Welcome 2018!

Welcome 2018!

Happy New Year, friends! In honor of this celebration, I made a “2018” using my paper crafting supplies. 
I used one of Queen & Co.’s large Pop-ups Hearts Foam Shaker Shapes for the zero in my sentiment. I then filled it with small, gold micro bead Toppings, which remind me of New Year’s confetti. Woot! 
For a fun twist, I used an included chipboard heart (comes with the Pop-ups Hearts Foam Shaker kit) as a template to cut a heart transparency to fit my foam piece. You don’t always have to go clear with the top layers of your shakers. Transparencies and vellum also work well, offering a bit of added pattern play to your piece.
I simply cut the number two from gold glitter cardstock. I first drew the number on the cardstock using a pencil. I used the aforementioned chipboard heart here as well. It worked as a guide for scale as I sketched the two.
Queen’s filmstrip metal die in the Shaped Shaker Say Cheese Kit was just the ticket for creating the number one in 2018. I actually needed one more image slot than the die included, so I simply cut the die from black cardstock twice and then trimmed one box away from the second strip to be used on the first strip. This made my “1” feel more in scale with the rest of the number.
I had the most fun making the number eight in “2018.” I have so many great shots from our New Year’s celebration. I knew the View-Master Die was a must to fit them all in. That’s when I got the idea to stack two die cut pieces together to create an eight. 
I looked up “View-Master” on Pinterest to get an idea of styling of the reels. I then added some hand-written journaling to my reels, mimicking the look of the text printed on old View-Master reels. 
To size the photos to fit these die cut pieces, I used a photo collage app on my phone (Project Life). 
The View-Master images are pretty small. Here’s a shot next to my finger to help with scale. Of course, I do have man hands, so the pics are a wee bit larger than you might think. ;) 
Finally, I added some stitching and a little spray ink to give the page a bit more depth and texture. 
I was going to embellish the page more but decided I liked the 2018 element standing alone as the focal point—a fresh look for a fresh year. I had fun starting this year off with a little unique photo play. I hope this inspires you to develop a few new ideas to try. ;) 
Here’s to a happy, healthy, creative 2018, my friends!
Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner 
[LINK: [http://www.meganhoeppner.com]]http://www.meganhoeppner.com] 
QUEEN & CO. SUPPLIES USED
OTHER SUPPLIES USED
Cardstock: Close to My Heart; Transparency: Bella Blvd.; Spray Ink: Heidi Swapp; Stickers: Recollections; Pen: Tombow; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Sewing Machine: Brother; Die Cut Machine: Sizzix