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

Fun In The Sun - JustNick Studios

Hello blogging friends!

Have you seen the new JustNick Studios Fun In The Sun title in the on-line store? I wanted to combine it with the South Pacific Floral digital cut file, but not in the usual way. I busted out my Silhouette sketch pens and instead of cutting out the design, I sketched it instead. Then I dug out my watercolors and got busy adding some color to the sketched design. This gave me a gorgeous unique background that I could use to scrap some Waikiki Beach photos and perfect for the Heidi Swapp Pineapple Crush collection. Take a look at how my layout turned out...



I am by no means good when it comes to watercolors, but it's fun to play with them sometimes and I am happy with the results. I applied a layer of gesso over the top of the sketched design. This helps to blend the colors later. It muted the lines a little, but I like that it's soft. Here is a closer look...



I absolutely love the new Fun In The Sun title. I backed the middle with a blue watercolor pattern paper. I felt I needed to bring in a little more blue besides the blue in my photos.





I backed the alphas with a script pattern paper in white. I wanted to keep my layout bright and airy.





If you are interested in seeing my process video here is the link to my YouTube channel.

Here are the digital cut files I used today ...





Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you will try using a sketch pen in your die cutting machine. It's really easy to do.

Dream Big - Stash Bash Youtube Hop

Hello blogging friends!

I am back today for another Stash Bash Youtube Hop. This month my friends and I chose to use the spray mist from our stash. I love using mist on my backgrounds with digital cut files! Today I am using the new JustNick Studios Dream Maker cut file in a little bit different of a way. I used a Silhouette sketch pen to draw it onto my background so I could stitch it. But first, I went a little crazy with my spray mist, using the plastic packaging smoosh technique. Once my dream catcher was all stitched, I embellished my layout with the gorgeous new Cocoa Vanilla Studios Bohemian Dream collection.  Here is how it turned out...

It was a crazy amount of stitching!!! But I was home sick for a few days and wanted something to do while being a couch potato and catching up on some TV shows. Sorry for the photo overload that is about to happen ... I just love how this layout turned out!

Here is the link to my process video ...

You need to check out everyone else's Youtube videos too, they are amazing! 

Have a great week and if you are in the USA, a wonderful Thanksgiving.

~Marcia

Honolulu Skyline - Clique Kits

Hello blogging friends!

I am back today with another Honolulu layout using the gorgeous papers from the Basic Grey Urban Luxe collection. This one captures the skyline at night. Our hotel with its partial ocean view was the ideal spot to watch the fireworks. Who knew that every Friday night, there are fireworks over the harbor! What a wonderful surprise!! Here is my layout ...

   

I love using my Silhouette sketch pens to embellish my background paper. With the skyline photos, I thought it would be really cool to add a sketched skyline to my layout. I used a platinum sketch pen so it would have some shimmer and stand out against the black background. Some splattered white paint and a few stars complete the skyline look. Aren't those emoticon cloud die cuts adorable! They are a Clique exclusive.

 

Since the top of my layout was so dark, I wanted the lower half to pop with color. I cut several circles the same size out of a variety of pattern papers. Then I scored a square in the middle of each one. This made it easier to fold the edges of the circles to the inside.

   

 Yes, it is a bit labor intensive, but the result is eye catching.

 

 

With all that color, I didn't go too crazy with other embellishments. I love this flair button from the Fancy Pants Attwell collection and those Richard Garay matte enamel dots.

   

I hope you give this paper folding technique a try. It's lots of fun and is a good way to use up lots of scraps. 

 Thanks for stopping by!

~Marcia

Sisters Share a Special Bond - Clique Kits

Hello blogging friends!

I am kicking off the inspiration with the September Clique Kit "Capture". The awesome September kit features the gorgeous Cocoa Vanilla Studios Hello Lovely collection plus exclusives like the flair and digital cut files you can't find anywhere else. Since Cocoa Vanilla Studios is an Australian scrapbook company, you will have a hard time finding these papers state side. How lucky that the Clique girls arranged for them to be part of the September kit!

Lately I have been switching out my Silhouette blade for a sketch pen. My favorite sketch pens are the metallic ones; gold and silver especially. So for my Art Studio post this nerd used her Silhouette Cameo and one of Lacey's fabulous cut files. The result is stunning. Well, I think it is stunning anyway...

 

It's hard to photograph just how beautiful it is unless the light catches the ink just so ....

 

I did add some ink splatters in there too :)  Because this is Art Studio...

 

The September kit has gorgeous sequins, beautiful ephemera die cuts, and of course that exclusive flair...

 

I created my title with the Evalicious Alpha Puffy Stickers included in the kit. One of the things I love about these alphas is that I have lots of letters. Enough "S"s for this title...

 

Thanks for stopping by today. Stay tuned for more inspiration using the September Clique Kit.
~Marcia

A Wish For You - Clique Kits Pep Rally!

Hello blogging friends. It's Clique Kits Pep Rally time!

Here is the awesome line-up for July

Clique Kits 
Annelie 
Hannah Lemieux 
Sarah
Sandy G.
Mariah
Donna
Megan Blethen
Kim Allen 
 Marcia <------ You are here
Kat
Charity
Taina Cortes 
Tyra

The July fit featured the 365 collection from Chickaniddy. I loved the colors and patterns in this collection. July also had some fabulous cut files as well. I couldn't wait to use this cut file with all the quotes down the side. Here is my layout....

I used my Silhouette sketch pens for the smaller text, alternating 4 different colors. The larger text was cut out and the negative space was filled with pattern paper.

When you have so many different patterns and colors of pattern paper, its fun to use strips so you can see many patterns from the collection. I added some machine stitching to each of my strips.

I love this photo. Do you make a wish before blowing on a dandelion?

Thanks for stopping by! Your next stop is the fabulous Kat!

~Marcia

Life Is Full Of Joy - Clique Kits and JustNick

Hello blogging friends! Have you seen the May Clique Kit yet? It is awesome! This month features the beautiful 365 collection from Chickaniddy. The May challenge is live, and this month Pinkfresh Studios is sponsoring. Here is the prize!

The challenge is Anything Goes..... but this month you are welcome to use this optional sketch by  talented Clique member Amanda O'Banion.

I rotated the sketch so I could use this journal card in place of a photo. Here is the layout I created for the May challenge. This is my Mom with my great nephew.

The background is the JustNick Crazy Daisy Background file. I used a Silhouette sketch pen to draw the design first, then went back and selectively cut the flower petals from different pattern papers.

I also used the JustNick Life cut file for my title.

I am in love with those Freckled Fawn Emoticon wood veneers. They are available in the Clique Store. Use coupon code Marcia10 and save 10%. There is also a clearance sale going on. You can pick up some real bargains!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week and I would love to see you participate in our May challenge.

~Marcia

Do More Than Just Exist - Clique Kits

Hello blogging friends! I have another layout to share today that I created with the June Dreamquest Clique Kit. This layout has photos from a camping/hiking trip my daughter took last Fall with some friends just south of Duluth. Of my three kids, she takes the most pictures of herself, lol. I wanted to leave lots of white space on that pretty cloud paper, so I clustered my photos and papers at the bottom.

 

The title is one of the exclusive digital cut files that come with the June kit. Since I had many comments about the Silhouette sketch pen I used on my last layout, I decided to show you another way to use sketch pens for titles. Once again I used my gold metallic sketch pen in my Silhouette. But this time I created an offset and cut it out.

 

Let me show you how you can do this too. The first step is to select Silhouette Sketch Pen in the cut settings window and swap out your blade for a pen.

   

 Do not remove the paper from the Silhouette yet! Now go to the offset window and select 'Offset'. You can adjust the distance from the pen until it is just how you want it.

   

 Now go back to the cut settings menu and switch your settings back to cardstock. Remember to replace the blade in your Silhouette too. Drag the original title off the mat. We don't want to cut where the sketch pen drew lines. Since I wanted my title to look more like a cloud, I also erased those inside pieces before cutting. I like using the eraser to do this. You can find the eraser in the toolbar along the left. Now you are ready to cut.

 

I hope you will give this a try. Here are some more shots of my layout...

   

This felt deer was an add on to the November kit, but I could not resist using him here. There are always some fabulous finds in the Clique Store. Coupon code Marcia10 saves you 10%.

   

   

 Thanks for stopping by.

~Marcia