In A World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Kind

Welcome to the Papercrafters Unite Against Racism Blog Hop!

Many thanks to Justine Hovey for organizing this blog hop. There is also an Instagram hop and a YouTube Hop if you are interested in other social media platforms. The goal of this hop is to come together to stand behind our crafty sisters and brothers of color not just in the art industry, but also to show our support in the never-ending fight for equality all over the world.

I am so excited to be a part of this hop. While I am white, my extended family is a blend of white, black, and native american. I live in a suburb of Minneapolis which was affected by the riots after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Many stores in my community were looted. I worry about my extended family members of color. But I see the other side too. My husband is a retired police detective and my oldest daughter is a 911 dispatcher. Yes, there are bad cops, but please remember, they are not all bad. We need police to keep us safe, respond to our medical emergencies, help unite our communities. Don't get me wrong, I am for police reform. Bad cops should be fired. If they commit crimes, they need to be held accountable.

Today I am scrapping a photo of my daughter and my niece. One is white. The other is mixed white and black. Since I am a cut file junkie, I went in search of a cut file and found this awesome one in an etsy shop called ShopMagnoliaDesigns,

I wanted bright colors that would pop against my black background and I decided on some Paige Evans Truly Grateful and Shimelle Never Grow Up. I had originally thought of using the Juneteenth colors; yellow, green, and red, so this worked perfectly.

I used a black Silhouette pen to sketch my hands onto different colored cardstock. I used the offset feature to modify the cut file to cut just the outside of the hands.

Love how these butterflies look like they will take flight!

The BE KIND letters were cut in the same cardstock as the hands underneath. I clustered die cut ephemera pieces with puffy stickers over the K.

I love adding bows to my projects too.

If you’re looking for a way to help, please consider donating to one of the
following charities:

• Black Table Arts - organizes and brings in black artists into communities and provides creative spaces for leadership
• The Loveland Project - helps provide therapy for black women and girls
• Fair Fight - a movement to ensure free and fair elections
•  Black Girls Code  - a movement to increase women of colour in STEM fields and exposes girls to computer science and technology
• The Bail Project  - mission to combat mass incarceration and reshape the pretrial system in the United States and helps reunite families.

The next person in the hop is the incredible Sandy Allnock

Checkout my YouTube video as well if you are interested in my process.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

~Marcia

Here is the blog hop list in case you get lost along the way...

Neha Parab

Fairuz Fabiha (aka Craftivation)

Joy Dsouza

Jo Herbert

Nandini Karmarkar

Ishani

Stacy Zant

Tricia Y

Mary Ellen Driggs

Margaret Schuering

Justine Hovey

Alison Heikkila

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Natasha

Marcia Dehn-Nix      YOU ARE HERE!

Sandy Allnock     NEXT PARTICIPANT

Erin Reed

Martha Lucia Gomez / Joy Clair Designs

Juliana Michaels

Amy Hill

Betz Golden

Erica A-B

Angie Cimbalo

Rebecca

Karen Hasheck

Chark

Jess

Jill Lipscomb of Jill Cameron Creations

Dana Warren

Mansi Bhatia

Ingrid

Charlotte E (Lady Joyful)

Carrie Rhoades

Anna Mahtani

Jessica McAfee

Amber Rain Davis

Kari VanNoy

Kathya Kalinine

Annette Witherspoon

Mona Toth

Natasha Davies

Anja Glauner

Robin Flenner

Nancy Salkeld

Eva Costigan

Michelle Woerner

Haley Pettit

Verity Biddlecombe

My Science Guy - JustNick Studios

Hello blogging friends!

I am back today with a scrappy confession. I've been very bad about scrapping layouts of my son. He doesn't like having his picture taken. He doesn't post selfies of himself all that often. It was quite evident that his sisters get lots more attention on my scrapbook pages when I was putting my latest layouts in albums. So for a little while I thought I would concentrate on scrapping the photos I do have of him. These were from Christmas a year and a half ago.



I used this awesome JustNick Studio background cut file called Weird Science. When I first saw it, I thought of these pictures I had of my son receiving a bartender chemistry set for Christmas. He loves math and science. He is currently working his way through college as a bartender ... so of course he needed a bartender chemistry set.



I used the Simple Set Alphabet for my title. I like the whimsical feel to this font.



I backed the negative space with pattern papers from the Shimelle Little By Little collection. The circle patterns in the paper drew me in. I knew they would be perfect with all the circles in this background cut file, plus the primary colors are great for scrapping my science guy.



Here are the cut files I used today...

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Enjoy the rest of your week.
~Marcia

Twins Game - JustNick Studios and Scrapbook Circle

Hello blogging friends!

I am back today to share a layout I created with the fabulous March Scrapbook Circle kit and JustNick Studio's digital cut files. All this week you can see inspiring projects from both design teams.



I think I squealed with delight when I opened up my box and saw products from the Shimelle's Little By Little collection, Amy Tangerine's On a Whim, and Paige Evan's Oh My Heart. I was dying to use the new Star Background 4 cut file. I thought it would be perfect for a sports layout and I have been wanting to scrap this picture of my daughter at a Minnesota Twins baseball game. Here is how my layout turned out ...



I cut the file knowing I wanted to put a 1/2" border around the edge using this colorful striped paper. Using the red from this same sheet of striped paper, I backed some of those star cutouts.



I even did some hand stitching with some red thread! Under my title I did a little journaling. I don't usually do handwriting on my layouts, but this kit came with a Pink Paislee stamp set so I could stamp the guidelines for my writing! I might be doing more handwriting on my layouts now. I used a lighter ink to stamp with so the emphasis would be on my journaling.



I think this is a new favorite cut file!



Here is the cut file I used today ...



If you are interested, here is my process video...

Thanks so much for stopping by!
~Marcia

Motorcross - JustNick Studios inspiration

Hello blogging friends!

I am back today sharing a layout I created using the awesome new JustNick Studios Broken Chevron Background digital cut file. I thought the chevrons would be great for some of my guy pics. It reminded me a little of tire treads and that made me think of my nephew who races motorcross. I thought it would be fun to scrap a photo of him racing his dirt bike. My nephew has been racing most of his life, traveling all over the place just to race. I used a mixture of several different manufactures; Shimelle's Star Shine, Maggie Holmes Bloom by Crate Paper, October Afternoon flair, and Cocoa Vanilla Studios Totally Rad wood veneer pieces. Here is my layout...



I filled the negative space of the chevrons with two different colors of pattern papers, keeping the same color in my rows. I thought it would be less busy that way so the focus would stay on my photo. I used the fun Lower Case Alpha for my title, cutting the letters large so that they would fill the space across the bottom of my layout.



I wanted more black accents, so I cut some stars out using the All Boy cut file. These were scattered diagonally across my layout along with some wood veneer gears.



I love how easily this layout came together! Here is a look at the cut files I used today.

All the fabulous new August cut files were just loaded in the JustNick OnLine Store. You really need to see these. They are seriously awesome!

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Marcia