy pages and cards today, and while i've been doing a LOT of scrapbooking, today i'm going the card route because i knew i HAD to use this paper and saw the speech bubble in my mind.  the card practically made itself while i was sleeping!

here's my card, featuring the gorgeous Pinkfresh Studio paper, a label (cut in two) from the Fancy Pants Office Suite collection, the speech bubble die-cut from this fun Jen Hadfield set for Pebbles, and sentiment from Snarky Stamps (it's two of the sets mashed together):

i went for a pretty LITERAL translation for the sketch, but there's a lot you can do with it!  rotate it, flip it, change the shapes, as long as we can see the sketch!

and here's the layout sketch:

want to play along?  want to win this:

CLICK HERE and join us!  i promise you'll be RIDICULOUSLY inspired by the Paper Issues Creative Team and what they've done with BOTH sketches, in case your mojo just ain't goin'!  have fun!

It's a Paper Issues free printable ROUND-UP!

did you know there's a whole selection of free printables and cut files in the Paper Issues shop?  they're all designed by members of the awesome Creative Team.  they're released monthly.  they're perfect for journaling cards, pocket scrappin', or re-sizing for cards or pages or just little love notes.  and FREE.  they're free.

today, there's a printable round-up on the Paper Issues blog, and because The Son and i are going through some pretty big things in our lives right now, i couldn't help but lighten the mood and pair this nutty photo of us with one of my favourite printables...

there's a TON of fun stuff on this page, but i started out with gesso and bubble wrap to tone down the harshness of the red background.  i cut into some papers from my latest Paper Issues order - Pebbles Foliage and Webster's Pages What a Day - added some bits and pieces from older Swag Bags, chipboard pieces from Bella Blvd's Hearts & Stars, plus a couple of heart cuts and packaging from the new Pebbles Polaroid dies - added some other little bits from Fancy Pants and some bling, and voila!

zoom to the February printable!

another zoom to the chipboard and labels...

zoom to the other stuff:

so, hey, do YOU reuse packaging at all?  most of the stuff i buy is kept in its original packaging, but sometimes i can't help but cut it up and throw it on down.  the hexie strips and that stripey piece are from packaging. 

CLICK HERE to see what the rest of the Creative Team did to show off the awesome printables...  and don't forget to get in on our current issue which ends TONIGHT!  there's a new one kicking off tomorrow.

and if you want to check out the goodies in the Paper Issues shop, like the stuff i used on my page, GO SHOPPING and remember to use coupon code ORANGE for 20% off your entire order, ANYTIME!

there's something charming about our latest ISSUE!

hey there, chickens!  

how was your weekend?  i got my craft on, i picked up some free swag from the casino, i drank wine and conspired with my nifty friend, Orange Gearle, about how we're going to entertain the masses during our Scrap & Chat event in the Paper Issues Friends and Fans Facebook group on the 24th.  all in all, i had a pretty good weekend! 

so let's kick off an awesome week celebrating a new season (it's really TRYING to be spring here!), new life, new perspective, and a NEW ISSUE!

the very awesome Scrapbook Circle is sponsoring the latest link party at Paper Issues and i had a LOT of fun playing with papers and elements from their March kit, as well as their printables!

our theme...  "Prints Charming" - EASY one, right?  printed papers!  charms!  Disney!  a little prince or princess who might just own your heart.  maybe even a favorite book from childhood (Le Petit Prince comes to mind).  anything to do with prints (printables - we have them free in the Paper Issues shop!).  paw prints.  art.  WHATEVER!  it doesn't even have to be a new project - just LINK HERE and remember to link back to Paper Issues in your blog post.

here's what i did with their fantastic March kit:

EVERYTHING except the Thickers and the twine are from the kit - the black flags are actually cut from the printable and the circles and dragonfly are punched from the same papers as the page.  there are goodies from Simple Stories, Pinkfresh Studio, Bella Blvd and My Mind's Eye, and there's still SO much more i barely touched!

ZOOM because dimension and critter!

isn't he cute?!  his body and legs were all stripey and i kinda wished he was on MY car so he'd come home with me.

CLICK HERE to see what's cookin' on the Scrapbook Circle blog, and join the link party at Paper Issues to be eligible to win their March kit! 

ANNNND there are LOADS of hot new items in the Paper Issues shop you're going to watch to check out.  kinda MAD crushin' on a few of them and i'm STRONGLY anticipating some of the forthcoming arrivals, so keep checking and remember that using my code ORANGE always (!!!) gets you 20% off everything in the Paper Issues store!

Fletch in the sketch! Pretty Little Studio inspiration

evening, chickens!

okay, so it's midnight, and i've been crafting the afternoon away.  i saw the sketch challenge for April at Pretty Little Studio and i knew just what i wanted to do, and just what photo i wanted to use.

Fletcher B Cat is a big, lazy glug.  yep, that's a word.  ;)  when he snoozes, he SNORES.  sometimes in the night he wakes me up because of his loud breathing.  it's kind of endearing, but mostly it's disruptive.  still, i can't get upset with him because he just loves being loved, and when he's not sleeping in his roost, he's napping in any one of a half-dozen boxes we keep around the house just for him.

here's my big fella, waking up after a nap, and likely getting ready to take another:

here's the sketch!

i pretty much stuck to the sketch but changed the left flags to arrows because i liked the extra movement they created on the page.  the flags, arrows, tab, feathers and label are all from Pretty Little Studio's Neapolitan collection (seriously, LOVE this!) and i added in just a couple of little details and called it a day.  loved working with the sketch! 

zoom, because LOOK at that face!

zoom - modelling paste and glitter (kind of a new thing for me)!

i have a goal to try incorporating little bits and pieces from my older stash on just about every project, so this little star is an old BasicGrey woolie and i'm happy to see it go.  :D 

and that's all she wrote, folks!  i'll be back in the morning with another critter page.  hee hee.

ode to glitter. and office supplies.

morning, chickens!

i'm up on the Paper Issues blog today and yes, i do believe something may have exploded in my craft studio.  this turned into something much bigger than i'd originally planned, and it just kept growing, and they kept MULTIPLYING...

i have a thing for orange, as you may have already surmised.  and i have always obsessed over office supplies, too.  staplers, liquid paper, pens that write smooth like buttah, and paper clips.  but OH. MY. GOOMIE.  put them together, and gimme orange office supplies?  TROUBLE!

honestly, there is just no describing my "thing" for them.  those little orange coated paper clips are the highlight of my workday, the center of attention at my desk, and deeply cherished little beauties.

the glitter?  yeah, there are some serious glittery bits here.  :)

painstakingly and with lots of love, each itty bitty star and sequin glued down by hand with one dab at a time.  and OH it was fun!  obviously inspired by music (hello, David Bowie!), and using a bunch of fabulosity from the Paper Issues shop:

Simple Stories journaling cards (from the SN@P! DIY line), Studio Calico paper, Amy Tangerine alphas like these, Doodlebug vellum and, natch, Thickers similar to the ones here...

and eeeeeeep, did you know the SERIOUSLY coveted new October Afternoon Treasure Map has landed at Paper Issues?   CLICK HERE to check it out, and at CHECKOUT, enter my code for a sweet 20% discount on your whole order!

i added this project to the May 11th Link Party at Paper Issues - "Let's Get this Par-ty Star-ted and Party Heart-y!"...  there's a glam glittery party going on here, with lots of stars - and orange paper clips are cause for celebration!  :)