91 Candles

(Orginally published on the Paper Issues Blog)

Hi there! 

This morning I am sharing a birthday page featuring my beautiful mom, celebrating her 91st. 

The Lions & Tigers & Bears! Oh My! June Challenge asks you to find a movie quote or movie title, and use it to inspire the title of your page. I chose the title, 91 Candles, as an ode to the 80's classic. If you take that 91 and turn it 180 degrees...voila! 16 Candles. 

Poor Samantha. In the movie, no one seems to remember it's her birthday. At the end she gets her cake, with all 16 candles, which is 16 more than we put on my mom's cake. I'm afraid blowing out candles has become a relic of the before times...before Covid-19. 

Simple Stories has recently released two fabulous birthday collections, one with all the lovely pastels you see here, Magical Birthday, and one with a more masculine feel, Birthday Blast. I used strips from the 6 x 8 paper pad and tons of adorable die cuts to create my page. 

Bonus: The Simple Stories Color Vibe Foam Alpha Stickers have colors that coordinate with the colors in these papers.

The embellishment pack includes so many sweet icons:

In case you missed it, here's another page created with this fabulous collection:

Check out ALL the new Simple Stories collections in the Paper Issues Store.

Find this and the rest of our June Challenges in Paper Issues' Friends and Fans Facebook Group. Play along and share for your chance at winning a prize. And as always, use my code for 20% off your entire Paper Issues store order. 

Take 5 | First You Make A Roux

(Originally published on the Paper Issues Blog.)

Good morning! It's Madeline here today, sharing a page for Paper Issues' Take 5 Challenge. I started with black, white and red, always a favorite color scheme, but then I drew from the photo and added a little pink to the mix. Here it is:

It was a real treat when my oldest son took over in the kitchen, cooking up two gigantic pots of gumbo. If you've ever made it yourself, you know that "First you make a roux". And there's my title!

Here is the Take 5 Challenge list for May:

To complete the challenge, I used black and white papers, and enamel dots:

I added twine and ephemera (ticket stubs):

These are a few more items that I used from the Paper Issues Store:

Whip Up some Baked Goods cut file (free)

Pinkfresh Studio Super Cool Pocket tags, acetate elements, and paper

Fancy Pants Cherry On Top tags and labels

When you shop, use the code MADELINE for 20% off your entire order.

May Sketch-Virtual Happy Hour

(Originally published on the Paper Issues Blog)

Good morning friends! It's Madeline here with a fun interpretation of this month's sketch. Thanks to a couple of Paper Issues cut files, I created an ode to the virtual Happy Hour. 

Here is the May sketch:

On my page, wine bottles and glassware stand in for the shapes and tags above. 

I found my drinking elements in the Cheers Time! and Cinco de Mayo cut files, free in the Paper Issues Store. After arranging them in rows as in the sketch, I cut them from white cardstock.

Next, I carefully removed the cuts and placed them aside (to be used later). I splattered the background with inks, then backed the holes, some with patterned paper and others with gloriously colorful packaging from a Vicki Boutin stencil set. 

Finally, I backed a few of the cuts, "filling" some of the glasses with Merlot, "labeling" the wine bottles, then loosely attached all to the page.  

From there it was easy to complete: photo, title, and journaling. Done!  

Are you up for this month's sketch challenge? If you do play along, please share your page in the Paper Issues Friends and Fans Facebook group. I'd love to see what you make! And when you shop the Paper Issues Store, use my code for 20% off your entire order.